Country dossier
Restaurants, hotels, bars and wineries across Costa Rica in the En Primeur Club guide.
Accolades in Costa Rica
These rooms lead with extensive wine lists, and several pair them with sommelier-led service.
Mis Amores in La Fortuna pairs Northern Italian fine dining with an extensive wine list and sommelier-led drinks. The a la carte and small-plates formats sit inside Nayara Springs, and the room also serves wood-burning oven pizzas and locally sourced ingredients.
El Silencio Lodge & Spa in Bajos del Toro brings a wine list to a cloud-forest dining room with craft cocktails and sommelier-led service. The menu runs a la carte, prix fixe, and family style, with Costa Rican-Peruvian-Mediterranean farm-to-table fusion.
La Uvita Perdida Cantina de vinos in Barrio Escalante centres on wine and an extensive wine list, with small plates and shared boards. It is one of San José’s clearest wine-first rooms for a focused drink and a light meal.
Toro Bohemio Bar in Bajos del Toro combines cocktails, beer, and an extensive wine list in a cloud-forest eco-lodge setting. The a la carte and small-plates format leans bistro-style, with local and classic cocktails, wine, beer, and house brews anchoring the experience.
Tasting menus in this guide include modernist Costa Rican cooking, rainforest resort fine dining and modern Peruvian cuisine.
Conservatorium in Ciudad Colón serves modernist Costa Rican haute cuisine through tasting menus, with fire-driven techniques and dry-aged beef. It has a wine list and craft cocktails, with recognition from World's 50 Best Latin America's Best Restaurants #53 (2025) and The Best Chef One Knife (2025).
Amor Loco in Arenal Volcano National Park offers a tasting menu and a la carte service. The adults-only restaurant and lounge within Nayara Springs has a wine list, craft cocktails, live music and Morocco-and-India-inspired decor.
Puna in Nacascolo offers modern Peruvian fine dining with a tasting menu, omakase and a la carte service. Chef Diego Muñoz uses local Costa Rican ingredients, alongside a wine list and craft cocktails.
Hotel dining here is closely tied to the properties themselves, with Keys, Relais Chateaux awards, and house restaurants leading the offer.
Nayara Springs in La Fortuna is an adults-only villa resort with two distinct restaurants. It holds Michelin 3 Keys, a 93.5-point La Liste score in 2026, a Relais Chateaux Award in 2026, and Forbes 4-Star recognition in 2026.
El Silencio Lodge & Spa in Bajos del Toro combines cloud-forest seclusion with Michelin 2 Keys, Forbes Recommended, Relais Chateaux Award (2025), and Michelin Guide New Hotels recognition. Its 16 suites and eight villas occupy 500 acres of private grounds between two national parks.
Four Seasons Resort at Peninsula Papagayo, Costa Rica pairs a resort setting with Michelin 2 Keys, Forbes 5-Star (2025), La Liste Top Hotels: 93pts (2026), and World Travel Awards (2025). The property covers more than 1,400 acres of tropical dry forest above two private Pacific beaches.
Andaz Costa Rica Resort at Peninsula Papagayo brings four restaurants, three beaches, and cultural programming together on the peninsula. Its Michelin 1 Key and Forbes 4-Star awards sit within a property designed around cocoons and seashells by Costa Rican architect Ronald Zürcher.
These picks show how the coast works in Costa Rica, with craft-driven bars, beachfront seafood, and surf-town dining.
Microbar Samara in Playa Samara is a tiny bar known for craft beer and craft cocktails. The drinks list includes the coffee-infused Valle Central with rum, and the format stays intimate.
Nami Santa Teresa in Santa Teresa focuses on modern Japanese sushi with craft cocktails and local fresh fish. Creative rolls anchor the menu, and the room fits the town’s international dining shift.
Pangas Beach Club in Tamarindo is beachfront dining on the main road into town, in the Guanacaste dining scene. The a la carte menu covers Tropical Seafood Fusion and local seafood, with craft cocktails, and the beachfront room has sunset views.
