Considered by many to be the best restaurant in Costa Rica, a dinner at Playa de los Artistas is an unforgettable experience, often the highlight of many peoples’ vacation in Montezuma. The menu changes every night, so it’s worth going twice. The restaurant is across the street from Los Mangos hotel, and has a very small sign. It’s easy to miss, and every day, hundreds of tourists walk right past without realizing they just passed one of the greatest restaurant experiences in the world.

If you check Trip Advisor, you’ll see it’s rated #3 in Montezuma (at the moment), which is ridiculous, since for most people, Playa de los Artistas is the best dining experience in Montezuma.

I recommend ordering only appetizers, two per person, and ask them to bring them out “poco a poco”. This will give you a wide variety of tastes, and everything will be hot when you eat it. Playa de los Artistas sits right on the beach, and you should arrive early enough to see the waves before sunset… so 5:30 is a good time. After that, it’s often too dark to see the ocean, even though it’s right in front of you.

My mom, who is a great cook herself, tells me that she begins to salivate about a month before visiting us in Costa Rica, just thinking about Playa de los Artistas. I have another friend from Los Angeles who has eaten all over the world and says it’s is favorite restaurant anywhere… not just the food, but the whole “vibe” is really authentically cool.