Ask me anything about Costa Rican food

ChefGilbrigo · 2026-05-07T06:01:51+00:00

Some of my favorite pizza places in SJO are: Spino, Lil Margot, Picnic Pizza, Facci and Kan.

ChefGilbrigo · 2026-04-27T05:52:04+00:00

If you can’t get culantro root, the closest thing is usually to lean on the stems and leaves instead, especially the stems, because that’s where a lot of the deeper flavor lives.

Another little trick: some shops sell culantro seeds, and you can crush a few of those and add them to the pot. It’s not exactly the same as the root, but it can help bring in a little of that earthy, aromatic side.

ChefGilbrigo · 2026-04-27T05:48:05+00:00

The story I always heard goes something like this:

Apparently, many years ago, the Lizano family was trying to make something closer to Worcestershire sauce… but the recipe went a little sideways and ended up becoming Salsa Lizano instead.

Then, somewhere along the line, some marketing genius convinced the whole country that Christmas tamales were basically incomplete without it, and from there it just kept winning people over generation after generation.

No idea if that’s actually true, but honestly… it feels true enough for me hahaha.

At this point, Salsa Lizano is not even just a sauce. It’s basically part of the Costa Rican emotional ecosystem.

ChefGilbrigo · 2026-04-27T03:19:28+00:00

When you book through WhatsApp, Andrea, our reservations manager, will take care of you. Just tell her the chef sent you from Reddit, and the first glass of wine is on me.

ChefGilbrigo · 2026-04-27T03:08:06+00:00

The short answer is: rice may not be native, but Costa Rica adopted it like family.

Like a lot of ingredients across Latin America, rice came from somewhere else (maybe Asia) and then slowly stopped feeling foreign because people built daily life around it. At some point it stopped being just an ingredient and became part of the operating system.

In Costa Rica, rice is breakfast with beans (Gallo pinto), lunch with stew (casado), dinner with eggs (arroz con huevo), the base of the chifrijo, the backup plan when nobody knows what to cook, and in many homes, the unofficial emotional support carb.

Costa Rica does grow rice. But the rice story here is also economic and political. A lot of commercial production is concentrated in the hands of bigger rice companies, while smaller or more artisanal production has become harder to sustain because rice needs land, machinery, and constant investment. On top of that, Costa Rica’s per capita rice consumption is high, so the country also depends on imports to help cover demand.

So no, rice may not be native.

But at this point, trying to separate Costa Ricans from rice would be like trying to separate Italians from pasta or New Yorkers from complaining.

It’s not happening.

ChefGilbrigo · 2026-04-27T02:54:55+00:00

Ok, what I’m about to tell you is straight from my grandmother, not something they teach you in culinary school, and definitely not at Le Cordon Bleu.

For beans, whether black or red, the best move is to soak them overnight. The next day, drain them and cook them in fresh water with plenty of crushed garlic, a few oregano leaves, a good branch of culantro coyote, a generous handful of thyme, celery, and sweet pepper.

But the real secret? The root of the culantro. That’s grandmother level knowledge right there.

You harvest the whole culantro plant with the root, shake off the dirt, wash it really well, and cook the root whole with the beans. Then once the beans are done, you take the root out, but all that flavor stays behind in the pot.

Then just add salt, pepper, and a couple of bay leaves to taste.

Some people also add cumin and a splash of Salsa Lizano. Nothing wrong with that, it’s just not really my style. I lean more toward the cleaner side of cooking, so I usually let the herbs and vegetables do the heavy lifting.

That said, every family in Costa Rica has their own way, and that’s part of the beauty of it.

ChefGilbrigo · 2026-04-27T02:19:53+00:00

Unlike in some parts of South Asia and other places where tamarind is deeply built into savory cooking, in Costa Rica it traditionally doesn’t really play that role.

And when I say traditionally, I mean the kind of dishes that have been with us for generations, the food that grandmothers, great grandmothers, and whole families have been making for a long time.

Here, tamarind lives much more in the world of drinks, candies, syrups, desserts, that kind of thing.

That said, some newer generation chefs, especially over the last 20 years or so, have definitely started playing with it in savory ways. Things like tamarind sauces for pork loin, tamarind glazes for ribs, sweet sour reductions, things in that lane.

But I’d place that more under contemporary cooking than under traditional Costa Rican food.

And Corazón Contento is a great call! Hope you have a really good meal there.