Azul in Hacienda Pinilla is a beachfront grill and restaurant inside the JW Marriott Guanacaste. Its ocean-view setting, a la carte format, and seafood and grill focus place it in Santa Cruz’s resort-dining side.
The strongest wine lists in this guide cluster in La Fortuna, Bajos del Toro, and San José. Mis Amores, El Silencio Lodge & Spa, La Uvita Perdida Cantina de vinos, and Toro Bohemio Bar all use extensive programs that sit directly alongside the food, and some add sommelier-led service.
Costa Rica has no Michelin-starred restaurants in our guide. Nayara Springs in La Fortuna holds Michelin 3 Keys, El Silencio Lodge & Spa in Bajos del Toro holds Michelin 2 Keys, and Four Seasons Resort at Peninsula Papagayo, Costa Rica in Peninsula Papagayo holds Michelin 2 Keys.
Conservatorium in Ciudad Colón, Amor Loco in Arenal Volcano National Park, and Puna in Nacascolo are the clearest tasting-menu rooms in this guide. Conservatorium also holds World's 50 Best Latin America's Best Restaurants #53 (2025), while Puna adds an omakase format to its fine-dining offering.
Barrio Escalante, Los Yoses, La Fortuna, Bajos del Toro, and Peninsula Papagayo all appear repeatedly in this guide. Barrio Escalante includes La Uvita Perdida Cantina de vinos, Los Yoses has Sikwa, and La Fortuna and Bajos del Toro each hold several wine lists and hotel dining rooms.
By Emmett Haley · Updated October 8, 2026 · Editorial standards
City atlas
Costa Rica
Selected entries from the current guide for Costa Rica.
San José, Costa Rica
Sikwa in San José's Los Yoses district operates as both restaurant and research center, dedicated to Costa Rica's Indigenous culinary heritage under chef Pablo Bonilla. The kitchen draws on ancestral techniques and locally sourced ingredients to document and reinterpret traditions that have been largely absent from the country's fine-dining conversation. For anyone serious about Costa Rican food culture, this is a reference point.
Arenal Volcano National Park, Costa Rica
Amor Loco is the romantic dining room within the Nayara Springs orbit near Arenal, built around a highly staged evening format: ornate Morocco-and-India-inspired decor, a broad drinks selection, and live music every night. The stronger editorial reason to book is not rarity but context: in La Fortuna’s lodge-heavy dining scene, it represents the polished resort-dinner end of the spectrum.
Potrero, Costa Rica
Casa Chameleon at Las Catalinas occupies a cliffside position above Playa Danta on Costa Rica's Guanacaste coast, offering adults-only private pool villas with direct Pacific views. The Latin American kitchen draws on regional ingredients and masa traditions in a setting where aquatic and mountain pursuits frame the days.
La Fortuna, Costa Rica
Cielito Lindo Pool Bar sits in La Fortuna’s resort-dining lane: poolside cocktails, traditional snacks, light bites and wood-oven pizza rather than a formal tasting-menu format. Its usefulness is practical and scene-specific, especially after Arenal-area excursions, when a casual bar with mixed drinks and food that can stretch from snack to supper makes more sense than a destination dining room.
Ciudad Colón, Costa Rica
In Ciudad Colón's quieter corner of San José Province, Conservatorium brings together chefs Henry Quesada Kidmey Chan and Aldo Elizondo in a collaborative kitchen format that reflects Costa Rica's evolving fine-dining ambitions.
Bajos del Toro, Costa Rica
El Silencio Lodge & Spa sits in a cloudforest valley outside Bajos del Toro, Costa Rica, where Chef Adriano Venturini leads a kitchen anchored in local ingredients and Costa Rican cooking tradition. Rated 4.7/5 by EP Club members and 4.3 on Google across 71 reviews, it draws travellers who want serious food alongside serious nature. The dining room is as much an argument for cloudforest hospitality as it is a restaurant.
