Over the winter holiday break the Michael W Travels family went on a trip to Costa Rica. It was the first time visiting the country for all of us.
With a limited amount of time during this trip, Kim and I settled on spending most of our visit in the Manuel Antonio area.
We saw awesome wildlife in Manuel Antonio National Park and dined at a really unique restaurant called El Avion. Too bad the burger they serve isn’t very good!
While passing by El Avion on the way to Manuel Antonio NP, I spotted another really interesting and unique restaurant. As I drove by, I knew it would be a place Lucas would love to check out.
El Wagon (The Wagon) features an old train car parked right in front and the coolest part is that you can dine inside!
When I initially saw The Wagon, I wasn’t sure what to expect of the food. However, while at El Avion, Lucas was playing inside the cockpit where he made a friend. When I mentioned to Lucas that we’d go to The Wagon the following day, the boy mentioned how he went there and they served the best pizza. (Guess he’s never been to NYC.) He also said that his family was going again.
While Kim went ahead to get us a table, Lucas and I took some time to check out the old train car and it was an awesome sight to see. The train car appeared to be in great condition, most likely restored?
While you can dine inside the train car (we did), you can also dine at tables all around it on a patio which overlooks the ocean.
We dined at the table on the left, (right in the middle) of the train car. We had the train all to ourselves. (The restaurant was actually busy but the majority of diners were eating outside.) Luckily the train car was fitted with air conditioning or it would’ve been quite the uncomfortable meal to sit through. (They turned the AC on once we were seated.)
El Wagon has two ovens where they cook their pizzas and other foods. I found the one shown above to be really unique. Check out all of the old bottles which make up the base.
Lucas enjoyed wandering around outside the train. He even noticed how it’s parked right on top of old train tracks!
The Food:
We ordered a pizza with half covered in pepperoni. The pizza resembled something that I might see at home in a place serving thin crust.
I worried that the cheese would be something local and taste odd, but the menu did say mozzarella. I took a bite and was instantly impressed!
The pizza had a somewhat crispy crust, a tasty but not overpowering sauce and from what I could tell- real mozzarella cheese ! The pepperoni, while not exactly like the kind we enjoy at home, was still delicious!
Kim, Lucas and I all enjoyed the pizza. In fact, Lucas let us know that he’d be finishing it after we each took a slice. Kim and I had other plans and ruined his pizza party!
We also ordered a chicken sandwich with turrialba cheese and pesto. We left the pesto on the side since I’m not usually a fan.
The sandwich was also delicious. It came on what I’m pretty sure was bread baked in-house. The chicken was juicy and I don’t recall much about the cheese but we all liked it. Lucas initially didn’t want the sandwich but ended up snagging a nice chunk of mine after having a taste.
Final Thoughts:
If you find yourself in the Manuel Antonio area of Costa Rica, you can’t go wrong dining at The Wagon. If you’re traveling with kids, it’s a must-visit (along with El Avion).
Find out more about El Avion (The Wagon) here.
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