What to eat and drink in Costa Rica: dishes, etiquette and dietary tips

Costa Rican eating runs on rice and black beans. Gallo pinto — rice and beans fried with onion, sweet pepper and coriander — is the breakfast dish, served with eggs, sour cream and a cup of coffee. At lunch the set plate is a casado: rice, beans, salad, fried plantain and a choice of beef, chicken, pork or fish. It is the cheapest full meal you will find, and the one locals eat every day.

Weekend lunches often mean olla de carne, a beef soup with yuca, chayote, corn and plantain, served in sodas and family restaurants. In the evening, bars in San José serve chifrijo: beans, rice, pork crackling and pico de gallo with tortilla chips. Arroz con pollo shows up at parties and lunch counters, and ceviche — white fish cured in lime with onion and coriander — is a coastal snack, best at a busy place near the water.

The Caribbean coast cooks differently: rice and red beans simmered in coconut milk, with jerk chicken or fish, plus rondón (a coconut seafood stew) and patí (a spiced meat pastry). It is the most distinct regional cooking in the country and worth a detour to Puerto Viejo de Talamanca or Tortuguero.

A soda is a small local eatery, usually family-run, with a fixed menu of casados, soups and rice dishes. They are the backbone of cheap eating: a casado at a soda costs ₡3,500–5,500, while the same plate in a tourist-town restaurant can run ₡8,000–12,000. Look for sodas near markets, bus stations and offices, where the lunch crowd turns over the food.

Municipal markets in San José, Alajuela and Cartago have food counters and fruit stalls; they are a good place to try gallo pinto early and buy fruit for the day. Bakeries sell pastries, empanadas and coffee through the afternoon. In beach towns and eco-lodge areas, restaurant prices climb quickly, so a soda lunch and a simple dinner is the standard way to keep the food budget down.

Supermarkets (Automercado, Mas x Menos, Palí) are useful for picnic food, bottled water and coffee to take home. Farmers' markets, usually held one morning a week in each town, are the cheapest source of fruit — ask your hotel which day yours falls on.

Costa Rica grows its own coffee, and a cup is cheap and good almost everywhere — ordered as café negro (black) or café con leche (with milk). Chorreadas and coffee are a common afternoon pairing. Fresh fruit juice (jugo natural) is everywhere: mango, papaya, pineapple, watermelon, and the sour guanábana or cas. A batido is the same fruit blended with milk or water.

Beer means Imperial, Pilsen or Bavaria, served cold and costing ₡1,500–2,500 in a bar. The local spirit is guaro, a sugarcane liquor, often drunk as a shot or in a chiliguaro with tomato juice and lime. Rum and rum-and-coconut drinks are common on the Caribbean side. Wine is imported and expensive.

Tap water is generally treated in cities and most towns, but many travellers and locals drink bottled or filtered water, especially outside the Central Valley. Bottled water is sold everywhere; refill stations are less common than in Mexico or Europe. If you are unsure about a source, buy sealed bottles.

Restaurant bills in Costa Rica usually include a 10% service charge and 13% VAT, so the total on the bill is what you pay. If service is not included, 10% is the norm. Tipping tour guides, drivers and hotel staff is optional but appreciated: US$1–5 or ₡1,000–5,000 depending on the service.

Cards are accepted at most hotels, restaurants and tour companies, but small sodas, market stalls and parking often take cash only. US dollars are widely accepted in tourist areas, with change usually given in colones. Carry small colón notes for sodas and buses.

Costa Rica is the most expensive country in Central America, and food is no exception: a mid-range day of eating runs US$35–60 per person, while a backpacker eating at sodas and markets can stay near US$15–25. Cooking your own meals in a hostel kitchen cuts the cost further.

Vegetarians can eat well, but need to ask. Gallo pinto and casados are naturally meat-free at their base, yet the beans are sometimes cooked with pork or lard, and the rice may be cooked in chicken stock. Say sin carne (no meat) and sin manteca de cerdo (no lard) and most sodas will adapt the plate with egg, cheese or extra plantain.

Vegans should ask for the casado without cheese, cream or egg, and check that the beans and rice were not cooked with animal fat. Fresh fruit, plantain, yuca and salads are easy to find. Caribbean cooking uses coconut milk, which is fine for most diets but heavy; ask whether a dish contains fish or shellfish stock if that matters to you.

For serious allergies, carry a card in Spanish naming the ingredient and stating it is dangerous, not a preference. Peanuts, tree nuts and shellfish appear in sauces and stews, and cross-contact in small kitchens is likely. Celiac travellers should be cautious: soy sauce, marinades and some sausages contain wheat, and tortillas are made from corn but may share a kitchen with wheat bread.

Meals are relaxed. A greeting on entering a soda — buenos días, buenas tardes — is expected, and a gracias on leaving is normal. Lunch is the main meal of the day for many Costa Ricans, and sodas fill between noon and 2pm. Dinner is lighter and later in cities, earlier in beach towns.

Sharing is common, and splitting a plate of chifrijo or a round of beers is normal. Ask before taking the last piece. Coffee is offered to guests as a matter of course; accepting is polite. If you are invited to a home, a small gift such as pastries, fruit or a bottle of wine is welcome.

Alcohol is widely available but drinking heavily in public is uncommon. Bars in San José and beach towns are lively on weekends; rural areas are quieter. Smoking is banned in enclosed public places, including restaurants and bars.