A little piece of “tiquicia” away from Costa Rica. The GalloPinto, the Mondongo soup and the arroz con leche are definitely made by a costarricense cocinera that really knows about costarican sazón. Place is small and cozy and gives you that I am home feeling.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Breakfast
Price per person
$10–20
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5
Although I’m Latina all Latin food is NOT the same. This restaurant is Costa Rican and the food was delicious! It is cute, clean, & homey…like being in your friend’s kitchen. The young lady serving us was sweet and attentive.
FOOD…fresh, tasty but not overly seasoned, and savory. I’m a soup girl and this soup made my top 3. Hubby LOVED his dish and we were amazed by their rice pudding dessert <3
A special shout-out for empanadas WOOHOO! Hubby is Cuban and I’m Colombian & Puerto Rican and these Costa Rican empanadas go to the #1 spot on our list!!!
Prices are definitely reasonable :)
FYI street parking, cash or credit card has service fee, sit-down or takeout, closed on Tuesdays.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Lunch
Price per person
$20–30
Underwhelming. The garlic shrimp was in a corn starch sauce that had me immediately removing the shrimp to mix with the rice. The grilled steak was flavorful but almost too much, heavily seasoned and was very fatty. Best thing on the plate were the perfectly cooked tostones. Waitress was very nice and service was good. For the price, this was not worth it.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$20–30
Great place! The food was delicious. The staff was kind and kept the place very clean. I drove all the way from Brooklyn for their food and would definitely eat here again. I highly recommend Carretica Restaurant to anyone looking for good Costa Rican food or just great food in general.
The food is good but not excellent. For the amount they charge the food should be much better. The casado with steak and sauteed onions was overcooked so much that it felt like I was chewing on rubber, they might as well have given me a hard boiled egg because the fried egg was so cooked it had no yolk to break. The mixed fried platter had no shrimp as the menu stated. The beef soup had no flavor. The prices on the menu are not updated instead they place tiny stickers on the menu stating prices are subject to change. So if you don't see the sticker and question as to why the bill is $25 more than expected, they'll point to the sticker, basically saying they have the right to charge you whatever they want. Sin verguenzas!! Cambie los precios en el menu y deje de atracar la gente!! No seas tan cara de barro! Pura Vida definitivamente no son!
Super clean restaurant and amazing food! Came into town to visit family and decided to find a breakfast spot and thankfully we drove passed carretica because it’s probably the best food in New Jersey!
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Breakfast
Ok so I like to rate places starting from the parking.
In this case they have no parking lot. The restaurant is small and a little sketchy. The service was quick and on point. The food was cold and didn’t taste good. I ate half the food maybe. They got 2 starts because of the only good thing, which was the service.
This place could be better but it’s gonna need work. Good luck.
Omg one of the best Costa Rican Restaurants I have eaten. The place is nice, staff is great and the food... I can't express how much I love the food in this place. Pura vida y saludos.
We love it here! The food is always so good and fresh! They are nice people too 😊 We won't go to any other Costa Rican restaurants.
Service
Take out
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$20–30
