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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.
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.
