2 Best Restaurants in Central Valley, Costa Rica

With weathered, blond-wood tables and chairs, and big windows with a view out onto the central park, La Garza is a popular meeting spot with a little more atmosphere than most of the eateries in town in spite of its extremely plain interior. The menu runs the gamut from hamburgers to chicken and has a good seafood selection. Open until 2 am, this is the only place in town for a very late bite to eat. There's a pleasant bar here, too, backed by a Latin soundtrack or karaoke.

This is a good place to stop for lunch when you need a break from shopping, with a variety of steaks, spicy chorizos, arroz con pollo (rice and chicken), and soups—we recommend the maize soup—on the menu. You might not expect it in this mix, but the pizza is pretty good, too. Service is leisurely here (that’s a nice way of saying “slow”) and the time is lengthened in proportion to the number of tour buses in town that day.