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Restaurant Colonial Casino:

How do I begin here this could be a long one as there are some many variables it kills me… Let’s deal with the easy part. In the Colonial Casino ¼ block down from the Del Rey they in the front of the Casino when you walk in have the correct me if I’m wrong Magnolia room, which is the restaurant in the front of the bar.

First aside from the fact that it is in the Casino bar area, it is a really nice place. Good linens and a fairly nice ambiance with a live piano player several nights a week. Now here is where it gets tricky. They have two menus. One they try to push on everyone which is their dinner menu and high end menu and two the regular menu which covers soup to nuts, sandwiches and assorted items etc. If you go during the day hours they usually without much fanfare will give you the 2nd menu with the cheaper items after you ask for it. If you go during prime dinner hours they often will act as if they have no idea what you are talking about when you ask for the second menu. INSIST and you will get the 2nd menu if that is your choosing. I will review both. Along with a 3rd part.

First the dinner menu is fairly limited with some fish, shrimp, and steaks. To be quit honest it truly is very good. The sea bass is one of my wife’s favorites and they do it any way you would like it. It is very fresh and always tasty. I have had both the NY Strip steak and the Delmonico and both are top notch but the NY is their best cut at about $22.00 U.S. Ask the waiter and he will bring the cuts out for you to choose. It comes with choice of potato or rice and house vegetables. You can substitute at no charge sautéed onions in lieu of the vegetables and they are also top notch. Actually one of the best cuts of meat I’ve had down here and the service is above adequate.

Their wine list surprising enough was very limited but actually quite the value. They have a screwed up pricing though. For example their best cabernet was an El Mecur Chilean red. Bottle price was about $29 US. Problem is you can get a FULL glass at $4.75 so 4 glasses at $4.75 equals $19.00 bucks which is about a bottle.. YOU DO THE MATH! I think the place is excellent and will continue to frequent it.

Now the 2nd Review. Already discussed the two menus’s now let us review it. Second Menu is your basic soup to nuts standard type fare. Burgers, sandwiches etc. The Menu is also very good with some real good stuff here. Burgers are excellent, but they tend to overcook them so order medium order medium rare etc. Grilled chicken sandwich, the hot roast beef on rye and the club sandwich are also some of my favorites. Soups, especially the seafood soup are great choices as well. The fries suck and they have individual ketchup packages which are a pain in the ass.

What is now becoming a Colonial Tradition is their American style breakfast Steak and Eggs. This is good everyday, but especially on Sundays during football season when you entice your delicate palate with a couple of eggs any style and a solid piece of steak an potatoes for the alarmingly low price of about $3.00 AMERICAN. THIS IS A DON’T MISS and its highly recommended.

Be forewarned if you eat upstairs in the sports book area watching the games, food takes forever to get there as it’s sent up via dumb waiter from downstairs. Often it will be cool by the time you get it and the coffee is always lukewarm at best upstairs. Waitress service on the second floor is downright slow.

All and all this is a great little spot, many a monger has already eaten at and hopefully it will continue its solid performance.

All major credit cards accepted.

I really enjoyed eating at this place and have always eaten here on every trip to CR. The main three reasons that I like eating here are (1) It's less expensive than the Delrey, (2) In my opinion it also taste better than the Delrey food, and (3) It's coveniently located near the Delrey.

When I'm not staying at the hotel Presidente (with free breakfast) I go to this place for the American breakfast. Great breakfast for about $3.00 with eggs, bacons, potatoes and both coffee and orange juice. I like their seafood soup, seafood spaghetti and filet mignon. A nice place to bring along your dates and favoritas without being too far from the Gulch.

I have heard good things about this place, but never ate there. I guess it is because I am not a gambler, and thought they mainly catered to gamblers and would not like to have a non gambler eating there. I will have to check it out next trip. I usually get up early, and was wondering what time the breakfast starts?

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Tunaman

TunaMan. I do rise early and tend to like to eat at different Places. One of the best things about the Colonial is you get can get breakfast pretty much 24 hours.

Though ordering it during dinner time is probably going to get you a strange look....

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The Boss of All Bosses!!! Hey I'm a drunk alcoholics go to meetings!

Crt Gourmet - Points well taken. Regarding burgers at Colonial, I would never, EVER eat a burger medium/medium-rare unless I saw the butcher grind a boneless roast of organic beef. Burger meat is the dirtiest meat in the system. Be careful, IMHO.

Jazz

Breakfast at the Colonial sports book:
On my last trip I ate there 3 mornings while watching football. The first morning there were only about 5 other guys up there. I had the Breakfast Americano. It was delicious and hot and relatively fast.

The next two mornings I ordered the same thing and it was a disaster. The food took way too long. Everything was room temperature, including the coffee and OJ.

I ordered my eggs "broken, well-done, fried on both sides". They came sunny-side up and runny. I had to ask for silverware. I had to ask for sweet and low for my coffee. I had to ask for butter and jam for my toast.

Even the requests took way too long. For such a simple thing as breakfast it should't be this difficult.

The first day was a Friday (the day after Thanksgiving) and the other two were Saturday and Sunday. Maybe the weekend cook and wait staff just suck.

I was there to witling's breakfast disaster on that Sunday. It become so pathetic it was funny. Being in the business for 30 yrs made this especially amusing.
I give service training and could see a need for these services in CR but Management does not see the need.
Guess I will just come down here and play.....

