Playa de los Artistas, Cocolores, Ubin, Agrá, Puggo's, Sano Banano, Chelo and the Montezuma sodas compared on food, hours, price and who each one suits, for day trippers and overnight guests.
The best meal in Montezuma is dinner at Playa de los Artistas, a handwritten daily menu served a few steps from the sand, with mains in the 7,000 to 17,000 colon range ($14 to $33). For a cheaper lunch, Soda La Naranja and Soda El Artesano serve a casado for roughly 4,500 to 5,000 colones, and Sano Banano has the village's long breakfast menu with banana pancakes. Montezuma is about 45 minutes south of Santa Teresa, so most people from the Santa Teresa side eat lunch here after the waterfalls rather than dinner.
The short version
If you have one dinner, make it Playa de los Artistas and book ahead. If you want a candlelit table on the beach with Italian owners and a long menu, Cocolores is the second choice. Ubin, now cooking inside Aves Hotel, and Agrá at nYa Hotel are the two newer chef restaurants, and both open from breakfast. Puggo's is the Israeli garden restaurant in the hills, and it is the only place in town with a proper house burger and falafel in the same kitchen. For cheap and fast, use the sodas. For sushi, Bejuko sits in the jungle by the river and opens only Wednesday to Saturday in green season.
Montezuma is a day trip for many readers of this site, so the guide notes what works at lunchtime and what is dinner only. The day trips guide covers the drive and the ferry, and the waterfalls guide covers the walk that makes you hungry. Everything here is within a ten minute walk of the main street except Puggo's, Imago and Ylang Ylang.
Playa de los Artistas
Playa de los Artistas is across the street from Hotel Los Mangos, with a very small sign, a covered patio and a garden a few steps from the ocean. The kitchen is the owners' home behind the dining area plus a large outdoor grill and wood oven, and the menu is handwritten every day. Frommer's lists mains at 7,000 to 17,000 colones and phone 2642 0920, and a local Montezuma guide at montezumabeach.com advises ordering appetizers only, two per person, brought out slowly so everything arrives hot. Reviewers in 2025 and 2026 name the lobster carpaccio and the ceviche. Tripadvisor has it at 4.4 from 616 reviews, and reviewers say you need a reservation.
Hours have moved over the years. Frommer's shows dinner 5pm to 9:30pm and lunch Thursday to Sunday noon to 4:30pm, while an older Montezuma blog describes a lunch only schedule, so message or call the same day. Arrive about 5:30pm if you want to see the waves before it gets dark. Who it suits: couples, small groups and anyone who wants the one restaurant people on this coast tell friends about. The caveat: it is not cheap by Montezuma standards, and a relaxed plan of small plates adds up. Our best restaurants in Santa Teresa guide ranks it alongside the Santa Teresa options.
Cocolores
Cocolores sits behind Hotel Pargo Feliz, about 30 metres from the school and a few steps from the beach, with a thatched deck and a lantern lit path. The owners are Italian, so pasta is the safe order (Bolognese, carbonara, shrimp spaghetti), but the Montezuma tourism site tells you to start with the ceviche and a long running favorite is the fish fillet with banana curry. The menu wanders into Thai, Mexican and Greek, and the older montezumabeach.com page puts prices at 4,000 to 11,000 colones, which our own listing guide updates to $15 to $25 for pasta and fish mains.
Dinner only: 5pm to 10pm, closed Monday (one local guide says 5:30pm to 10:30pm). Tripadvisor has it at 4.6 from 747 reviews. Who it suits: dinner for two, vegetarians who want a pasta with vegetables, and anyone who found Playa de los Artistas full. The caveat: the menu is so wide that the kitchen is uneven on a packed Saturday, so order the dishes it is known for.
Ubin by Keilor Sanchez
Ubin is the restaurant of Keilor Sanchez, a Montezuma local who trained in Paris and San José before coming home. It now runs inside Aves Hotel, under a 150 year old pochote tree beside the pool, with hours listed on the Aves site: breakfast 7am to 11:30am, lunch noon to 4pm, dinner 5pm to 9:30pm, and a happy hour with a small plates menu from 2pm to 5pm. The cooking is contemporary and French influenced with fresh seafood, premium cuts and vegetarian plates, and the menu runs to more than 80 dishes.
