1Gallo pinto
Eaten all over Costa Rica
Rice and beans with Salsa Lizano for breakfast.
‹ The dishes of every country › The Americas
What to eat in Costa Rica
The 8 dishes to eat in Costa Rica
Pura vida cooking: rice, beans and the soda.
1
2Casado
Eaten all over Costa Rica
A plate of rice, beans, plantain, salad and meat.
3Olla de carne
Eaten all over Costa Rica
Beef soup with corn, chayote and cassava, cooked on weekends.
4Ceviche
Best: The coast
Fresh fish cooked in lime juice with onion and coriander.
5A photo like it
6Rice and beans
Best: Limón
Rice and red beans cooked in coconut milk on the Caribbean coast.
7Tamales
Best: Everywhere at Christmas
Corn dough tamales with pork and vegetables, wrapped in banana leaves at Christmas.
8Tres leches
Eaten all over Costa Rica
Sponge cake soaked in condensed, evaporated and fresh milk.
Where to eat in Costa Rica
Chef is checking the restaurants worth it here, one by one, and posts each once it's confirmed open. See the list so far
Eat your way through Costa Rica
Tell Chef when you're going and he'll lay out the days: the dishes, the markets, a walk and dinner, with places that are open.
Next door
Photos: each dish's lead photo on its Wikipedia article (license and author on Wikimedia Commons); "a photo like it" is a food photo of the same kind, not that dish. Cook it opens a recipe in Chef Amazing, or Chef writes one for you. Picked by Chef Amazing, November 2026.
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