3 Best Restaurants in Tortuguero and the Caribbean Coast, Costa Rica

For nearly 30 years, the owner of this Italian restaurant has gone to great lengths to assure ingredients are authentic, including importing olive oil and wine from Italy. You’ll be surprised at all the additional light Tuscan entrées, appetizers, and desserts the chef-owner has concocted that day. Start with bruschetta and carpaccio, and move on to fillet with Gorgonzola sauce or homemade pasta. Be prepared for a long, leisurely dining experience with attentive service, often from the owner himself, with all the flair of an opera tenor. It's worth the wait, especially when you sink your teeth into the tiramisu; this is one of the country's top Italian restaurants.

Pizza, crepes, pastas, and fresh fish are on the menu at this small, canal-side café in the center of town. Wood lattice over the windows, a thatch roof, and, not surprisingly, a small Buddha statue make up the furnishings. Ambient chill out music might be playing in the background.

This is the hot place to see and be seen on Puerto Viejo's main drag. The owners learned to cook at the knee of their Italian grandmother back in Rimini, and have concocted a menu, several pages long, of pizzas and handmade pastas. The hand-rolled strozzapreti with shrimp and zucchini is a top seller. Recorded reggae and mambo music plays in the background.