Gostoso Restaurante

We had an amazing dinner at Gostoso Restaurant on our last night in Aruba. The food was incredible! From the appetizers, the main entrees and the wonderfully prepared sides, to the desserts it was all delicious! The Sangria was so tasty, and the wine and other cocktails were also great. Our party of 5 dinner was toward the end of the evening, and the staff were all welcoming and friendly. Watching Jose interact with all his guests was witnessing someone who truly loves what he does. We found the prices to be very reasonable. I would highly recommend Gostoso Restaurant to anyone looking for good food, great ambiance and just a wonderful dining experience.

Wife and I where actually looking for another restaurant and went past this restaurant, I told my wife change of plans and turned around and stopped here. The best decision we made of the vacation ! Food was AMAZING, staff was AMAZING, the whole experience was just AMAZING ! Please find this restaurant and enjoy, trust me you will NOT forget or regret it !

The service was fantastic, they cater to your needs, The appetizer the entree was Delicious
A hidden treasure, rarely advertise, we learn from a local, we highly recommend,
A restaurant that we will remember for the rest of our lives

This was our 2nd time to visit Gostosos. We arrived with a party of 5 and asked for 3 individual checks..no problem. All 3 of our bills were correct. Our meals were excellent! I think it was the best seafood dish I have had on the Island since 1996! Husband ordered a pork chop which he says was Great. Our friend had an Aruban dish of Beef Stew that he loved..the other 2 had different seafood dishes which they were delighted with. Our waiter was great. We have nothing bad to say about our visit there except I wish I had discovered Gostosos years ago! The prices were reasonable we probably will be making a return trip this year. It was a Great Dining experience!

My husband & I were in Aruba celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary. A friend recommended this restaurant so we decided to try it. So many choices on the menu, plus chef’s specials. Best pumpkin soup I’ve ever had. My husband had the seafood chowder & he loved it. My entree was filet medallions in a red wine shallot reduction - delicious! Extensive drink selection. Our dessert - carrot cake - absolutely perfect! Our waiter, Rocky, was knowledgeable & friendly. The owner came out & spoke to us. He was terrific. If you’re ever in Aruba, you must go here.

Words won't convey the hospitality and genuine passion the owner has for his restaurant and sincere desire for his guests to enjoy their visit. Where do I start? Fish kabobs severed hanging style? Delicious fresh tender grouper in mango? Or the flan and key lime pie which is the best key lime pie I ever had and I've eaten key lime pie all over the world. Charming atmosphere, spotless, the friendly waiter was right when he answered "we are open six days" to my question of what he suggested. Don't miss this gem on your visit to Aruba.

We returned to Aruba on 26 July and went to dinner at Gostoso the next evening. We have been to the restaurant many times on previous trips and I'm happy to report that the food and service as still as impeccable as in the past. As usual, Jose is the most gracious host and welcomed us back to the island and restaurant. We opted for a different appetizer this time around and had the calamari which was excellent (we usually get the "sushi" which is always wonderful). I opted for the stuffed chicken Gostoso which was excellent. My wife chose one of daily specials which was grouper and was excellent. I always recommend the tres leche cake to friends for dessert and we were not disappointed have that as the end to our wonderful meal. We can't wait to return next year for another wonderful meal.

We have been reading about Gostoso for years and finally decided to try it. In town, a little out of the way, Gostoso is run by its owner who was very friendly and told us the history of the restaurant and how he would like to expand in the future. It is a small place but cozy and clean. we did not have a reservation but they were able to squeeze us in.
The service was polite, drinks took a while to get. Once the food was ordered it came much faster than expected for a small place.
The special beef soup was really good, served with large chunks of meat and a large piece of corn. Also the stuffed avocado with vinagrette was a tasty start. For entrees, there was a beef tenderloin/medallions special with shallots that was excellent. also the breaded conch, and rib eye were good. For fish, the grouper was very fresh, but a little on the small side. Overall, it was a good meal and if we were in town casually just "winging it" for a night, we'd give it another try.

My wife and I have been coming to Aruba for the past 14 years, over 30 visits in total and have never come across this restaurant in any of the flyers or recommendations from the concierge. The owner is a very friendly Gentleman that incorporates his Portuguese cuisine into local Arubian fare. He told us that he does not advertise and depends on word of mouth, explaining his low profile in the throw away's the hotels give you at check-in. Bottom-line! This is an excellent restaurant for fantastic food for a most reasonable price, perfectly cooked fish, the conk with creole sauce was out of this world. The avocado and cerviche was very tasty also. We had three decent size appetizers, two fish dinner's & two drinks for $82 before tip!! If you choose to dine here, you will also feel compelled to spread the word regarding this restaurant. I rarely bother rating, so this is a rare event!

Over the past several years, we had been hearing some very nice things about this place. So we set out to find it on our own and failed - two years in a row! Having learned from that lesson and having reviewed the menu with great interest, this year (2014) we simply grabbed a taxi; told the driver where we wanted to go; and trusted in his ability to find the place. As it was, the place was in the opposite direction of where we had been looking and we were glad to be dropped off at the door in just a few minutes. We like to try new places each year and especially look for some diversity of menu at the new places we frequent. GOSTOSO easily lived up to our objective of diversity. It has one of the most unique and satisfying menus we have seen in Aruba and we found ourselves experiencing difficulty in deciding what to get. So we threw ourselves upon the mercy and guidance of our waiter who deftly led us through the menu offerings and made some good recommendations along the way. Our only regret was that, this year (2014), we were unable to follow through with his recommendation that we eat here several times during our stay (we hope to remedy that next year). What we wound up with was one of the most uniquely delightful meals that we have had in a long time - from the plaintain/salmon sushi roll appetizer to the passion fruit and creole sea bass entrees. Everything was impeccably made and absolutely delicious. Service rose to the level of pampering and the advice given along the way was well worth considering. It was also pleasing to see the chef interacting with the patrons as well and showing that extra concern that is often missing in larger establishments. This is a chef that genuinely cares and you can see it in his demeanor and attitude - both of which are refreshing to see. We will be returning several times next year (in order to taste more of the offerings) and recommend the place to everyone - it may be a little hard to find but it is well worth the effort. In our opinion this place easily rivals Wacky Wahoo as one of, if not "the", the currently best seafood restaurants in Aruba and its menu goes beyond that as well. Service is excellent, setting and ambiance is nice. We found nothing to complain about here and suspect that will be the case for future visits. In our opinion, this place exceeds the standards that BAREFOOT is known for in Town. Go and Enjoy.

Visited March 2014