Waffle Monkey — Restaurant in Tamarindo

Very disappointed in our visit here today. Came here due to the good reviews, and left very dissatisfied. While I am not typically one to write a negative review, I really just cannot understand the why behind what happened.

Food was overall pretty good, but the experience we had was ridiculous.

We ordered a smoothie, two waffles, and a bottle of water. Upon our buzzer going off, my husband went to go get our food. They handed him our two waffles and what appeared to be the smoothie and brought it back to our table. I was a little thrown off by the color of the smoothie as it was an off white in color but due to the language barrier here since we aren’t fluent in spanish, we’ve in several occasions with other restaurants here receiving incorrect orders but have been fine with it overall and eat and drink whatever they give us. I took a sip of what I thought was a smoothie but mostly tasted like a milkshake so I was a bit confused until about a minute later the person we ordered from came to our table and said we received the wrong drink and asked for it back. Because I took a sip I stated that I had tried it and it most definitely wasn’t our smoothie so I would gladly give it back, until she said we HAD to pay for it since I took a sip. I questioned why we had to pay for the mistake that was on them as they were the ones that gave us the wrong drink and they said since I had tried it they could no longer give it to another customer. Which I understand but also making the customer pay for a mistake that was on their end? This conversation went on for a couple minutes with us trying to be courteous about explaining how we did not want to pay for it since it is not what we wanted nor was it our fault to which we finally caved and paid into their demands as it wasn’t really a conversation they wanted nor were giving in, just telling us over and over we needed to pay for it. an additional $8 for a drink we did not even want in the first place.

Not only that but had me thinking if I had not said anything about me trying it they would’ve given it to another customer, which I do not right as if my drink was in someone else’s possession for even a brief period of time I would not want to drink it. They told us to keep the drink to which I told them we didn’t want a milkshake in the first place and so they could just throw it away (both me and my husband are not huge milk drinkers, especially when about to spend all day at the beach in 90 degree weather, a milkshake was on neither of our minds).

Overall we are very disappointed and dissatisfied with our time at Waffle Monkey and will not be back and wouldn’t recommend it to others. After paying even more money on top of the already $30+ breakfast for something we didn’t even want nor was it even our fault...

Good breakfast but expensive. Shared bathroom dirtiest I have ever seen. Of course there was no soap, no toilet paper. When I reported it to the Restaurant owner, he didn't say he would fix it, he just let me know it's a shared bathroom, yet it's a bathroom he gives the keys to his customers who ask for a bathroom. Wonder if his employees use the bathroom with no soap to clean their hands?!! Proceed at your own risk. Owner's reply follows in quotes: "To be completely honest Elizabeth, when you expect things for free everything is expensive. Our bathroom is basic for sure. But it certainly has soap and toilet paper. Good luck finding the free food that you and your husband wanted when you visited. Shame you decided to write a bad review because we refused to give you a free breakfast. All the best."

Edit January 18, 2024. Notice how owner deflects the bathroom issue to say 3 times I wanted free breakfast. One person in my group needed to use the bathroom after eating and AFTER we paid for breakfast. She said the bathroom was filthy, with no toilet paper OR soap, so we only wanted to make the owner aware of his bathroom on our way out. Owner goes into 'free food' attack mode, would've taken him less time to put soap & toilet paper in the bathroom than the time it took for him to respond idiotically to my review. Give credit to the owner though, he admits his bathroom is "basic". Wonder what this owner classifies a bathroom with more than just a toilet as.....luxury!?? All the best back at you, miserable...

Really laid back and friendly owner. A fellow cyclist, he sat and chatted with us a bit. We'd bought a meal from a local food truck recommended to us by several locals, and we were welcomed here to sit and enjoy our food at one of their tables. We each got coffee, and wow, was it good coffee! Very strong and robust. A cup is $4 USD, which was a bit expensive, but closer to a mug of espresso than a regular drip brew like you find at a diner-- and it was so good we each got a second cup despite the cost.

The owner encouraged us to try one of his waffles and we got the one with banana and coconut. Really amazing! the waffle was rich and flavorful in it's own right, both light and with a good crumb. The fresh coconut shreds and the banana were absolutely delicious, and our only regret was that we couldn't try more flavors. The prices are a bit high, at $10 for the waffle, but you get to sit on at tables under the shade on the beach, and the owner doesn't mind if you dawdle as long as you like...so it's worth it!

We went back later to get a second waffle after an afternoon of swimming and hiking, but alas, this place is only open for breakfast and lunch and was closed by mid-afternoon. We only had one day in Tamarindo, so we will just have to travel back to Costa Rica to try another of the delicious...