Things to do in San José
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El Cuartel de la Boca del Monte
Though not strictly a live-music venue, this atmospheric old bar with exposed brick walls has long drawn in cheek-to-jowl crowds for live bands on most nights of the week (especially Fridays). It’s popular with university students, who arrive to flirt and drink and various combinations thereof.
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Teatro Nacional
On the southern side of the Plaza de la Cultura resides the Teatro Nacional, San José’s most revered public building. Constructed in 1897, it features a columned neoclassical facade that is flanked by statues of Beethoven and Calderón de la Barca, a 17th-century Spanish dramatist. The lavish marble lobby and auditorium are lined with paintings depicting various facets of 19th-century life. The most famous is Alegoría al café y el banano, an idyllic canvas showing coffee and banana harvests. The painting was produced in Italy and shipped to Costa Rica for installation in the theater, and the image was reproduced on the old ₡5 note (now out of circulation). It is clea…
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Galería Namu
A fair-trade gallery run by Aisling French does a great job of bringing together artwork and crafts from a diverse population of regional ethnicities. Here, you’ll find a lovely array of Boruca masks, finely woven Wounaan baskets, Guaymí dolls, Bribrí canoes, Chorotega ceramics and Huetar carvings, as well as contemporary urban and Afro-Caribbean crafts. They can also help arrange visits to remote indigenous territories in different parts of Costa Rica. See their website for details.
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Parque Nacional
One of the nicest of San José’s green spaces is the Parque Nacional, a shady spot where retirees arrive to read newspapers and young couples smooch coyly on concrete benches. At its center is the Monumento Nacional, a dramatic statue (erected in 1953) that depicts the Central American nations – with Costa Rica in the lead – driving out American filibuster William Walker. The park is studded with myriad monuments devoted to key figures in Latin American history, including Cuban poet, essayist and revolutionary José Martí, Mexican indepen-dence figure Miguel Hidalgo and 18th-century Venezuelan poet and thinker Andrés Bello.
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Biesanz Woodworks
Located in the hills of Bello Horizonte in Escazú, the workshop of Biesanz Woodworks can be difficult to find, but the effort will be well worth it. This shop is one of the finest woodcrafting studios in the nation, run by celebrated artisan Barry Biesanz. His bowls and other decorative containers are exquisite and take their inspiration from pre-Columbian techniques, in which the natural lines and forms of the wood determine the shape and size of the bowl. The pieces are expensive (from US$85 for a palm-size bowl), but they are unique – and so delicately crafted that they wouldn’t be out of place in a museum.
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Catedral Metropolitana
To the east of the Parque Central is the Renaissance-style Catedral Metropolitana, built in 1871, after the previous cathedral was destroyed in an earthquake. The interiors, in keeping with the period, are graceful neoclassic, with colorful Spanish tile floors, stained-glass windows, and a Christ figure (near the main entrance) that was produced by a Guatemalan workshop in the late 17th century. On the north side of the nave, along the passage to the Capilla del Santisímo (Chapel of the Holy One), a recumbent Christ that dates back to 1878 draws devout Ticos, who arrive here to pray and deposit pleas scribbled on small slips of paper.
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Parque Metropolitano La Sabana
Known simply as Parque La Sabana, this 72-hectare green space at the west end of the Paseo Colón was once the site of the country’s main airport. Today it is home to two museums, a lagoon, a fountain and a variety of sports facilities. It is also home to the Estadio Nacional (National Stadium), where international and Division-1 soccer matches are played (it will soon be replaced by a bigger stadium that, at the time of research, was under construction in the northwest corner of the park). During the day, it’s a great place for a stroll, a picnic or a relaxed jog. On weekends, it is packed with picnicking families and kids playing ball.
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TEOR/éTica
On Amón’s northern limit lies TEOR/éTica, a contemporary art museum housed in a vintage mansion, each of its elegant rooms featuring cutting-edge works by established and emerging figures from Latin America (such as Costa Rican artist Priscilla Monge, who is well known for her wry embroideries). This young museum features the private collection of the TEOR/éTica foundation, a nonprofit organization that supports Central American art and culture. It is an important gathering spot for regional artists, who arrive to attend lectures, workshops and other events.
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La Esquina de Buenos Aires
Spanish-tile floors, bright white linens and the sound of old tangos evoke the atmospheric bistros of San Telmo – making this one of the top spots in the city for a steak and a glass of Malbec. Also tasty are the house-made empanadas (turnovers stuffed with meat or cheese) and the extensive selection of fresh pastas, including vegetarian options such as tender raviolis stuffed with mozzarella and fresh basil. There’s a good wine list (bottles from ₡4500), attentive service and flickering candlelight, making this an ideal place for a date.
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Plaza de la Cultura
For many Ticos, Costa Rica begins here. This architecturally unremarkable concrete plaza in the heart of downtown is usually packed with locals slurping ice-cream cones and admiring the wide gamut of San José street life: juggling clowns, punk-rock teenagers and pop-lite Christian bands. It is perhaps one of the safest spots in the city since the entire plaza serves as the ceiling of the Museo de Oro Precolombino y Numismática, which is located one level down, and is therefore considered private property (this gives security guards the right to shoo away ‘unsavory’ characters).
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Bar Morazán
Walk through the dim, smoky lobby casino of the Hotel Costa Rica Morazán up to the 2nd floor and you will be rewarded with one of the cheapest, most filling almuerzos ejecutivos (set lunches) in San José. On weekdays, the bar serves a rotating daily special that pulls in local office workers for platters piled with items like fried fish with lentils, rice and green salad. The price includes juice and dessert. The best part: you get to enjoy your meal before a sublime wall-sized mural of dogs playing poker.
