Costa by Madrid – Elevated Latin Cuisine — Restaurant in Sedona

My partner and I were excited to enjoy a nice dinner to celebrate our final night in Sedona. We were eager to find Costa with 5 star ratings, but unfortunately we should have been warned by the limited amount of reviews. When we got to the restaurant we were impressed by the atmosphere of the restaurant, however we were sat by the front door which led to a cold draft after each open and views of the other shops in the square and “Dog must be leashed” signs which definitely pulled us out of the ambiance they are so desperately trying to create. The bathroom does not match the vibe of the restaurant at all OR the prices, with bright colored paint and a chipped toilet.

We did not have one person looking after us. Which is very confusing, the hostess and the bartender were by far the most helpful on the team. Our waitress left mid-dinner without a change of shift notice. We were asked the same questions multiple times by multiple employees. And even placed our order with the hostess. Not only did this cause confusion for us, but for the staff as well. And because no one was attending to us, we had to ask for water multiple times. Every 5 minutes, someone is taking your plate and cutlery even when it is unnecessary and had been unused. When our food was brought out, the staff took our plates and cutlery leaving us staring at our warm food for a long period of time instead of trying everything while we are excited. The hostess was by far the most experienced and helpful on the team.

Being gluten free and vegan, we were excited to see that they had a handful of options on the menu. However, once ordering it was clear that these options were either a tapas size or a small side. No entree options.

My partner had the sea bass and loved it. We also tried the plantains and chicharonnes.

The food is good— But overall the portions for the price and lack of ambiance extremely lacking in value. And the lack of ambiance just killed the night for us! We ended up paying over $200 to leave hungry and went to a different restaurant. We would have easily spent 3x that for a wider range of options, better service, and better quality food. I hope this restaurant can get their shit together, especially with competition like Mariposa just...

Costa needs to be on your list of restaurants to visit in Northern AZ.

Tucked away in a small shopping center near Uptown Sedona this hidden gem delivers creative and flavor-filled dishes with Latin notes.

Promptly greeted at the door and seated immediately. A+

The table is dressed nicely with elegant touches. A

Decor is clean and simple yet astute and modern. A

Menus upon seating and water quickly thereafter. A

(No upsell on ridiculously overpriced bottled water was a refreshing touch) A+

A complimentary course of bread (Chefs Pan de Bono) and butter with 2 different, scrumptious oils. A++

Menu is concise yet thorough. Our server offered their suggestion and we took it. 3 of the Small Plates to share. Tostada de Carne / Chicharones de Camaron / Ceviche Mixto. All can out timely. A+

The Tostada de carne was a generous portion and delicious. A+

Ceviche Mixto was fresh, plentiful and tasty. A little more citrus for me would have been perfect. A

Chicharones de camamron. OMG. We could have eaten tons of this! This dish will bring us back again and again! Stunning! A++

Wines were great and generous pours. A+

We ordered 2 more dishes. Garbanzos and Tostones de Atun.

Garbanzos with spinach and Spanish chorizo was grounding and satisfying. A

Tostones de Atun. WOW! Again, we will be back for this guaranteed. The tuna was perfect accompanied by a beautiful medley of ingredients and sauces. The crispy wonton was delectable! A+

I asked our server for her choice of digestif cocktail and it was a wonderfully frothy, cold, espresso cocktail not too boozy and slightly sweet with a mildly tart, cocoa sweet rim. A+

Desert was nice but don't think I would order it again. Brazo Gitano. C

Overall Costa is permanently on our short list of restaurants to revisit in Sedona and should be on yours...

Sedona Community! I cannot stop thinking about this incredible tapas mealI had on Thurs evening at our new Latin American restaurant Costa.(happy hour - a SOLID value in Sedona)! Having lived in Peru for several years, I’ve been craving these flavors and Costa got it right!

The ceviche was literal perfection. Just as fresh and delicious as the ceviche made right from the sea in Ecuador.

The tostada de carne - such great textures and flavor. If never had anything like it before.

The chiccaron de cameron (shrimp) were crispy and the salad it comes with was the exact right balance.

And finally the most surprising Id all - the totopos de atun sabroso. The ahi was literally like butter. Melted in my mouth. So fresh. And the crispy chip and the mildly spicy pickled jalapeno were heavenly with it.

Each dish was a generous portion I could just eat one tapas with a glass of wine and it would be plenty. For 2 people, we had 4 tapas and we were stuffed. (We did clean every plate because they were soooo tasty!)

The service is also very upscale dining! The only downside was that the server didn't tell the kitchen we wanted no cilantro so everything came with micro cilantro. We were able to pick it off though.

I highly recommend this newish restaurant. Some of the best food I’ve...