San Lucas Treetop Dining Experience — Restaurant in Monteverde

San Lucas Treetop Dining in Monteverde is pure magic. This isn’t just dinner—it’s a deeply immersive culinary journey through the diverse regions and flavors of Costa Rica. My fiance and I chose the 9-course sunset tasting menu ($172 per person/tax & tip included), and it instantly became one of our Top 3 dining experiences worldwide.

First things first—this is an exclusive experience. San Lucas only serves 8 or 9 private glass pods per sunset slot, so reservations are a must. Sunset experience is a 9 course menu whereas Lunch and Late Dinner sittings can be 6 or 9. They are very punctual, and for good reason: the timing of each course and the sunset seating are all carefully choreographed. We unfortunately had a misty/cloudy evening so we didn't witness the sunset in full effect, but spectacular regardless.

When you arrive, you’ll be greeted at the gates where your reservation is confirmed, then whisked away in a golf cart past the property’s gates and up through a beautiful, forested complex. It already feels like something special before you even sit down.

Once seated in your pod (perched among the trees), your specialized server/guide introduces the surprise menu—each course inspired by a different region of Costa Rica and created using seasonal, local ingredients. Ours was led by Jeffrey, who went above and beyond to make our engagement celebration memorable. He explained each regional course with warmth and passion, and even gave us a ride back afterward to meet our taxi. Truly exceptional service.

Our 9-course experience included:

🍞 1. Beginning the Journey – Artisanal breads, mushroom butter, agua de sapo sphere 🌊 2. Puntarenas: The Rich Coast – Smoked fish & piangua ceviche, oysters, tuna caldosa, naranjilla juice 🌽 3. Guanacaste: Pujagua Corn – Pork empanada with chicasquil, lemon gel, and ancestral corn 🌴 4. Limón: Mekatelyu sometin – Scallops with coconut air and Caribbean sauce ⛰ 5. Cartago: Mountains and Volcanoes – Confit potatoes with duck magret and Emmental cheese (my personal favorite) 🏙 6. San José: Where Cultures Blend – NY Strip with avocado cream, kale, puffed rice, and plantain (a close second) 🍍 7. Heredia: Farmer’s Market – Pineapple, lime sorbet, ginger, coconut water 🎃 8. Alajuela: Mangos and Nicknames – Squash dessert with caramelized pecans and sugar cane honey 💛 9. Monteverde: Golden Treasure – A sweet final bite to complete the journey

Each dish is a work of art, and Jeffrey shared the cultural and culinary stories behind the ingredients—turning the meal into an exploration of Costa Rica itself.

The cocktails are also fantastic. We tried a rich Old Fashioned, the bold and herbal Golden Toad Poison, and a perfectly balanced Spicy Margarita. Highly recommend adding the drink experience.

They offer pescetarian, vegetarian, and vegan versions of the menu as well, but note: dietary restrictions must be communicated in advance due to the surprise format and nature of the dishes.

💡 Final tips:

Arrive on time—everything is timed and limited

Choose the sunset seating if you can

Ask for Jeffrey—he’s phenomenal

Be ready to slow down, savor, and be surprised

San Lucas Treetop Dining is not just a meal—it’s a celebration of Costa Rica’s soul. If you’re in Monteverde, do not miss...

A truly luxurious experience, sitting in the treetops in a glass box, overlooking Santa Elena towards the Nicoya Peninsula and Gulf of Nicoya, with one of the islands being San Lucas, once place of a brutal prison.

You should definitely go here for the 5PM seating if the weather forecast is good. The sunset with that view is worth the price alone.

As mentioned, you sit in a glass box. You have your own door, so you are sitting all alone, albeit seeing the other boxes as well since it's all glass. But being out in the open makes you focus on the view and the presentations of the food and the food itself.

