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Spectacolar Cantina is a cool spot located right in the heart of downtown La Fortuna. We actually ended up visiting twice, once by choice and once completely by accident.
Our first visit was on a Thursday night. We were wandering around downtown around 8pm. Heard live music, and noticed the upstairs bar with a great view of the street. So we decided to stop in for a quick drink. We sat upstairs at the counter overlooking the street, which had a really nice vibe. The waitress was friendly and attentive. She didn’t speak much English, but it wasn’t an issue since we only ordered a beer and a shot. We stayed about 30 minutes. It wasn’t crowded at all. Only four other people, so it felt relaxed and comfortable.
The next day, we were running errands about a mile away and my partner wanted a Bloody Mary and some food. I searched online and Spectacolar Cantina came up. I picked it because they had Bloody Marys, not realizing it was the same place we had visited the night before. We figured it out once we arrived, but we didn’t mind.
This time we sat downstairs at the counter seats facing the street. My partner ordered the Casado with fried pescado and I got the Elote street corn. She also got two Bloody Marys, and I ordered a ginger margarita. Total price was 26,100 Colones. Just a heads up, the Bloody Mary here is not the traditional style you might expect. No veggies, bacon, or garnish, and the consistency is a little more watery, but my partner still enjoyed them. The ginger margarita was served in a nice whiskey style glass with garnish and what looked like fresh crushed ginger. It was a good margarita, though it didn’t have that strong ginger flavor you might anticipate.
The street corn wasn’t fresh, and the texture was a bit chewy and soggy, but the flavor was surprisingly great. The Casado with pescado was seasoned well. The fried fish tasted more like fried chicken, which was unexpected, but it was still good overall.
Spectacolar Cantina has good food, good drinks, and a great location with street views and occasional live music. For us, it is more of a one time visit kind of place, but it is definitely worth trying if you are in La Fortuna, whether you want a drink with live music at night or a casual meal during the day or night.
