Dear Friends,

Nosara has by far the greatest concentration of good, quality restaurants in Costa Rica. The reason for this is a large ex pat community and the large number of weekly/monthly vacationers who rent the many vacation homes in the area. This combines to make a very high dine-out market! You will not find any chain restaurants, just locally owned and operated establishments where the owner greets you at the door. All restaurants in Nosara are open air establishments and most do not take credit cards. They will all take US dollars or the local currency, colonies. Always ask if tax and service are included. They usually are.

In Costa Rica the service varies and greatly depends on the number of people seated just before you. You can take a bottle of wine or two into any restaurant. Some will take reservations. Most of the fare is chicken and sea food. Beef in Central and South America tends to not measure up to  American standards. The dress is very casual. Most of these restaurants are closed one day a week. It varies wildly. Call before you go. Dave Caywood/June/2008

Nick Pesce, Gringo/part time Italian
   
  
                                                 

Per person/No Alcohol      
                                               
$$$$  $30-$40 per person
$$$    $20-$30                                                                                                                         
$$       $10-$20                                                                                                                 
$          Less than $10

This is a list of our favorites in order of preference as of June 2008:

1: La Dolce Vita, $$$$ (2682 0107) Leaving town heading back to Nicoya, La Dolce Vita can be found on the right after the Nosara Yoga Institute. Roberto, the owner, is right out of central casting. Born, raised and in some respects never left Italy, Roberto is as attentive to service as the food is original Italian. The menu is not as deep as you would expect elsewhere put the quality is superb across the board. Like most restaurants in Costa Rica, La Dolce Vita is outside but unlike any other, it is decked out in Fellini and Bergman movie memorabilia from the 1960’s. Call for a reservation and to save some $$take your own wine.  Closed Wednesday, but call just the same. Cash only

We visit La Dolce Vita two or three times a year and the service and food never vary from the standard we have come to expect. One night Robert was not there and the place ran as well, if not better than we he is there. I think this is a first in the restaurant business. The menu is a little fragmented but across the board it is so good that no one dish stands out from the rest. DC/June/2008   



2: Lagarta Lodge, $$$$ (2682 0035) Lagarta is located right up the hill from Playa Pelada’s northern entrance and overlooks the Rio Nosara as it flows into the Pacific Ocean. This is a popular place to have a cocktail and watch the sun go down. After it sets walk over to the restaurant and enjoy the last of the twilight. The owners are Swiss/German and they will be the first people you meet when you walk in and more than likely your servers as well. This is a classic example of the owner making the restaurant. Run like a Swiss watch with a menu as grand as the view. Make your reservation early. Closed during the off season. Never hurts to call. Credit cards accepted.

This restaurant is for special evenings and great service. The seafood tends to be a favorite and there is the obvious Bavarian influence. Go for the sunset, stay for dinner.  DC/Jan/2008

 

3: L’Acqua Viva, $$$$ (2682 1087) Located on the main road before you get to the five corner intersection on the left. L’Acqua Viva is a hotel/resort built around a never ending pool over shadowed by a temple of Polynesian influence. Offering a complete menu and a very deep wine list, fine dinning has come to Nosara in a very unpretentious way. The dinning room is steeped in vaulted bamboo and jute giving off the space of an aircraft hanger and service in Nosara has reached a new level. Eat there or not you have to see this place.

This is the newest restaurant, opened in Dec/2007, and will without a doubt be number one once they get a year under their belt.  The kitchen has not matured as fast of the rest of the complex but is easily corrected with the right chef. The food is good but the setting is better. I have driven past this hundreds of times while it was being built and never imagined what they were doing and the grand scale of the place all the while still fitting into the Nosara setting. Well done and I'm not talking about my steak! DC/June/2008

 

 4: Marlin Bill's $$$ (2682 0458) South Guiones Beach, Main road up on the hill. Huge view! This restaurant is best appreciated at sunset as it looks out over the Pacific. Little Angie makes the place want to smile, runs the show and seems to be everywhere. Marlin Bill's has perhaps the better service in town. The fresh fish of the day and the rest of the menu is posted on a board that is propped up next to your table and changes every day/hour/minute. The decor is decidedly fishy, with a mounted marlin, fish murals, and a photo wall of happy fishers and their prize catches. There is usually a sporting event on the TV in the bar area. If you are scared of heights, do not sit by the railing!

In October, 2007 I landed in Liberia and proceeded to drive to Nosara. With the torrential rains, bridges were wiped out and the two hour drive took five hours. When we I got to Nosara it was night and the town was rolled up for the off season. 9:00 at night, wet, tired, hungry and accompanied by my mother, I looked for a place that was open. Out of the blackest of nights, high above, there was a fully lit Marlin Bill’s. Best damn meal I ever had. Mom liked the Martinis! DC/Oct/2007

Like a bad habit we were back and nothing has changed but the weather. Angie remembered me and my wife was blown away as this was her first time there. Surprisingly the beef and pork are actually very good here. Quite a feat in CR. DC/June/2008

 

5: Café de Paris $$ (2682 0087) South Guiones beach down from Marlin Bills on the corner. Serving up true French fare in a European standard has made this a favorite for those looking for breakfast, lunch or a fine French pastry. You are as likely to find French spoken here as you are Spanish and English. Small, yet accommodating and a bit hard to find unless you are looking for it. Has high speed inter net access, wireless too.