Bajos del Toro, Costa Rica
Las Ventanas brings creative Latin American cooking to Bajos del Toro, one of Costa Rica's most cloud-shrouded highland valleys. Under Chef Robert Alvarez, the kitchen has earned recognition for creative cooking in a region better known for cloud forest lodges than destination dining. It has established itself as a serious dining address in the Alajuela highlands.
La Fortuna, Costa Rica
Mis Amores occupies a rare position in La Fortuna's dining scene: a restaurant set within Hotel Nayara Springs, 7.5 km northwest of the town's Catholic church, where the surrounding cloud forest and Arenal views shape the meal as much as what arrives at the table. The setting places it firmly in La Fortuna's upper hospitality tier, drawing guests who treat dinner as the centrepiece of their evening rather than a pause between activities.
San Carlos, Costa Rica
The dining program, led by Chef William Weiss, draws on Costa Rican produce and tradition in a setting where the jungle is as present as the food. For travelers combining serious hospitality with access to one of Central America's most active natural environments, it occupies a distinct position in the La Fortuna area.
Uvita, Costa Rica
Nuova locations, vecchie abitudini per Seba’s, il locale di Sebastian Gallucci, ovvero quello della qualità e della sostenibilità. I prodotti locali, la grande passione per la qualità e per la pizza. Menu con antipasti, insalate, pasta e pizza, da cui potrete scegliere a vostro piacimento anche lo stile di pizza. Il locale è molto particolare, come la sua ambientazione, la giungla qui non è solo un luogo, ma è tutto. Vi consigliamo di lasciare a casa preconcetti e pregiudizi e di provare le pizze di Sebastian, che vi stupiranno, prima di tutto per l’ottimo impasto e le cotture millimetriche, ma anche per le farciture. Da provare, per gli appassionati dei gusti piccanti, la Spicy Sammy con pomodoro San Marzano, mozzarella di bufala, soppressata piccante e jalapenos, per chi invece vuole qualcosa di più rassicurante vi consigliamo la Wild Mushrums con Pomodori San Marzano, funghi arrostiti al fuoco, olio al tartufo, rucola al limone, Parmigiano Reggiano. Cucina di livello, anche nelle presentazioni, sempre molto eleganti. Servizio conviviale. Un unicum da visitare assolutamente. New locations, old habits for Seba's, Sebastian Gallucci's establishment, known for quality and sustainability. Local products, a great passion for quality and pizza. Menu with appetizers, salads, pasta and pizza, from which you can choose your preferred pizza style. The establishment is distinctive, as is its setting; the jungle here is not just a place, but everything. For spicy taste enthusiasts, try the Spicy Sammy with San Marzano tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella, spicy soppressata, and jalapenos. High-level cuisine, with elegant presentations. Friendly service. A distinctive place to visit.
Las Catalinas, Costa Rica
Set four kilometres north of Potrero along the Guanacaste coast, Sentido Norte is one of the more considered expressions of Costa Rican cooking in the Las Catalinas area, earning recognition for its connection to local terroir. Chef Jose Lopez Pozuelo leads a kitchen that draws from regional ingredients and tradition, positioning the restaurant within a small tier of coastal dining rooms where provenance matters more than pageantry.
Bajos del Toro, Costa Rica
Toro Bohemio Bar belongs to Bajos del Toro’s highland mode of hospitality: firelight, rain, forest air, and a drinks list built for the end of an outdoor day. The format is bistro-style rather than formal dining, with local and classic cocktails, wine, beer, and house brews anchoring the experience.
San José, Costa Rica
Alma de Amón occupies the Amón neighbourhood of San José, Costa Rica's most architecturally layered district, where Victorian-era residential streets frame a growing scene of independent restaurants and cultural venues. See our full San José guide for broader context.
Nosara, Costa Rica
Almar belongs to the Playa Guiones side of Nosara, where dining is shaped by surf schedules, tropical produce, Pacific seafood, and a wellness-minded visitor base. With no formal awards or published chef narrative attached, the useful way to read it is through context: a local restaurant in a town where sourcing, setting, and timing often matter more than ceremony.
