Although Costa Rica is not a foodie destination or known for gourmet dishes or fine dining, you’ll still eat well during your vacation. Due to the mass influx of foreigners from all around the world, you can find a variety of food like Italian, Argentinian, Mexican, American, French and Spanish.
But if you want to try traditional Costa Rican dishes, then you must go to a soda (what Costa Ricans call local restaurants). There you will find only local Costa Rican food and one good thing about eating at a Costa Rican soda is that it’s usually much cheaper than eating at a touristic restaurant.
If you’re curious as to what exactly Costa Rican cuisine is like, check out this post. We included 15 of our favorite Costa Rican dishes on there and recommendations for our favorite sodas. Since Yeison is Costa Rican, I’ve had the privilege to try a lot of Costa Rican dishes that most tourists don’t get to so I’ll also include recommendations for where to get them.
Traditional Costa Rican Dishes: Chifrijo
Chifrijos are the ultimate Costa Rican bar food. It’s basically a bowl of rice, beans, pico de gallo, chicharrones (fried pork) and guacamole. They usually serve this at every local bar and though it may not be on the menu (there are some patent laws regarding the name), you can ask the waiter.
Pair the chifrijo with an Imperial beer (or a shot of chiliguaro) and you basically have Costa Rica in one meal! Our favorite places to go for a chifrijo are at the Posada de la Brujas restaurant in San Jose (it is called a patrulla on their menu), Isagas Bar in Jaco and Bar Villa Costa in Villarreal. I recommend going to a local bar though, most tourist bars don’t have them.
Olla de Carne
Olla de carne is one of the few soup dishes they eat here. It’s a very simple but hearty and healthy soup with beef, yucca, corn, green plantain, taro, yam, carrot and potato.
Only local restaurants have olla de carne but not all of them have it every day. Since this soup is known as “hangover food” and takes awhile to make, restaurants usually only make them once a week. Our favorite places for olla de carne is Soda Sabor Tico in Monteverde and the Parada de Bus in La Fortuna. The soup in the photo is from Las Delicias del Maiz in Alajuela. They all have them every day.
You can try to make this at home with our Costa Rican olla de carne recipe.
Ensalada de Caracolitos
Caracolitos in Spanish are the small pasta shells and Costa Ricans make a tuna pasta salad with them. It’s more like a side dish rather than a main dish and I like to get it when I don’t feel like rice.
If you go to a soda that is buffet style, you will usually find ensalada de caracolitos.
Costa Rican Taco
Costa Rican tacos are not like Mexican tacos at all. They roll the tortilla with the filling and deep fry it.
They put shredded cabbage with ketchup and mayonnaise on top and it’s usually filled with beef or chicken. You can find this in some sodas and it’s usually under the fast food section.
Patacones
Patacones are smashed fried plantains and they’re probably one of the best things to eat in Costa Rica. You can order them with guacamole, pico de gallo or beans.
We usually order this as an appetizer and patacones are normally served with rice and beans on the Caribbean coast. The patacones in Puerto Viejo are amazing and we also had really good ones at Soda Tipica Las Palmas in Montezuma and Soda Tiquicia in Santa Teresa.
Chorreadas
These are Costa Rican corn pancakes that are eaten as a snack or for breakfast. These are delicious paired with coffee as they are normally made sweet or you can eat it with natilla like the picture above, a type of sour cream.
Chorreadas is like a pancake but made with ground corn which you pan fry until it turns a crunchy golden brown. We’ve had good ones at Soda Sabor Tico in Monteverde but they are not usually on menus so you can ask the waiter.
Churchills
Churchills were invented in Puntarenas and this is a must if you love sweets. It’s a more intense variation of the Costa Rica copo with ice cream with kola syrup, condensed milk, powdered milk and barquillos (the straw cookies).
You can also try a copo or granizado which is the same thing without the ice cream. You can find them in every beach town and most cities.
Rice and Beans
Rice and beans are from the Caribbean side of the country, making it completely different than the typical gallo pinto breakfast dish. The locals use coconut milk in the rice and beans, pair it with patacones and slow cooked chicken or fish.
Add a bit of the Caribbean hot sauce and you have one of the best things to eat in Costa Rica. Our favorite place for rice and beans is Soda Lidias in Puerto Viejo.
