KoKo Gastro Bar — Restaurant in Jacó

Unfortunately, our experience at Koko Gastro Bar was very disappointing from the moment we walked in. We were a group of 9 and asked to be seated together. The host, who didn’t even bother to greet us properly, told us we would need to wait 20 minutes. Since we had small children with us, we opted to be seated at two separate tables. Shortly after, a table for 6 became available, and we asked if we could move and combine it with one of our existing tables. There was zero effort from the server or the supposed “manager” to help us accommodate our group.

Even worse, when another table for 4 opened up on the other side of our group, I had to physically get up and move the tables myself because the staff showed no interest in assisting us. It was clear that guests who spoke English received far better treatment—multiple tourists were welcomed warmly, given prompt service, and clearly prioritized. Meanwhile, our group of 6 Costa Ricans and 3 Americans (all speaking Spanish) was treated with little to no care or respect.

I asked to speak to the manager, only to be told that the same rude gentleman who initially dismissed us was the person in charge. When I asked for his name, the server hesitated before finally saying “Alejandro”—not sure if that’s accurate, but he’s hard to miss: full beard and both legs covered in tattoos.

The food was average at best, overpriced, and not memorable in taste. Overall, the poor service, discriminatory treatment, and lack of professionalism made for a terrible experience. I would not recommend this place—definitely not worth your time or money.

*Mi respuesta a su respuesta: Si revisaron las cámaras del restaurante pueden ver que en ningún momento el mesero se acercó a preguntar si necesitábamos algo más. El simplemente se acercaba a recoger los platos cuando terminábamos de comer. Y ustedes tampoco mencionan que el trato a los gringos es muy distinto al que le brindan a los latinos. Revise bien las cámaras y vean cómo en varias ocasiones se acercaron a la muchacha Estadounidense que estaba sentada en la mesa de afuera o a los que estaban atrás de nosotros. Y sobre lo de unir las mesas usted puede ver CERO iniciativa por parte del mesero…se acercó pero cuando ya mi prima y yo habíamos realizado casi todo. Reitero, pésimo servicio en este restaurante e inclusive en la manera de responder los...

Had a wonderful dinner there that gave so much needed variety to our trip. We'd mostly been eating rice/beans/protein so we were looking for something different and a local artist store recommended Koko.

Walking to it definitely felt a little shady at night as we had to walk down a long dimly lit alley and their sign as the end of the alley was not well lit. But once we spotted the restaurant it was very brightly lit, full of people and had a live band playing.

The restaurant is at the edge of the beach so I can imagine during the day you get a beautiful ocean view.

The food was excellent as I ordered their burger and my sister got their fish tacos. The mixed drinks were delicious and we also enjoyed their ceviche as an appetizer.

The only knock would be that the servers really had their hands full with only 3 wait staff for a completely full restaurant. They could probably use one...

Unfortunately really bad experience. The place has a nice vibe and good drink but that’s all I can say. We came in when the restaurant was busy - which was fine - we were happy to wait for food with drinks. After waiting for an hour and having a feeling that they forgot our order we asked the waiter and he said they need additional 2 min cause it’s busy. We were ok with that. But after waiting for another 20 min when the table next to us was served (even though they came later than us amd were much bigger group) we asked to talk to the owner. We told him about the situation and that we are not ready to pay for the food (that he came finally with). Then he walked away. We paid for the drinks. He was trying to come back and talk with us but at this point we did not really felt like staying there any longer. It’s really sad when the owner can’t own his mistakes and...