Vegan-Friendly Puerto Viejo Restaurants and Shops

Is Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica Vegan Friendly?

Vegans have a variety of options to choose from in Puerto Viejo. Everything from refreshing cafes to savory Jamaican food to traditional Costa Rican Gallo Pinto.

I knew there would be vegan options in Puerto Viejo before we visited. But I didn’t realize that veganism is a thing in Puerto Viejo. We would be biking along on the way to the beach, and various cafes and eateries that hadn’t even come up on my searches would be advertising “vegano” or “vegan options”.

As a vegan, you certainly won’t go hungry and your tastebuds won’t go unsatisfied in Puerto Viejo.

Vegan and Vegan-Friendly Restaurants in Puerto Viejo

Fully Vegan Restaurants in Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica

• AmaSer
• Jammin Vegan Community

AmaSer

• Quantity of Options: 10/10
• Average Meal Price: 3500-5000 colones (~$5-8USD)
• Taste: 10/10
• Atmosphere: 10/10

Location: It is teeny bit out of town up a hillside, though still walkable from town. Its more remote location is what makes it so peaceful, though.

AmaSer is a yoga retreat center that also provides drop-in classes and energy healing sessions. Their café is 100% vegan and gluten-free… and delicious. Enjoy your meal overlooking the ocean from the jungle hillside and just relax. By far, AmaSer was my favorite place to eat in all of Puerto Viejo.

The energy here was always a big sigh and release of any possible stressors in life. There were always digital nomads on their computers while sipping their Blue Moon Milks or Mushroom Magic Lattes. Don’t worry, they have regular coffee, too. 

And they even have a section with toys, books, and coloring that the kids can borrow while they wait for their meal.

Everything they make has a special twist on it. Their pancakes were served with orange-clove-infused agave syrup. Their lavender lemonade has blueberry pea powder so the entire drink turns color… a huge hit with kids. 

And each dish is labeled for its Ayurvedic benefits depending on what your body needs. Either Vata, Pitta, or Kapha promoting or pacifying. But trust me, even if you select just based on your tastebuds, your body will thank you. 

Jammin Vegan Community

• Quantity of Options: 10/10
• Average Meal Price: 4700 colones (~8USD) *Cash Only*
• Taste: 5/10
• Atmosphere: 10/10

Location: Just outside of town and easily walkable from town.

I wanted to love Jammin Vegan Community. I did. But there was really only one stand-out dish, and all the rest were pretty… blah. Which is a shame because everyone there is SO friendly. And the atmosphere is very relaxed and makes you feel right at home.

This is the place to go if you really want to divulge in filling, hearty, and possibly fried foods. We divulged in a large sampling of their menu, as our visit had been much anticipated.

The jerk jackfruit burger was by far the best dish. That jerk sauce was something special. And not too spicy if that’s not really your thing. 

Everything else needed more flavor… and salt. I would seriously try this place again if I brought my own salt shaker with me. The other dishes that we got that were just… meh, were the sweet potato fries, breadfruit fish, spanish omelette, johnny cake, and patacones. And just as an FYI, the menu says that all dishes come with coleslaw. Really, it comes with 1-2Tbsp of raw shredded cabbage. Which I don’t mind, but not at all what I expected. 

Restaurants with Vegan Options in Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica

• Port Vell
• El Sol Del Caribe
• Como En Mi Casa
• Caribeans Chocolate and Coffee
• Cafe Rico
• Bread and Chocolate
• Vegan Signs Around Town

Port Vell

• Quantity of Options: 7/10
• Average Meal Price: 4500-5000 colones (~7-8USD)
• Taste: 9/10
• Atmosphere: 10/10

Location: In town, on a quiet side street

The main vegan food options at Port Vell are a Vegan Gallo Pinto, a Grilled Vegan Sammie, and an Acai bowl. And we tried them all! They also had pipa, or fresh coconut, which is always fun and refreshing. 

Gallo Pinto is a traditional Costa Rican dish, so we were incredibly excited to find a vegan version! And it’s a great meal to get when you are hungry. It came with rice and beans, hummus, guacamole, pan-fried and julienned veggies, watermelon, fried plantains, and corn tortillas. And it was delicious. Even our five-year-old finished her entire plate!