Crema de Pejibaye
If you love rich soups, then you must try crema de Pejibaye. Pejibaye, or peach palm is a type of fruit native to Central America. It kind of looks like a really small coconut but the inside is a soft, kind of grainy fruit that tastes a bit like sweet potato.
They make this into a cream soup so it’s quite rich but full of nutrients as pejibaye is very healthy. We’ve only ever had this at a few places in Costa Rica. Once at the Buena Vista Lodge and another time at a restaurant in San Jose.
Chilera
This is the Costa Rican version of pickled vegetables. You can find this in nearly all sodas and if you don’t see one on your table, ask your waiter. Each soda makes their own so they’re always different but if you like the pickled/vineger flavor, you’ll love the chilera!
They usually use onions, cucumbers, carrots, cauliflower and Panamanian peppers. Most sodas make their own chilera.
Gallo
A Costa Rican gallo is kind of a snack and it is very common in barbecue restaurants. It is basically a tortilla with a meat, either beef, pork or chicken but they also have them with beans and cheese.
A very popular place for gallos is Betico Mata in Turrialba.
Ceviche de Banano Verde
Ceviche de banano verde is made with green banana, lettuce, onion, celery, sweet pepper and lime juice. It’s eaten as an appetizer and you can eat it with chips.
This is an excellent dish for vegans as it’s made with green bananas, onions, celery and other veggies. We haven’t seen this in too many sodas except for ones in very small rural towns. We had this one at Danta Corcovado Lodge.
Rondon
Another Caribbean dish to try is rondon, a rich coconut milk soup with fish and veggies like corn, yuca, Panamanian pepper and potato.
This is a hearty soup, perfect for rainy days in the Caribbean. You can find this at all the local restaurants in Puerto Viejo, the one at Selvin’s was really good.
Trits Ice Cream
Trits is a type of ice cream made from the Costa Rican company Dos Pinos who makes all sorts of diary products. It’s originally an ice cream cookie and they just made an entire Trits flavor ice cream.
You can get Trits ice cream at any supermarket or small grocery store. It’s so good!
Empanada
Costa Rican empanadas are another one of our favorite fast food snacks. They fill the empanada with meat and stuff it with cabbage.
Rainforest Cafe in La Fortuna is one of our favorite places for empanadas, they are huge!
Arroz Con Palmito
Arroz con palmito is a Costa Rican rice dish that’s not super common at restaurants but we have gotten it a couple times. It’s rice with heart of palm. This hearty dish is topped with cheese and made with whole cream. Yeison loves this but he doesn’t really like ordering it at restaurants, he prefers to eat it when his aunts make it.
Spoon Chocolate Cake
This isn’t really a dish since it’s a dessert but I couldn’t leave this one out. Spoon is a chain of restaurants and they make their own desserts and pastries. Their chocolate cake is one of my favorite cakes.
I’m not a huge fan of frosting but I love theirs. It’s thick and gooey and their cakes are always good but the chocolate is the best! You can buy Spoon cakes at supermarkets like Auto Mercado or Mega Super.
Traditional Costa Rican Food
I certainly can’t talk about Costa Rican food without mentioning the three below. These are three of the most common, most traditional dishes of Costa Rica that you will find at every single local restaurant.
Gallo Pinto
These two dishes are probably what you’ll eat in Costa Rica the most as you can find them at every soda, or traditional restaurant. Gallo pinto, a mixture of rice, beans and chopped veggies is the signature breakfast food usually accompanied with eggs, toast, fried plantains, sausage and natilla (sour cream). Some Costa Ricans prefer tortillas instead of toast.
Pair that with a cup of coffee and you got yourself a super traditional Tico breakfast! You can get our Costa Rican gallo pinto recipe here.
Casado
The casado, translation “married” is a typical dish for lunch or dinner. It’s like a smorgasbord plate but typically comes with rice, beans, a meat, a salad and fried plantains/tortilla/cheese.
The reason why these two main dishes are quite heavy is because most of the Costa Ricans back in the day were farmers or coffee pickers so they needed a lot of energy to work.
Arroz Con Pollo (Or squid/seafood/shrimp)
This is a fairly popular Costa Rican dish and just as common as casados. Rice and chicken, mixed with vegetables normally accompanied with salad and fries. This rice and chicken was one of the best I ever ate with heart of palms in the salad, one of our favorites.
If you’re vegetarian, you can ask for a vegetarian casado or vegetarian rice. You can read more tips on eating vegetarian in Costa Rica here.