Presentation is really nice. You've got your own waiter who is the only one you'll be in contact with. He presents the background of the dishes and the Costa Rican regions (subject to change, depending on the menu of course). We as Scandinavians felt that it was a bit americanised, i.e. a bit over the top in the way everything shall be super nice and almost too welcoming in a way that doesn't make it feel genuine. It's not the waiters fault, it's the restaurant rules I think. As I tried lighten up the mood, he stayed focused. I like a more personal touch and where I feel the genuine person.

The same goes for the dishes - there was more focus on presentation rather than taste. Food was very well presented. Taste and food novelty met my expectations - i.e. not quite the standard the pricing would indicate, as you're paying for the view and experience more than the food. Not saying that the food wasn't good, but with the wine pairing it was about half the price of NOMA in Copenhagen, and if NOMA is a 10 out of 10, this is 6.

A couple of the dishes stood out though to me. I.e. have I now finally understood the thing with oysters. The way these were prepared, and the freshness of them, well now I won't frown upon them anymore. The tuna was excellent, melting like a fresh caught tuna shall (even though the drive up to Santa Elena takes about 2 hours). Scallops were also really good (do you notice I'm a seafood guy?). Oh yes, the refresher dish before the starter, was really a surprise. As a chocoholic, I loved the white chocolate filled with whateveritwas - it melted sooooo fast that it was like a bomb of freshness in your mouth. One of the desserts was also one of the top 5 desserts I've had, ever.

On a personal note, tt felt really weird going to super fancy restaurant, when there are soo many people living in sheds along the roads in CR, even close to the restaurant. I don't like injustice or inequality, but here I was...

I really recommend the place. If you're "only" a foodie, you've probably had better experiences, and I'd say there are even a few local sodas in Santa Elena that offers more in that sense, for less. But the complete package, with the view and seating (glass box/tree tops) I would do again, with another menu (as I don't like to watch the same movie more than once, I'm not keen in the same dish more than once when eating at a...

Our dinner at San Lucas was one of the most disappointing experiences I've ever had. My partner and I have never spent so much on a meal before, but ultimately decided to do it because this was meant to be a unique, once in a lifetime, fine dining experience. It was not that.

It started when we were sat next to a family with two small boys. Each box is private, but the two boys were so loud we often heard them, and they frequently ran up and down the pathway that runs by our box, stomping and yelling.

That was annoying, but the way San Lucas handled it ruined the experience. Our server spent most of his time with the family. He seemed new and overwhelmed. He told us repeatedly that the family was to blame for the poor service, but did nothing to make up for it, and didn't really apologize. He would be gone for long periods, then would rush through the next course or do two courses in a row quickly.

Throughout the evening, we filled our own water glasses. It took our server over an hour to notice we ran out of sparkling water and he offered more on our last course. We had pointed out earlier that it was empty to another server who subbed in for our server on one of the courses. He responded by acknowledging it was empty, but didn't offer to refill it or to refill our glasses with still water.

The view was amazing, and we wanted to get a picture before the sun went down. We waited for our server while he was taking photos of the family. As the sunset was ending and he remained completely occupied with them, we rushed to ask another guest to come take our photo. In all the hurry, I ended up knocking over my drink. At a place of this calibre and price, I would expect the restaurant to offer to replace the drink. Instead the server said, "the worst part is that you lost most of your drink... let me know if you'd like to order something else." Later, when my partner asked about replacing the drink at no cost given all the circumstances, the server was incredibly awkward about it, as if we were overstepping by asking.

At the end of the meal, the host asked how our experience was. When we described the circumstances, her response was that our server comped my one drink (even though we explained that he only reluctantly did so at our request), suggesting that a single $16 drink was enough to make up for a poor $400 experience and explaining that the restaurant charges children the same as adults to discourage them coming, as if it was out of the restaurant's hands and there was nothing else they could do.

But that still wasn't the end of it. An hour after we left, we got a call from the restaurant. We thought it might be a manager calling to apologize. Nope—they called to say that we left our sons' sweaters at the restaurant. No, we were not the table with...