Wilkcr — Local services in Carmen

What a confusing disappointment...

Firstly, the beer is incredible. The tropical IPA is a must as well as the hibiscus beer (flowers of Jamaica) This must be said and the brewery itself must be complemented.

Everything else though was just a let down. After driving 4 hours in the day to get back to San Jose I was looking forward to visiting Wilk after a friend's recommendation of the beer. But we walk in tired and hungry and get blasted by club music, to the level of not being able to talk to the waiter properly without raising your voice. 8pm Sunday and it was like being out on a Saturday night. So we took a table outside around the corner and then the waiter just ignored us because we said the music was too loud to sit down and have dinner with.

Had to go and get my own menus and then had to go to be bar to ask for service after 10 minutes of sitting and waiting.

Foodwise, the sweet potato chips and the onion rings with the sauces are amazing. Really crispy and well seasoned. The burgers though are absolutely rubbish, look at my photos. The meat was dry and tasted like nothing and my girlfriends Portobello burger was covered in way to much garlic aioli that she had to scrape off.

I wish this place was better but the service was terrible, only from one big dude, the guy at the bar was good. He just made us feel so unwelcome from the moment we said the music was a bit too loud.

In summary, if you want happiness, get the beer here takeaway and then go to Apotecario...

My "traveling cube" and I enjoyed a fun night out on my last day in San Jose, Costa Rica. Our hostel buddies wanted a place to drink, so the flight of beer was less than $8 and gave us the option to try a variety of local, imported, and artisan cervezas. It was more than enough for a light-weight, such as myself, to leave feeling satisfied and giggly.

The service was fast and friendly and suggested options based on my taste preferences. I don't remember if I ate here 🤔 I think I did but my batttery died so I don't have the photos of the food, so... no comment yet. Everything else was awesome, and the 80s/90s American music was fantastic. It's in a trendy area, but don't let that intimidate you, the dress code was casual and the vibe super-comfortable. A must-taste on your itinerary; almost like a chic Taco Mac or Buffalo Wild Wings... great for groups, date night, or solo travelers....

I wish I had places like these while I was growing up in San Jose! Barrio Escalante has become a cool little hang out spot for the more mature university crowd. No rowdy parties, just pleasant bars to have a beer at with friends. This bar in particular won me over with its ice cream. Reasonably priced for the quality of the ice cream. The bar itself is not very loud and you can comfortably carry out a conversation without straining your voice. Beers were good and the burger we tried (mushroom one) with sweet potato fries was quite good. If you come here I recommend taking uber because parking...