Franco
Fashionable Franco serves gourmet beverages made from the country’s premium coffees, all to the tune of a European-style espresso bar. Your inner amateur barista may want to check into the slate of coffee workshops offered here.
11 Best Restaurants in San Jose, Costa Rica
Costa Rica's capital beckons with the country's most varied and cosmopolitan restaurant scene. Italian, Spanish, Asian, French, Middle Eastern, Peruvian—they're all here, along with upscale Costa Rican cuisine.
Wherever you eat in San José, be it a small soda or a sophisticated restaurant, dress is casual. Meals tend to be taken earlier than in other Latin American countries; few restaurants serve past 9 or 10 pm. Local cafés usually open for breakfast at 7 am and remain open until 7 or 8 in the evening. Restaurants serving international cuisine are usually open from 11 am to 9 pm. Some cafés that serve mainly San José office workers limit evening hours and close entirely on Sunday. Restaurants that do open on Sunday do a brisk business: it's the traditional family day out (and the maid's day off). Watch your things, no matter where you dine. Even at the best restaurants, thieves occasionally target purses slung over chair arms or placed under chairs.
Café Otoya Bistró
The warm and welcoming vibe that exudes from this cool Barrio Otoya café is only enhanced by the friendly, attentive staff. Diners are a real mix: some chow down on a sumptuous tenderloin, while others stop in for baked goods and coffee, but almost everyone partakes in the all-day brunch, especially on weekends. Stop in for the café’s $24 Work Combo package, which includes breakfast, lunch, a table for your laptop, and free use of Wi-Fi.
Café Rojo
The vine-covered fence might cause you to miss this converted Barrio Amón house as you go by, but inside, Vietnamese combines well with Costa Rican fare. Main menu choices are a mix-and-match affair with a variety of bún dishes (meat or vegetables with vermicelli noodles) paired with sauces and other ingredients. Vegan and gluten-free options are well-marked on the menu. Top it all off with a variety of non-Vietnamese desserts such as carrot or chocolate cake and an inventive coffee and cocktail menu.
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Cafeoteca
This café blends and roasts its own coffee on-site which pairs well with the cakes and pies on offer. All coffees served here are also for sale in the shop, including samplers of eight different varieties from around the country in individual single-cup sachets.
Dolce Gelato
The homemade gelato served here gives Costa Rica’s ubiquitous Pop’s ice cream chain a run for its money. These folks get adventurous with their flavors: maracuyá (passion fruit) and mango are two popular ones. Eat inside or in the pleasant garden with your gelato on a crepe or get it to go in a waffle cone.
Don Wang
In a country where "Chinese cuisine" usually means simply white rice and vegetables, Don Wang's authenticity is a treat. Cantonese cuisine is the mainstay, and Don Wang is known for its immensely popular dim sum, called desayuno chino (literally "Chinese breakfast") here. You can order it all day—bearing in mind that this place doesn't open until 11 am.
A Dos Manos
The name translates as “with two hands,” and that’s what it takes to handle the monster burgers here. The capital’s best burgers are made from grass-fed beef (except for the veggie and chicken burgers), with inventive toppings such as Caesar salad, mac and cheese, or hash browns. Informality reigns here with a few picnic tables scattered among the more "grown-up" furniture. Commuter trains rumble by during the evening rush hour.
Entre Nous
Between us—that's the translation of the French name—it’s the crepes—salty or sweet—that draw the crowds here. It’s a bright, cheery place with a covered terrace to stop for dessert after an evening out in Barrio Escalante. There are also heavier, main-course items, such as burgers or panini, on the menu if the hunger pangs get to you. The folks here also operate branches in Alajuela and Heredia out in the Central Valley.
La Trattoria
The excellent, reasonably priced homemade pastas make this popular lunch spot worth the stop. Begin your meal with fresh bread and excellent antipasti, and make sure to save room for tiramisu. The back patio makes a pleasant respite during the dry season from the bustle of the city. Soft, live music is on tap Friday evenings.
Lubnan
The Lebanese owners at one of San José's few Middle Eastern restaurants serve a wide variety of dishes from their native region, but if you can't decide, the meze platter serves two people and gives you a little bit of everything. Try the juicy shish kebab de cordero (of lamb) or, if you're feeling especially adventurous, the raw ground-meat kebbe naye (with wheat meal) and kafta naye (without wheat meal). A hip bar in the back serves the same menu. On Wednesday night there is live synthesizer music; on Thursday night, check out the immensely popular 8 pm belly-dancing show.
Olio
Although this century-old redbrick house with stained-glass windows serves the full contingent of Mediterranean cuisine, it's best for drinks and Spanish-style tapas. The pub atmosphere draws everybody from tie-clad business executives to university students, and there are umbrella-covered tables on the sidewalk to enjoy warm evenings. Groups liven up the large front room—the quieter, smaller back rooms maintain a bit more romance.
