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,
modern 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.
Spanish Abroad, Inc. 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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