Taste of Papagayo Awards 2019 for the best restaurants in Papagayo Costa Rica

If you were lucky enough to attend this year’s Taste of Papagayo, you were treated to the best of the best food and entertainment in the entire Papagayo Region.  While all the 20 restaurants who flaunted their wares did a wonderful job bringing their best dishes for you to try, three restaurants were awarded as the best restaurants in Papagayo Costa Rica. But more on that later.

Everyone who came was eligible to vote for their favorite restaurant.  As an added bonus, if you were 1 of 200 people who went through and tested every restaurant’s food you got a limited edition Tank Tops Flip Flops Taste of Papagayo 2019 T-Shirt.  Needless to say, there were no shirts left at the end of the evening.  Check out this video put on by the host Hotel La Puerta del Sol that is a nice summary of this years event

Eco Coco received 15% of the admission ticket sales and also the proceeds from the sale of custom Tank Tops Flip Flops shirts.  In all $1,325 were raised at this great community event.  Eco Coco’s Mission is to inspire the community through environmental education and community projects to be environmentally aware, respectful of natural resources and to generate a positive impact on the environment.  Check them out and get involved in your community!

Even though the real winners were those that got to taste all the wonderful food and enjoy the great live music and have a few laughs with their friends and families these restaurants came to WIN!  So without further ado watch the awards video where top three winning restaurants are recognized for their great effort and even better food.

First Place went to Maracuya Restaurant and Beach Club for the second year in a row.  Chef Nicolas and his professional team did it again!  You can find them just on the other side of Ocotal Beach at the Beach Club at Bahia Pez Vela.  They are open every day from Noon to 9 PM and offer a wide variety of mouthwatering chef-prepared dishes and specials served right on the beach.  You will not be disappointed if you make the trip.  Check out this video where Maracuya accepts their first place people’s choice award and invite you to join them for a tasty meal.  Congrats!

The second-place award for the best restaurants in Papagayo Costa Rica went to a brand new restaurant in Playa Hermosa called the Buzzed Monkey BBQ & Grill.  As you might guess they offered mouth-watering BBQ meats and southern food inspired sides and specialty dishes.  Join them from 11-8 PM Wednesday through Saturday.  They are located in the Hermosa Heights Commercial Center in Playa Hermosa.  Welcome to the community Buzzed Monkey!

Our Third Place People’s Choice for the Taste of Papagayo goes to Masala Indian Restaurant located in downtown Liberia, Guanacaste, just across the street from the Guanacaste Museum.  Masala serves authentic, homemade Indian food using only fresh ingredients and prepares all their tasty sauces right in their kitchen.  Open from 11:30-10 PM, Masala is the only authentic Indian food restaurant in Guanacaste and will treat you to an exquisite Indian food experience.  It is definitely worth the trip to Liberia!  Great Job Masala.  See you soon.

We want to congratulate all the restaurants who participated and for Hotel La Puerta del Sol and The Garden Bar for putting on such a great event.  And of course, we want to thank all of you for coming out and enjoying a great day of food, music, and good fun.

See you all next year for the Taste of Papagayo 2020!

Come on Down Baby!

Michael Simons

Tank Tops Flip Flops Newsletter edition no. 137

Tank Tops Flip Flops Newsletter edition no. 127

Can you handle the heat of chiliguaro?

What is Cacique? It is Guaro. What is Guaro? We get asked this all the time. Costa Rica is not known for its world class rum, like Nicaragua, Guatemala or some of the Caribbean Islands. As a matter of fact, we drink more of theirs than ours. Don’t get me wrong: Centenario is a decent mix, but compared to Ron Zacapa, it doesn’t hold a candle; or a wooden pirate barrel. Guaro has a mixed reputation. It is known as the poor man’s rum, like moonshine or hooch; the traditional drink of the bums on the street. It is actually made with the left-over sugar cane juices: the stuff the rum guys threw away. By itself, it tastes horrible. You would not put this out on the table and offer to make your good friend a drink. But when properly mixed, with limes, sugar, hot sauce, or tomato juice, and rimmed with salt, it magically turns into one of the most enjoyable shots that has ever touched your lips. The chiliguaro. It was originally invented right here in Playas del Coco, as a local flame thrower to kick start a night of partying. It has since become a staple in our lives. Who invented it, is still in debate; but there is no argument that it was OUR town where it was created?

Everyone remembers their first chiliguaro. Everyone has their favorite.

All the bars and restaurants in town, spin their own special mix, and I have to say, I pretty much love them all. Very rarely do I go out for a night on the town, and not slam back at least a couple of these bad boys while hanging out with friends. Living the good life baby. The taste is not like anything you ever had before, and it has a fabulous little punch, that warms your entire blood stream. “Two ChiliGuaros please.”

As you can imagine, there is a very large debate; arguments sometimes; over just who has the BEST concoction in town. So, the only way to solve the mystery, was with a contest. The Hotel Puerta del Sol to the rescue.