Must-see restaurants in Central Valley & Highlands

  • Casa Antigua Café & Restaurante

    Central Valley & Highlands

    Breakfast, lunch and dinner are served in this atmospheric, century-old colonial clapboard house with hardwood floors, painted ceilings, stained-glass…

  • Pesqueria da Limonta

    Central Valley & Highlands

    Set in an atmospheric villa with a sophisticated patio lit by fairy lights, Pesqueria da Limonta is the best dining experience in town, serving up fresh…

  • La Casona del Maíz

    Central Valley & Highlands

    Hugely popular among Tico families who come to enjoy proper country cooking, this casual place is on the road to Atenas, 9km east of Alajuela. The menu is…

  • Jalapeños Central

    Central Valley & Highlands

    Offering the best Tex-Mex in the country, this popular, cozy spot will introduce some spice to your diet. The simple and fresh burritos, chimichangas and…

  • Pizzeria a la leña il Giardino

    Central Valley & Highlands

    This cute country-style pizzeria has a proper stone pizza oven where the chef makes tasty thin-crust pizzas. The mozzarella, tomato and basil is spot on…

  • Creperie & Café

    Central Valley & Highlands

    The most popular hangout in town has a cute/kitschy French feel about it, decorated with pastel colors, floral wallpaper, blackboards and picture frames,…

  • El Balcón del Café

    Central Valley & Highlands

    The best place in town for breakfast is inside this little lime-green house decorated with black-and-white vintage photos. It serves up full Tico,…

  • Freddo Fresas

    Central Valley & Highlands

    This homey spot looks as though it was built from oversize Lincoln logs. It's known for heavenly strawberry smoothies (milky ones beat watery ones) and…

  • Wok & Roll

    Central Valley & Highlands

    Pan-Asian cuisine fills the menu at this casual eatery with half a dozen wooden tables near the main square. Enjoy sushi rolls and sashimi, teriyaki or…

  • Onde su Agüela Parrilla 100%

    Central Valley & Highlands

    For excellent grilled meats and a lovely ambiance, come to this open-air restaurant decorated with fairy lights, colored wooden chairs, pop-art portraits…

  • Xandari

    Central Valley & Highlands

    If you want to impress a date, you can’t go wrong at this elegant restaurant with incredible views. The menu is a mix of Costa Rican and international…

  • Casa Azul

    Central Valley & Highlands

    Tucked away just off Hwy 32 in a quaint little blue house adorned with blue curtains, antiques and hardwood floors, this Spanish–Costa Rican fusion…

  • Bromelias del Río

    Central Valley & Highlands

    By a tropical garden and a mountain stream, this bakery-restaurant tempts with spiked coffee drinks (hot mocha with Baileys and chocolate syrup), crepes…

  • Merak Fusion

    Central Valley & Highlands

    With hardwood floors and simple, clean decor, Merak is a gastronomic restaurant with flavors that cross continents. Creations include the likes of…

  • El Churrasco Hotel Restaurante

    Central Valley & Highlands

    On the way up to Volcán Poás, this rustic restaurant serves tasty, authentic Costa Rican cuisine. Ingredients are sourced locally and the casados and…

  • La Casona del Cafetal

    Central Valley & Highlands

    It's all about the beautiful setting at this charming restaurant situated in the middle of a coffee plantation, with calming views of the Lago de Cachí…

  • El Hop

    Central Valley & Highlands

    Open-plan gastropub serving top grub and beer. The kitchen rustles up adventurous dishes like seafood cocktails (with poached octopus and shrimp), plus…

  • Super Mariscos

    Central Valley & Highlands

    Forgive appearances: Super Mariscos looks dated and plays melodic pan pipes on the stereo, but it serves very good ceviche (seafood marinated in lemon or…

  • La Puerta del Sol

    Central Valley & Highlands

    Located downstairs from Los Ángeles Lodge and decorated with vintage photos of Cartago, this cheery no-frills restaurant has been around since 1957 and…

  • More Than Words

    Central Valley & Highlands

    Dishes are satisfying at this restaurant opposite the church in the main square, with a large bar at its center. The diverse menu has freshly made pizzas,…