Their Grilled Vegan Sammie was made with homemade bread, hummus, and roasted veggies. It was packed with flavor and definitely a repeatable meal.

The Acai Bowl was definitely good. But compared to the other two meals, not as special. If you’re in the mood for something refreshing, though, it’s definitely a good option.

To be honest, the first time we visited here we were having a rocky start to the day. We had scheduled a dance class that hadn’t worked out, had wandered around getting sweaty and dehydrated, and I was starting to get a headache. Port Vell cured all of our bad-day moods.

They were extremely personable and made you feel right at home. There was also a kids' corner with coloring and a few toys. It was clean and quaint. And probably my second favorite place in all of Puerto Viejo (just behind AmaSer).

El Sol Del Caribe

• Quantity of Options: 9/10
• Average Price: 4000-6000 colones (~6-10USD)
• Taste: 8/10
• Atmosphere: 10/10

Location: In Cocles, bikeable from town. Close to Cocles Beach.

El Sol Del Caribe is always busy… and for good reason! My biggest suggestion here would be to stick to what they do best… curries and Asian foods. I had a curry that was probably the best curry I’ve ever had in my life. Brent had a burrito and Elsie had a burger that were just good.

On the menu board, there is a list of vegan options. But there are other items on the main menu that look like they could be vegan. When I asked the server, he confirmed that basically everything that appears to be vegan (like curries with just veggies and no animal-based protein), is vegan. Which opened up a world of other options!

After much deliberation, I ended up with the “Sunny Mango Fusion”. A curry with coconut, mango, chili, and turmeric. That sauce was to die for. We put it on everything… Brent’s burrito… Elsie’s leftover burger… seriously. So flavorful and just spicy enough. The dish as a whole came with plenty of veggies and was served in a dried-out papaya bowl. The menu said it came with a salad, which was really just a few pieces of lettuce. But with that sauce, I wasn’t complaining.

Brent’s burrito was good. But needed an extra element of flavor. Luckily, that was supplied by my curry sauce. But otherwise, it wasn’t a repeat meal for him. Same thing with Elsie’s burger. It was a nicely flavored homemade patty, which I think they make the mix to order! But the burger itself needed some fun sauces or something… which was also supplied by my curry sauce. 

We both got smoothies, which were huge and delicious. The food did take a while, so be prepared for a bit of a wait. But the service was incredibly friendly, and you have a direct view of all the happenings at Cocles Beach across the way. 

It was by far our most expensive meal in Puerto Viejo, and totaled around $43USD with tip. But totally worth it for me. Brent would return again, and order a curry.

Como En Mi Casa

• Quantity of Options: 9/10
• Average Price: 3500-5500 colones (~5-9USD) 
• Taste: 8/10
• Atmosphere: 5/10

Location: Right in town, close to the beach.

Overall, at Como En Mi Casa, the food was good. Nothing “wow-ed” us, but it was solid. The service was underwhelming. I’m not sure if a smile was directed toward us the entire time we were there. The young 20-somethings sitting inside definitely got a lot of attention, though. Ha! So maybe that’s who is raving about this place online. Because like I said, it was good. But we were never tempted to return in the month that followed… and we went to Port Vell 3 times.

Elsie got the Vegan Pancake. And it was huge and fluffy. I imagine this would be a good meal if you’re hung over. It was the biggest pancake I’ve ever seen with a few strawberries sprinkled on the side. It also came with a bit of chocolate sauce and a lot of maple syrup. Elsie finished about half of one pancake.

I had a gluten-free chickpea wrap with grilled veggies. Something about the texture of the wrap had me questioning if it had egg in it, but I didn’t ask. The veggies had a nice flavor, and the basil added something special to it. It was also very large. I would suggest coming here hungry! 

Brent had a Deli sandwich. Which came on homemade bread with vegan pesto and grilled veggies. He said it was simple but that everything had excellent flavor. We also both had smoothies, which were a bit on the watery side. 

Overall, I’m not sure why we didn’t love this place. There are plenty of vegan and gluten-free options. And everything was good. I think it was the service and the atmosphere. There were just other places that had equally good food, for less money, and were in a place where we could sit, relax, and smile.

