Things to do in San Juan
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St Germain Bistro & Café
Kudos to the chef for transforming the main course salads – so often the dullest dish on the menu – into something fresh, tasty and filling. Then there’s the aromatic Puerto Rican coffee, the delicious paninis and the homemade cakes which can only be described as melt-in-your-mouth heavenly. Nestled on the corner of Sol and Cruz, the St Germain is a bright neighborhood place with down-to-earth service, interesting clientele and a distinct European feel. Perfect for breakfast, lunch or a light dinner.
reviewed
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La Bombonera
The old-fashioned coffee machine hisses like a steam engine, career waiters in black trousers appear like royal footmen at your table, and a long line of seen-it-all sanjuaneros populate the lengthy row of bar stools, catching up on the local breakfast gossip. It shouldn’t take you long to work out that La Bombonera is a city institution: it’s been around since 1902 and still sells some of the best cakes in town. Come here for breakfast, lunch or an early evening snack attack and soak up the unique Latin ambience over a copy of the San Juan Star.
reviewed
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Tantra
For purists, eating Masala Dosa in Puerto Rico is probably about as incongruous as chomping on mofongo in Madras, but for those willing to drop the cultural blinkers, Tantra’s adventurous ‘Indo-Latin fusion’ cuisine is actually rather authentic. It helps that the chef’s from South India. It also helps that the restaurant’s Asian-inspired decor, which places exotic lampshades among carved Buddhas, sets your taste buds traveling inexorably east. The pièce de résistance is the belly dancing that kicks off nightly at nine-ish.
reviewed
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Ajili-Mójili
The waiters wear hats and the reception displays aromatic cigars from the Dominican Republic, so leave your sandals and singlet in your room and venture out to this classy Condado classic. Housed in one of the neighborhood’s few remaining eclectic mansions, the menu is high-end comida criolla – such as island-style pork loin with mofongo – while the atmosphere is refined and romantic. Expect discreet service and sky-high prices.
reviewed
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Trois Cent Onze
After putting all his creative energy into his food, French owner Christophe Gourdain presumably couldn’t muster up enough energy to think up an original name for his formidable culinary extravaganza: hence Trois Cent Onze (311), the place’s numerical address on Fortaleza St. With its well-established French connection, 311 has the words ‘elegant, ’ ‘refined’ and ‘sophisticated’ written all over it, conjuring up classy European cuisine without too many of those Latino-fusion makeovers (alas, no mofongo with a camembert twist here). Glide into one of the island’s most romantic interiors, awash with billowing white curtains, flickering candles and delightful…
reviewed
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Plaza de San José
Adjacent to the uppermost terrace of the Plaza del Quinto Centenario, where it meets Calle San Sebastián, is the Plaza de San José. This relatively small cobblestone plaza is dominated by a statue of Juan Ponce de León, cast from an English cannon captured in the raid of 1797. The plaza is probably the highest point in this city and serves as a threshold to four cultural sites on its perimeter. The neighborhood around the plaza, on San Sebastián and the intersecting Calle del Cristo, is the original home of the restaurant, bar and café scene that began in Old San Juan more than a decade ago.
There are still plenty of places to grab a bite to eat in a shady building o…
reviewed
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La Fortaleza
A steep climb along Recinto Oeste takes you to the top of the city wall and the guarded iron gates of La Fortaleza. Also known as El Palacio de Santa Catalina, this imposing building is the oldest executive mansion in continuous use in the western hemisphere, dating from 1533. Once the original fortress for the young colony, La Fortaleza eventually yielded its military pre-eminence to the city’s newer and larger forts, and was remodeled and expanded to domicile island governors for more than three centuries. You can join a guided tour that includes the mansion’s Moorish gardens, the dungeon and the chapel. Free guided tours generally run on weekdays except holidays; tours…
reviewed
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Mercado de Río Piedras
If you like the smell of fish and oranges, the bustle of people, and trading jests in Spanish as you bargain for a bunch of bananas, the Mercado de Río Piedras is for you. As much a scene as a place to shop, the market continues the colonial tradition of an indoor market that spills into the streets.
