One of the questions we get asked most: "where should we eat?" And honestly, it's one of our favorite things about this stretch of Guanacaste — you could eat somewhere different every night of a two-week trip and still not run out of good options. Playa Potrero itself punches well above its weight for a town this size, and once you widen the circle to Flamingo, Brasilito, Las Catalinas, and the towns in between, you're looking at one of the best concentrations of restaurants on this whole coast.
After years of eating our way through this area — first as visitors, now as owners who get asked for dinner recommendations almost daily — here's our real, opinionated guide, organized by town so you can find something close to wherever you're staying or headed that day.
Names in orange are our breakfast & brunch picks — listed first in each section.
1. Playa Potrero & Surfside
Everything in this section is a five- to ten-minute walk or golf-cart ride from Casa Roberta and Casa Daniel, which makes it the easiest place to fall back on when nobody wants to get in the car.
Café Nita — in the newer Plaza Potrero on the corner of Ruta 911 and Calle Aguacate. A great casual breakfast with genuinely excellent coffee.
El Patio — a bakery tucked into Villaggio #3, open 6am to noon. Good for a quick pastry and coffee on the way to the beach.
Carpe Diem Mas Que Café — in the Casa del Sol commercial center. Fresh food, quality coffee, and an inviting atmosphere. Closed Tuesdays.
Hemingway's — right at the sailing club on Potrero beach, and about as convenient as it gets — a short walk from the house. There's a pool for the kids, the ocean is steps away, and there's often live music and good cocktails alongside casual beach food. An easy, reliable favorite.
La Forketta — also walking distance from Casa Roberta. Excellent Italian food and a solid wine list — it's usually full in high season, so it's worth booking ahead rather than just showing up.
Perlas Gastro Pub — right next door to La Forketta. Half bar, half restaurant, with live music and great bar food — genuinely fun for both kids and parents, which isn't always an easy combination to find.
Gritanga — right by Perlas and La Forketta, and a genuinely great fast-casual stop: Nicaraguan-style tacos, burritos, and quesadillas. Started life as a food truck and has since grown into a proper little restaurant. Open noon–8:30pm, closed Tuesdays.
Potrero Brewing Co. — on the main strip in Surfside, serving IPAs, lagers, porters, and sours if the local beer isn't cutting it. There's a good stash of board games for the kids too — and root beer floats.
The Shack — right next to Potrero Brewing. Live music, a solid range of beers and mixed drinks, and American-style bar food — burgers and the like.
CanaTico Pizzeria Bar & Grill — beautiful open-air dining with a patio, a few hundred meters north of Super Wendy. A good, low-key pizza night option.
Tandoor Grill — at the end of the main strip in Surfside, serving genuinely authentic Indian food. The service can be a little slow, but it's worth the wait — the portions are generous and the extensive menu is worth exploring. Lovely open-air dining too.
The Beach House — fronting Potrero beach, with a seafood-heavy menu and a good sunset happy hour. Nice spot for Costa Rican and seafood classics with your feet basically in the sand.
Las Brisas — at the north end of Potrero beach, a real local institution — the story goes it was built on the beach around 1950 by the Peralta Abarca family, and it still has that old-school, watch-the-fishermen-come-in charm. The seafood platter is something else on a good night, though like a lot of long-running local spots the kitchen can be inconsistent — go for the setting and the history as much as any single dish.
Nasu — inside the Bahía del Sol hotel, doing Italian with a strong seafood lean — homemade pasta, wood-fired pizza, good seafood starters. A nicer night out without leaving Potrero.
La Sodita and Estera Azul — two proper local sodas serving classic Costa Rican fare — gallo pinto, casados, fresh fish. Good, cheap, and completely unpretentious.
2. Playa Flamingo
A short drive north, Flamingo has the area's best marina views and its most upscale dining, alongside plenty of easy, casual spots.
Surf Box — right at the Flamingo Marina with stunning views. Started as a small breakfast spot and has since expanded into lunch and dinner — smoothies, açaí bowls, and tropical tacos alongside a more upscale evening menu.
A Lo Nico — run by a French couple, past Super Massai, mixing European and Costa Rican breakfast and lunch — the pineapple pancakes have a following. There's a bakery right next door.
Coco Loco — at the far end of Flamingo beach — the classic spot to watch a Costa Rican sunset with a drink in hand. Great cocktails, casual beach food, and a genuinely fun vibe. We go here every time we visit.
Angelina's — in the Plaza in Flamingo, with a big pizza oven right as you walk in and a broader Italian, steak, and seafood menu beyond that. There's often live music, and it pairs well with the Monday night market.
Gracia La Vid — on the road between Flamingo and Brasilito, serving gourmet wood-fired pizza, house-made pasta, cheese plates, and an extensive wine list. Dinner only, 4–9:30pm, Tuesday through Sunday — reserve ahead in high season.
Hazel's — steak and seafood with marina views — a solid pick for a proper dinner out.
El Tiki — easy street food — wraps, quesadillas, tacos, sandwiches — with craft cocktails if you want something more casual than a sit-down dinner.
3. Brasilito
About a 12-minute drive south of Surfside, through the main town square — small, local, and easy to underrate.
