La Esquina de Buenos Aires
Restaurants in San Jose, Costa Rica
San José has a variety of restaurants serving cuisines from all over the world. You can find superb French, Italian, and contemporary fusion restaurants around the city, as well as Peruvian, Japanese, Swiss, and Spanish spots. The greatest concentration and variety of restaurants is in the downtown area, as well as in the nearby suburbs of Escazú and Santa Ana. If you’re looking for cheap eats, you’ll find them all across the city in little restaurants known as sodas, which are the equivalent of diners in the United States.
Fruit vendors stake out spots on almost every street corner in downtown San José. If you’re in town between April and June, you can sample more varieties of mangoes than you ever knew existed. Be sure to try a green mango with salt and chili peppers—it’s guaranteed to wake up your taste buds. Another common street food is pejibaye, a bright orange palm nut about the size of a plum. They’re boiled in big pots on carts; you eat them in much the same way you eat an avocado, and they taste a bit like squash.
Aside of the restaurants we have full reviews for on this website, don’t miss out on the sodas in the Mercado Central, located between avenidas Central and 1 and calles 6 and 8. Here you will find no frills breakfast and lunch counters with hearty traditional meals like lengua en salsa (beef tongue in sauce), chorreadas (corn pancakes), and gallos de chile relleno (fried and stuffed peppers served over corn tortillas).
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26 Results
- Cafe/Coffeehouse
Alma de Café
Housed in an anteroom off the main lobby of the neo-baroque National Theater (Teatro Nacional), what should be just a simple coffee shop and restaurant is elevated by its setting—marble tables and floors, as well as elaborate painted ceiling murals, and regularly rotating exhibits of…$Downtown San José - Italian
Bacchus
This elegant restaurant, inside an adobe home built in 1870, is one of the best Italian options in the city, if not the country. Thin-crust pizzas come out of the wood-burning oven from the open kitchen. Pastas and ravioli are homemade and all are scrumptious, particularly the…$$$Escazú - International
Café Mundo
A popular spot with a lively atmosphere and artsy ambience, this restaurant is housed in a remodeled old mansion, with tables and chairs spread through several rooms, hallways, outdoor patios, and terraces. The largest dining room here features floor-to-ceiling flowers painted by…$$Barrio Amón-Barrio Otoya - Cafe/Bistro
Cafeoteca
This ambitious café and gallery aims to become the center for specialty coffee in San José. Towards that end, it partners with 15 single estate, micro-lot family run farms, so the java here is truly unique. Aside from a roaster, coffee cupping bar, and café area, there’s a full…$Barrio Escalante - Chinese
Coconut
Most guidebooks list the overly-touristy, Pan-Asian Tien Jo for Chinese food in San José, but locals in the know head to this unassuming spot a few blocks away. There are no golden dragons or patches of bamboo here, just a straightforward dining room backed by an open kitchen that…$Downtown San José - Argentine/Steak
Donde Carlos
While La Esquina de Buenos Aires has the better and more authentic Argentine ambience and vibe, this place gets my vote as the best Argentine-style steakhouse in the city, if not the country. The cuts of meat are thick, tender and perfectly prepared. You’ll pass the large, open,…$$$San Pedro-Los Yoses - Steakhouse
Furca
This is not your typical Costa Rican steakhouse. Chef Marco Leiva clearly has traveled, as he serves cuts rarely found in Central America, including porterhouses, picanhas, and chateaubriands, and carefully dry ages them in the cellar. As unusual: he serves them with internationally…$$$Nunciatura - International
Grano de Oro Restaurant
It’s no accident that the city’s most elegant boutique hotel also has one of its most revered fine dining restaurants. The owners wooed and won French-born Francis Canal, a classically trained chef who has never stopped evolving, combining classic techniques from his homeland with…$$$In La Sabana-Paseo Colón - Eclectic
Isolina
Set in a historic, 1942 home, Isolina is San Jose’s most elegant restaurant, a pretty setting for the city’s pretty people. Guests are seated in one of several intimate dining areas, but if you get to choose, ask to be seated on the beguiling patio, its trees festooned with Edison…$$$Barrio Escalante - Cafe
Jardin de la Abuela
This no-frills café serves homey Costa Rican dishes made with lot of love. Come for a hearty Tico breakfast or lunchtime casado, as well as a piece of lasagna or a good cup of local coffee. They’re only open during weekdays.$Barrio Escalante-San Pedro - Argentine/Steakhouse
La Esquina de Buenos Aires
Frankly, the Argentines do steak much better than the Ticos, and this Argentine-themed steakhouse is one of the best restaurants in the city. The decor and ambience are pure Porteño, and the extensive menu features a long list of grilled meats, including bife de chorizo (strip), ojo…$$$Downtown San José - Peruvian/International
