Lonely Planet has partnered with San Juan-based travel community Platea to provide comprehensive guides, curated lists and insider tips for your next trip to Puerto Rico.
Riding a wave of culinary excitement and an emphasis on local ingredients and cultural heritage, the restaurant scene in Puerto Rico is thriving.
Over the past few years, Puerto Rico’s farmers and restaurateurs have echoed the island’s resilience post-Hurricane María, especially in San Juan, one of the Caribbean’s most vibrant culinary centers. From world-class gastronomic temples to no-frills storefronts serving home-cooked staples, a progressive spirit imbues the city’s acclaimed chefs, who fuse the island’s rich cultural legacy with modern cooking techniques.
Here is our guide to some of the best restaurants in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Marmalade
Best for tasting menus and award-winning wines
Located on Calle Fortaleza in Old San Juan, the world-renowned Marmalade put Puerto Rico on the foodie map. Celebrated chef Peter Schintler, an Iowa native, draws on the island’s diverse heritage to deftly blend indigenous and international ingredients.
His prix-fixe menu features playful, socially conscious riffs on classic Caribbean fare, best paired with selections from the award-winning wine list or expertly crafted cocktail menu. Popular dishes include pasture-raised beef tenderloin and pesto-drizzled swordfish with local heirloom tomatoes. If you’re vegetarian or vegan, Marmalade always has plant-based options.
1919 Restaurant
Best for a memorable fine-dining splurge
In the elegant Condado Vanderbilt Hotel, 1919 is one of the most acclaimed fine-dining destinations in the Caribbean, thanks in no small part to the culinary genius of chef Juan José Cuevas, an alumnus of the Michelin-starred Blue Hill in New York. Cuevas is also a farm-to-table pioneer on the island, sourcing local ingredients wherever possible. (Case in point, the Vanderbilt Hotel’s eggs all come from Puerto Rico farms).
You can’t go wrong with the sous vide salmon, vacuum-packed and slow-cooked in a water bath to preserve natural flavors, then given a twist according to the season. For an unforgettable dining experience, opt for the chef’s menu accompanied by sommelier-selected wine pairings. Plush leather seats, mahogany tables, crystal chandeliers and sweeping Atlantic views lend poise and formality to the ambiance.
Vianda
Best for exceptional locavore fare
This innovative Santurce restaurant is the passion project of husband-and-wife team Francis Guzmán and Amelia Dill. Both made their way through the cutthroat world of New York City’s fine-dining scene, including stints at the Michelin-starred Blue Hill and The Modern restaurants. Now that they run their own restaurant at Vianda, you can expect a sleek minimalist space that draws a posh and vivacious mix of visitors and regulars every night.
Vianda’s farm-to-table (and vegan-friendly) menu channels the island’s rich culinary heritage, and critics and locals alike wax poetic over the sourdough tostadas and raíces locales (local roots), an inspired appetizer with beets and vegetables. (The restaurant’s name means root vegetable). The must-try dish is mariscada, a gourmet reinvention of traditional Puerto Rican mofongo, combining the much-loved mashed-plantain staple with mussels and shrimp and topping it with seared salmon. In addition, they serve a contemporary take on the Puerto Rican seafood dish bacalao, pairing cod with a coconut broth and kimchi fried rice.
Throughout Puerto Rico, Guzmán is renowned for both his culinary brilliance and his philanthropy. As San Juan emerged from COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, he dedicated much of his time to helping out-of-work chefs, creating a pop-up series of culinary events.
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Jungle Bird
Best for Asian-fusion small plates and wild tiki cocktails
Located in the heart of the neighborhood Santurce is Jungle Bird, owned by Roberto Berdecía of La Factoría. The bar’s kitchen, Jungle BaoBao, is helmed by James Beard semifinalist Paxx Caraballo Moll, who combines indigenous Taíno ingredients, like sweet chili, dragon fruit, cassava and red beans, to create delectable Asian-Caribbean fusion dishes.
The hyper-seasonal menu changes regularly, underscoring the former artist’s commitment to all things local; expect to feast on house-made kimchi, raw snapper with fresh mango and his signature “enoki bloom” – crispy mushroom clusters topped with togarashi and saffron. Though the menu regularly changes, Jungle Bird is consistently good at providing vegetarian and vegan-friendly options.
Jungle Bird is also known for DJ-spun live music and tiki-style cocktails, such as Frida’s Visit to MoMA, a fruity tequila and cachaça-based concoction, and the Saturn, made with London gin, passion fruit and lemon.