Cafeteria — tucked into "The Village," a small plaza about a kilometer past Brasilito as you head toward Huacas. Delicious coffee and smoothies, and an interesting breakfast and lunch menu with tasty salads and sandwiches.
Patagonia — sitting prominently at the entrance to Brasilito, opposite the beach. Great cocktails and Argentinian food — grilled steaks alongside fresh seafood — and a fun pool for the kids with cabanas to relax in for the afternoon. One of the better date-night options on this whole list.
Sol y Luna — a beloved local soda serving classic Costa Rican dishes — gallo pinto, fresh seafood, hearty casados — in a genuinely welcoming, no-frills setting.
Camarón Dorado — right on the beach, a solid pick for seafood with a relaxed, ocean-view setting.
4. La Penca
The quiet stretch of coast just north of Potrero — more of a peaceful morning walk and a fishing spot than a restaurant row. (Las Brisas, which people sometimes associate with this stretch, is actually at the north end of Potrero beach itself — see the Potrero & Surfside section above.)
5. Las Catalinas
The car-free, European-hill-village-style town around Playa Danta has grown into a genuine dining destination in its own right — worth a visit even beyond the beach.
Cuatro Calle La Ronda Bakery — a newer bakery serving breakfast, lunch, and coffee, plus homemade preserves, in a warm, neighborly space. Worth confirming it's open before you make the trip, since it was newly opened as of our last check.
Limonada — a fun, casual beach restaurant right in town, doing seafood, salads, and colorful, easy dishes in a properly laid-back, tropical setting.
Ponciana — Costa Rican cooking with Basque influences, in a stylish evening space built to feel like a welcoming social hub rather than a stuffy fine-dining room. Good for a proper night out.
Sentido Norte — at Casa Chameleon, up on the hilltop overlooking town and the beach — dock-to-table seafood with European and Mesoamerican influences, and some of the best sunset views on this entire list. Reserve ahead.
The Las Catalinas Beach Club — a casual poolside spot with a full cocktail bar — lighter, colorful fare for lunch or a pre-dinner drink. Typically for members and guests of Las Catalinas properties rather than a drop-in restaurant, so worth calling ahead.
Copper & Stone — part gourmet deli, part grocery — fresh produce, meats, wine, craft beer, and excellent sandwiches, plus a patio to sit and eat them on. Good option if you want a great lunch without a full sit-down meal.
Danta beach itself also has a small food court and shops right on the sand — handy for a quick bite between the water and the hiking trails without leaving the beach.
6. Huacas
Huacas isn't a food-tourism destination — it's the practical town where you'll find the biggest fruit and vegetable stand in the area (right by the Playa Grande turnoff), hardware stores, and everyday local sodas. That said, it's worth knowing a few names for an honest, cheap meal or an unexpectedly good one, and it's on the way to a good beer.
Soda El Guanacaste and Soda Tipica Donde Saby — two straightforward local sodas serving home-style Costa Rican plates at local prices — no frills, good food.
Sushi food truck — yes, really — a food truck parked along the main strip through town doing fresh sushi rolls and bowls. A genuinely fun surprise for a town best known for its hardware stores and produce stand.
Brothers of Ale — a craft brewery just past Brasilito on the way into Huacas, pouring IPAs, Helles, and stouts. A good stop to break up the drive if you're headed inland.
Worth knowing: that same main strip through Huacas has a rotating cast of other small restaurants and food trucks beyond what's listed here. The lineup turns over pretty quickly, so treat this as a starting point and keep an eye out for whatever's new next time you're driving through.
A few practical tips for eating out near Playa Potrero
- Reserve ahead in high season (December–April), especially at La Forketta, Angelina's, Gracia La Vid, Ponciana, and Sentido Norte — they fill up.
- Check the day of the week. Several favorites close one weekday — Gracia La Vid and Gritanga are both closed Tuesdays. A quick check of their Facebook page before you head out saves a wasted trip.
- Bring cash for the sodas and smaller local spots — cards aren't always an option away from the bigger restaurants.
- For a kid-friendly night out, Hemingway's, Perlas, Coco Loco, and Potrero Brewing (board games included) are the easiest wins.
- For a sunset dinner, Coco Loco in Flamingo and Sentido Norte in Las Catalinas are both hard to beat — just get there before the sun starts dropping.
- Restaurant hours and days off change often in this part of Costa Rica — treat everything above as a strong starting point and give a place a quick Google or Facebook check before you go.
Our favorites
If you only had a week: Coco Loco for sunset drinks — we genuinely go every time we visit — La Forketta for an easy, excellent Italian dinner five minutes from the house, Perlas for a night that works for the whole family, and, if you make it to Las Catalinas, Sentido Norte for a proper occasion dinner with the best view on this list. That said, the honest answer is you'll eat well almost anywhere on this coast — this is a genuinely hard place to have a bad meal.
Hungry for your trip to Playa Potrero?
Casa Roberta and Casa Daniel put you five minutes from half this list and 30 minutes or less from the rest. Book direct with us and save on platform fees.
Questions about where to eat during your stay? Reach out — you'll get us, not a call center.