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irene says
who knew the same food eaten all over the world could be made to taste so differently and mouth watering. “Patacones” a delicacy in my country but known by another name and prepared differently..
Karen says
Wow!!!! Real Tica….
Wendy says
I’m a tica living in UK and I love our cusine!
How about the tamales, empanadas, mondogo soup, mazamorra a delicious dessert made with purple corn or picadillo de Flor de Itabo, just to mention and Chicha a fermented drink made of corn and tapa de Dulce
Wendy
Pura Vida
Debbie says
I am a tica living in California. I just went back to Costa Rica for three weeks to visit family and friends. The food… my favorite. These recipes are great and there are so many more! Picadillo de plátano verde, picadillo de chayote with corn. Mayonnaise from Costa Rica is the best, made by Lizano. Costa Rican pozol is outstanding. To me, it’s the best food. And when you go to the Caribbean… the food is soooo good! The rice and beans made with coconut milk, its delicious!
Mai Cua says
Those look so delicious. Arroz Con Pollo (Rice with Chicken) is my favorite meal. I love it. It’s look so amazing
Sammi says
So good!
David Martinet says
Great article that shows that Costa Rica food is definitely not just rice and beans! I didn’t know about the Churchills, seem very yummy!!!
Sammi says
They are pretty good, you can get the original churchhills in Puntarenas, the rest are usually copos 🙂
Jannybee says
One of my favourite foods in Costa Rica is Sopa de Pollo. It is so hot (not spicy–just temperature), it is definitely hard to eat on a hot day. It was always served with a bowl of rice. I would take the solids out of my soup, put them on the pile of rice until they cooled off, eat them, and maybe when I was done that, I could handle drinking the still hot soup broth. I just loved all the cilantro in it–it tasted so fresh! Also, I am sure their soup broth must be made from free range chickens–isn’t that all they have in CR? I am recalling the roosters that kept waking me up all night in Brasilito…..they are beautiful to look at, but at night….I’d be strangling them and making soup too!
My next favourite was pork kebabs made on BBQ’s on the street. Oh my goodness! If you could get me a recipe for those–I would be eternally grateful!
Christy says
This information really helps for my project!
Tasu says
same!
Sean ORielly says
My son is studying in Costa Rica at the UNIBE, he loves that country including the food, I don’t think he is ever coming back to Canada…LOL
All these dishes look delicious!
yeison says
Hi, My brother is a Doctor and he graduated from the UNIBE. Thanks for reading our blog!
Karla says
Hi, I’m from Costa Rica but living in North Carolina teaching Spanish…
I miss all of my foodand these pictures reminded me how I love my country..I miss the beaches and of course the tacos ticos!!!!
Bernadette says
My step dad is Costa rica and he told me all about. I would love to go there some day. He taught me and my mom some of the spinach and some of the food it is amazing!!
Sammi says
I hope you get to go one day! 🙂
Eugenia says
Hello! Im tica but i live overseas, i miss the food i ate when i was little and this blog almost made me cry. Good job with the description! I would only add that churchills have ice too and yeah, ticos say that if you go to the Puerto (Puntarenas) and you don’t get a churchill from Paseo de los Turistas, you really didn’t go 🙂
yeison says
Saludos Eugenia! Si esos churchills son buenísimos pero con uno ya es suficiente para un año por la cantidad de azucar. Donde sea que estes te deseamos lo mejor. Pura vida!
Jeff Lore says
Costa Rican ceviche. I was accustomed to Mexican ceviche from the Pacific coast (differs somewhat by region from north to far south) and Peruvian ceviche. In 7 years living in Costa Rica I’ve tried a lot of ceviche. There is an unusual twist to it unlike what I was previously accustomed to. Often made my own from super fresh Pacific ocean fish, or a variety of fresh mariscos (non fin fish seafoods). Took a couple of years to learn what the difference is (as I learned Spanish). Ginger ale, or sometimes Fresca or some similar citrus soda pop in addition to jugo de limón (lime juice). As a former chef, this first struck me as strange, but I have to hand it to them……….. They’ve nailed it!
Sammi says
I love their ceviche here but I haven’t tried it in other countries so I can’t compare. Glad to hear from a former chef that the CR version holds up well 🙂
Sammi says
You can check our guide for a list of restaurants here: Playa Hermosa
I recommend Marios or Gingers but there are quite a few good ones in Hermosa.