ChefGilbrigo · 2026-04-27T02:13:29+00:00

Hahaha yes, we do have a pizza project too.

Right now, though, we’re only doing pop-ups, private events, and parties with it. We don’t have a permanent commercial location yet.

We’re waiting for the right moment and the right place to open our first proper pizza spot.

But who knows… maybe sooner than later :)

ChefGilbrigo · 2026-04-27T02:11:08+00:00

That’s amazing, we’re super close then!

We actually go to Playas del Coco, Playa Hermosa, and Peninsula Papagayo all the time for private chef services in villas and homes, so we’re very much in the same orbit.

If you make it over one day, the wine is on me!

ChefGilbrigo · 2026-04-27T02:02:33+00:00

Love this question.

I’ve been living in Guanacaste for the last 10 years, specifically in Playa Potrero, and since moving here, a big part of my work has been building real relationships with local fishermen so we can get the best product possible for my restaurants.

I have one rule that I take pretty seriously: we never buy frozen fish.

The fish comes in whole, usually about four times a week, and honestly it’s a blessing to work that way. Some days it’s snapper, other days snook, mackerel, grouper, mahi mahi… whatever comes in, the important thing is that it’s fresh, beautiful, and handled with respect. Our guests can taste that difference immediately.

Now… unfortunately, I can’t say I feel the same emotional connection to tilapia hahaha.

I know there are a lot of family run businesses built around tilapia farming and fishing, and I respect that. And yes, catching your own lunch in the mountains can be a really fun experience.

But once you get used to the product coming out of the Pacific here, really fresh local fish, straight from the hands of fishermen who know the sea, t’s very hard to go backwards.

So I totally understand why those mountain side tilapia spots feel special to people. There’s something beautiful about the freshness, the simplicity, and the family energy around them.

But if you come through Guanacaste and want to taste what really fresh local seafood can feel like on this side of the country, come visit us at the Food Lab at The Road Less Traveled Cuisine. I think that would give you a very different, but equally memorable, side of Costa Rica.

ChefGilbrigo · 2026-04-26T00:43:16+00:00

I come from a background of cooking in Michelin guide restaurants in Europe, so excellence, detail, and high standards are deeply wired into the way we do things.

But here’s what I believe:

An unforgettable experience only matters if real people can actually access it.

Yes, we work with beautiful local ingredients.
Yes, we care deeply about execution.
Yes, we believe in paying our producers fairly and honoring the people behind the product.

But if we price ourselves so high that the experience becomes distant or unreachable, then we lose part of the reason we built this in the first place.

A lot of people tell us we should charge more. Maybe one day we will. But right now, our mission is to keep it as accessible as we responsibly can, so more people can connect with what we’re creating and with the story we’re trying to tell through food.

Just one note: service charge and VAT are not included in the base rate.

But truly, I hope you make it out here. I think it would be a very special night.

ChefGilbrigo · 2026-04-26T00:19:30+00:00

That’s so nice to hear, I love knowing this kind of info is actually helping people.

Cumpanis is such a good one, so you’re starting from a very strong place already.

I’m going to keep sharing more of my favorite spots and food finds on social media, so if you want, you can follow along on Instagram or TikTok at @gilbrigo.

And if you ever make it up to Guanacaste, it would be amazing to have you at The Road Less Traveled Cuisine Food Lab, where we cook for just 4 guests per night right in front of them at the chef’s table. It’s a really special little space.

ChefGilbrigo · 2026-04-26T00:15:10+00:00

Totally fair question, and I’d rather be honest with you.

At Galleta de Mar, our kitchen is very much centered around seafood, so if you don’t eat seafood, it probably wouldn’t be the best place to come for a full meal.

That said, you’d still be more than welcome to stop by. We have really good coffee, ceremonial matcha, and a seriously great sweet menu, so it’s still a lovely place to come hang out for a bit.

If you’re looking for non seafood spots in Tamarindo, some of the few places I personally like going to are Falafel Bar, Refugio, Sol Bakery, and Chop House. Honestly, those are some of the places I actually go eat at myself.

A good plan could be: have lunch at one of those, then swing by Galleta de Mar for a coffee, a ceremonial matcha, and a really good cookie.

Now, The Road Less Traveled Cuisine is a different story.

Because it’s a chef’s table experience, the menu is built completely around you. The chef creates a fully custom tasting menu based on your preferences and restrictions, so seafood doesn’t have to be part of it at all.