The four long blocks of shops and inexpensive restaurants lining Paseo de Diego, and facing the market, have been closed to auto traffic, turning the whole area into an outdoor mall. You can shop or just watch as the local citizens negotiate for everything from chuletas (pork chops) and camisas (shirts) to cassettes featuring Puerto Rican pop-music wonders like Menudo. Shopp…
reviewed
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Casa Blanca
First constructed in 1521 as a residence for Puerto Rico’s pioneering governor, Juan Ponce de León (who died before he could move in), the Casa Blanca is the oldest continuously occupied house in the western hemisphere. For the first 250 years after its construction it served as the ancestral home for the de León family. In 1779 it was taken over by the Spanish military, then with the change of Puerto Rico’s political status in 1898, it provided a base for US military commanders until 1966. Today it is a historic monument containing a museum, secluded grounds, a chain of fountains and an Alhambra-style courtyard. The interior rooms are decked out with artifacts from th…
reviewed
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Corporación Piñones Se Integra
The Corporación Piñones Se Integra is a community based nonprofit organization that is involved in improving the facilities in Puerto Rico’s poorer barrios, particularly Loíza. Concurrently, they are working hard to keep the island’s traditional Afro-Caribbean culture alive. Headquartered in the Centro Cultural Ecoturístico de Piñones situated to the right of Rte 187 immediately after you cross the bridge at Boca de Cangrejos, the organization promotes some of Puerto Rico’s best bomba y plena performances at its on-site Café El Búho at 9pm on the second and last Friday of each month. You can also arrange traditional dancing and percussion lessons here (phone …
reviewed
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Iglesia de San José
What it lacks in grandiosity it makes up for in age; the Iglesia de San José in the Plaza de San José is the second-oldest church in the Americas, after the cathedral in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. Established in 1523 by Dominicans, this church with its vaulted Gothic ceilings still bears the coat of arms of Juan Ponce de León (whose family worshipped here), a striking carving of the Crucifixion and ornate processional floats. For 350 years, the remains of Ponce de León rested in a crypt here before being moved to the city’s cathedral, down the hill. Another relic missing from the chapel is a Flemish carving of the Virgin of Bethlehem, which came to the isla…
reviewed
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Balneario Escambrón
Balneario Escambrón. Imagine it - a sheltered arc of raked sand, decent surf breaks, plenty of local action and the sight of a 17th-century Spanish fort shimmering in the distance. But, hang on a minute. Are you really still only a stone's throw from Old San Juan and the busy tourist strip of Condado? Balneario Escambrón is almost too good to be true, which is probably why a lot of people miss it.
Perched on the north end of the slither of land that is Puerta de Tierra and abutting majestic Parque del Tercer Milenio, this palm-fringed yet rugged beach just might be one of the best municipal options offered anywhere. Adding convenience to enchantment, there are lifeguard…
reviewed
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Playa Isla Verde
Resort pluggers will tell you that Playa Isla Verde is the Copacabana of Puerto Rico with its legions of tan bodies and dexterous beach bums flexing their triceps around the volleyball net. Other more savvy travelers prefer to dodge the extended families and colonizing spring-break hedonists that stake space here and head west to Ocean Park. Whatever your subjective view, this broad mile-long wedge of sand that lies between Punta Las Marías and Piñones is an undeniable beauty.
The downside - if there is one - is access. Cutting in front of the towering condos and plush hotels of Av Isla Verde, the beach is completely obscured from the road and, as a result, lacks the in…
reviewed
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Paseo de la Princesa
Emanating a rather distinctly European flavor, the Paseo de la Princesa is a 19th-century esplanade situated just outside the city walls. Lined with antique street lamps, shade trees, statues, benches, fruit vendors' carts and street entertainers, this romantic walkway culminates at the magnificent Raíces Fountain, a stunning statue/water feature that depicts the island's eclectic Taíno, African and Spanish heritage.
The Paseo is an ideal place to indulge in that most refined of Latin pastimes, the evening stroll - an activity best enjoyed at sunset when the breeze blows stiffly off the bay, the fountain shimmers under haunting colored lights and assorted vendors tempt …
reviewed
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Wet & Liquid
Here they are, the beautiful people, perched on zebra-striped stools or lounging on strategically positioned sofas, martinis in hand. The buffed body-builders, the fashionistas, the 20-something wannabe actresses corseted into tight black dresses. Popularly considered to be two of San Juan’s most esteemed watering holes, Wet and Liquid comprise two separate bars situated in Isla Verde’s Water & Beach Club. Liquid dominates the ground floor, Wet inhabits the roof. Interconnected by a space-age elevator that is decorated rather surreally with its own water feature, this is where San Juan’s well-heeled and the well-endowed come to swap email addresses. The real glitterati ar…
reviewed
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Parque Muñoz Rivera
Spanning half the width of Puerta de Tierra between the Atlantic and Av Ponce de León, this green space, known as Parque Muñoz Rivera, dates back over 50 years and injects some much needed breathing space into the surrounding urbanity. It has shade trees, trails, a kid's playground, and a 'Peace Pavilion', which sometimes hosts community events. An artisans' fair is held here and at the adjacent Parque Sixto Escobar on most weekends.
Parque Sixto Escobar - named for the famed Puerto Rican boxer - was the site of the eighth Pan American Games, held in 1979, and is now home to an Olympic athletics track, and the gusty Balneario Escambrón. It also hosts the annual Heineken…
reviewed
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Parrot Club
The menu’s in Spanglish, the decor’s a lurid mix of orange, blue and yellow, and the waitress could quite conceivably be sporting a pink wig. Welcome to the Parrot Club, where Puerto Rican politicians wind down and enamored gringos live it up. Until the Parrot’s opening in 1996, the concept of SoFo didn’t even exist. But, with its caustic blend of live jazz and tasty ‘nuevo Latino ’ cuisine, this restaurant quickly set new standards and spawned the ultimate in neighborhood chic – an acronym. Now well into its second decade the menu continues to win kudos with its eclectic crabcakes caribeños, pan-seared tuna and vegetarian tortes.
reviewed
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Puerta de Tierra
Less than 2 miles in length and only one-quarter of a mile broad, this district occupies the lowland, filling the rest of the area that was colonial San Juan. Puerta de Tierra takes its name from its position as the 'gateway of land' leading up to the walls of Old San Juan, which was the favored route of land attack by waves of English and Dutch invaders. For centuries, Puerta de Tierra was a slum much like La Perla, although far less picturesque.