Tripadvisor has it at 4.7 from 173 reviews, and a recent reviewer lists the carpaccio, tomato soup, seafood tagliatelle, sea bass and risotto. An older local guide quoted about $40 for a three course meal, from before the move, so ask for the current menu. Who it suits: dinner with a table that feels quiet and a menu that changes. The caveat: Ubin is not the restaurant behind the church that older blogs describe, so use the hotel address.
Agrá at nYa Hotel
Agrá is the restaurant at nYa Hotel, cooking from breakfast through dinner with a happy hour from 3pm to 5pm and an all day coffee, matcha and smoothie list. Chef Álvaro Rodríguez works small and the menu changes with the market and the tides. A reviewer on the first weeks of opening ordered the seafood ricotta and the skirt steak, and Tripadvisor currently shows 5.0 from 87 reviews, though a count that small is easy to move.
One listing says the space was formerly Ubin, which is why older articles mix the two names up. Agrá takes groups up to 80 for events. Who it suits: a day trip lunch that is not on the beach, vegetarians and vegans who want a real menu, and anyone who wants a steak in Montezuma (steak and BBQ guide). The caveat: it is a new kitchen with few reviews, so the 5.0 will settle.
Puggo's
Puggo's is an open air garden restaurant in the hills above the village, started in the downtown centre and moved up. Chef Maya cooks Israeli influenced food: homemade focaccia with candied garlic, fries with chipotle aioli and a garlic dill dip, falafel with flavoured tahini, and homemade burgers on homemade buns with a gluten free option and a vegan patty of beets, lentils, caramelized onions and walnuts. It has a full cocktail menu and a stage for live music, and Tripadvisor has it at 4.6 from 848 reviews.
Hours are limited and irregular. Tripadvisor showed Puggo's closed on the Friday I checked, while Onda's listing shows Friday dinner and a Sunday lunch, so check Instagram or message before you drive up. Who it suits: vegetarians, burger people and anyone who finds Montezuma's beach restaurants too similar. The caveat: it is away from the beach, so you need a taxi or a hot walk. The Israeli food guide and the vegetarian guide cover the same cooking on the Santa Teresa side.
Sano Banano
Sano Banano is the old reliable in the middle of the village, in front of the park and the football field, attached to the beachside hotel of the same name. The restaurant's own site shows breakfast 7am to 11am, lunch and dinner 11am to 9pm and a happy hour from 3pm to 6pm, with English and Spanish menus. Guests praise the banana pancakes, yuca fries, rainbow salad and casados, and Tripadvisor has it at 4.4 from 552 reviews.
A local blog priced eggs and toast near $3 and a fresh fish fillet near $13, an older snapshot but a reasonable sense of the range. It takes reservations and is the easiest sit down meal for a group with mixed diets. Who it suits: breakfast before the waterfalls, vegetarians and families. The caveat: a good cafe more than a destination, and one visitor called it nice but not cheap.
Chelo, Chico's and the beach bar restaurants
Pizzeria Chelo is in the village centre, across from El Jardin hotel, with wood fired pizza, handmade pasta, Argentine empanadas and a weekend charcoal grill. Its website lists 4:30pm to 10pm Tuesday to Sunday and a happy hour from 4:30pm to 6pm, and it has an express delivery number, +506 8817 2179. A local blog priced pizza or pasta near $12. It suits a simple dinner with a drink and a game.
Chico's Playa is the beach bar in the middle of town where the sand is the dining room and live music runs in the evening. An older local guide listed a casado at about $5.50 and shrimp in sauce at $11, open from 11am to 10pm with earlier Saturday and Sunday closing. Montezuma Latino Beach Food has a lower rating (3.9 from 332 on Tripadvisor) but a May 2026 reviewer called the tacos and ceviche the best of the trip, with a view and good service. Pick these for a cold beer and the beach at lunch, not for a special dinner.