Caribeans Chocolate and Cafe

• Quantity of Options: 6/10
• Average Meal Price: 4500 colones (~8USD)
• Taste: 7/10
• Atmosphere: 7/10

Location: In Cocles, an easy bike ride from town. Across the street from the ocean.

Caribean Chocolate and Cafe not only has coffee and food, but they also have an entire room with chocolate bars for sale. They offer chocolate tours as well, which we didn’t try. 

They regularly had a vegan and gluten-free Banana Chocolate Muffin available. Which was quite large, moist, and had a ton of melty chocolate on the inside. I’d highly recommend getting the muffin!

One time, we tried their meals as well. We got the vegan and gluten-free pancakes, which were basically their muffin in pancake form. There was a small sampling of strawberries and shaved almonds on the side. And they just hand you the maple syrup jar so you can use however much you want. For a meal, it was extremely rich, and I didn’t even finish them… which is unheard of for me! In the future, I’d probably just stick with the muffin!

We also got the Shalom Sammie. Which was a hummus and veggie sandwich, and clearly was made on some sort of fresh, homemade bread. They were generous with the hummus, and overall it was a good sandwich. It also came with either a fruit salad or a fruit smoothie. We got a mango smoothie, and it was thick, in a good way!

As an FYI, our meals did take more than half an hour to arrive. So if you’re planning on eating, I’d plan ahead for that. And they do have WiFi, but it’s pretty limited. It was good enough to look up a few things on our phones, but I wouldn’t ever try to work there.

Cafe Rico

• Quantity of Options: 6/10
• Average Meal Price: 2000-3000 colones (~3-5USD)
• Taste: 8/10
• Atmosphere: 10/10

Location: In town, on a quiet back street.

The main draw of Cafe Rico for me was all the used books for sale. I needed something to read, and they had books a plenty. Rows and rows of books. Organized by language, too, if English isn’t your first language. Oh yeah, and they have coloring and activity books available to keep the kids occupied while you peruse the books.

We got a fruit smoothie, a coffee, and a fruit platter. The smoothie was huge, the coffee met my needs, and the fruit platter was good but a bit overpriced. They also had avo toast and vegan pancakes available, but we were really just after a snack that day.

This place definitely had a local feel to it. There were clearly regulars that often dropped in. And of course, the tourists that happened to stumble upon the cafe in their travels. They do offer laundry services, which we didn’t try. And they haveWiFi available for digital nomads.

Despite being busy, they were extremely friendly there. And they even let my daughter take home a small toy from their kids' section that “needed a new home”.

Bread and Chocolate

• Quantity of Options: 2/10
• Average Meal Price: 1600 colones (~2.50USD) *Price of cake*
• Taste: 7/10
• Atmosphere: 9/10

Location: Right in town on one of the side streets

We mostly visited Bread and Chocolate for the cake. They offer both a vegan cake and vegan/GF cake. We got the gluten-free version and it was definitely good, but for a gluten-free baked good, I preferred the muffins at Caribean Chocolate and Coffee. We also got a fruit smoothie, which was of course refreshing and tasty.

This place was busy. But despite the crowds, it was still a relaxing place to hang out and the staff were extremely friendly. 

Vegan Signs Around Town

Like I said, veganism is a thing here. Aside from all these restaurants, there were signs everywhere we biked and walked announcing “vegano” and “vegan options”. Including Rio Negro in Cocles, a waffle cafe even further toward Playa Chiquita, and the Jamaican and Acai Bowl stands near Playa Cocles. 

Keep your eyes open, and you’ll never go hungry in Puerto Viejo as a vegan!

Where to Shop for Vegan Groceries in Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica

• Bio Mercado
• Namu Tienda
• Saturday Farmer’s Market
• Rio's Vegan
• Super Negro Cocles
• Freddy’s Fruitstand
• DeGustibus Bakery
• Heladeria Ocho Nani

Bio Mercado

Bio Mercado is where you go for fun, specialty items. You don’t go there to find what you need, but to find what you want… and that’s a lot!

Their large fridge has a rotating selection of things like vegan cheeses, black bean tempeh, vegan burgers, vegan and gluten-free cakes and brownies, local chocolate, and even popsicles!

The rest of the store has an array of naturally-minded selections, including laundry detergents, specialty flours, local hot sauces, insect repellent, etc. They also have some non-consumables like palo santo, notebooks, and other goodies to peruse.