La Fortuna, Costa Rica
Set within Hotel Nayara Springs, 7.5 kilometres southwest of La Fortuna's centre, AmorLoco operates at the intersection of Arenal's volcanic landscape and ingredient-led cooking. The restaurant draws on Costa Rica's agricultural depth, the cloud forest, fertile lowlands, and Pacific coastline all within reach, to anchor a menu that reads as a statement about place rather than performance. For visitors already committed to Nayara Springs, it is the obvious first table.
Garabito, Costa Rica
Anfiteatro Bar and Restaurant brings Garabito dining into a theatrical hillside frame: an open Greek amphitheater setting in the Jaco area, where the room matters as much as the plate. With cuisine, chef, pricing, and awards not publicly listed, the smarter read is contextual: treat it as a setting-led stop in a coastal town where seafood, tropical produce, and casual evening dining shape the table.
La Fortuna, Costa Rica
Asia - Luna sits inside Nayara Springs, 7.5 kilometres southwest of La Fortuna's centre, bringing pan-Asian cooking to the Arenal rainforest corridor. The setting places it in a distinct tier among La Fortuna's dining options, where international cuisine meets a luxury resort context. For travellers already staying in the area, or willing to make the drive, it represents one of the few places in Costa Rica's northern zone where Asian culinary traditions are the primary focus.
La Fortuna, Costa Rica
Ave Restaurant belongs to the quieter side of La Fortuna dining, where the Arenal foothills, garden settings, and water shape the experience as much as the plate. With no formal awards or chef-led public narrative attached, it reads less as a trophy table than as a place to understand how destination restaurants in this part of Costa Rica lean on setting and sourcing cues.
Arenal Volcano National Park, Costa Rica
Ayla Restaurant belongs to Arenal’s nature-led dining tier, where the setting matters as much as the plate and ingredient sourcing is the point rather than decoration. Expect a restaurant shaped by La Fortuna’s volcano-and-rainforest context, with a quieter, more place-specific rhythm than generic resort dining.
Santa Cruz, Costa Rica
Azul belongs to the resort-dining side of Santa Cruz, where Guanacaste’s coastal produce, ranching culture, and hotel kitchens shape the table more than urban tasting-menu fashion. With its Hacienda Pinilla address, it reads as a polished coastal stop for travelers who want the region’s ingredient logic without turning dinner into a long-form ceremony.
Guanacaste, Costa Rica
Bahia belongs to the resort-dining side of Guanacaste, where pool-level rooms, Pacific produce, and hotel logistics shape the meal as much as the plate. Its Peninsula Papagayo setting makes it more relevant as part of the region’s polished coastal circuit than as a standalone destination restaurant.
Guanacaste, Costa Rica
Brisa belongs to the Peninsula Papagayo style of Guanacaste dining, where the value of the table depends on proximity to Pacific seafood, tropical produce, and resort-calibre service rather than formal awards theater. The draw is the setting and sourcing logic: coastal Costa Rica expressed through a polished, destination-resort lens.
Puntarenas, Costa Rica
Buddha Eyes belongs to Santa Teresa’s small, road-and-surf dining circuit, where the stronger meals tend to come from proximity rather than ceremony: Pacific fish, tropical fruit, market vegetables, and kitchens built for travelers moving between beach days and late dinners. With no formal awards or chef-led tasting format attached, its value sits in the local rhythm rather than destination-restaurant theatre.
Guanacaste, Costa Rica
Buena Nota Café belongs to Guanacaste’s small-coast café culture, where beach-road addresses, produce-led cooking and casual daytime rhythms matter more than formal dining signals. With no public awards or price bracket attached, it reads as a low-key Punta Cacique stop to place alongside nearby restaurant, hotel, bar and experience planning rather than as a destination built on ceremony.
Costa Rica
Selected entries from the current guide for Costa Rica.