Ylang Ylang and the walk north
The restaurant at Ylang Ylang Beach Resort is a ten to twelve minute walk north along the beach from the village. Its own site lists breakfast 7am to 10am, lunch 10am to 5pm, dinner from 5pm until 8pm (9pm in high season) and a happy hour 3pm to 5:30pm. The menu covers seafood, a sushi list, vegan and raw dishes and chicken, but no red meat and no pork. Tripadvisor has it at 4.7 from 562 reviews. It suits sunset drinks and a quiet seafood dinner, and the walk back in the dark needs a phone light.
Bejuko Sushi
Bejuko is a small sushi bar in the jungle by the river, run by Martin Grisi, a Montezuma sushi chef, with Belen Garcia. The website promises sushi made from the fresh local catch and lists green season hours of Wednesday to Saturday, 4pm to 9pm, with a WhatsApp at +506 8702 8905. Prices are not published, so ask. It suits a sushi night away from the beach. The Santa Teresa sushi bars, which keep longer hours, are compared in the sushi guide.
Sodas and cheap eats
Three sodas carry lunch for the village. Soda La Naranja is family run, noon to 9pm, closed Sundays, known for mixed fish and shrimp ceviche and juice combinations. Soda Tipica Las Palmeras has a balcony over the village with monkeys in the trees, listed 11am to 8pm daily by our sodas guide, although a travel blog says it closes on Wednesday, so check. Soda El Artesano is open 6am to 10pm every day and covers an early breakfast before the waterfall. A casado at any of them runs about 4,500 to 5,000 colones, cash. See the sodas guide and the cheap eats guide.
Practical notes
Cash helps. Sodas are cash only, a few of the bar restaurants have card machines that fail, and there is an ATM in the village that runs low on weekends, so bring colones from Santa Teresa. Bills carry 13% tax plus 10% service, as in Santa Teresa, and the tipping guide explains the extra cash tip.
Green season (May to November) shortens hours across the village. Several restaurants close one weekday, and Monday is the most common. If you are on a day trip, eat lunch at Playa de los Artistas or the sodas and save dinner for a night you stay. Drive from Santa Teresa on the coast road or come by the Paquera ferry, as in Paquera vs Tambor ferry; the getting around guide covers taxis.
Browse every Montezuma cafe and restaurant in the /directory/eat hub.
FAQ
What is the best restaurant in Montezuma?
Playa de los Artistas is the one most residents and guides name first. It sits near the beach, cooks a handwritten daily menu on a wood grill and oven, and reviewers praise the lobster carpaccio and ceviche. Cocolores, Ubin and Agrá are the strongest alternatives.
How much does a meal cost in Montezuma?
A soda casado is around 4,500 to 5,000 colones. A mid range main at Chelo, Sano Banano or Chico's runs roughly $11 to $13, and the beach and chef restaurants run 7,000 to 17,000 colones ($14 to $33) before 13% tax and 10% service. A dinner with a drink at Playa de los Artistas or Cocolores is about $30 to $50 a person.
Do I need a reservation in Montezuma?
Book Playa de los Artistas and Cocolores in high season, from December to April, and for groups of four or more. The rest are walk in. In green season most tables are free, but hours are shorter and some places close a weekday.
Where can I eat vegetarian or vegan in Montezuma?
Puggo's has a vegan beet and lentil burger and falafel, Sano Banano has the rainbow salad and vegetarian plates, and Ylang Ylang runs vegan and raw menus. Agrá lists vegetarian and vegan dishes, and Cocolores does a pasta with vegetables.
Is Montezuma worth a lunch trip from Santa Teresa?
Yes, if you combine it with the waterfalls and plan lunch at Playa de los Artistas, Sano Banano or a soda. It is about 45 minutes each way on a rough road, so leave early and check the hours before you drive.
Which Montezuma restaurants open for breakfast?
Soda El Artesano opens at 6am, Sano Banano and Ylang Ylang at 7am, and Ubin at Aves Hotel at 7am. Agrá serves breakfast as well, with coffee, matcha and smoothies all day.