They also have a small selection of organic produce and some bulk food items. Though they did say they can’t source organic nuts in Costa Rica. It’s more expensive here, but you know you’re getting good quality.

Namu Tienda

Namu Tienda is another specialty organic grocery store in town. It’s smaller than Bio Mercado, but its highlights include fresh bread and my favorite chocolate bar in all of Puerto Viejo… and I tried a lot!

The chocolate bar is one that they make for the store, so you can’t get it elsewhere. For a chocolate bar, it’s pricey. But so worth it!

Aside from bread and chocolate, they have things like coffee, local produce, personal care items, notebooks, etc. There is little English spoken here, which I actually appreciate as it makes the store seem more authentic and local.

Saturday Farmer’s Market

This is definitely the place to stock up for the week. And it’s certainly a hot spot in town!

There is one organic produce stand. It isn’t obvious which one it is. I picked the produce stand that was the busiest, and when I asked, I was right! More produce than you can carry, and more options than you even know what to do with!

One thing I definitely recommend trying is pijiballe if it’s in season. It’s available at a stand just outside the market, and it’s a palm fruit of some kind. When you boil it, it tastes a bit like a starchy sweet potato. And it became my all-time favorite snack while we were there!

Other than produce, at other stands in the market you can stock up on things like vegan nutella and cheeses, natural peanut butter, and some artisan goods like jewelry and vases.

Rio’s Vegan

Just outside the Saturday Farmer’s Market, there was always a stand called Rio’s Vegan. Go there. Try anything. It’ll all be good! And it looks like since we were there, as of 9/14/22, they now have a shop!! 

When we were there, they were always selling to-go items like empanadas, frittatas, chickpea cheese bites, banana bread, and lasagnas. They have a homemade hot sauce you can add to any of them that is phenomenal as well.

Oh, and did I mention how friendly they are? Once, we left a lasagna at the stand after paying for it on accident. When we messaged them on Instagram, they had set it aside for us! They offered for us to come to their house to get it, and they even offered to meet them at Super Negro Cocles to pick it up. It didn’t end up working out because of a tour we had planned, but they really went above and beyond to try and get us that lasagna!

Super Negro Cocles

This might seem like a strange one, as Super Negro is one of the big-name grocery chains in the area. But at least the one in Cocles has a number of specialty vegan items, including tofu, vegan cheeses, and vegan pestos. They also supply some frittatas and banana bread from Rio’s Vegan in their bakery section.

We stayed just down the street from Super Negro Cocles, so found ourselves running there for a lot of random ingredients and staples.

Freddy’s Fruit Stand

Freddy’s Fruit Stand was our local fruit stand. And the woman there was always really helpful as I asked questions about the fruits in my broken Spanish. It was our go-to place for local fruits, including papayas bigger than my head!

You really can’t go wrong with any of the local fruit stands and shops around town. You’ll get excellent prices, and get to sample whatever’s in season.

DeGustibus Bakery

If you’re like me and your body says “no thank you” to gluten, you may be missing vegan, gluten-free bread while in Puerto Viejo. Turns out you can order some special from DeGustibus Bakery! It’s a bit pricey at 7k colones (~$11 USD) for a loaf, but worth it if you have a craving for some toast in the morning. Or if you have tours planned where a sammie-to-go would be your best option.

You do need to go in, order it special, and come back the next day to pick it up. But they were incredibly friendly and accommodating. The woman at the register kept apologizing for her English skills, as we conversed an assortment of Spanglish from both sides. But I mean, I was the one visiting a Spanish-speaking country! In my eyes, no one should ever have to apologize for their English skills. I should’ve been apologizing for my lackluster Spanish!

Heladeria Ocho Nani

If vegan ice cream is what you're after, Heladeria Ocho Nani is right in town and they always have a variety of vegan sorbets available. And they're delicious! So grab a cup, and head out to Playa Chasma for some vegan ice cream on the beach.

I know there are more places to eat in Puerto Viejo. And overall, you’ll be spoiled with choices when you visit. Have you been to Puerto Viejo? Were there any favorites of yours that I missed?

If you’re wondering how the heck to get to Puerto Viejo, check out this article.