Dining expenses for tourists in COSTA RICA shouldn’t be that costly so long as you avoid the overly commercialized tourist restaurants, which can be a little on the expensive side. If you really want to spend as little money as possible, I suggest you eat at the local sodas (cafés), places where the working class Tico dines. You could spend as little as $10 per day for breakfast, lunch and dinner. To get some idea on what the average tourist might spend on meals, I was pouring through my receipts on my recent 17-day/16-night trip to Costa Rica. The results are very illuminating:

DINNER – I had dinner 13 of the 16 nights I was in Costa Rica (I abstained the remaining 3 nights). The total expense was $155USD, so it averaged out to approximately $12.00 per dinner. Of the 13 dinners, 8 were partaken at my hotels and 5 at restaurants which cater to tourists or well-heeled locals. The most expensive dinner I had was at Luna Azul in Ostional (Nosara) for $22.50, where I had an exquisite gnocchi pasta dish and a very tasty green salad. The least expensive dinner I had was at a tourist restaurant in Turrialba where I spent $5.80USD.

BREAKFAST - My sample size is very small, because breakfast was included in my room rate for the duration of my stay (excluding my first 3 nights in San Jose at Hotel Bougainvillea). On my first morning there, I had the breakfast buffet thinking it was included in my room rate - but I was mistaken. The cost was $13 - kind of expensive but in line with what other first class hotels in San Jose charge for a buffet breakfast. Keep in mind that breakfast is included in the room rate at most hotels in Costa Rica.

The two days that I paid out of pocket for breakfast, the cost was less than $4.00 per breakfast including coffee. Of the breakfasts provided by the hotels, I thought that Luna Azul in Ostional had the best overall – in terms of presentation and selection. Kudos to Rolf for preparing egg white omelets for me everyday.

LUNCH - my sample size is even smaller as I had lunch on only two days – once was at a dedicated vegetarian restaurant, Comida Sentir near the University of Costa Rica, total damage was $6.85 for the plate of the day, tea and a pastry; my 2nd lunch was at El Mapache, a small Middle Eastern roadside cafe near Playa Negra, where I had delicious falafel sandwich for about $4.00.

In summary, for the average tourist in COSTA RICA, dining out is not really cheap, but not expensive either if one avoids the crass tourist venues. On the other had, If you dine at local places exclusively, breakfast will cost you as little as $2.50-3.00, lunch $3.00-4.00 and dinner for as little as $5.00-6.00 and up! MUY BARATO!

Note: All prices are in USD (converted from the local currency which is colones, where 570 colones = $1.00SD

I was having a leisurely breakfast my first day in San José, Costa Rica at the Bougainvillea Hotel. The breakfast buffet was good but nothing special – I had my usual ½ plate of fresh fruit accompanied by gallo pinto, some toast, a Costa Rican tortilla all drowned by some hot black Costa Rican coffee. The coffee was so good that I had three cups! After finishing breakfast, the waiter came over to the table and asked me to sign for the bill, 7200 colones ($13USD). Somewhat startled by the bill, I told the waiter that I thought my breakfast was included in my room rate – this is relatively standard with hotels in Costa Rica. He said one moment, senor, let me check with the front desk. About 5 minutes later, he returned to the table and advised me that the breakfast was extra monies and not part of my room rate. No problem, I said and signed the bill. If I had known in advance that the hotel was charging me for breakfast, I definitely would not have had their breakfast buffet for $13USD! No way!

Later on when I questioned the front desk manager about this, she apologized for the misunderstanding and said “Since we are giving you a 5% discount on the room rate for being travel industry professional, we have to charge you for the breakfast.” I didn’t complain, and I told her I would appreciate any break she could give me. Smiling, she told me before leaving that she would give me a 10% discount on my room and all my meals. I thanked her for her graciousness.

What is the lesson from this incident? In Costa Rica, if you’re eating meals at your hotel or at any upscale restaurant or café that caters to tourists, be prepared to pay about the same amount of monies as you would at a similar establishment in the USA. If you’d like to cut down on your dining expenses, I suggest that you go to either a local cafe or to one whose clientele is not geared exclusively to tourists.

In my case, paying $13 for a breakfast buffet at a first class hotel in the USA would be considered average but most people would agree $13 for the same buffet in Costa Rica is somewhat expensive. Keep in mind though, that in most instances breakfast is usually included in the room rate! If you’re wondering, how much a decent breakfast would cost at local café/restaurant in Costa Rica - I would say from $3.00 - $7.00USD.
And I have the receipts to prove it!