McDonald's has completed its map of Costa Rica. The chain's 81st restaurant in the country opened on Sept. 30 in El Roble, near Puntarenas city — the first in a province that had been the only one of Costa Rica's seven without a golden arches. For anyone driving the main highway toward the central Pacific beaches, it now means a familiar pit stop on Route 23, close to the Prosalud food plant and handy for traffic heading to the coast.
Arcos Dorados, the franchise operator covering 21 Latin American and Caribbean countries, hired 36 locals for the opening — six in management and 19 people starting their first formal job. The site offers the full modern playbook: drive-thru, McDelivery, self-order kiosks, a McCafé counter, an outdoor play area and seating for 56.
It's also the chain's seventh Costa Rica restaurant with solar panels, part of its "Recipe for the Future" programme. Add a solar water heater, motion sensors, low-flow taps and waste-sorting stations, and it's a reasonably green roadside stop. As part of its Good Neighbor initiative, McDonald's is donating a portable children's library to the Ivonne Pérez Guevara Special Education Center, and 15 students will paint a mural inspired by the restaurant's solar setup.
The pace of expansion is quick. This opening came less than two months after location number 80 in Ciudad Colón, west of San José, with Grecia and Heredia added in late 2025. A second Puntarenas province restaurant is already planned for Jacó on Avenida Amapola near the Costanera Jacó shopping centre — a job fair was held with the Garabito municipality in August, though no opening date has been announced.
The chain's Costa Rica history stretches back to 1970, when the first restaurant opened on Avenida Central in downtown San José. More than five decades later, El Roble closes the provincial gap.
Why should a traveller care? Puntarenas is a gateway to some of Costa Rica's most popular beach country — Jacó, Herradura and the roads toward Manuel Antonio — and El Roble sits right on the route many drivers take out of the Central Valley. If you're renting a car to the Pacific, this gives you reliable toilets, coffee, wifi and air conditioning on the way. The official grand-opening celebration with family activities is set for Saturday, Oct. 17, if you happen to be passing through with kids in tow.
