You can find many different kinds of food at a range of prices in San Jose. Costa Ricans eat a lot of beef, rice and beans, plantain, bread, cheese, coffee, and fruit drinks. Gallo pinto, fried rice and beans, is a common breakfast dish. Casado, a popular and inexpensive lunch served at

most small restaurants, often includes black beans and rice, a piece of steak, dry white cheese, chayote, yuca, and a cabbage and tomato salad. Most restaurants also serve a plato del dia, an inexpensive meal that usually is centered around a soup, meat, rice, and beans. Corvina a la parilla is a flaky, delicately grilled sea bass that is served throughout the country. Other commonly-available local foods and beverages include cevicbe; hearts of palm salad; tamales; Pejibaye (a nut-flavored palm fruit); and a range of natural fruit drinks made from mora berries, guanabana, passion fruit, tamarindo, papaya, pineapple, mango, or limes. Costa Rica produces very good beer and guaro, a strong white rum made from sugar cane.

You can shop at weekend ferias del agricultor (farmers' markets) where you can buy fresh and inexpensive fruits and vegetables, as well as fresh fish and shellfish, different cheeses and breads, snacks such as vigaron (yuca, cbicharr6n, cabbage, tomato, vinegar, and hot sauce), and fresh-squeezed orange and sugar cane juice. Ice cream is very good and widely available in Costa Rica. Italian, Chinese, Spanish, and Mexican food is also popular in San Jose.