It was a place where free blacks and multiracial people lived, excluded from the protection of the walled city where the Spaniards and criollos (islanders of European decent) postured like European gentry and maneuvered for poli…
reviewed
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El Capitolio
Sandwiched between Av Muñoz Rivera and Av Ponce de León, just east of Fuerte San Cristóbal, is El Capitolio of the commonwealth. Resembling a smaller, Romanesque version of the US Capitol, the building commands an authoritative position in Puerta de Tierra overlooking the wave-lashed coast. The much-revered constitution of the commonwealth, which moved the island a step closer to its citizens’ dreams of freedom from colonialism in 1951, is on display inside the 80ft rotunda. Regular sessions of the legislature meet inside, while rallies for and against statehood occur outside every time the government calls for an island-wide plebiscite on the issue.
reviewed
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Puerta de San Juan
Spanish ships once anchored in the cove just off these ramparts to unload colonists and supplies, all of which entered the city through a tall red portal known as Puerta de San Juan. This tunnel through the wall dates from the 1630s. It marks the end of the Paseo de la Princesa, and stands as one of three remaining gates into the old city (the others lead into the cemetery and the enclave of La Perla). Once there were a total of five gates, and the massive wooden doors were closed each night to thwart intruders.
Turn right after passing through the gate and you can follow the Paseo del Morro northwest, paralleling the city walls for approximately ¾ of a mile.
reviewed
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Teatro Tapia
The Teatro Tapia on the south side of Plaza Colón is an intimate neoclassical theater designed in the Italian style with three-tiered boxes and an elegantly decorated lobby. Dating from 1832 and named after the so-called ‘Father of Puerto Rican literature, ’ Alejandro Tapia y Rivera, the building has long acted as a nexus for the island’s rich cultural life and has hosted big names from the world of opera, stage and ballet from around the world. The theater was restored extensively in 1949 and then again in 1976, 1997 and 2007. Experts today rate it as the oldest free-standing drama stage in the US and its territories.
reviewed
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Aquaviva
Designed with an arty water/sea-life theme – all turquoise blues and brilliant whites – the house specialty is seafood, in particular the cerviches, with plenty of patrons rolling in just to savor an appetizer with a pre-dinner cocktail. Often packed to the rafters, Aquaviva was invented with the word ‘hip’ in mind. Everything from the open-view kitchen to the catwalk clientele is slavishly stylish. But the real test is the food: fresh oysters, calamari filled with shredded beef, and dorado with lightly grilled bell peppers, seasoned with garlic and served with plantains. It has been voted one of the top 75 restaurants in the world.
reviewed
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Café Berlin
You’ve probably heard about the Taíno, the Spanish, the French and the Americans, but the German influence in Puerto Rico is less well documented, unless you wind up sampling sweet pastries on the pleasant terrace here. In a setting that’s more Viennese than Caribbean, the Café Berlin serves fresh European-style food with a strong vegetarian/vegan bias. Check out the veggie pizza, the tofu done any which way you want and don’t leave without ordering a manjito (a mango-flavored mojito). The sweet Teutonic deserts are positively sinful and the German rye bread is so popular that they fly it on demand over to Culebra.
reviewed
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Parque de las Palomas
Parque de las Palomas on the lower end of Calle del Cristo is a cobblestone courtyard shaded with trees at the top of the city wall. Paloma means 'dove' or 'pigeon' in Spanish and it's the latter variety you'll encounter here, in their hundreds. Some brave souls come here for the view it affords of Bahía de San Juan. Others just turn up to feed the pigeons. (You can buy birdseed from a vendor by the gate.)
Devout Christians have long believed that if you feed the birds and one 'anoints' you with its pearly droppings, you have been blessed by God. Agnostics prefer to look upon it as just plain old bad luck.
reviewed
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Dragonfly
Duck nachos – say no more! Safe in its mantle as the hippest of the hip, Dragonfly is SoFo’s most stylish culinary innovator; the G-spot of the Latin-Asian fusion movement that brims nightly with a plethora of self-assured, well-dressed and, frankly, beautiful people. Presuming you pass the dress inspection on the door and survive the shock of your initial entrance (the place resembles a dark red bordello – all dim lamp shades and decorative mirrors), try following up with a hard-hitting Dragon Punch cocktail before you dive into a menu awash with the wonderful and the plain weird (yes, those duck nachos).
reviewed