Nice review here...I just have to add some recent experiences. Until recently, Colonial was the BEST overall value in gringo gulch. Decent food at moderate prices in a nice atmosphere...and NEVER crowded.

IN the past 2 months things have really gone down hill at the restaurant. Less consistency than before. Service hit and miss. EVen the food quality varies greatly depending on which shift cook your'e getting. Prices have gone up while portions have decreased. The Chateau Briand was the best thing on the menu for the money...until this month when it went from 4000 colones to 5500. Go figure. Even though thats not that much to those of you still living in USA...its hard to figure why they would jack it up so much...accept I think it became so popular they figured they needed to get more...and now are probably selling considerable less.

The last straw was when Circus and I sat down about 9:30PM SUNDAY night to get a burger. The waiter (who knows i typically eat there 3-4 times a week as a local) tells me when we order sandwiches that "You can only order main dishes in the restaurant. If you order light, you have to sit at the bar or IN THE CASINO AREA! Now, the restaurant is EMPTY...the bar is FULL...and this jackass is saying we cant order and eat sandwiches at his table. I told him in spanish that was rediculous...and got up to leave along with Circus. Then Carlos the main waiter runs over to tell me its OK...we can eat there. By then I had lost my appetite as this is typical Tico service mentality,,,and it is especially diappointing when you really liked the place and brought a lot of people there. I will probably let the owner know about this experience...but you guys just have to understand that consistent service in Costa Rica is a misnomer. Some places will rate a higher average of good experiences than others...but for a while I am NOT eating at the Colonial.

As an aside...Circus and I meandered over to News Cafe at the Presidente for our burger. They were 500 colones more expensive than Colonial...but at least we could sit in the main restaurant to eat them...

TMan, Circus et al;
The last week or so, I made it a habit to eat breakfast at the Colonial bar area. the waiter/bartender speaks perfect english and seems to like gringos. the service, food and price (1200 c's) was excellent. it has become a morning tradition for me.
LVSteve

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Just an old horney, fat gambler.

Tman....that is really disappointing to hear about the chages with the food and the services at the Colonial. Please keep me posted on any other changes. If things have not gone back to the way it used to be I may not eat there anymore on my next trip.

IN the past I use to take my girlfriend to the Colonial quite often.. After two incidents of raw pork it dropped from the top of my favorite places.
Perhaps it is common in Cr for some to eat pork not fully cooked.. However, I admit I am very confused about pork in CR. IN december at the House Of Pork in Zapote I odered bbq ribs to find they were Ham.
I will continue to eat at the colonial but most likely will stick to Steak..
My girlfriend still enjoys it there...
Things can add up rather quickly on the dinner menu.. My friend told his date one night to order anything she wanted.. I recall a shrimp cocktail, chef salad... steak something.. something else.. and...
Well his bill came to around $70. She took a lot of food home and he learned a few valuable lessons. Dont forget your reading glasses to see the prices and never let a chica order that has never seen a cloth napkin and is not paying the bill.
Management did give them a free desert...
Most of my experiences have been great there.. Something in the red wine makes my Novia very very horny.. Or hell maybe it is the cloth napkins.. I am fortunate she does read the prices and always asks before ordering.. lol

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Safe Sex Instructor
Have Condoms Will Travel
I WAS ONLY WATCHING THE MOVIE MR POLICE OFFICER..that's my story and I am sticking to it.. PEEWEE HERMAN
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YO Culinary Cocks:
Tman was right on about the Colonial.....currently it sucks. The breakfast is so so but lunch and dinner is really a gamble. I use to go in late at night for the chicken veg soup but last two times even that sucked along with being luke warm. The free mimi buffet (if you gamble) on friday and sat. night is passable but even that is not what it use to be.

As I have stated before, food in the gulch has gotten worse and more pricey. Only when one ventures to the upscale restaurants in SJ will they find decent food but still overpriced and certainly not gormet. When I depart CR for my trip home I am eagerly looking forward to eating good food in the U.S. Not to mention grits, drop bisquits and ham with red eye gravy. Yummmmm

Suggestion: For you who travel abroad, it would be prudent to get a hepatitis A shot with a booster one year later. Especially those of you who eat live tuna......Hummmm, maybe hepatitis A, B and C shots.

Do not get the "Tuna Puss A" vaccine shot. I had one a couple of years ago and have not gotten laid since........at least I'm health conscious.

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Damn if I'm going to repeat this shit again. I need a drink.
I've been drinking vodka every day for 45 years and I have certainly never found it to be habit forming.

I ate here with a bunch of crt guys on my last trip. I ordered the american style breakfast for 1240 colones (about $3) while everybody else sampled various items from the menu. Oh, if its your first time here make sure to ask for the cheaper menu. My breakfast was good and tasty and everybody else's food looked good too. The prices were very reasonable. The casino is the closest thing to being in the united states and most importantly it is air conditioned.

Glad to hear you like the breakfast there. Whenever I missed the breakfast at the Presidente I always go to the Colonial Casino for breakfast. Very good breakfast for about $3.00. It was good to have you, Odie, Texcdn, Goal and horserack join me for lunch. The filet mignon I had was still very good and inexpensive. So far, all their waiters and waitresses are nice and friendly... and most speak English. I've always had consistently good service here.

They do have two different menu and YES....... do ask for the other menu which is generally cheaper and has more selections to choose from.

Dino I'm glad you took us there the See Bass was terrific and CLEAN just olive oil and lemon, I'll eat there every visit. Kinda sucks you have to ask for the "Otre" menu (other menu) but that's the Gulch for ya....