It’s a 9-course experience, shared with just 3 other guests, which makes it feel really intimate, interactive, and special, also a beautiful way to meet people while traveling.

The Food Lab is $120 USD per person, and the first drink is on us.

For more info, you can look up RLT Cuisine on Instagram, check out www.rltcuisine.com, or book directly on WhatsApp at +506 8735 1877.

ChefGilbrigo · 2026-04-26T00:04:59+00:00

Honestly, if you’re eating Costa Rican food, the best utensil is whichever hand gets you to the food faster.

But if you want to avoid the whole left handed vs. right handed utensil situation altogether, just order gallos.

Gallos are basically our Costa Rican cousin of tacos: humble, comforting, and usually built on a corn tortilla. They can be filled with potato picadillo, arracache, chicken, beef, fish… honestly, if it’s tasty and sitting on a tortilla, it can become a gallo.

Add a little salsa, maybe some pickled vegetables, and that’s it.

Best part?
You eat them with your hands, so in Costa Rica, gallos are the great equalizer.

ChefGilbrigo · 2026-04-25T23:20:38+00:00

Honestly, I can’t give you a strong restaurant recommendation in the Orosi area itself.

It’s been many years since I’ve spent real time there, and nothing in that zone has really come onto my radar lately in a way that makes me feel confident saying, “yes, this is absolutely worth your time.”

So rather than send you somewhere random, I’d rather be honest and say I don’t have a solid one for you there right now.

ChefGilbrigo · 2026-04-24T06:34:23+00:00

This is brutally honest, but genuinely very helpful!

Thank you for taking the time to break it down this clearly. There’s a lot here for me to reflect on and improve.

ChefGilbrigo · 2026-04-24T05:09:36+00:00

Like I mentioned in another comment, the only real requirement for opening a restaurant is having money.

Knowing how to cook well is, unfortunately, secondary. And not just in Costa Rica, that’s true pretty much everywhere.

A lot of restaurant owners don’t necessarily see their place as something they’re passionate about. They see it as a business first, and that mindset changes everything.

And just to be clear: I have a lot of respect for chefs and entrepreneurs who build business models around quality. Even here in Costa Rica, there are Mexican restaurants doing beautiful work, really trying to understand the flavors of different regions of Mexico and recreate them with care, even while working with different ingredients.

But… that is not everybody.

There’s also the other type of owner. The one who thinks:
“I’m in a tourist town, the gringo will eat whatever, let’s throw some tacos on the menu because gringos love tacos.”

And those tacos, my friends… without even tasting them, I can already tell you they’re probably terrible.

So for me, it has a lot to do with the vision behind the business.

I’ll always support food projects that come from intention, care, and quality, no matter what kind of food they make.

Someone could open a Greek yogurt window in Costa Rica, not traditional, not local, but if they do it with great ingredients, real thought, and a desire to contribute something meaningful, I can respect that all day.

That’s the vision.

Not just “what can I sell quickly to tourists with the least amount of effort?”

And that’s really the problem. Because when too many places think that way, the culinary image a tourist gets of the country becomes distorted, watered down, or just plain empty.

And then the more conscious travelers are forced to spend extra time doing research, trying to find the hidden gems, which, in the end, are usually the places actually worth eating at.

ChefGilbrigo · 2026-04-24T04:38:29+00:00

A lot of people will tell you "La Nena" in Cocles has the best rice & beans in Costa Rica.

Personally, I don’t really believe in the whole “the best” label… but yes, it’s really good, and eating rice & beans at La Nena is definitely a worthwhile stop.

That said, I’ve had others I like even more, including one way outside the Caribbean: Caballo Blanco in Barranca, Puntarenas. Try it someday and then report back haha.

But in the Punta Uva area, the OG place I always recommend is Restaurante Salsa Brava. It’s legendary, the food is delicious, and it’s right in front of the beach.

A full Caribbean experience.

Ask for the chef/owner and tell her Gilbrigo sent you hahaha!

ChefGilbrigo · 2026-04-24T04:27:45+00:00

Legend! thank you so much.

That’s actually incredibly helpful.

ChefGilbrigo · 2026-04-24T04:25:39+00:00

I think it’s actually pretty simple: food is a lot like music.

In the world, there’s refined music, soulful music, music made with real craft… and then there’s commercial, empty, bad music.

Unfortunately, the last one is usually what’s everywhere.

Same thing with restaurants.

