Food

For breakfast, try Stella’s Bakery, tel. 645-5052, selling homemade bread, cookies, granola, sticky buns, doughnuts, sandwiches, and killer milk shakes ($3). The breakfast menu includes pancakes and novelettes, and granola with home made yogurt ($2). It even has a website: www.stellasbakery.com. Its open 6 A.M.—6 P.M. Another good place to get the morning going is Paradise Café, tel. 645-6081, a classy little U.S-run place offering bagels, espressos. Cappuccinos, and other treats. It has tall windows for views. It’s open Mon—Sat. 7 A.M.—2 p.m. Churches, in Santa Elena, also sells pas tries, espressos, cappuccinos, teas, and juices.

Restaurante lingo’s Café Bar, tel. 645- 6034, next to the gas station, is a simple budget place serving tipico and international dishes. Nearby, Restaurant La Cascada, a pleasant little restaurant in landscaped grounds with a small waterfall and balcony for alfresco dining, is good for basic fare (most dishes below $10).

For more elegant dining, Monteverde Lodge offers excellent, inexpensive cuisine to all-corners (breakfast $6.50, lunch and dinner $11). A typical dinner might include cream of tomato soup, and sea bass. It has a large wine list, starting at $12. It’s open 6—8:20 AM., noon—2 P.M., and 6—8:30 AM. The Sapo Dorado is recommended for vegetarian dishes, including whole-grain pizza, banana bread, and tofu with vegetarian primavera ($7); plus baked orange chicken with pepper corn ($7). Classical music is played at sunset, followed by live music and dancing.

Bromelias, in the art gallery of that name, three km east of Santa Elena, is a quaint alpine restaurant with exquisite decor and garden views. It serves such clever dishes as chicken and mango, and avocado and salsa crepes, plus banana cake and a rich brown sugar nut cake for desserts. Open daily 9 A.M.—5 P.M.

A reader reports that the Pizzeria El Daiquiri, in Santa Elena, "has the best vegetarian pizza in all Costa Rica” ($5-10). Also try Las Brisas, 600 meters east of Santa Elena; or Restaurante y Pizzeria Tramonti, and offering good ambience along with Italian seafood dishes. Johnny’s Pizzeria, tel. 645-5066, is simple yet classy, with a wide-ranging pizza menu ($3.50—10, small-large), plus burritos and daily specials such as polio a! d n ($7); open 7 A.M.-3 P.M. and noon—9:30 P.M. Restaurant Las Palmeras, tel. 645-5450, also has pizzas plus steaks and chick en dishes; its neighbor, the Restaurant de Lucia, tel. 645-5337, is genuinely Italian, with cappuccinos, lasagnas, and vegetarian dishes.

Cantina Mexicali, on the north side of Santa Elene, serves California-style Mexican food.

Teens, in Santa Elena, is a clean, modem eatery and ice cream store above Panaderia Jiménez, which sells sandwiches, breads, and pastries. Morpho Café, tel. 645-5607, in Santa Elena, also serves coffees, ice creams, and batidos (milk shakes).

For groceries, head to the well-stocked Super La Esperanza in Santa Elena, or the smaller Super Cerro Plano, one km east. You can buy baked goods at Musmanni, next to La Esperanza. The cheese factory, of course, sells cheeses; Mon—Sat. 7:30 A.M.—4:30 P.M.

Much of the information on our site as it relates to Costa Rica is:

Courtesy of Christopher P. Baker and Avalon Travel Publishing.
© 2004 Christopher P. Baker. All Rights Reserved.

A2Z Languages highly recommends Christopher P. Baker's book: Moon Handbooks Costa Rica. Click on the image to visit his website where you can purchase this book or find out more about the author.

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