Don Toro Beach — Restaurant in Parrita

This was our 3rd time visiting, 2nd time for a meal. Located in Esterillos Centro / Este, one of our favourite beaches in the area.

The place itself is wonderful, with a HUGE tree canopy over the dining area, which is right on the beach front. They keep the area clean and free from debris, and there is plenty of space between tables. There are often a couple of sloths in the almond trees, which are always beautiful to see.

The service is extremely slow, we spent over 90 mins here for a 1-course lunch. Although there were 4-5 servers present, only one seemed to be attending tables.

Food-wise, we found it to be OK but not great. We had ceviche, chicken strips and a steak. The ceviche was ok but had something sweet in the sauce for some reason. Cook on the steak was good but the veg and mashed potatoes had so much garlic it was ridiculous. The mojitos were garbage, made with Sprite. Lemonades for the kids (our usually safe bet) were awful too, unfortunately.

This place is probably best for a sunset beer and maybe chips and salsa, or patacones. We would come back for that, but not...

Update November 2025: the menu has changed again, the food continues to worsen. Particularly frustrating is that half the menu is not available at any given time. We went two further times (for the ambiance) and half the items we wanted to order were not available. Additionally, the kitchen was extremely slow (over an hour wait for food.) Down to three stars overall.

Update February 2025: I've unfortunately had to knock this place down a star. They've changed chefs since I was here a couple of months ago. The menu is different, not as good (not bad but not exceptional like before), smaller portions, and a bit more pricey. Both of the dishes we loved before are no longer available and what we ordered was fine, but nothing motivated us to return like the last times we ate here.

Great spot right on the beach. Prices were reasonable. Beef was tender (a rarity in Costa Rica) and flavorful. Cocktails well priced and made....

The most unassuming place, yet best meal we had on our whole trip! We were staying at the Sunset del Mar and the restaurant is about a 25-minute walk down the beach, or you can drive, but who doesn't love a walk on the beach!? You sit at tables in the sand under a canopy of almond trees and string lights and watch the sunset - doesn't get better! Our server (Roberto, or "Mike" as he likes to be called) was charming, kind, helpful and spoke perfect English (if that's a concern for anyone, but the menu was also in English). He recommended the special for the night, which a was a whole fried red snapper and it did NOT disappoint! The shrimp rice and the the plantain appetizer (with beans, guac, and pico) were also very good! My mojito was not syrupy sweet and FULL of mint. I cannot recommend this place enough! I would even say it's worth a...