El Tiki

Restaurant in Playa Flamingo, Guanacaste, Costa Rica.

El Tiki sits next to Banco Nacional in Flamingo, Santa Cruz, Guanacaste, along the commercial strip that serves Playa Flamingo. It is a fusion restobar with seafood and vegan cooking, outdoor seating, an outdoor misting system, free Wi-Fi, a parking lot, and a bar. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, and drinks share one board. You can dine in, carry out, or arrange catering.

If you want one stop for a Costa Rican breakfast, a taco lunch, and a plated evening meal with a cocktail, this room fits. If you want a marina terrace or a late club, look elsewhere on the coast. Message +506 8787 7903 before you leave the sand if you are aiming for breakfast or a late dinner.

A roadside restobar between the bank and the beach

Use Banco Nacional as the landmark. Maps also show the plus code C6P9+48V in Guanacaste Province. El Tiki is a roadside room in the town strip, handy between errands and the sand, not a clifftop or marina terrace. The parking lot helps if you are driving from Tamarindo, Brasilito, Potrero, or inland Santa Cruz. The village is small, so many people staying near the beach walk.

Outdoor tables and the misting system matter in Flamingo heat, when an unshaded lunch is hard work. This is a restobar rather than a nightclub. Drinks sit next to breakfast batidos and dinner steaks. It works as a mid-afternoon pause after the water as easily as a plated evening meal. Mixed tables can split vegan gazpacho, tuna tacos, a fajita board, and quesadillas without changing kitchens.

Batidos, coffee, and breakfast that covers both coasts

Start with the drink list if the morning is already hot. Americano, cappuccino, espresso, latte, iced coffee, and tea are on the board. Healthy batidos are the signature line. Monte Verde blends apple, pineapple, spinach, and cucumber. Tuanis mixes chia, mango, pineapple, and passion fruit. Pura Vida adds coconut, flaxseed, and spirulina to pineapple and banana.

Las Pilas and Solo Bueno are açaí-based. Mango Paradise, Pacific Kiss, Coconut Royale, and Red Macaw cover mango, citrus, coconut, and red fruit. These drinks help after a walk from the beach, when water alone does not feel like breakfast. Gallo pinto comes with rice and beans, eggs, local cheese, and pico de gallo. Huevos rancheros arrive with ranchera sauce and cheddar, with or without meat.

Tiki granola is yogurt, granola, and fresh fruit. Burritos include a burritico of pinto, eggs, and cheese. An American version adds bacon and fries. A vegetable version uses mushrooms, onion, sweet pepper, spinach, eggs, and cheese. A pancakes board adds bacon, eggs, banana, strawberry, and maple syrup. There is also a ciabatta panini with eggs, bacon, cheddar, and pico. Avocado toast comes with cashews and honey. Butter and jelly toast and trout toast round out the morning.

Tacos, carpaccio, and the fusion dinner board

Lunch and dinner share a fusion card that is easy to split. House specials include pasta, chicken, beef, and mixed fajita boards. Tuna carpaccio and Bloody Mary shrimp cocktail sit near a stuffed pork chop and a fish special. Shrimp pasta and jumbo shrimp pasta appear beside cazuela de churrasco, rib eye keto, a loin special, and mar y tierra.

Tacos are three crispy tortillas per order. Chicken comes with cabbage, vinaigrette, cashews, dried cranberries, onion, cheddar, and pico. Meat tacos follow a similar build. Garlic shrimp tacos add pineapple, mango dressing, and sesame. Tuna tacos use mango dressing, pineapple, and sesame. Quesadillas come with cheddar, potatoes, and pico, in cheese, chicken, meat, fish, or shrimp.

Pinchos are plated skewers. Chicken arrives with Asian slaw and satay. A smaller shrimp princesa comes with stuffed zucchini and mango sauce. Grilled loin uses stuffed zucchini and Malbec sauce. A larger jumbo-shrimp princesa is the bigger seafood skewer. Wraps come with potatoes and a spinach, tomato, or wheat tortilla. Sabanero chicken has satay, avocado, cashew, cranberry, and feta. Tropical shrimp and tuna wraps share mango dressing, pineapple, and sesame.

Salads work as mains. The Tiki salad uses five lettuces, red onion, dried blueberries, cashew seeds, feta, and house vinaigrette. The Caesar is romaine, croutons, house dressing, and Parmesan. The palmito salad is fresh heart of palm with red onion, sweet chili, celery, cilantro, dried blueberries, feta, and vinaigrette. Chicken, shrimp, jumbo shrimp, or tuna can go on any of them.

Vegan plates, burgers, and teriyaki for mixed tables

Vegetarian and vegan dishes have their own lane, which matters when one person skips meat and another wants steak. Watermelon gazpacho combines tomato, watermelon, cilantro, and grissini. Stuffed zucchini holds mixed vegetables, white rice, and mango sauce. Curry minestrone brings mixed vegetables, rice noodles, cilantro, and grissini. Mongolian mushrooms are sautéed with scallion, caramelized sweet pepper, soy, and rice. A hummus and falafel plate comes with salad.

Veggie teriyaki sits beside chicken, pork, beef, and shrimp teriyaki, so a mixed table can stay in the same section of the card. Burgers use artisan tomato, spinach, onion, or classic bread and include potatoes. The chicken burger has sweet-chili pesto, purple lettuce, feta, and house ketchup. The house burger stacks black-garlic mayonnaise, cheddar, bacon, caramelized onion, lettuce, and tomato.

The green burger uses spinach bread, pesto cheese, green chimichurri, alfalfa, and cilantro mayonnaise. The tuna burger is yellowfin with black-garlic mayonnaise. Po'boys on baguette cover chicken, meat, premium steak, and shrimp, with cabbage and po'boy sauce. Choripán and spicy choripán use artisan chorizo and green chimichurri. Milkshakes in caramel, vanilla, strawberry, chocolate, and Oreo close the meal. Casual pricing is posted in the $10 to $25 range, with individual plates in colones.

Cocktails in the shade, then back toward the water

Tiki cocktails include daiquiri, vodka lemonade, margarita, flavored and premium margaritas, mojito and premium mojito, mimosa and premium mimosa, Long Island, piña colada, and tequila sunrise. Signature gin tonics are poured with Gordon or Bombay. Pairings include orange and kiwi, raspberry and mint, blueberry and lime, strawberry and basil, lemon and cucumber, or Tiki Tonic. White wine, red wine, and sangria sit on the same list.

A straightforward day starts with a batido or gallo pinto. Then walk or drive to Playa Flamingo, or catch a boat from the local docks. Return for tacos, a salad, or mar y tierra, with a gin tonic while the misters run. Carryout works if you would rather eat at a rental. Catering covers a larger group.

When you pick a fusion room on this stretch of coast, match the menu to the day. Gallo pinto and a loin or fish special on the same card cover breakfast and dinner in one stop. Printed vegan plates help when someone at the table skips meat. A bar on site covers a cocktail with lunch. Park by the bank or walk up from the sand, then stroll back to Playa Flamingo after the plate.

Location

Phone: +506 8787 7903