What to Eat and Drink in Costa Rica: A Food Lover's Guide

Costa Rican food, simply explained

Costa Rican cooking, often called *comida tipica*, is fresh, hearty and built around rice, beans, plantains and tropical produce. It's not heavily spiced like other Latin American kitchens, so flavours lean clean and comforting. The local motto pura vida (pure life) carries over to the table: relaxed, generous and unfussy.

Signature dishes to try

• Gallo pinto - the national breakfast of rice and black beans fried with onion, cilantro and a splash of Salsa Lizano, served with eggs, fried plantain and *natilla* (sour cream).
• Casado - a balanced lunch plate of rice, beans, salad, plantain and a protein like chicken, beef or fish. Expect to pay 3,500-5,000 colones (about 6-9 USD).
• Olla de carne - a slow-cooked beef and vegetable soup with yuca, plantain and chayote.
• Ceviche - usually corvina (sea bass) cured in lime with cilantro and onion, eaten with soda crackers.
• Chifrijo - a bar snack of rice, beans, crispy pork (chicharron), pico de gallo and tortilla chips.

Street food and snacks

Look for empanadas filled with cheese or beans, patacones (twice-fried plantain), and *gallos* (small filled tortillas). Around markets you'll find fresh fruit like mamon chino (rambutan), guanabana and pejibaye, a starchy palm fruit eaten with mayonnaise.

What to drink

• Coffee - Costa Rica's pride. Try it from regions like Tarrazu, often brewed through a cloth *chorreador*.
• Refrescos naturales - fresh fruit drinks blended with water or milk; cas, tamarindo and mora are favourites.
• Agua dulce - a warm drink made from melted *tapa dulce* (unrefined cane sugar).
• Beer - Imperial and Pilsen are the everyday lagers.
• Guaro - the national sugarcane spirit, the base of a *chiliguaro* shot.

Practical dining tips

• A soda is a small family-run eatery and the best value for authentic food.
• Tipping: a 10% service charge plus 13% tax is usually included; rounding up is appreciated.
• Tap water is safe in most tourist areas, but ask in remote zones.
• Lunch (almuerzo) is the main meal; sodas can sell out of casados by mid-afternoon.

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