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Museo de Jade
You will find the world’s largest collection of American jade (pronounced ‘ha-day’ in Spanish) at this small museum on the 1st floor of the Instituto Nacional de Seguros (INS; National Insurance Institute). The pieces are varied: expect to see display cases cluttered with translucent jade carvings that depict fertility goddesses, shamans, frogs and snakes, as well as some incredible pottery (some of which reflects Maya influences), including a highly unusual ceramic head displaying a row of serrated teeth. The craftsmanship is generally excellent and pieces are in a fine state of conservation.
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Machu Picchu
This locally renowned Peruvian restaurant will do you right if you have a hankering for all things Andean. A popular spot for a leisurely Sunday lunch, it has an encyclopedic menu featuring tasty Peruvian classics such as pulpo al olivo (octopus in olive sauce), ají de gallina (a nutty chicken stew) and causa (chilled potato terrines stuffed with shrimp and avocado), among many other things. There is also a children’s menu.
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Parque España
Surrounded by heavy traffic and flanked by MADC and the Museo de Jade, the Parque España may be small, but it becomes a riot of birdsong every day at sunset when the local avian population comes in to roost. In addition to being a good spot for a shady break, the park is home to an ornate statue of Christopher Columbus that was given to the people of Costa Rica in 2002 by his descendants, commemorating the quincentennial of the explorer’s landing in Puerto Limón.
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Bar Chavelona
Nestled amid a row of auto body shops on the west side of town (in other words: take a taxi), this renowned bar, which dates back to 1927, was the spot where Costa Rican author Carlos Luis Fallas (1909–66) once enjoyed happy hour in the company of the local intelligentsia. The bohemian atmosphere is long gone – replaced by an ’80s decor that screams Duran Duran – but it remains a pleasant Tico spot for beer and bocas (savory bar snacks).
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Mercado Central
Though josefinos mainly do their shopping at chain supermarkets, San José’s crowded indoor markets retain an old-world feel. The main market is the Mercado Central, lined with vendors hawking everything from cheese and spices to coffee beans and obligatory pura vida souvenir T-shirts.
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Museo de Ciencias Naturales La Salle
Near the southwest corner of the Parque Metropolitano la Sabana is the Museo de Ciencias Naturales La Salle, which has an extensive collection of dusty stuffed animals and minerals. The exhibit has definitely seen better days, and although some of the animals look like they’re about to disintegrate, you’d be hard pressed to find a more bizarre display of taxidermy. It’s in the old Colegio La Salle (high school).
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Casa Amarilla
On the Parque España’s northeast corner is the Casa Amarilla, an elegant colonial-style house that is home to the ministry of foreign affairs (and is closed to the public). The glorious ceiba tree in front was planted by John F Kennedy during his 1963 visit to Costa Rica. If you walk around to the property’s northeast corner, you can see a graffiti-covered slab of the Berlin Wall standing in the rear garden.
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Plaza de la Democracia
The stark Plaza de la Democracia was constructed by President Oscar Arias in 1989 to commemorate 100 years of Costa Rican democracy. The concrete plaza is architecturally dull, but it has recently received a needed cleaning and some of its elevated terraces provide decent views of the mountains surrounding San José (especially at sunset). On its western flank is an open-air crafts market.
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Parque Morazán
To the southwest of the Parque España is another park, the Parque Morazán, named for Francisco Morazán, the 19th-century general who attempted to unite the Central American nations under a single flag. Once a notorious center of prostitution, the park is now beautifully illuminated in the evenings. At its center is the Templo de Música, a concrete bandstand that serves as an unofficial symbol of San José.
reviewed
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El Chicote
A pleasant family spot that draws carnivores for long Sunday lunches, El Chicote grills up beefy sirloins in the middle of the restaurant and then serves them with black beans, fried bananas and steamy baked potatoes. If you don’t do red meat, there are plenty of chicken and seafood options as well. There is also a six-page wine list, strong on Mediterranean and South American vintages (from ₡3100).
reviewed
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Zoológico Nacional Simón Bolívar
It may seem ironic to visit a zoo in one of the most biologically rich countries in the world. But this is a popular spot with local families, who pour in on weekends to peek at the animals. It’s rough around the edges – the cages are cramped and some have complained of the animals’ filthy living spaces – but it can serve as a basic primer on area wildlife for small children.
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Club Vertigo
Located on the ground floor of a nondescript office tower, the city’s premier club packs in Chepe’s beautiful people with a mix of house, trance and electronica. Downstairs is an 850-person-capacity sweat-box of a dance floor, while upstairs you’ll find a chill-out lounge lined with red sofas. Dress to the nines and note that admission charges can skyrocket on guest-DJ nights (from ₡7000).
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Kalú Café & Food Shop
Sharing a sleek space with the Kiosco SJO design store, this style-conscious cafe is the new restaurant by noted chef Camille Ratton. The menu is a global fusion of salads, sandwiches (try the miniburgers) and pastas, such as homemade gnocchi cooked in Malbec with wild mushrooms (₡6750). Whatever you do, don’t miss dessert: their light and airy cheesecake (₡2500), served with stewed fresh strawberries in balsamic is mind-meltingly good.
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El Morazán
Facing the Parque Morazán, this exposed-brick, Spanish tile–clad space dates back to 1904. Throughout its long life it has hosted all manner of historical figures (including Che Guevara, according to one account). It is a popular hangout among Chepe’s young artsy set. In addition to beer, there is a full menu of classic cocktails and snacks. On some nights, there is live music.
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