El Chiringuito - Puntarenas

It is hard to imagine such an awesome dining experience in such a tiny, out of the way location. The food is beyond superb, but in addition, Ana, the owner makes you feel as if she is preparing the meal just for you. Her attention to detail is superb.

This restaurant is now called “La Trattoria Italiana”. Just as many have said below under the previous name it’s excellent! All the dishes were fantastic and there are different nightly specials. The specialty cocktails were awesome as well. Staff are very friendly and helpful and the ambiance was relaxed. We went twice during our stay and every dish was great. I highly recommend it.

This spot was highly recommended, but while we stayed nearby, the place was closed and empty all week. Did they move? I had to rate the place, but obviously we did not get to eat there!

This was one of my favorite restaurants. The owners must have hired a new chef. We ordered the mozzarella en carroza for an appetizer. Two slices were delivered. My husband cut one in half and popped it into his mouth. He asked me if it was supposed to be cold in the center. It wasn’t cold it was frozen. We sent it back. The waitress then delivered ONE slice. I cut it in half and again frozen. We sent it back and then we were charged for the entire appetizer. Waitress was unapologetic and just said that is what you owe. We used to come here a lot and have brought many friends here but something has changed. Bad chef, poor customer service, disinterested wait staff. I need to take back my original five star review. I have lived here long enough to know that consistency is I big problem with restaurants. Only go with the most current reviews.

We picked this place randomly without seeing any reviews or anything as it was just there conveniently in our way, so we did not really have any expectations. However, we ended up eating the BEST meal of our entire 3-week trip to Costa Rica, so I would definitely recommend this place for anyone — and I especially recommend pasta de mariscos.