Raya
Best for a unique take on a grilled cheese sandwich
Mario Pagán is one of Puerto Rico’s most famous chefs – in addition to owning multiple restaurants in San Juan and spearheading his own catering company, he’s appeared on Food Network’s Next Iron Chef – and his latest venture finds a suitably sleek setting inside the award-winning O:LV Fifty Five hotel in Condado. (It’s small and super popular, so be sure to reserve at least two weeks in advance.)
Every item here is exquisite and resembles an edible painting. Menu staples include wasabi morcilla grilled cheese, made with blood-sausage focaccia, and tuna poke pegaíto, puffed rice topped with tuna sashimi and drizzled with soy.
Lote 23
Best for food hall style sampling
Leading the charge for Puerto Rico’s growing love for food-hall-style restaurants, Lote 23 has become an institution in the revitalized Santurce district. Foodies can walk, browse and graze on more than a dozen culinary specialties, ranging from pizza and tacos to ramen and creative burgers.
At Lote 23, you can try Venezuelan-style arepas at Sorte, wood-fired pizza at La Paz Pizza, and piragua (or Puerto Rican-style shaved ice) inspired cocktails at PiraRum. There’s plenty of outside space and picnic tables for visitors to relax.
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El Jibarito
Best for no-frills authentic dishes
With a family-friendly ambiance, salsa music drifting in from the courtyard and simple decor – vinyl tablecloths and fluorescent lighting – this quirky restaurant offers a distinctly Puerto Rican dining experience.
The homestyle comida criolla here is widely considered the best on the island, and the hands-on owners celebrate Puerto Rico’s diverse culinary influences, turning out authentic fare infused with Spanish, African and Taíno flavors from a small but capable kitchen. Popular cooked-to-order dishes include tostones (fried plantains) and mofongo with red snapper.
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La Alcapurria Quemá
Best for snacking on the go
Just a 15-minute walk south from the oceanfront at Condado, La Alcapurria Quemá is a no-frills locale serving up Puerto Rico’s beloved street food snack, alcapurrias – deep-fried fritters made from plantains (or grated yucca) stuffed with flavorful beef, pork or fish. You’ll find several iterations at this colorful Santurce pit stop, but the bestsellers are beef and crab. The kitchen also delivers on traditional homestyle entrées, including carne guisada (traditional beef stew) and chicharrón de pollo (crispy skin-on chicken).
Mercado La Carreta
Best for a history-soaked brunch in Old San Juan
An upbeat go-to spot that’s less than a 10-minute walk from the famed Catedral de San Juan Bautista, Mercado La Carreta provides a great base for exploring the old-school charm of Old San Juan.
Grab a table overlooking stately Plaza de la Barandilla and choose from a budget-friendly yet flavor-forward menu of brunch classics, like beer-battered chicken and waffles, and jibaro platters with pork, rice and beans and amarillitos (sweet fried plantains). The restaurant also carries specialty coffees from award-winning local producer Gustos Coffee.
Kasalta
Best for famously delicious breakfast and baked treats
For years San Juan locals have cherished local bakery Kasalta in Ocean Park, a neighborhood east of Condado, as the go-to place for casual yet classy Puerto Rican, Cuban and Pan-Caribbean all-day fare, including breakfast. Then when then–US President Barack Obama made a stop here in June 2011, this local favorite suddenly became world-famous.
While you’re not always guaranteed to find celebrities and dignitaries at Kasalta, this is certainly a good spot for people-watching. You can also enjoy delicious and affordable treats like the ham-and-cheese mallorca, a flaky brioche-like bread stuffed with ham and cheese and topped with powdered sugar.
Willy’s Pinchos
Best for classic Puerto Rican street food
Throughout Puerto Rico you’ll find pinchos, skewers of marinated chicken (or occasionally pork) closely related to Mediterranean meat kebabs. Plenty of stands, carts and hole-in-the-wall shops offer pinchos, and towns like Luquillo have become famous for their kioskos selling hot and fresh pinchos. However, if you can’t wait for the entire drive to Luquillo, you can find mouthwatering pinchos much closer to San Juan at Willy’s Pinchos.
Located in the suburb of Guaynabo, about 20km (12 miles) south of Old San Juan, Willy’s Pinchos is an unassuming spot that has perfectly cooked pinchos that will likely have you craving more. Willy’s Pinchos also has a full bar and frequent live music.
Note that Willy’s sometimes has issues processing credit cards, so bring cash.
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