Casimiro says
Where would you eat in Playa Hermosa?
Sammi says
Which one?
Casimiro says
In Guanacaste 🙂
Tricia (@AdventureList) says
Those corn pancake/tortilla things look really yummy.
Sammi says
They are really delicious when they’re well done!
Andreia says
I would gladly try one of each, eheheh! I just have to get to Costa Rica first (it is one of my longed-for long destinations).
Thanks for sharing, and for the great photos!
Sammi says
Hope you visit soon!
Veronika @ travelgeekery.com says
Those dishes look amazing..! I’d love to have Patacones and Chorreadas right now..! Seems I’ll have to wait for a trip to Costa Rica 🙂 Thanks for the appetite 🙂
Sammi says
Haha no problem!
Emily says
Most of these dishes remind me of Colombian food, which is very similar, I suppose due to the close proximity of the countries! The deserts are definitely more appealing in my opinion 🙂 We had to carry a bottle of chilli sauce with us, as the flavours are not very apparent in a lot of the food!
Sammi says
Yeah for sure! Latin American countries I feel like have similar foods, though Panama was completely different. Haha I started doing that too except I brought Siracha!
Jameela Deen says
uhhhmmmm the tacos got me all hungry. I just love wraps and fried stuff in general AND i’m a muncher… perfect for me. Reminds me a little of what the Tunisians called Brik, a wrap of all kind of things, deep fried and served with a sprinkle of lemon or lime on top.
Sammi says
Ooh that sounds good! A sprinkle of lemon would be a nice kick
Bente Vold Klausen says
The Patacones con Guacamole looks great and I know I like the Mexican variation. So I would love to taste the Costa Rica variation as well. So do the Costa Ricans not use much spices in their food?
Sammi says
Definitely! Patacones are one of my favorites! No not really, they use basic condiments and a few sauces like their signature Salsa Lizano and some others but compared to other cuisines, it is not as flavorful.
Maria says
Never tried Costa Rican food but I’m curious to taste those dishes. The churchills looks great, and the corn pankaces too! Ohhh I’m hungry now 😀
Sammi says
Haha the churchills are pretty yummy until you get halfway through and get a major sugar rush 😀
Chris says
Huge mistake reading this whilst hungry! They all look so good, I would try them all.
Sammi says
Haha sorry about that!
Harvey (H-Bomb's Worldwide Karaoke) says
Thanks for a very mouth-watering post! It’s interesting seeing the differences from Mexican food. I like Costa Rica’s take on the taco!
Sammi says
I love their tacos! I was pretty surprised when I first ate one too on how different it was than a Mexican taco
Karla says
Madre mia!
All this food just made me hungry and I am almost drooling 😉
Love Costa Rican food & Latin American food in general.
We Salvadorans eat almost the same Ticos do, except that the meals have different names!
Love arroz con pollo, olla de carne etc. Rice with beans is called casamiento and we add tortillas to everything 😉
Ah those patacones and guacamole look so good!
Now i’ve to go get a snack lol!
Thanks for sharing y buen provecho 😉
TTYL
Karla
Sammi says
hehe me too! Mmm the only thing I’ve had from El Slavador is pupusas which I love! And they’re not super common here in Costa Rica but so interesting how every country although so close all variations of the same dish. Always something new to try! Love food hehe. Gracias Karla 🙂
Mary {The World Is A Book} says
Yum! These all look so delicious! Great t know there’s some variety of food there. Interesting what comes with their tacos. We call those taquitos here in SoCal. The patacones con guacamole looks so good. I don’t think I’ve ever had plantains with guac before.
Sammi says
It’s so funny, I had taquitos before in the States but always associated it as Mexican food so when I saw it and Costa Ricans call it their taco, well it’s essentially like little taco! But delicious nonetheless. You’ll have to try plantains with guac, the combination is delicious! I never had plantains before either until I moved down, it’s not very common in WA!
Conversant Traveller says
You’ve officially made me hungry reading all that! We had some amazing food in Guatemala that was pretty similar, just fell in love with their pancakes, and yes even the rice and beans (also on the Caribbean side in Livingston) were delicious. Hmmmm, now I’ve got the munchies….:-)
Sammi says
Oh I haven’t tried pancakes their pancakes! That’ll be something to look forward to when we go to Guatemala. haha I would send you some but don’t think they’ll make it all the way other there!
