Week 4

Above are examples of the three various restaurants I ventured my little gringo self into this weekend. Obviously, McDonald's has made significant advances in the restaurant market in Costa Rica. This particular one is right in front of my high school that I teach at. I found it ironic because the MEP just banned all fatty foods from being served in the Costa Rican schools...yet, McDonald's is only a few steps away as a junk-food alternative. The second restaurant, "Bread and Chocolate" - one of the few saving graces of Puerto Viejo, is a restaurant that serves "new food" which it described as an artistic blend of typical Western dishes meets Costa Rican cuisine. However, I doubt that this truly fuses the two styles of food together, since the menu is in English and they served biscuits. Finally, this was a flyer for typical Costa Rican food. As you can observe, even the prices are different. For 2800 colones, I could choose from a variety of complete plates in comparison to other options.  Fast Food chains charge "gringo prices" according to my tico brother, which are often more than the typical Costa Rican imagines on spending for a meal out.

My tico brother explained to me that, again, going out to eat at a restaurant in Costa Rica is a generational thing. Young people tend to be more apt to going out to eat on a whim. Whereas, older people save eating out for special occasions. My brother takes his girlfriend out to eat on a weekly basis. He said that their favorite restaurants were Asian. So, at least according to my family, foreign foods are embraced...mainly by young people.Which is kind of contradictory to what many other students have been posting. Perhaps this is because I'm asking my brother, instead of my mom or dad.

I feel like this is very similar to the US. At least for me, I tend to eat out more with friends...almost as a social activity instead of for the actual food. In comparison, my parents only eat out on birthdays, etc. And obviously, fast food is universally popular because of its price and ease.