Soda Hidalgo

This is Antonio Hidalgo minding his pot of beans being cooked over an open flame behind his restaurant. The Hidalgo family started coming to Jaco before there was the road was built. Mario Hidalgo (Antonio's brother) has told me stories of how he took the boat from Puntarenas to Jaco when he was young. Mario still has his house on the beach front and is probably a millionaire today (if he sold out completely).

A Soda is a typical Costa Rican restaurant and they always have rice and beans as a staple. For breakfast, it's gallo pinto (mixture of rice and beans). It's a traditional dish here.
It never fails when I go to Soda Hidalgo that Antonio asks about "Angela". She's a Canadian that lived here years ago. We think she may return one day. Will you Angela?