22 Best Bars in Costa Rica

The viny, jungly interior and exterior might make you question if you’re indoors or outdoors here. Partake of a good selection of inventive cocktails and craft beers all to the accompaniment of burgers and appetizers. Enjoy mellow jazz or blues on occasional evenings with the over-30 crowd who frequents this place.

Snag one of the front tables at this enjoyable place for a nighttime drink on the second floor of the Hotel Balmoral, and you can survey the passing parade on Avenida Central. You’ll hear occasional live music on weekends.

If you’re out this way, Chao’s makes for a pleasant open-air space for a beer and some seafood and fries at any time. Like Reggae Bar next door, there's beachfront dining, Caribbean menus, and nonstop reggae and dancehall booming from the speakers. After dark, it’s best to get here and back by taxi.

Local expats meet up at this popular brewhouse, sports bar, and grill, with TVs for Monday Night Football, a full range of bar food, Costa Rican craft beer, and live music most nights. It's not the place to go if you're in a hurry, service can sometimes be slow. Tuesday features karaoke at 7:30. There's also free Wi-Fi, but don't expect to be able to focus on work over the noise.

The music and voices wafting out of this Main Street eatery most evenings attract both tourists and locals to huddle together over cacao margaritas and bottles of Imperial. Tables are set up on the sidewalk and the open-air patio, and on most nights of the week there is a reason to stop in, whether it's for drink specials, karaoke, or a DJ. The atmosphere is one of friendly neighborhood camaraderie, even though it may only be your first visit. The food is tasty and the portions are generous; the full menu features pizzas and seafood dishes, but as the night goes on, the menu becomes limited to pizza only.

After a sunset surf session, pull up a bar stool in the sand and enjoy a craft beer made at the neighboring Volcano Brewing Company. Happy hour is from 5 to 7, and there’s live music on weekends. If you’ve worked up an appetite, try the chicken wings, jalapeño poppers, hamburgers, and nachos. This is the best place to watch the surfers over a cold one.

The best place to enjoy a quiet sunset margarita—or make that a “rooster-rita”—is at this laid-back bar and restaurant on the beach. You can relax on the wooden deck, or at the tables right on the sand, and enjoy a romantic dinner featuring fresh fish and Tex-Mex favorites. Portions here are huge, and there's free Wi-Fi, a pool table, a big-screen TV, and occasional live music to keep you entertained. It's open 11 to 9:30, but if you get here early, you may end up staying all day.

The curved, polished-wood bar at this marina is cooled by breezes off Golfito Bay. It's a pleasant place to meet locals, tell fish tales, and sit and watch the sunset over the bay. Drink specials, including 2 for 1 cocktails are offered all day long.

A popular watering hole with the under-30 set, this spot has televised sports by day, varied music by night, and an island theme of beach paintings and surfboards. Costa Ricans refer to this style of bar as an "American bar," which is fairly accurate.

A wonderful breeze wafts through this huge, semi-open-air, U-shaped bar just off the beach. Nights are dedicated variously to bingo, karaoke, live music, and open-mic performances.

There's no mistaking when the party is on at Johnny’s Place, as the music blasts onto the beachfront outside the bar and the crowd dances along to reggae or Latin beats. The crowd is a mix of locals and tourists out for a good time, although some nights the party can take a while to get going.

Sip an exotic tropical cocktail or munch on hummus and pita bread while watching the sun set at this lovely Mediterranean restaurant and bar, which has settees and rattan chairs set out on the sand, as well as seats in the chic new indoor lounge. You'll most likely need a reservation for sunset.

This tiny boîte of a bar is the coolest place in town, with an Escher-inspired tile floor and hip lighting. Bellying up to the bar is a pleasure; in fact, practically the entire space is given over to a handsome bar with an old-fashioned bar rail to lean on. A cool soundtrack accompanies your beer tasting. You can try a sample of any of the 16 Costa Rican craft microbrews on tap. Once you find your favorite, a 12-ounce cold brew costs around $6. A few high tables spill out onto the street, surrounded by groups of happy beer drinkers. Happy Hour runs 2–6, boasting two drinks for $12. 

Sunsets, with occasional live music, are the main events in the evening on Playa Pelada, and both locals and tourists gather to watch it here at this beach shack and bar with the best view.

This is a good choice for a cocktail, after-dinner drinks, or a late-night meal. It has a big bar in back, pool tables, and DJs and dancing on weekends.

In a land of Imperial, it's nice to find good beer. The friendly staff at this independent brewery serve up a tasty variety of stouts, IPAs, sours, lagers, and even root beer. They're conveniently located next to a beer garden of sorts, an outdoor food court with lots of options from burgers to pizza. Take a load off and sip a cold flight. There's live music every Friday at 7 and other events like trivia and bingo other nights.

In the center of town on the corner of the parquecito, this colorful open-air restaurant serving a full Caribbean menu and tropical cocktails spills out into the park and creates a lively community atmosphere, especially during the live calypso on Sunday nights and the roots reggae DJ on Thursdays. The menu also offers vegetarian options and bright, fruity cocktails that remind you that you’re in the tropics.

This is the biggest, most popular sports bar in town, with huge TV screens showing up to six games at once. After the game, both floors play extremely loud music for dancing. There's live music on Monday, karaoke on Tuesday, and ladies' night Saturday. If sports aren't your thing, the bar food is good. The action starts at 11:30 am and goes to 2:30 am.

This low-key, mostly local place serves 30 types of beer—domestic and imported—with the requisite selection of chicken wings, nachos, and other appetizers, along with sporting events—mostly soccer—on the big-screen TV.

Tuesday is $2 taco night at the lively, sometimes rowdy and mostly expat crowd at Tasty Waves Cantina. There’s karaoke on Saturday, all-day happy hour on Sunday, and trivia night gets underway at 7:30 pm on Thursday.