  • La Feria

    Central Valley & Highlands

    This unremarkable-looking eatery has friendly service and excellent, reasonably priced home cooking. Sometimes the kitchen gets a bit backed up, but the…

  • Restaurant La Trocha del Boyero

    Central Valley & Highlands

    Tico families and local expats crowd the pleasant deck here for the variety of casados on offer, fresh trout (in season), sirloin and heaped bowls of…

  • Kurkuma

    Central Valley & Highlands

    Thick, juicy tuna or beef burgers are served up with herby fries in this casual and welcoming place in the north of the city, with red booths and world…

  • Restaurante El Congo

    Central Valley & Highlands

    With its own trout ponds, this log-cabin restaurant located at Albergue Ecológico Pozo Verde serves up the freshest of catches, along with delicious veal…

  • Soda Restaurante Nené

    Central Valley & Highlands

    Just south of town, tucked back slightly from the main road, this simple green shack of a restaurant is flanked by well-stocked trout ponds. Catch your…

  • El Chante Vegano

    Central Valley & Highlands

    This healthy eatery specializes in organic food. Vegan treats include Buffalo cauliflower tacos, falafel pitas and portobello-mushroom burgers, plus there…

  • Maracuyá

    Central Valley & Highlands

    This bright-walled cafe north of Av 10 serves up one of the best coffee treats in the country – a frozen caffeine concoction with gooey maracuyá (passion…

  • Colbert Restaurant

    Central Valley & Highlands

    At this charming restaurant 6km east of Poasito, the menu is loaded with traditional French items such as onion soup, house-made pâté, beef fillet, rabbit…

  • Bar y Restaurante Coto

    Central Valley & Highlands

    Established in 1952, this family-run eatery on the north side of the soccer field dishes out good típico food (particularly the whole fried fish) in a…

  • Café Delicias

    Central Valley & Highlands

    For breakfast, bocas (appetizers), and a variety of típico (traditional Costa Rican dishes), centrally located Café Delicias is a reliably good place to…

  • Frusty Helados Artesanales

    Central Valley & Highlands

    Delicious handmade ice pops, using fruit from the local area. Choose a flavor from blackberry, guava, passion fruit, coconut, strawberry, green mango and…

  • Mercado Municipal

    Central Valley & Highlands

    You can fill up for a couple of thousand colones at the Mercado Municipal, which has sodas to spare and plenty of very fresh groceries.

  • Restaurant 1910

    Central Valley & Highlands

    Set in a green-and-cream clapboard house with a glass-walled deck, this cozy restaurant serves a long list of overpriced Tico specialties. But it's worth…

  • Panadería Suiza

    Central Valley & Highlands

    Starting at the crack of dawn, ebullient expat Franzisca serves simple breakfasts (bread, butter, jam and coffee) at her main-street bakery, 100m south of…

  • Restaurante Nazca

    Central Valley & Highlands

    In a somewhat soulless tiled dining room with chunky wooden tables and obligatory splashes of color, this restaurant serves up Peruvian specials like…

  • La Dulce Armonía

    Central Valley & Highlands

    Cartago's most welcoming cafe is a lovely spot for a recharge with a mini library inside. Patrons can peruse the many (mostly Spanish) books at their…

  • Cafetería & Galeria De Arte

    Central Valley & Highlands

    Decorated with artworks, black chairs and blackboards displaying the specials, this pleasant cafe sits right on the southwestern corner of the square and…

  • Restaurant Betico Mata

    Central Valley & Highlands

    This carnivores' delight is just south of town on the road to Juan Viñas. It's perched on a hill with open-air views, and you can't beat the good-value…

  • La Casa De Miguel

    Central Valley & Highlands

    For a more leisurely sit-down meal, join locals here and choose from an extensive menu of international dishes, including six types of ceviche to start,…

  • Rancho Orosi

    Central Valley & Highlands

    Just a few hundred meters out of town, on the road heading south, this simple open-air restaurant has lanterns and dark wooden benches. An English and…