Mrs. Chasing the Donkey says
I’ll take that chicken and rice first..and then slowly make my way around that table.
Sammi says
Sounds good to me! 🙂
noel says
well that was a fun foodie tour..wish I could sample or even do a scratch and sniff, will have to go visit there someday…thanks for joining #tpMondays
Sammi says
That should be the next invention, scratch and sniff computers 🙂 Thanks Noel!
Jess says
Ooh, I want a churchill! And I love arroz con pollo. It’s hard to imagine getting bored with Costa Rican food!
Sammi says
I agree! But there are plenty of people who say it. Each to their own eh? 😛
Marisol@TravelingSolemates says
Hi Sammi, when I was in CR I had a lot of rice and beans but I didn’t mind because they were delicious that I didn’t get sick of it. I don’t eat meat so I didn’t much option anyway. That chorreadas looks yummy. I would like to try it next time I visit which I hope will be soon. My husband who’s more food adventurous would love to try all the dishes you featured here. He hasn’t been to CR but is now inspired to visit soon.
Sammi says
They’re all pretty delicious! And a good variety. I hope you guys come, you’ll have lots of fun! 🙂 Thanks Marisol!
Rancho Leona says
you can ask for the taco to be made with cheese not meat. I am form Costa Rica and just love eating tacos. the chorreadas are not that hard to make but they do taste better in CR
Sammi says
I would but I actually don’t like cheese 😀 so meat is good for me! Thanks for commenting!
clayton says
great pics, making me hungry!!! i think taco is my favourite of all these but i did love costa rican food – even gallo pinto!!
Sammi says
I love the taco too, one of my favs! Thanks for commenting Clayton!
Lunaguava says
Right, I’m definitely down for some patacones with guacamole and a few chorreadas. I think I may have become a diabetic just by looking at those churchills though… Good luck!
Sammi says
Yep I think my blood sugar level spiked exponentially after I ate one and stayed that high for a few days after too. Definitely not something you want to be eating everyday! Or even every month haha
frankaboutcroatia says
Would have a plate of patacones con guacamole right now. Or just any day of the week. And then I would have some chorreadas. And then some more patacones. I love food.
Sammi says
hehe me too! I wish I ate patacones a lot more or knew how to make them correctly! chorreadas too, I don’t have the patience to grind my own corn haha
A Southern Gypsy says
I don’t like beans anyway so I’d have no problem trying something besides rice and beans haha…these look delicious. Thanks for linking up to the #SundayTraveler this week guys! 🙂
Sammi says
Whattt! haha well to be fair I didn’t have a taste for that either until I got here. Now I can’t imagine not eating them! perhaps it is an acquired taste 🙂
A Southern Gypsy says
Yep, I’m a weirdo. I was really really picky growing up. I’m a lot more adventurous in my eating these days, but I still don’t like beans haha
Sammi says
haha you’re going to be in quiet a foodie shock when you make it over to Asia 😛 It’s all sorts of weird stuff over there hehe
Dave says
Starting each day with a heap of patacones was one of my favorite memories of Panama – glad to see the Ticos use the same word! Also, thanks for the tip on the distinction in Nicaragua.
Sammi says
No problem! I personally was in this awkward situation where the Nicaraguans thought I was asking for ticks but they know the distinction so we just laughed it off haha.
Sammi says
Aw I can’t imagine not eating guacamole or avocados now, it’s a staple part of my diet! I’d miss it a ton too!
The GypsyNesters says
They all look good but the Olla de carne is right up my alley.
Sammi says
Same, it’s my favorite!
Rob @ Hungry Escapades says
This looks delicious, especially the taco. Really looking forward t heading down to Costa Rica (eventually), will be trying some of these beauties!
Sammi says
The taco is one of my favorites but I try not to eat it too often haha. They’re all really good! Thanks for reading Rob 🙂
Natalia says
Nice post. I’m a Tica and I’ve been reading your blog for a while now, it’s pretty good read. I know ceviche is not a Costa Rican dish per se, but it’s as common as ordering arroz con pollo for lunch. Just thought I’d mention it. Costa Rican tamales as well. Aguadulce is another pretty common beverage.
Keep up the good work!
Pura vida! 🙂
Sammi says
I love the ceviche here! And tamales too. I had to cut this list down quite a bit or else it’d be “every single food you should not miss in Costa Rica” haha. Thanks for reading Natalia!! pura vida 🙂