Salsa Brava Restaurante Caribeño — Restaurant in Cahuita

The location here is beautiful and could not seem like a more ideal spot. The menu promises more delights and the food really does deliver. But the service. We stopped for dinner on the first night of our trip and am happy to say that we never received any more awful service for the remainder of the trip. The waiter came over and took our order, he seemed good and took 4 orders. Great. One meal arrived at the table and 5 minutes later the waiter reappeared, empty handed and asking what was left still to come. We told him the order again. 2 more meals arrived, after another 10 minutes of waiting. The 4th of the group was left waiting. And waiting. We tried to signal the waiter, He clearly saw us but looked back down and ignored us. So we got up and asked the bar man. (Later this turned out to be the manager) Eventually the waiter arrived at the table asking what was wrong. When we explained, he acknowledged that we were waiting but told us the order never got to the kitchen as he never put it in. The rest of the party had finished their meals by this point and the fourth of the group was now bored of waiting and ready to just leave. The waiter offered to cancel the order but that's not really good enough after being ignored and waiting for so long on the promise of a meal and no communication so we asked to speak with the manager (bar man). We were told he couldn't leave the bar and so we went to him. Where he proceeded to 'explain' that we were now on the Caribbean side and couldn't expect to be treated great just because we are American and 'rich' (actually Scottish, American and Costa Rican... Also not rich). He advised that we would be joining the back of the queue in the kitchen "because that's how queues work" and then finally just told us to f**k off. We left without paying and were thoroughly disappointed with the welcome to this beautiful part of the world. There are plenty of lovely places along the beach with great food and great service. Someone needs to sort this place out because it could be a great spot but needs a major...

We had a really weird experience @ Salsa Brava yesterday: we have been at a Saturday night party. Many drunken people were there for sure, the toilet was broke, the Longdrinks for the quality overpriced and all in plastic cups. Trash right at the beach everywhere, nobody cleaned the tables, everything was on them until the end. But the worst: a woman at some point was lying on the floor, she had passed out. Her eyes were open, but she did not move. Security pushed people away that wanted to help her. Then there came a doctor, turned the women in a stable side position, but also she was pushed away from the security guards. Then I was telling one of them, that the woman needs help and one of the security woman pushed me so strongly - I flew backwards against a counter like one meter, crashed into it and hit my head and arm!! I have now a bruise, the bone swollen on the arm and it hurts a lot. This act was so violent! With a guest that wanted to help a person lying on the floor! I was in shock! All of us were.

The woman on the floor finally started moving her legs-obviously it was nothing too serious in the end. In this situation the security guards acted extremely unprofessional and violent with the guests including me: everyone who wanted to help was pushed away and they did not explain why and said nothing. They were just standing around the woman on the floor. Especially that female security guard of them that pushed me so strongly.

It was the worst experience during my whole Costa...

Salsa Brava is (in)famous for the weekly late night reggae parties. We weren't there for that haha. We just wanted to get a few drinks and check out some live music at the beach. The atmosphere was great, the music was great, but it was surprisingly difficult to get a drink. Strange for a bar.

We didn't see any servers around and many of the surrounding tables also looked to be confused about where the staff was. We're in the Caribbean so not really a big deal. Eventually, we walked up to the bar and ordered there, but the bartender seemed confused about why we were disturbing him. Maybe an off night?

We eventually got some local craft beers and enjoyed the music, so no dramas here. We didn't have a chance to eat here because there looked to be better options in the area but it was perfect for drinks. We'd go back here for sure. If you get here and have a similar experience, maybe check out Puerto Pirata around the corner for some good food and drinks.

For more travel tips and recommendations, search for our blog, Ultimate Pura Vida, and make the most of your time in beautiful Costa Rica....