La Fortuna, Costa Rica
An adults-only villa resort inside Arenal Volcano National Park, Nayara Springs earned a 93.5-point score from La Liste in 2026 and ranked #29 on Condé Nast's Best Resorts list in 2025. Thirty-five private villas, each with a mineral spring-fed plunge pool and four-poster beds, start from US$712 per night. Two distinct restaurants, an open-air spa, and a full adventure excursion programme complete the offering.
Bajos del Toro, Costa Rica
Set within a 500-acre private reserve between two national parks in Costa Rica's cloud forest highlands, El Silencio Lodge & Spa offers 16 suites and eight villas from USD 502 per night. The property sits roughly 65 kilometres from San José's international airport, occupying a tier of small-scale, design-led eco-luxury that rewards guests who come for the landscape rather than the resort amenities.
Guanacaste, Costa Rica
Central America's only Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star resort for six consecutive years, the Four Seasons Resort at Peninsula Papagayo occupies more than 1,400 acres of tropical dry forest above two private Pacific beaches in Guanacaste. Rates from $1,378 per night reflect its position at the upper tier of Costa Rica luxury, where individualized itineraries, an Arnold Palmer-designed golf course, and a renovated 18-room spa define the offer.
Guanacaste, Costa Rica
Among Papagayo Peninsula's upper-tier luxury properties, Nekajui sets itself apart as a Ritz-Carlton Reserve, the brand's most selective sub-brand, with 107 rooms, suites, and treetop tents perched on a clifftop above the Pacific.
Las Catalinas, Costa Rica
Casa Chameleon Las Catalinas holds two MICHELIN Keys in the 2025 guide, placing it among a small tier of Costa Rican properties recognised for design-led hospitality. Perched above Playa Danta on the Guanacaste coast, the hotel positions itself in the low-key, architecture-forward segment of the region's luxury market, where the physical environment does most of the editorial work.
Río Pacuare, Costa Rica
Pacuare Lodge occupies a remote stretch of Costa Rica's Pacuare River, where 20 suites built on Cabécar-inspired design principles sit inside primary rainforest without a single felled tree. Arriving by inflatable raft rather than road sets the tone: this is luxury calibrated to the environment around it, with farm-to-table dining, limited electricity, and a treetop dinner venue accessible only by zip line. Rates from $803 per night.
Bagaces, Costa Rica
Rio Perdido occupies 1,500 acres of protected dwarf forest in the San Bernardo Lowlands of Guanacaste, with 20 stainless-steel bungalows built on stilts above two river gorges. Rates from $893, one hour from Liberia airport.
La Fortuna, Costa Rica
Set within Arenal Volcano National Park, Nayara Gardens occupies a position in Costa Rica's rainforest lodging tier defined by architectural intimacy rather than scale. Accommodations range from 855-square-foot casitas with plunge pools to octagonal Rainforest Villas, all oriented around volcano or forest views. Consistent recognition from Travel + Leisure, Condé Nast Traveler, and Forbes Travel Guide places it among the region's most credentialed properties.
Nosara, Costa Rica
An adults-only rainforest retreat in Nosara, Guanacaste, Esh Hotel & Spa takes its name from the Hebrew word for flame and builds its entire aesthetic around fire, lava-stone soaking tubs, blackened wood furniture, a communal fireplace for nightly ritual. Twenty-nine rooms, a three-tiered pool, and a shuttle to Guiones Beach make this a considered base for slow-travel visitors at $298 per night.
Arenal Volcano National Park, Costa Rica
Forty-four years into Costa Rica's conservation story, Arenal remains the country's most-watched volcano, and Nayara Tented Camp positions itself closer to that spectacle than any rival property. Thirty-eight stilted tents designed by Luxury Frontiers sit inside the national park boundary, each with a private pool trained on the crater. La Liste ranked the camp 94 points in 2026, and it has held the No. 1 resort ranking in Central America for four consecutive years.
Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica
On the southern Caribbean coast of Costa Rica, a short drive from the Panamanian border, Hotel Aguas Claras occupies one of the country's more arresting natural settings. Twelve rooms, suites, and bungalows, renovated in 2017, sit against a backdrop of dense tropical jungle, with the open-air Papaya Restaurant and DaLime Beach Club placing Playa Chiquita within easy reach. Rates from $378 per night.
Guanacaste, Costa Rica
Designed by Costa Rican architect Ronald Zürcher around the organic forms of cocoons and seashells, the Andaz Peninsula Papagayo sits on a protected 1,400-acre coastal development less than an hour from Liberia airport. The resort's 153 rooms, suites, and newly available Andaz Residences occupy a hillside above Culebra Bay, with four restaurants, three beaches, and a cultural programming strand that brings local artists, surfers, and coffee producers directly into the guest experience.
Potrero, Costa Rica
Perched on the highest point of Las Catalinas, a car-free planned village on Costa Rica's northwest coast, Casa Chameleon at Las Catalinas is an adults-only villa hotel with 21 private suites, each with a zero-edge infinity pool and Pacific Ocean views.
Pérez Zeledón, Costa Rica
Set on 180 acres of coffee farm and rainforest in the Talamanca Mountains of southern Costa Rica, Hacienda AltaGracia is an Auberge Resorts Collection property that earns its La Liste Top Hotels recognition through 50 safari-meets-boho casitas, a 20,000-square-foot spa, and an all-inclusive format anchored by a personal compañero for every guest. It sits adjacent to one of the world's five designated blue zones, which shapes the property's approach to wellness and land-led programming.
Uvita, Costa Rica
Perched on a hilltop above Marino Ballena National Park, Kura Boutique Hotel is an eight-suite, adults-only property that positions architecture and sustainability as its core programme. Rates from $1,486 per night.
Puerto Jimenez, Costa Rica
Lapa Rios sits on a ridge above the Osa Peninsula in 1,000 acres of private rainforest reserve, with 16 thatched-roof bungalows designed to open entirely to the surrounding canopy. No televisions, no phones, and no air conditioning, the architecture is built around the forest, not against it. At around $1,371 per stay with full board included, it occupies a distinct tier among Costa Rica's eco-lodges.
Bijagua, Costa Rica
Seven circular lodges positioned above the rainforest canopy of northern Costa Rica, Origins Luxury Lodge pairs an arresting natural setting with a considered design approach, fire-heated hot tubs, and a dining program overseen by chef Jean-Luc L'Hourre. At $1,239 per night, it occupies the upper tier of Costa Rica's small-lodge luxury market, with access by car, helicopter, or chartered flight.
Uvita, Costa Rica
Ten rooms across 250 private acres of Costa Ballena rainforest, at 2,000 feet above sea level on a mountainside above Uvita. Adults only, maximum twenty guests at any time, with private infinity pools, outdoor showers, treetop spa treatments, and direct access to waterfall swimming holes, cloud forest trails, and secluded Pacific beaches. Transfers from Quepos Airport run US$85 for up to four guests.
Bijagua, Costa Rica
Set on the edge of Tenorio Volcano National Park in Costa Rica's northern interior, Rio Celeste Hideaway Hotel operates 26 casitas across a private nature reserve at around $397 per night. The property sits considerably further from the coasts than most comparable lodges, positioning itself at the intersection of ecological commitment and interior-design comfort, with an open-air restaurant, two bars, a spa, and direct access to the Rio Celeste trail system.
Nosara, Costa Rica
A 25-room boutique property set roughly a hundred paces from Playa Guiones, one of Costa Rica's most-surfed stretches of Pacific coastline. Rooms combine gallery-white walls, oversized warehouse-style windows, and private outdoor spaces, balconies or open-air living rooms, with outdoor showers alongside modern bathrooms. Sendero Kitchen anchors the dining programme with locally sourced, health-conscious cooking in an open-air setting. Rates from $290 per night.
