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       porque no bacon red snapper 
  - Costa Rica

Por Que No?

Por Que No?

Destination: Dominical

Great food is simple. Lose the white table cloths, pretentious attitudes and inflated prices what do you have? A wide selection of locally available ingredients and a creative chef with the knowledge and experience to combine them. Porque No? has both.

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It also doesn't hurt that the open-air patio runs parallel along the rocky coast of Dominicalito so that nearly every table has ocean views. Por Que No?'s Canadian Head Chef Shelby Tett incorporates traditional Costa Rican influences crafting dishes like the prawn avocado patacones, $10; a crispy, fried green plantain shell filled with grilled shrimp, avocado and topped with a mango salsa.

Making use of fresh, locally caught red snapper, Shelby creates nightly specials that tantalize in turns of savory, salty, sweet and sour. Take the bacon wrapped seared snapper, $14, served over smoky grilled polenta with lemon butter beans and maple sesame carrots; or the homemade paella, $12, made with red snapper, shrimp, spicy chorizo, sweet peppers, green beans and saffron rice.

Besides the nightly specials, the menu features a selection of well-establish beach comfort foods made with panache, like Shelby isn't satisfied unless you remember the dish long after it's finished. And you will, even if it's just the hamburger, $12; the patty's infused with fresh basil, garlic, chipotle powder, salt pepper, and cinnamon; grilled and served beside fresh cut homemade french fries.

Por Que No? has its own wood-brick oven for homemade pizzas (even the dough is homemade) that includes all the regular combinations plus a few mad-scientist concoctions like the chorizo, goat cheese pizza, $10, with sweet peppers and chimichurri. In addition to pizza dough, the restaurant also makes its own bread, ensuring a perfect crunch in the chicken pesto panini, $10; with onions, sweet peppers, tomatoes, avocado, cheese, pesto  and homemade French bread served with a chipotle aoli salad and mango salsa.

For dessert, Tett makes his own ice cream and gelato, like the tiramisu gelato, $3, made with homemade vanilla bean ice cream with lady fingers, whipped meringue, cocoa powder and whipped cream. Porque No? is a tropical intimation of everything you desire in a vacation; delicious food and friendly service in a beautiful setting.

Ambiance

Casual dining beside the Pacific Ocean on the north end of Dominicalito. This open air patio has a tropical flare with plants, trees and monkeys painted along its columns and tiled floors.

Service

Great people make great food served by great servers, well not always, but in this idyllic tropical getaway it just happens to be true.

Price

Entrees $8-$12

Hours

7 a.m. - 2 p.m.; 5 p.m. – 10 p.m.; Tues. - Sun.

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Por Que No? in Pictures