It’s pretty much guaranteed you’ll leave The Waffle Place more than just full, but completely satisfied. I always get the waffle with creamy bacon and mushroom sauce over a fried egg, but they also have an amazing lunch menu complete with soups in a sourdough bread bowl. The Waffle Place in Escazú has mastered the combination of sweet and savory on top of a Belgium Waffle.

The place is pretty non-descript, but has a blue sign saying BUBBA’S with a marlin on it. No matter what you see on that menu, get the fish taco, all the way. That includes fresh grilled Mahi, cabbage, cheddar cheese, fresh tomatoes, onion, jalapeños, lime and a large dose of delicious! They come with a buttered ‘elote’ or corn-on-the-cob and don’t forget to order the fresh cut french fries and a lemonade.

Empanadas are something my husband and I regularly lust after and following a failed attempt at cooking our own, we tried a highly recommended place in San Pedro, Costa Rica just east of San Jose. Donde El Ché is the name of the joint and it’s specialties include empanadas Argentina-style and a chimichurri that will make you want to slap your mama (I’ve been trying to work that in somewhere). But seriously, these are definitely the best empanadas you’ll find north of Argentina.

After being recommended by a friend in the neighborhood, we were led on the search for cheap food in Pavas, San Jose, Costa Rica. The bar’s name is Jettsy and looks like your typical Costa Rican bar on the corner but the food is extraordinary. It’s an open air restaurant, similar to the others around the country, with TV’s over the bar, rustic wood tables, plants everywhere you look and an attentive waitstaff (which is tough to find, mind you).

A great post made by a fellow foodie, Spork or Foon, who sites the drama of a restaurant chef that can’t take criticism and thinks all food bloggers are scum.

Chain restaurant Rustico boasts a special for arroz con pollo for 1,000 colones. Now that’s cheap food.

Since living in San Jose, Costa Rica and working in the Sabana area, the Flor de Loto Chinese restaurant just South of the Subway in Sabana Norte has quickly become a company favorite.

It can be quite a challenge to find fine-quality meats at a reasonable price in Costa Rica, especially beef. Don Fernando carnicería (butcher shop) is the place to go in San Jose, Costa Rica for the best meat money can buy.

The menu includes the traditional hot dogs and hamburgers, tacos (Costa Rican Style), nachos etc, but all piled on top of each other on a bun.

We had to get out of Costa Rica for the weekend to get our visitor’s visa renewed, so we headed to Hacienda Mérida, Ometepe Island in Lake Nicaragua. They grow almost all their own food on the property, and it’s not shocking to see some pigs stroll by while your laying in a hammock or a hen and her chicks pecking the ground while you’re eating.