For this weeks interview, I asked my 18 year old sister how often people eat at restaurants. She told me not often, only for special occasions. In Costa Rica, having home cooked meals is vital to the culture because it represents more than “food”. It is a time to gather as a family at the dinner table, and catch up with one another. My Tica family has had every dinner at home since I arrived because my grandmother spends all day cooking. She is in her upper 70’s and does not really leave the house. Cooking is her passion, and I think she enjoys the responsibility because it gives her a role in the family. In my Tica family, there is just no need to go out since my grandmother cooks everyday. My sister told me there is a huge generational gap though. Younger people eat at restaurants more frequently because they want to leave the house. Instead of always eating with the family, my sister enjoys eating and socializing with her boyfriend and other friends. My sister said eating at American restaurants is trendy and common among younger people. The food might not be of high quality, but it is seen as a status symbol. Eating at chain restraints is considered “cool” and “hip”. I found it fascinating that the younger generation would rather eat a foreign restaurant because it is the popular thing to do, even if they don’t particularly like the taste of the food. This proves the generation gap because my Tica mom and grandmother would NEVER eat at an American restraint but my 7 year old brother is obsessed with McDonalas. He even asked for McDonalds to be his birthday dinner. Driving through the city, it was common to see many American chain restraints, which were completely full of customers. My sister explained all of the foreign restraints will harm Costa Rica in the end because the typical Costa Rican dishes are no longer popular in restaurants. No family wants to go out for dinner and order rice and beans because they can make that at home. By eating at chain restaurants, the American economy is being supported, instead of Costa Rica´s. This comment was sad because it my sister clearly understood the potential dangers of American restaurants in Costa Rica, but her favorite place to eat is AppleBees. She loves to eat at chain restaurants for the status symbol, and not necessarily the food. There is a massive generational gap in Costa Rica, and it was interesting to hear my sisters opinion on the subject.

My first photo is of the menu at Fusion. It is considered non-typical because the menu was a blend of different cultural food items. There were typical French items, typical Asian items, and typical American items all on the menu. The menu had more options than a typical Costa Rican restaurant.

The second photo is of a typical Costa Rican restaurant. The restaurant was local owned and operated. It was fantastic! The menu had typical foods that my Tica family normally has for dinner, including beans and rice, plantains, and different salsas. I noticed at this restaurant, the food took twice as long to arrive. I then realized it was because everything was made fresh. Even the cream that was put on our rice was made right then and there! A Costa Rican restaurant is completely different than a foreign restaurant because they care so much about the quality and freshness to the food.