Machu Picchu
This longstanding local institution serves up excellent and traditional Peruvian cuisine in a converted old home (exposed brick walls and red tile floors), just off of Paseo Colón. The menu is extensive, with a wide range of ceviches and other cold and hot appetizers. The parihuela—a…$$La Sabana-Paseo Colón - Vegetarian
Mantras Veggie Café and Tea House
This is among the best vegetarian restaurants in the city, with garden seating under bright red canvas umbrellas. The menu features a broad mix of soups, salads, wraps, sandwiches, and main dishes in both vegan and raw states. Signature dishes here include the raw zucchini “pasta”…$San Pedro-Los Yoses - Mediterranean
Olio
This dimly lit, intimate restaurant has a romantic vibe, with several small rooms and quiet nooks located off the main dining area. A laundry list of classic Greek, Italian, and Spanish dishes is served in tapas-size portions, alongside more hearty pasta and main-course options. The…$$San Pedro-Los Yoses - Snacks/Sandwiches
Panaderia Cumpanis
Longtime sourdough bakers Gabriela Jiménez and Pablo Ramírez have been selling their baked goods for years, but it wasn’t until 2020, at the height of the pandemic, that they decided to open a storefront. The airy bakery and café sells fresh breads and pastries of every sort daily,…$Los Yoses - Fusion
PARC Nunciatura
British chef Richard Neat has long been a beloved fixture in San Jose’s culinary scene. He ran a two-star Michelin restaurant in London before moving to Costa Rica, and was primarily cooking out of a hybrid antiques and decorative arts shop/restaurant for several years until making…$$$Nunciatura - Seafood
Product-C
Although San José is inland, this fish market and restaurant prides itself on daily pre-dawn runs to Puntarenas and other coastal supply points to get the freshest catch possible. They even set up the first and only oyster farm in Costa Rica, producing small, yet very tasty oysters.…$$Escazú - Vegan
Raw To Go
With the amount of yogis and surfers in Costa Rica, it’s no wonder raw and health food restaurants are popping up all over San José. This fast-casual Barrio Escalante eatery offers cold pressed juices, a few bowls (açaí, granola), and a variety of whole grain toasts and wraps. They…$Barrio Escalante-San Pedro - Costa Rican
Restaurante Nuestra Tierra
Almost a cross between a TGI Fridays and an old Costa Rican homestead kitchen, Nuestra Tierra has waitstaff in traditional garb serving traditional Costa Rica fare to crowds sitting at heavy wooden tables on bench seating. Bunches of bananas and onions and scores of painted enamel…$$Downtown San José - Italian
Sapore Trattoria
This traditional trattoria is well located just off the Plaza de la Democracia, a stone’s throw from the Jade Museum. The long, narrow dining room features wooden floors and some exposed brick and stone work. Start things off with a mixed antipasto plate, or some thin-sliced beef…$$Downtown San José - Indigenous
Sikwa
Sikwa may well be the most unique dining experience you have in Costa Rica. Its ever-changing menu is inspired by the richness of Costa Rican biodiversity, and the country's indigenous and traditional foodways. In fact, the menu is a call to action, highlighting treasured ingredients…$$Las Yoses - Contemporary
Silvestre
Chef Santiago Fernández Benedetto spent years working in kitchens around the world then returned home to Costa Rica to take over the kitchen at La Fortuna’s Don Rufino. And now, the elegant dining rooms of a restored, 1930s Barrio Amon house and interior with a plant-lined courtyard…$$$Barrio Amon - Costa Rican
Soda Tapia
Dine with the locals at this prototypical Tico soda in a retro 1950s-style American diner, complete with bright lights and Formica tables. The food is solid and the service speedy. Its extended hours make it a good choice for a late-night bite. The main branch is just across from the…$La Sabana-Paseo Colón - CHINESE/PAN-ASIAN
Tin Jo
This has long been one of the best and most popular restaurants in the city. Costa Rica has a long history of Chinese immigration and this family restaurant is on its second generation. However, the menu here wanders far and wide, with more traditional Szechuan and Cantonese plates…$$Downtown San José - Vegetarian
Vishnu
This mini-chain was a pioneer in providing vegetarian cooking to the Costa Rican masses. I find their cooking a bit uninspired, but it’s a safe and popular bet for folks looking for vegetarian and vegan options in San José. The fresh fruit juices and smoothies here are great, and…$Downtown San José - Costa Rican/Caribbean
Whapin’
It’s hard to find authentic Costa Rican Caribbean cooking away from the coast, but this humble place does a good job with a wide range of specialties more commonly served up in Cahuita and Puerto Viejo. They’ve always got the seafood and root vegetable stew rondon on the menu, as…$$San Pedro-Los Yoses
