Hemingway's

Restaurant in Playa Potrero, Guanacaste, Costa Rica.

Playa Potrero sits on a Guanacaste bay between Brasilito and the Flamingo peninsula. Hotels and a sailing center share the sand. Hemingway's is the beachfront restaurant and bar at the Costa Rica Sailing Center, 15 meters south of Hotel Bahia del Sol. The kitchen runs ceviche, smoke, pizza, tacos, and grilled fish, with frozen daiquiris, margaritas, and cold beer beside the water.

Come off the water for house ceviche and an Imperial. Stay through 4pm-to-6pm happy hour for pork-belly tacos and beach bites. Or sit later for whole snapper, smoked ribs, or ribeye after the sun drops. Live music and events share the calendar with regular lunch and dinner service.

Ceviche, smoke, pizza, and the grill

Start with fish that still tastes like the bay. House ceviche is parrotfish with avocado, pickled onion, chips, and house chilero. Crudo corvina is thinly sliced sea bass in passion-fruit leche de tigre, with chili, green mango, and cilantro. Spicy tuna poke sits on warm sushi rice with spicy mayo, sesame, masago, and nori. The sesame tuna tostada is seared rare tuna with avocado and ginger-soy vinaigrette.

The smoker shows up early. Pacific wahoo dip mixes smoked fish with cream cheese and toasted flatbread. Chicken wings come smoked, with tropical barbecue or buffalo sauce. Chips and guacamole arrive with pico de gallo and roasted chile. Local burrata is plated with ciabatta and sun-dried tomato pesto. A vegetarian tostada stacks refried beans, avocado, roasted corn, grilled hearts of palm, Turrialba cheese, and harissa.

Salads stay tropical. Spicy arugula gets feta, watermelon, toasted almonds, and grilled hearts of palm. Organic greens come with pejibaye, avocado, green mango, cashew, and passion-fruit vinaigrette. The Caesar uses focaccia croutons and pickled red onion. Grilled chicken or fish can be added to any of them.

Pizza covers both heat and comfort. Spicy pepperoni carries chilis, pecorino, and garlic honey. Pesto amogio uses tomato concasse and mozzarella. Roasted mushroom sits on garlic white sauce with aji and arugula. Shrimp puttanesca brings capers and kalamata olives. Giuseppe loads local Italian sausage, roasted sweet peppers, and mushrooms on a sesame crust. Grilled chicken pizza adds house smoked bacon.

Mains split between quick plates and the grill. There is an 8-ounce Angus burger, blackened yellowfin tuna sliders, and a grilled fish wrap with Cajun remoulade. Flank steak lands over cold glass noodles in Thai peanut marinade. Seared tuna salad comes with pejibaye and chimichurri. A trio of shrimp, white-fish, and flank-steak tacos on corn tortillas runs from 12pm to 4pm. Crispy pork-belly tacos use hand-pressed tortillas, house-smoked pork belly, melted cheese, and chili sauce.

The grill and smoker handle the longer dinners. Whole red snapper arrives with fries and tropical salad. Smoked St. Louis-style ribs come with house barbecue. Catch of the day is seared with jasmine rice, grilled vegetables, and white-wine Dijon cream. An 8-ounce beef tenderloin is served with camote-potato puree, grilled carrots, and horseradish demi-glace.

A 16-ounce USDA Choice ribeye comes with sage cauliflower, house bacon, whipped potatoes, and red-wine mushroom demi-glace. A kids' list is part of dinner. From 4pm to 6pm, beach bites add cheese-stuffed yuca croquettes with smoked chili aioli and pulled-pork sliders with pineapple barbecue and slaw.

Cocktails, beer, and wine

Frozen drinks do the heavy lifting in this heat. The house piña colada blends dark rum, pineapple, coconut, and vanilla. Frozen daiquiris come in strawberry, peach, guava, mango, or wild berry. The Hemingway daiquiri uses Flor de Cana, maraschino, grapefruit, and lime. There is a Havana Club mojito, a Mai Tai, and a spiced mezcalito with tamarind and jalapeño. Margaritas include hibiscus, Cadillac, and Casa Amigos.

House red sangria is Cabernet, Licor 43, cinnamon, and fruit. Tropical sangria is Chardonnay, passion-fruit liqueur, and Costa Rican vanilla. The Sun Also Rises is a coconut-bourbon old fashioned. Oak Park and lychee martinis, Hemingway lemonade, two spritzes, and several gin-and-tonics round out the board.

Happy hour runs from 4pm to 6pm. It covers a house margarita, tamarind Tico mule, both sangrias, a hibiscus martini, house gin and tonic, a glass of Placido Pinot Grigio, chili guaro, and a bucket of six national beers.

Drafts are Imperial plus Papagayo Brewing Company's Beach Lager, Tropical IPA, Passion Fruit Ale, and Hazy Orange IPA. Bottles include Imperial, Pilsen, Corona, Modelo, Sol, and Heineken. Buckets of those bottles are on the list, and happy hour adds a six-beer national bucket.

The wine list runs Italian pinot grigio and sauvignon blanc, Chilean chardonnay, and Spanish albariño. Reds include Napa cabernet and pinot noir, Argentine malbec, Ribera del Duero tempranillo, and Barolo. There is Provençal rosé, prosecco, and Champagne. Non-alcoholic options include fruit smoothies, virgin piña colada, frozen virgin mojito, milkshakes, frozen frappuccinos, draft kombucha when available, and a lychee mocktail. The menu prices in colones.

Timing lunch, happy hour, and sunset

Call +506 2654 4300 before you leave if you need a Monday table or want to arrive at opening. The taco trio is a midday plate, 12pm to 4pm. Happy hour is 4pm to 6pm, the window when the heat breaks on this Pacific bay. Ceviche, salads, pizza, and the burger work at lunch or later. Snapper, ribs, tenderloin, and ribeye belong to evening. Mention the fish of the day or a sunset table when you reserve.

Getting to the sailing center

Find Hotel Bahia del Sol on Playa Potrero, then continue 15 meters south into the Costa Rica Sailing Center. From Brasilito, stay on the coastal road toward Potrero. From Flamingo, drop south around the point into the bay. Most visitors reach this stretch by rental car from Liberia or inland Guanacaste. The last kilometers are local road.

Street parking is the usual pattern along this part of Potrero. Sunset is the busy hour. Walking works from lodgings already on the Potrero beach strip. From Flamingo, Brasilito, or inland villas, plan a car or a ride after dark. Carry some colones.

Building a Potrero day around the table

Mornings on this bay are for swimming and walking while the sand is still cool. Midday heat is when the lighter plates make sense: ceviche, poke, tuna tostadas, the fish wrap, tropical salad, and the taco trio. If children are eating, begin with the kids' list and add pizza or sliders to share.

Late afternoon is when the temperature drops and the sun goes over the Pacific. Yuca croquettes, pork-belly tacos, a Papagayo draft, or a frozen daiquiri can carry you from the heat into sunset. Pizza or a grilled plate can follow without moving. A weeknight can be the 4pm-to-6pm bites and a walk along the shore after.

If you are coming from Flamingo or farther, count the drive as part of the meal. Arrive early enough for the taco window and happy hour, or closer to six if the point is snapper or ribs.

Raw fish and tropical fruit point to ceviche, crudo, and the tuna dishes. A travel-day meal points to pizza, the burger, and the Caesar. A longer dinner points to snapper, ribs, tenderloin, or ribeye. Reserve with the fish of the day or a sunset table in mind, then walk the sand after the last plate.

Location

Phone: +506 2654 4300