Costa Rican cuisine is simple, and chefs shun spices. Comida típica, or native dishes, rely heavily on rice and beans, the basis of many Costa Rican meals. "Home-style" cooking predominates. But meals are generally wholesome and reasonably priced. Gallo pinto, the national dish of fried rice and black beans, is ubiquitous, particularly as a breakfast staple. Many meals are derivatives, including arroz con pollo (rice and chicken) or arroz con tuna. At lunch, gallo pinto becomes the casado: rice and beans supplemented with cabbage-and-tomato salad, fried plantains, and meat. Vegetables do not form a large part of the diet. Restaurants there are plenty!!

Food staples include carne (beef, sometimes called bistek), pollo (chicken), and pescado (fish). Beef and steaks are relatively inexpensive, but at the worst you may be served a leathery slab cooked in grease. Beef is lean (cattle are grass-fed). Despite 1,227 kilometers (767 miles) of coastline, seafood—especially camarones (shrimp) and langosta (lobster)—are expensive because most is exported. Travelers on tight budgets should stick with the set meal—casado—on lunchtime menus (C440–660). Sodas (open-air lunch counters) also serve inexpensive snacks and meals (C220–660).

Dining in Costa Rica is a leisurely experience. Restaurants are normally open 11 AM–2 PM and 6–11 PM or midnight. Some restaurants stay open 24 hours. If desperation sets in, you have plentiful fast-food options.

In San José, many fine restaurants serve a wide range of international cuisines at reasonable prices. And though culinary excellence in general declines with distance from the capital city, a growing number of hoteliers and gourmet chefs are opening notable restaurants even in secluded spots. Take the Caribbean coast, for example, where local cuisine reflects its Jamaican heritage with mouthwatering specialties such as codfish and ackee (a small, pink-skinned fruit tasting like scrambled eggs), johnnycakes, curried goat, curried shrimp, and pepperpot soup.

Fruits
The bunches of bright vermilion fruits on the stem found at roadside stalls nationwide are pejibayes, small relatives of the coconut. You scoop out the boiled avocado-like flesh; its taste is commonly described as a cross between a chestnut and a pumpkin. The pejibaye palm produces the palmito (heart of palm), used in salads. Guayabas (guavas) come into season September through November; their pink fruit is used for jams and jellies. A smaller version—cas—finds its way into refrescos and ice cream. Marañón, the fruit of the cashew, is also commonly used in refrescos. Mamones are little green spheres containing grapelike pulp. And those yellowish-red, egg-size fruits are granadillas (passion fruit).

Drink
Costa Rica has no national drink, except perhaps horchata, a cinnamon-flavored cornmeal drink, and guaro, the campesino's near-tasteless yet potent drink of choice. And coffee, of course, is Costa Rica's grano d'oro (grain of gold). Most of the best coffee is exported, so don't expect consistently good coffee. What you're served may have been made from preground coffee that has been in a percolator for an hour or two. Coffee is traditionally served very strong and mixed with hot milk; it can sometimes be half coffee, half milk. When you order coffee with milk (café con leche), you'll generally get fifty-fifty. If you want it black, order café sin leche. Herb teas are widely available.

The Costa Rican refreshers are refrescos, energizing fruit drinks served with water (con agua) or milk (con leche). They're a great way to taste the local fruits, such as tamarindo (the slightly tart fruit of the tamarind tree), mango, and papaya.

Imported drinks are expensive. Lovers of beer (cerveza) are served locally brewed pilsners and lagers that reflect the early German presence in Costa Rica. Imperial and Bavaria are the two most popular brews. Even the poorest campesino can afford the native red-eye, guaro, a harsh, clear spirit distilled from fermented sugarcane.