Great quick stop for lunch on your way out of town. Fresh French bread, always a good sign. Be careful, there is a 12 step program for those indulging in their fresh pastries! Big screen TV usually has a football match on it. Football, as in soccer. DC/June/2008

 

6: Rancho Tico $+ (2682 0006) Located in the town of Nosara on the left just before the curve to the right. This is a local restaurant serving the finest in local Fare. The kitchen is spotless yet the front door is very unassuming. Don’t be intimidated to eat at a Tico restaurant. This is a large open family restaurant. The menu is in English and the waiter probably a former exchange student looking to get back to Miami. The menu never seems to end and there is a full bar. The place is much bigger than it looks from the outside and is popular with the gringos living full time in Nosara.

When I first walked through the door I was pleasantly surprised as the front door gave off the appearance of some of the bars down on the US/Mexico border. Inside could not be cleaner and more organized. The food was great all around the table and I would not doubt that the kitchen the cleanest of all of them. Check your stereotypes at the door. Que Pasa, Amigo DC/June/2008

7: Harbor Reef Lodge $$ (2682 1000) South Guiones Beach, Great food at a great price but a bit hard to find. This restaurant has a great bar with some of the best looking bartenders in CR and they have heard it all! Fish Tacos are popular and the place is very well run and the menu is perhaps the most varied. With off street parking and the feel of an older Hawaiian resort, Harbor Reef is a popular Gringo hang out. Music on certain nights. Call for more information. Please do not feed the critters!

The lunch and dinner menus are the same. Fish tacos are about as good as it gets. Sandwiches for lunch are worth the return.  DC/June/2008

8: Pancho’s Mexican Restaurant $(2682 0591) As you drive to the town of Nosara, at the five corners intersection take a 180 degree left hand turn toward Playa Pelada. Pancho’s is 300 meters down on the left. The food at Ponchos is great and about the best bargain in town. With plenty of outside seating you can always get a table. Service varies but the quality of the food does not. The full time Gringo community hangs out here and the small grocery store next to it has all of the staples you need and a good deli as well.

Talk about cheap eats. No wonder the gringos have this place covered up. Don’t be surprised if some of the patrons are only wearing a pair of shorts, many are perhaps just returning from surfing Playa Pelada down by Olga's. Winos can buy a bottle of vino next door at the bodega and  have it for dinner. Wife still speaks highly of the burrito with green sauce.  DC/June/2008

9: The Gilded Iguana, $$ (2682 0259) Located at the northern entrance to Playa Guiones. Skip their breakfasts and head to the Gilded Iguana for lunch or dinner. The lunch menu consist of the typical (but good) sandwiches and burgers. The dinner menu features fresh seafood (whatever was caught that morning) and is outstanding! The walls of this open air restaurant are coved with graffiti from people who have passed through the hotel or restaurant. It's also a good place if you need a baseball or NFL fix as the TV is usually has a game on. On Tuesday nights they have live music, bluegrass and whoever else shows up.(Always call before going if you expect live music) The food is reasonably priced, delicious and a good bargain. Not dirt cheap, but affordable. There is a board with the catch of the day and the many ways it can be prepared. Absolutely the freshest seafood in town.

When the tuna are on the reef just outside the port of Garza, this is the place to come. Can’t recall anyone ever ordering anything else but fish for dinner here. DC/June/2008

 

10: Giardino Tropicale $ (2682 0258) Located on the main road at the first turn off for the northern entrance to Guiones Beach. This is a family pizza/pasta restaurant that is owned and operated by Ticos. It is a huge hang out of local families and the food is as good as the service is fast. Gringos, Ticos and Pasta. A good mix at affordable prices.

This is perhaps the most centrally located restaurant in town. Easily mistaken for just a hotel, the food here is not an after thought like some other hotels in town. The menu was quite specific and the pizza fresh. Nice find. DC/June 2008

11: La Luna, $$(2682 0122)  Located down past Pancho’s on Playa Pelada. If you are staying at Playa Pelada it may actually be  quicker to walk down the beach than to drive. Can’t beat the location and/or the sunsets. Best described as a Balkan seafront structure with a Key West menu. The food is posted on the board by the door to the bar and varies somewhat from night to night. Very reasonable priced and very busy in the high season.

Sadly La Luna is having some issues with consistency. The owner/operator had a child and the service and quality of the food has varied. There is talk of a very competent couple taking it over. DC/June/2008

The death of the Blew Dog Bar and Grill: We would like to take a moment and pay our condolences to the loss of the Blew Dog bar and grill. Once the heart and sole of Nosara, the bar where the flag of the unpretentious once flew as high as the patrons is sadly no more. Weakened by a wicked divorce, the Blew Dog was unable to contend with full frontal assault by the yoga militia. This reservoir of memories will be missed by all. Peace offering anyone?