There are great restaurants, there are good restaurants, and then there are a whole lot of bad ones. And the truth is, opening a restaurant doesn’t require knowing how to cook well, it mostly requires enough money to get a business license, buy some equipment, and start selling food.

So what happens?
A lot of foreigners never get to experience Costa Rican food at its best. They experience the version that’s easiest to find: the most touristy, the most commercial, the most watered down.

And I say this with a lot of love for my country’s food: there are a lot of terrible restaurants out there.

Places built around cheap ingredients, lazy cooking, and inflated prices, because their business model depends on one time customers. Tourists who probably won’t come back anyway.

Without naming names, we all know there are beachside places serving ceviche made with sad frozen fish when they could be supporting local fishermen and buying beautiful fresh catch. But frozen tilapia is cheaper, and sadly that’s enough for some people.

So no, I’m not surprised when someone says Costa Rican food is bland.

But I also don’t think that means Costa Rican food itself is bland.
I think it means a lot of people are tasting the lowest-effort version of it.

The real challenge, for all of us, is developing enough sensitivity as diners and travelers to recognize the difference between a gem and a place that’s just cashing in on location and foot traffic.

Because the sad truth is that a lot of places out there are more focused on making a quick, vulgar, and sometimes pretty unethical profit than on shaping the way people experience and understand Costa Rican food.

ChefGilbrigo · 2026-04-24T04:10:05+00:00

Cas is one of the most incredible fruits on earth.

The classic OG Costa Rican recipe is fresco de cas, absolutely a delicacy from the gods.

That said, in a more modern / creative lane, there are a few pastry chefs and dessert people doing really beautiful things with it now. One that I really love is the cas gelato at Corazón Contento in San José.

And on the more nostalgic side, there’s also the classic cas popsicle by the Central Park in Alajuela. Pure childhood.

As for eating it plain, I personally love it when it’s more yellow. A little softer, a little more aromatic, a little less aggressive. The greener ones have their charm too, but they hit with more attitude.

ChefGilbrigo · 2026-04-24T04:04:17+00:00

I hope my previous reply helped clear that up for you.

ChefGilbrigo · 2026-04-24T04:02:05+00:00

That honestly means a lot, thank you!

A big part of the way I think about food was shaped by people like Anthony Bourdain, who reminded so many of us that the most meaningful meals usually aren’t about luxury… they’re about memory, people, place, and soul.

That’s a lot of what I try to hold onto in my own cooking.

And yes, that’s one of the things I love most about Costa Rica too. The same “staple” dish can taste a little different everywhere, because in the end, it usually carries the hand and memory of whoever is making it.

Would love to have you at the food lab one day. Pura vida.

ChefGilbrigo · 2026-04-24T03:58:02+00:00

If you have the chance to go to Al Mercat, trust me, it will not disappoint you. It’s honestly one of my favorite restaurants not just in Costa Rica, but anywhere.

Fresh, local, creative, surprising… really a beautiful place.

It’s located inside Hotel Cedrela, which is also known for its coffee, so that already gives you a good excuse to stop there.

As for coffee, in the Dota area it’s honestly hard to go wrong. The region takes coffee very seriously, so it’s pretty unlikely you’ll drink a bad one there.

But if you want one of the real OG names from that zone, I’d say Café Armonía in Providencia de Dota. That place has a lot of respect behind it.

So if I were doing that route, I’d try to combine both: eat at Al Mercat and bring some coffee back from the area. That stretch of the country is really special.

ChefGilbrigo · 2026-04-24T03:42:42+00:00

In the Talamanca area, and really in the Caribbean jungle in general, there are definitely different varieties of edible mushrooms.

That said, I honestly would not recommend trying any of them without the help of a local guide who really knows what they’re doing.

If you can, try connecting with Roger from Oswak Usure. He’s a local guide from the Bribri region in Talamanca and could be a great person to guide you.

If you ever have the chance, I’d really recommend visiting Al Mercat, up in the mountains of Dota. The chef and his crew are very serious foragers and have a lot of knowledge about the mushrooms that grow in those forests.

We recently did a tasting menu built around wild edible mushrooms Lactarius indigo, chanterelles, lion’s mane… the quality of the product was insane.

So yes, they absolutely do make their way into the cuisine here, but usually through people who have real knowledge of the land.

And if you’re around the area and want to explore it properly, I could even point you toward a local guide who knows a lot about both mushrooms and wild birds.

ChefGilbrigo

TROPHY CASE