Nosara, Costa Rica
Nine two-bedroom, two-bathroom suites each include a fully equipped kitchen, furnished outdoor space, and surf concierge access, while shared amenities, rooftop infinity pool, al fresco breakfast, cocktail bar, deliver the infrastructure of a full-service hotel. Rates from $1,490 per night.
La Fortuna, Costa Rica
Tabacón Thermal Resort & Spa sits on 900 acres of rainforest reserve at the base of Arenal Volcano, 13 kilometres from La Fortuna de San Carlos. The resort's thermal springs emerge directly from volcanic earth and flow through the jungle in the largest naturally fed network of its kind in Costa Rica. Accommodations are designed with local materials and artisan craft, placing the property in the smaller, design-led tier of Costa Rican luxury.
Guanacaste, Costa Rica
A boutique hotel on the Pacific coast of Guanacaste, El Mangroove sits on 17 acres of beachfront forest within Gulf of Papagayo, rated 91.5 points by La Liste (2026). Its 85 suites blend contemporary bohemian design with mangrove and ocean views, while two distinct dining venues anchor a farm-to-table programme built on locally sourced, organic ingredients.
Atenas, Costa Rica
Set atop a crystal quartz mountain above Atenas, The Retreat Costa Rica occupies a purpose-built wellness compound where open-air architecture, rainforest terrain, and a garden-to-table food philosophy converge. Signature programs span Ayurveda, yoga, and holistic spa treatments at the on-site Vida Mía healing spa. For travellers prioritising restorative immersion over resort amenities, the elevation, literal and conceptual, is the point.
Costa Rica
Selected entries from the current guide for Costa Rica.
Bajos del Toro, Costa Rica
Toro Bohemio Bar belongs to Bajos del Toro’s highland mode of hospitality: firelight, rain, forest air, and a drinks list built for the end of an outdoor day. The format is bistro-style rather than formal dining, with local and classic cocktails, wine, beer, and house brews anchoring the experience.
La Fortuna, Costa Rica
Agua Ardiente Pool Bar sits 13 km northeast of central La Fortuna de San Carlos, inside a hot springs complex near Nuevo Arenal. Its appeal is situational rather than award-led: a poolside drinking stop in Costa Rica’s volcano-and-thermal-water corridor, where the setting shapes the decision more than a formal cocktail ranking or published chef credentials.
Guanacaste, Costa Rica
Santa Cruz, Costa Rica
Barracuda is a poolside bar setting inside Hacienda Pinilla in Santa Cruz, on Costa Rica’s Guanacaste coast.
Puntarenas, Costa Rica
Butterfly Brewing Co. & Imago Gastro Pub occupies a road-trip-worthy position on the Montezuma-Delicias stretch of Costa Rica's Puntarenas coast, combining a craft brewing identity with a gastro pub format rare for the region. The pairing of house-brewed beer with a pub kitchen in this part of the Nicoya Peninsula signals a growing sophistication in the local drinks scene, one worth tracking for anyone passing through Montezuma.
Nicoya, Costa Rica
In Sámara, one of Guanacaste's more grounded beach towns, Microbar Samara occupies the quieter, craft-focused end of the local bar scene. The format signals intimacy over volume, with a drinks program oriented toward considered pours rather than blended cocktail towers. For travelers moving through the Nicoya Peninsula who want something closer to a neighborhood bar with genuine character, it sits apart from the resort-strip options nearby.
Santa Cruz, Costa Rica
Pacifico Bar occupies the Tamarindo roundabout address in Guanacaste, where the town's surf-town energy concentrates into a single corner. The bar draws a mix of locals and traveling visitors who treat it as a natural gathering point after sundown. For anyone moving through Santa Cruz's Pacific coast strip, it functions as a reliable early-evening orientation point.
Costa Rica
Selected entries from the current guide for Costa Rica.
San José, Costa Rica
Costa Rica's wine culture sits at an early but serious stage, and this producer represents one of the clearest reference points for how the country's conditions translate into the glass. A considered visit for anyone tracking Central American viticulture.
