Top Eateries in Nosara Costa Rica

Costa Rica is home to a plethora of nature, beautiful beaches, and AMAZING food!! Our goal for our most recent trip to Nosara, Costa Rica was to eat our way through the town and these are some of our most highly recommended places that you don't want to miss out on your next trip.

• El Chivo

El Chivo is a Mexican inspired neighborhood bar and restaurant in Playa Pelada, Costa Rica that originally opened in 2014 as "Tequila and Tacos." Through covid, the restaurant scene in Nosara changed and El Chivo was born! The restaurant offers bar style service, quality food, great drinks, an Asian take-out menu and a fantastic ambiance. There is plenty of room inside, however, when that is full, there is a patio both out front and in the back. During our time in Costa Rica, local musicians would play live music on Friday nights. Some of our favorites from the regular menu is the wet burrito and the California. From the Asian menu, we enjoyed the spring rolls and gyoza. While Nosara is more of a sleepy town that doesn't offer a huge nightlife, El Chivo is open until 11:00 on the weekends!

• La Bodega

La Bodega is a very cute little grocery store and small restaurant that is attached to El Chivo. The grocery store section is small and more expensive than some larger grocery stores in Nosara, however, it was right next to our Airbnb. They offered a good selection of wine, liquor, juices, fresh vegetables, eggs, and lunch supplies. Dinner supplies were more limited, however, they had lots of pasta options and some frozen meats. The restaurant portion offers breakfast and lunch with a smaller but delicious menu! We ordered breakfast one time, and each got the breakfast muffin with cheese, bacon, egg and siracha. I had had asked for no siracha as I do not like spicy foods, however with the language barrier, it was hard to understand my request, but it was really good and tasted like a slightly spicier ketchup!

• II Pepperoni

II Pepperoni is located on the main "downtown" road of Playa Pelada and was a short walk from our Airbnb as well as the beach. The restaurant is a fun open-air concept and is also home to a bakery in the morning hours. The menu is a beautiful blend of Costa Rica's love for fresh ingredients, seafood, quality flavors, pizzas, and grilled meats to juicy perfection. We visited twice during our trip, and it did not disappoint! On our first visit, we split the tuna tartare appetizer which was a heaping portion of sashimi grade tuna, diced mangos and avocados. The seared sesame incrusted yellowfin tuna was a fan favorite! Fish of day consists of whatever their fresh catch is and that day it happened to be mahi mahi, which was delectable! Our second visit was a surprise as we dipped in to avoid a tropical rainstorm. We decided to try their pizzaa and ordered a mouthwatering margarita pizza. All pizzas are served thin crust and prepared in a brick oven, one of the best thin crusts pizzas we have had!

• Olga's

Olga's is a one of the two beach front restaurants in the Playa Pelada portion of Nosara and has a very local vibe. It is the perfect place to either watch the sunset while enjoying dinner or visit after the sun is down as it is a short walk from the beach. The menu is extensive with both a large drink and food menu, with a lot of traditional Costa Rican food. Food wise, we shared the combination ceviche and while it was delicious, the fish seemed fresher than the shrimp. The shrimp quesadilla was cheesy and cooked to perfection. Costa Rica national dish is their Casado which is served with white rice, black or red beans, cooked vegetables, salad, cooked plantains, and your choice of protein (chicken, fish, or beef). In addition, Olga's had the option of frying, baking, or grilling the protein. I chose the fish Casado grilled with a side of guacamole and it was delicious!

• Cevichera Mary

If you are looking for a completely local spot that you are hard-pressed to see a tourist at with great food, Cevichera Mary is your place! A tuk-tuk is necessary to get here unless you want a long walk from Playa Pelada. The restaurant is an open space concept with cool mural paintings and funky wooden tables. The menu is small but offers a wide variety of fresh juices and traditional Costa Rican cuisine. We wanted to try both the shrimp and fish ceviche; however, they were sold out of the shrimp. Ceviche dishes were served with a side of smashed and fried plantains that were delicious! We also chose to try the traditional Casado with fish that was lightly fried, and I am already looking for a recipe to make it back in the states.

• Café de Paris

Café de Paris is in Playa Guiones, which is the more touristy part of Nosara but don't let that deter you from visiting! Café de Paris is great for breakfast, lunch, or spending a portion of your day there. The location offers a small boutique with Costa Rica made clothing (I bought the cutest black shorts), a bakery, a lovely pool, a small put-put golf course, and of course the café itself. When we were seated, it took a moment for our server to come over, however, it appeared to be in the middle of a shift change. The menu is lovely with a lot of organic, healthy options. We both got a smoothie, a blueberry and a green, which were amazing! Lunch options we chose were a salmon crostino with pesto, greens, red onions, and capers, served with a side of fruit (some of the best watermelon I have had) as well as a tuna melt sandwich served on fresh sourdough with a side of fruit. Both were absolutely amazing! It was a little confusing but you do pay at the counter after your meal, but we had to watch other patrons to figure that out. After, we visited the bakery, where we purchased a piece of passionfruit cheesecake, a fresh croissant, and a mini quiche, all of which were as yummy as our lunch! 10/10 recommend.

• La Luna

La Luna is the second beachfront restaurant in Playa Pelada and offers both indoor and outdoor seating. The outdoor sitting is situated both on a back deck area as well as multiple beachfront tables. For lunch we didn't need a reservation, however, La Luna is a very popular spot to watch the sunset, so a reservation is required. Both the drink and food menu are extensive with lots of delicious options! Drink wise, I highly recommend the St. Germain Spritz as it is a light and bubbly gin drink with elderflower. In terms of food, we wanted to try several appetizers as our main meals since they all sounded spectacular. The Mediterranean included homemade bread and a spread of hummus, tzatziki, baboganoush, mixed olives and feta, both marinated in olive oil. The Pelada Ceviche was a fresh fish tower marinated in lime juice with bell peppers, coriander, tomato and one of the best avocados we have had! Finally, we shared the fish carpaccio, which was paper thin sliced white fish, marinated and served with capers, fresh bread, and avocados. While we didn't order any entrees, we saw the burger go out to another table and it looked magnificent. La Luna is a must stop during your trip to Nosara.

• Coyol

No trip to Nosara is complete without dinner at Coyol, which is a beautiful restaurant located on the top of a mountain. You will truly have dinner in the clouds! While the road was curvy and steep, it is accessible by tuk-tuk, but you will pay approximately $60.00 for a round trip. The restaurant is an open concept in which the back side of it is glass for perfect sunset views in addition to a lot of available outside seating. The property is also home to a tree swing that allows one to swing off the edge and into the sunset. We made our reservation for 4:00, which was the perfect time as we got there before the crowd, and we had time for cocktails before the sunset. The menu offers a great selection of cocktails, wine, seafood, steak, and barbeque. For appetizers, we wanted to try everything, so we ordered the smoked oysters, tuna tartar, and fish carpaccio. They were all equally delicious so we can't choose what our favorite one was! If you choose to not try appetizers, they offer a delicious homemade naan with a variety of dipping sauces. For entrees, we got the fish of the day, which was a lovely Chilean Seabass with a spicy Mediterranean sauce and vegetables as well as the Coyol short ribs, which were smoked for 4 hours and just fell off the bones. The vegetable option was a delicious crispy tahini cauliflower, which was unlike anything I had ever had before. For dessert, we has espresso martinis and while we didn't try it, we bought our tuk-tuk driver a piece of cheesecake and it was so beautiful, I would have felt bad eating it!