www.CostaRicaTicas.com

I ate at the Del Mar/Restaurante Del Ray or whatever of the 5 or 6 different names I saw for it

Here's what I ordered. 1 Club Sandwich with fries and water. Nothing huge or special.

Well, after sitting down it took 10 minutes to get a waiter to take my order. Another 20 Minutes to get my food (it was a sandwich with fries) and then another 10 minutes after I was obviously done before I could get someone to come clear my table and bring the bill. 5 minutes more for the bill to actually arrive, then 10 minutes to get my change.

All in all, i was in there for an HOUR to eat a club sandwich. And it wasn't busy at all.

The food was good, but geez. Needless to say, no extra propina.

Thats about par for the course in CR.

CR has the worst food and worst service of any country I have ever been to.

Del Mar service can be "hit or miss." I've experienced both good and bad there.

In a "perfect world" the Colombianas would spend as much time with you,as the Del Mar takes for lunch. This just shows that mongers would rather phuck than eat,because eating takes "too much time" and the chicas spend "too little".

They hired some Canadien guy names Mc Clain, who lives in CR and set up New cafe at the Presidente about 6 months ago. He is supposed to be a good GM, so I'm suprised to hear of your experience.

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"Ditto"..........Greengo.

I've found the food service at any type of bar/restaurant in CR to be very consistent. It's slow and inadequate - by U.S. standards - but then again I'm not in the U.S. so I just go with the flow. Same thing with drinks, bar tabs etc.

I get a little bit faster service if I sit at the bar rather than a table. If I want to eat quickly I go somewhere other than a restaurant.

The Presidente is a little bit better but he was talking about the Blue Marlin/DR which is even slower than most.

Hartly Mc Clain did manage the News Cafe for many years. When he was there the service and food were very good. It was, and still is, on the pricey side.

He left there almost a full two years ago and recently has surfaced at the Del Mar. If he follows his News Cafe game plan the service and food will improve the prices will rise. One of the first moves he made was to substantially raise the price of the KL buffet.

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Pura Vida
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four
essential food groups:
alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.
Alex Levine

Interesting. In 18 trips to CR and probably close to 100 meals from Del Mar , I have never had bad food or poor service that I can remember. Not that there is anything so great about it , but I don't like meals taking up much time when I'm on vacation so I go for what's convenient.

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"With foxes, we must play the fox." ~ Thomas Fuller

out of maybe the 30 times i have eaten at the del mar the service has been great...and they know me and even remember i like ketchup in a little bag (not the packets ) on my meals to go ....its a little pricey for san jose but the service is twice as good as the news cafe (ymmv) and my food is always hot and fresh ...maybe you caught them on a off night (or day)

Hartley Mc Lain left the Del Mar a few months ago and is now working for the company that owns the Amon Plaza.

He is and will be transitioning the restaurant over the next few weeks. The Amon Plaza location has a great restaurant area so hopefully it will be a good option soon.

BKTUNA
I am never going home