El Barco Restaurante & Bar — Restaurant in Bejuco

As an American, it’s very easy to find and experience hate in my country. One of the many reasons I love Costa Rica is because of the welcoming and peaceful nature of this country and its people, but unfortunately that was not the case during my visit at this restaurant this past weekend. Now, I will say the atmosphere and location (it being near the beach) was beautiful and convenient for grabbing a drink or bite to eat after spending the day in the sun, but the owner(s) were very unprofessional. I was with my boyfriend and his family/friends (who are all tico) and immediately upon arrival we were told the kitchen is closed for an hour. We were understanding and polite as we accepted this and decided to wait outside the restaurant area until they were ready to serve food. During this hour, we never got refills on our drinks, never had someone check in on us, and we even waited more than the promised hour. Once we went to ask about the kitchen, they just handed us menus and told us they would be with us in about 5min .. 20 min pasted and they still didn’t show up. Once we decided to leave and take our business elsewhere they seemed relieved and told us “of course, no problem”. I usually have a lot of patience when it comes to uneducated and disrespectful people but if you read their responses to the other negative reviews here, you will get a better understanding of the type of people they are. Their comments are plain rude and complete lies. Again, if you are foreigner looking for a nice place to eat and drink then go for it .. but i would advise any locals or even foreigners who support locals to stay away from this establishment and invest your money into actual Costa Rican businesses. We ended up going to a really nice hotel and bar afterwards called “Las Lomas” .. the staff was super friendly and hospitable, the food was great, the drinks were even better, and we stayed all night hanging out at the pool. I would definitely recommend driving the extra...

This place is very cool and THE hangout spot for surfers! The building itself is shaped like a fishing boat and it's located right next to the gorgeous coconut palm-lined San Miguel beach. The staff and owners are super nice and very attentive.

The food and ambience were so good that we went twice during our short stay in Guanacaste! On the first night, we dined in the open-air bar area and had the fish tacos topped with a zesty slaw and the Costa Rican style ceviche served with big round plantain nachos - both very delicious. On the second night, we sat outside in the beachfront area and had the veggie burger and another round of tacos. Again, very delicious and satisfying.

They offer a great selection of cocktails and even some Costa Rican craft beers. I tried the Numu lager and it was pretty solid.

Definitely talk to the owner Carsten about surfing if you're interested in taking a class; he knows everything about it. And chat with Nadja about their adorable cats and make sure to donate a few coins to support their local...

So much potential. But we had a disappointing meal.

Honestly, looking at the pictures here on google, it looks like we ordered the wrong food or the Chef was out of town when we went.

I had the fish in garlic and it was dry and old. The vegetables were the type you can buy frozen and microwave in the bag. Felt like no love went into the meals.

The guacamole had no flavour or additions, just a small ramekin of mashed avocado. No limon, cilantro or other flavours. And the portion size was pitiful.

The waitress could not speak any spanish. Only English or German.

She forgot half our drinks and we had to chase her up when we wanted to order.

It felt like we played premium prices for the location but the food was a disappointment.

Edit: not sure which the owner is replying to as we were a party of 2, not 6 and did not use the showers.

Food was...