The ad read, “Gringo
Mike’s Best Pizza in Costa
Rica.” I
definitely had to check this place out.
Costa Rica is a very unique
country. Tourism
is rising 30 to 40 percent a year. It is a small country, approximately
three
million people, with almost half living in just one city (San Jose.) Costa Rica is Central
America’s
wealthiest country with it’s biggest export being Intel. I know you
probably
thought it was bananas or coffee—well not anymore. Costa Rica is now known as Silicon Valley.
Upon arriving in Liberia,
the country’s second
largest city, I saw some of the familiar big chain pizzerias. It was
weird
seeing these giants in such a tropical third-world country, but I
wasn’t there
to eat what I could get back home—I was there to see and eat the
independent
pizzas of Costa Rica.
My search for Gringo
Mike’s started in a small pizzeria up
in the northern part of Costa Rica at a beach
resort called Playa Del
Coco. Playa means beach in Spanish. There were three pizzerias in this
small
town. The owners laughed at me when I told them I was from a pizza
magazine,
but when I pulled out my business card and camera, they all took me a
lot more
seriously. From there, I made my way inland to Alejuela, just outside San Jose. I
tried various
pizzas recommended by the locals but was never really satisfied. Next
stop was
Tilleron, a nice little city on the way to a live volcano. I stopped at
a
recommended spot called La Caretta, meaning “the buggy.” They did have
a nice
homemade pie.
From there,
I caught a puddle jumper down to the South.
I landed in Pal Mar Sur and yes, it had three or four pizzerias.
I
inquired about Gringo Mike and was told he didn’t exist anymore—he had
closed
up his shop. This was very disappointing and a blow to my story. I took
a cab
to the small town of Ojochal, where
Gringo
Mike’s used to be and found a unique, one-of-a-kind pizzeria, named
Jardin
Tortuga (Turtle
Garden) with a
hand-built wood oven to
resemble a turtle. The restaurant is
totally outdoors with a covered area, a grass thatch roof and a large
deck
overlooking lush gardens. This place is literally in the middle of the
jungle!
I thought to myself, “How does this guy survive and make money?” The
next three
nights the place was packed—I couldn’t believe it! Just shows the power
of
pizza. This was a really nice find but still not enough to fill Gringo
Mike’s
famous shoes.
Then
I had
a stroke of luck. I was checking my e-mail at the local Internet
café where I
ran into a lovely lady named Bobby from Montana.
She told me that she owns a pizza place called Dos Gringo’s, which was
formerly
Gringo Mike’s. I couldn’t believe my ears. I was misled! At least if
Mike
wasn’t around I could see his old place. She took me on a complete tour
of her
new place. She showed me all the old pictures of what she started with.
Bobby
could
tell me where to find Gringo Mike—he was under my very nose all along,
but no
one would tell me because they wanted all the publicity!
Finally,
I
met the infamous Gringo Mike, real name Mike Terzano, and his lovely
wife Karen
Terzano, Ph.D. When Gringo Mike started his pizzeria, he had to smuggle
pepperoni from Panama
because it just wasn’t available. Italian sausage also was not
available
anywhere, so Mike had to raise his own pigs. In Costa Rica,
there was a town
understanding, a no infringement rule where no one was allowed to
duplicate
what someone else was doing. However, everyone started to do pizza
because of
Mike’s success, but no one could compete with him.
Originally
from Detroit, Mike and Karen had been
going back
and forth between Detroit and Costa Rica
since 1990. They opened their first pizzeria in 1995. In 1998, they
settled
permanently in Costa
Rica.
After
selling Gringo Mike’s, Mike and Karen bought the hotel Posada Playa Tortuga, the second oldest hotel in the Southern
zone
where he’s building a new kitchen onto the hotel. He is calling it
Armando’s
Italian Kitchen, and yes, he will be serving pizza again. I finally had
the
chance to try Mike’s pizzas and they were superb. I can’t wait to
return and
see Mike’s progress, enjoy the perpetual summer weather that Costa Rica
offers and as Mike says, to live the dream! Just goes to show that if
you
really put your mind to it, you can overcome any obstacle and be a
success
anywhere…even in the jungle.
– PMQ –
