Puerto Rico: 500 Years of Great Restaurants and Food

Puerto Rico has always been presented as a Caribbean paradise with the usual offerings of sun, sea, and sandy beaches.  This is the reason why it continues to generate huge income out of its thriving tourism industry.  Their island’s tropical wonders are not the only things that Puerto Ricans can be most proud of.  The country has a rich history and culture that spans about 500 years.  Interestingly, during those five centuries, the people have also developed their own culinary delights while staying true to some of the features introduced by the Spanish colonizers as well the indigenous styles of cooking. 

It is because of the combination of European and Caribbean tastes that make Puerto Rican food one of the country’s major attractions.  Taking from this cue, San Juan, the country’s capital has witnessed the rise of so many great restaurants that fascinate tourists with such great fares.  Just imagine walking through cobbled streets of a city that is 500 years old, going to one restaurant after another, and enjoying different amazing culinary feats at every stop.  That would indeed be a great experience.  Fortunately, a number of Puerto Rico’s bed and breakfast inns facilitate such unique tours in San Juan.

Guests do not have to fill themselves at every restaurant that they drop by though.  Otherwise, they would miss the chance of tasting the offerings by other restaurants.  These lunch and dinner tours are indeed unique for a variety of reasons.  Among them is that there are only very few cities that provide this opportunity and that fewer still features Spanish-Caribbean cross-cultural culinary arts.  The best choices also happen to be found in Old San Juan, which is that part of the capital that still maintains much of the structures that were built hundreds of years ago.  Several of the top restaurants in the area are El Picoteo, El Toro Salao, La Mallorquina, La Fonda del Jibarito, and La Ostra Cosa.  Innkeepers at Puerto Rico bed and breakfast inns surely know about the exact locations of these restaurants.

Some of the restaurants have an ambience that is reminiscent of how the island once was when it was still under Spanish colonizers.  This only gives diners the feeling of really being transported back in time when San Juan was still a garrison.  For the hipper crowd, San Juan’s nightlife can bring them back to the modern Puerto Rico. Many of the clubs and restaurants possess a Western or American motif.  However, when food and drinks are served, guests are once again reminded that they are in the Caribbean. Not is the music a fusion of Latin and Western pop but the food is also.

Tourists who go to Puerto Rico would be surprised to know that there is definitely more that this island can offer other than its sunny climate and turquoise blue waters.  It is not just the eyes that feast on the beautiful sights but the appetite too is satisfied with gustatory delights that are rarely found anywhere else in the world.