Where We Found The Best Food Across Puerto Rico!

One of the few things I never plan out when John and I go on a road trip is where we are going to eat. I never know how we are going to be feeling or what we might stumble upon, and it always turns out great. Our trip to Puerto Rico was absolutely no exception!

We didn’t plan out many stops along our way, yet managed to find some delicious food on the island. 

We traveled west out of San Juan to Arecibo and south to Utuado stopping wherever we wanted along the way.

We rented a car through Enterprise Rental Cars and had quite an experience with it! Read all about what it was like driving around Puerto Rico here.

La Plaza del Mercado de Santurce.

​This market was the only food stop during our trip that had been planned. I had two markets saved on Google Maps and knew that I wanted to stop at one to check out the local fruits and vegetables for sale. I intended to buy a few familiar fruits and some new fruit for snacking at the Airbnb.

La Plaza del Mercado de Santurce.

We booked an amazing stay in Utuado through Airbnb and could not have picked a more dreamy jungle getaway. Read all about it here!

The food stalls around the plaza.

We pulled up to this market and were instantly excited that we had stopped! It looked like the most picture-perfect example of a traditional farmer’s market I might imagine. It was a beautiful square surrounded by food stalls and shops with the market in the middle.

​We were there in the middle of the day, so it wasn’t as packed as it could have been, but dozens of people were shopping and eating. We walked inside and were intrigued by the goods offered.

El Pulpo Ceviche and Tostones.

When we walked out of the market, the aroma from one of the food stands called us over to it. We enjoyed the wonderful octopus ceviche (Pulpo) with fried plantains (Tostones) while chatting with a couple of  locals. It was a delicious first meal on the island with some of its staple foods.

Sabor Isleño by Los Paneles

​Our next meal was outside of Utuado just off the highway. Sabor Isleño by Los Paneles is a completely outdoor restaurant with covered and uncovered seating. We pulled a u-turn to eat at this place, and thank goodness we did! The food and atmosphere were unbelievable!

The entrance to Sabor Isleño.

My strawberry mojito.

We enjoyed an early dinner on a Friday night, and we could tell that the place was very popular. Locals gathered around the bar and enjoyed each other's company in the cool evening air. It was nice to see. We were served by the owner of the restaurant, and he suggested a wonderful array of appetizers including more fried plantains and fried local cheese. 

While we sipped on delicious strawberry and coconut mojitos and finished the assorted platter, the owner placed an order of shrimp mofongo for us, and before we knew it, we were scarfing down some of this delicious Puerto Rican staple. This was our first time having mofongo and we both loved it. John nearly licked the plate clean and had mofongo with almost every meal going forward. ​

Our first taste of mofongo!

Cafe El Bohio 

Cafe El Bohio.

The next morning, we woke up and grabbed an early, traditional Puerto Rican lunch from Cafe El Bohio along the shores of Lago Caonillas. We were staying just up the road at Coanillas Lake View House, and it was too convenient to not try. 

We enjoyed our fried pork, beans, and rice before hopping in the car and exploring around Utuado. The meal wasn’t anything special, but it tasted great and fueled us for the day!

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Check out more from our entire vacation in Utuado in our “What To Do In Utuado” blog post here!

Cafe Gran Batey

​We didn’t eat a meal here, but we enjoyed a wonderful cup of coffee and a piece of cake at this adorable coffee farm before we took a tour. Both the tour, coffee, and cake were free!

Drinking coffee at Cafe Gran Batey.

Part of the coffee tour is their drying house!

​The lovely family who runs and owns the coffee plantation gives free tours of its 8-acre farm whenever visitors show up. We learned all about the coffee growing and roasting process and ordered 5 pounds of beans to be shipped to our house.

See more from this great tour in our YouTube Video below and in our more detailed blog post here!

La Placita del Vivi

After learning about the native Taino culture at the Caguana Ceremonial Indigenous Heritage Center, we grabbed a bite from the roadside cafe, La Placita del Vivi.

We enjoyed more mofongo, cooked differently than the night before’s meal at Sabor Isleño. John had his with Dorado, and I had shrimp again, but the sauces for both were distinct and delicious. John’s was in a garlic-based aioli, while mine was more of a tomato sauce. Both were great, and so were the mojitos! It was a great place to sit and watch a heavy rainstorm roll over after the day of exploring.

Enjoying my dragonfruit mojito.

Carbon y Leña Beach Restaurant

Inside Carbon y Lena.

The last place that we ate in Puerto Rico was the best. John’s option may differ, but we both agree that Carbon y Leña in Arecibo was delicious!

This cute, beachside restaurant reminded me of so many crab shacks at which I have eaten along the American Gulf Coast. We, of course, had more mojitos and fried plantains before our main course, and we finished them both before the “signature” meal was delivered to our table.

​El Capitan was more than we could have ever finished, but it was extremely good. It was an entire, fried red snapper smothered in a garlic butter sauce over chicken, peppers, onions, and mofongo! It was the most savory and filling meal I have ever eaten, and we didn’t even come close to finishing. We took most of it to go and enjoyed it back at our hotel room in Old San Juan before heading back stateside.

El Capitan was my favorite meal!

Read more about all of the Airbnbs we stayed at across the island in the “Where to Stay in Puerto Rico” post here!

Every single meal we had in Puerto Rico was absolutely delicious! We branched out, tried new things, and were never disappointed. Each place had such friendly staff who were willing to help us, and we appreciate all of their kindness and all of the fantastic meals. We only got a taste of Puerto Rican cuisine, but we loved every bite we had!

Read more about our entire Puerto Rico road trip in this more detailed post here! We share were we stayed in San Juan and Utuado and give details about all the amazing places we went and saw.

​Read all about it HERE!

Enjoying some fresh brewed Cafe Gran Batey coffee and a mango from La Plaza del Mercado de Santurce on our Airbnb balcony in Utuado!

Similar Links:

Where We Stayed Across Puerto Rico - Old San Juan and The Jungles of Utuado
Exploring Canon Blanco and Looking for Petroglyphs in Utuado
What It Was Like To Drive Around Puerto Rico - and What We Learned From the Experience!