I spent three months living in Playas del Coco, Costa Rica, in the Guanacaste region (Pacific Coast) of the country. As per my usual style, I did very little cooking and lots of eating out. Here’s some of my favorite spots for a variety of food from traditional Costa Rican to pizza to tacos and even American comfort food.

Cafe Corazon

This was my favorite place for a traditional Tico breakfast of eggs, cheese, platanos maduros and gallo pinto (rice and beans that’s served with every Costa Rican breakfast!). It also doubled as my “office” since I was working remotely and needed to get out my apartment. The wifi was solid! I loved the variety of coffee drinks especially the “shake coffee” which is iced coffee. My homie Julio who works there makes a delicious iced coffee with vanilla or caramel, and if you’re into alcoholic beverages I recommend his cold brew martini! That was for my afternoon meetings (smile). I also loved the Tico Toast which was locally baked toast with black beans, platanos maduros, cheese, lettuce and tomato. It’s a delicious breakfast, lunch or snack and has held me down on many an occasion. When I needed something non-caffeinated, I ordered smoothies especially sandia y limonada (basically fresh watermelon lemonade crushed with ice) because of course you should take advantage of the copious tropical fresh fruit! And the staff is super dope, say hi to Carla who is full of life, joy, comedy and wisdom!

Chorotacos

Tucked away in a cute little plaza known as Pueblito Sur, you’ll find a delectable little taqueria with a simple yet riquisima (super delicious) menu of goodies. Now there were salads or nacho bowls on the menu, I always had straight up tacos.

I tried them all. Pictured above (left to right) are the barbacoa which was perfectly tender and full of flavor/sabor, the jerk chicken taco which had a pineapple and sweet potato relish, and the fish taco which was breaded with a juicy mango salsa. The barbacoa was my fav of the meat tacos but lemme just say that the cauliflower taco was the crowd pleaser for vegetarians and carnivores across the board. It was grilled with some melted queso blanco (YUM) and what I loved is that you can get it with or without the peanut sauce. I appreciate how they accommodate food allergies with care!

This was our favorite spot to help us soak up the cocktails we’d get at Zarpe, the neighboring cocktail bar.

Zi Lounge

This is definitely your typical beach bar that caters to the North American tourists, especially that expat retiree crowd that probably thinks COVID is a hoax. But nonetheless, their food was pretty good and the prices were (2 for 1 happy hour) were to my liking. I ate there a couple of times and definitely got tipsy from their watermelon mojitos and passionfruit daiquiris. In terms of bites, I tried a light yet filling hearts of palm bruschetta which I recommend, and separately a cheeseburger and fries which was more decadent but equally good. Apparently their pizza is pretty jammin’ too but I was relatively loyal to La Caveja for my Italian foods.

I ended up having a couple of writing work dates there and I was certainly productive. That alcohol got me loose! Go early afternoon before the old folks come to get white boy wasted.

The Lookout

The Lookout is hiding out up in the mountains overlooking Playas del Coco and it’s a gorgeous refuge when you want to escape “town” but not go far. It’s a bumpy taxi ride up but totally worth it!

The views are absolutely breathtaking. Trust that the food, especially the ceviche, is fantastic as well. I’ve had ceviche and poke bowls from there and appreciated how fresh the fish was. And speaking of fresh, let’s talk about the fruit they use in their passionfruit mojitos and pineapple ginger margaritas. No syrupy fake stuff here.

As you can see, the resident vegetarian of the group, Ray, was very pleased with her meal of vegetarian nachos. They were a plentiful fiesta of avocado, mango, jalapenos, crema and some tasty Asian inspired sauce with sesame seeds. We need more restaurants that know how to cater vegetarians and vegans with more than one basic dish on the menu!

Because of COVID restrictions, its popularity and its size, I recommend making reservations so you’re not disappointed!

Ceviche Man

Okay, that is not actually his name but since he doesn’t have a proper “restaurant” storefront, that’s my personal descriptor. You can find him on the main road of Coco with a sign that says “El Mejor Ceviche (The Best in Town).” And lemme say that I fux with him. For 2000 colones, you’ll get a Dixie cup full of tasty ceviche made with Mahi Mahi instead of tilapia which you often find at the tourist restaurants.