Cheap Food Near San Jose (Heredia), Costa Rica at Universidad National de Costa Rica Cafeteria

Introduction

University Cafeterias are always good places to find cheap meals in almost every major population center in this world. These cafeterias usually sell a large variety of food on a daily basis, and it is always really cheap!

Universidad de Costa Rica is in the city of Heredia, which is near (11km) San Jose. This is a university town and there are a lot of young people here. Finding a room in Heredia is just as good as staying in San Jose, and it is only 4 km from the airport. You can walk out of the airport to the main street and hop on a bus that says Heredia and be just as well off as you went into San Jose. People do not come to Costa Rica for the cities, so make your brief stay here as cheap as possible and eat at the cafeteria of this university.

How to get there

When you get to Heredia just ask someone where the university is. “Donde Esta el Universidad National?” The people here just refer to the university as “La Una.” Once you find the university just walk into the campus and the cafeteria is right in the center. It looks just as a cafeteria should and has red wood work around the outside. Refer to the photo below:
Photograph of the entrance to the cafeteria at the Universidad National de Costa Rica (Heredia)

Walk through these doors and take a left and go up to the counter and grab a tray. Ask for “El Plato del Dia” and you will get a salad, rice, beans, meat, and a juice for 850 colones ($1.70).

When in population centers make use of university cafeterias, they have fed me from South America to East Asia.