Apart from its name and a mural inside featuring the namesake city in Brazil, Rio de Janeiro is a very much Costa Rican establishment. It’s a traditional style cantina leftover from an older, simpler time. It's the kind of place I love to tuck into for some bocas and beers.
At Pad Thai, everything is grounded down fresh. I’m talking all the curry paste, turmeric, galangal, basil and coriander; all ground with a mortar and pestle.
The bloody mary is as classic as a cocktail gets. Articles and books are full of colorful stories about how it was created around the 1920s. The drink surged during Prohibition when people tried to cheat the system with drinks that didn’t look like they contained alcohol.
Bar La Selegna has been run by the same family in Liberia since the 1970s. While the family has stayed the same, the name hasn’t. It started out as El Taconazo, then it became Discoteque Selegna, before finally adopting its current name: La Selegna.
La Bohemia is something you can really only experience sitting with a self-made cheapskate gin and tonic in hand, watching the bar's natural course take place on a Friday night.
To find Soda Lima, look for a yellow and red sign painted on a white wall that's shared with the neighboring Mini Super Feng. The sign is right beside a bookstore on Calle 2, between Avenida 6 and 8, and there's a glass display case full of yellow-orange Ají chilis that will let you know you've arrived at this authentic Peruvian diner.
