Rancho Jsm - Turrialba

We’ve eaten at Rancho JSM several times on the way to and from San José to the Caribbean coast and until today we’ve always been very pleased. Today we arrived at about 1:30pm for lunch. No one greeted us so we selected a table and sat down. Then, despite two servers on the floor (and two more chatting with a friend at the bar , we waited and waited for someone to take our drink orders a give us menus. Finally, my companion flagged down a server and she gave us menus but didn’t stop to take our drink orders. After another 10 minutes my companion went and asked another server to take our drink orders, which he did. My companion’s drink arrived right away but mine never arrived so I went to the bar where the server was again chatting with his buddy and another server and said that I’d pick up my drink myself. He gave me a look like I was bothering him and told me that someone would bring the drink to the table, which happened a few minutes later. At that point we were contemplating leaving because we weren’t feeling very welcomed but a server arrived to take our orders so we stayed. The server highly recommended two items on the menu, the Delmonico steak and the Puntas de Solomillo. We both decided on the Delmonico steak, though pricey at about $18 per person. We had both enjoyed Delmonicos before and my companion ordered his rare and I ordered mine medium rare. The meals arrived within 15 minutes or so but the meat didn’t look at all like a Delmonico steak! It was very thin and as we cut into our steaks they proved to be full of gristle and very fatty. Not marbled, but fatty. I couldn’t eat at least half of my steak because it was nothing more than gristle and fat! Adding insult to injury my companion’s steak was well done (it was so thin it must have cooked immediately on the grill and mine was overcooked as well. To be fair the sides (a very fresh green salad, country fries and fried plantains were excellent. But we were paying for a steak meal, not $36 worth of salad potatoes and plantains! Before we asked for the check we flagged down a server and explained that we’d enjoyed several meals at the restaurant but this meal fell far short. She called the manager so that we could explain to him our experience, which we did, and who then happily charged us the full price for a terrible meal. With drinks almost $100. We left feeling like the place really doesn’t care at all about its clientele (repeat clientele at that! or the quality of the food it serves. Today was the last time we’ll be stopping there. There are too many other excellent steak houses in Cartago to choose from!

We stopped by for an early morning breakfast which apparently scared off the waitress. It took some serious time before we were attended by but after having the order in we got excited for that real Costa Rican coffee. Never mind that; poor quality machine coffee. The first coffees which were sent back looked like strong tea. Way to go if you look at the country where you are located at. Second round of coffee was better and that together with the juice prepared us for breakfast. Quality was ok; portion was small so all together average. It is a nice restaurant to visit for sure and hopefully the lunch team gets things more animated. Wil definately come back in the future to give it another try. In the meantime; vamos adelante! For now a decent choice if you are passing by. All together a nice restaurant which can do much more.

We stopped for lunch after visiting CATIE. The menu is full meals and doesn't offer anything light/snacks for lunch. The food was quite tasty but we thought expensive for the location (by roadside services and with facilities for buses), plus the service was slow maybe football was more interesting to the staff? The portions are enormous which may account for the high cost, but who wants fries with rice and beans? We saw a lot of people getting boxes to take their leftovers home, but staying a hotel we just didn't finish our meals.

We stopped here after visiting the botanical gardens. The service was ok, but the food was great. Everyone in our party enjoyed their meals, and we all left full.

For the food, good quality, great flavor large portions. Deduct a few stars for service. Come with plenty of time and without a schedule to follow after. You’ll get your 1st round of beverages immediately but the food will take upwards of an hr to be served and then you’ll have to chase the server down for additional drinks. Not writing this review on my 1st visit. I’ve been here several times over the last few years and the service has not changed.