El Jibarito

Was sent here for authentic PR food. Was not disappointed. Staff was very helpful. Sangria was delicious. Food was hot and fresh.

We loved the home cooked feel to their food and would go back regularly if we lived in OSJ. The staff was quick, helpful and took care of us, regardless of our numerous questions. I had the Bisten Encebollado (Steak and Onions) and ate every bite it was soo tasty!

MOFONGO!!!
We were guided by our friend who lives locally to this spot for the best authentic Puerto Rican MOFONGO experience (it’s so fun to say).
To start, we went with a pitcher of Sangria, which is kind of how all meals should start. We ordered a few appetizers that were, truthfully, just okay (the fried cheese tasted like it was fried in old grease, which was a bit off-​putting), so I would recommend you skip them — especially when you consider how incredible all the entrees are, and how generous they are with their portions.
The star of the show is the Mofongo and it surpassed all my expectations. The plantains have a wonderful balance of a crisp exterior with an almost creamy interior and the garlic-​butter that the dish comes with is pure gluttonous goodness. I had the shrimp but my wife ordered the chicken and we both actually preferred hers, even though it was the less expensive option of the two. My shrimp were plump and cooked perfectly but there was something special about that shredded dark meat chicken that stood out above the rest.
Mofongo.

We ordered bistec encebollado and left really disappointed. Not flavored well & not a good piece of meat for the price. We were here a few times some years ago and it was great. Sound like mofongo would ofbeen a better choice! Not going back

The food here is sooooo good. Prices are reasonable. Yuca frita, bacalitos and tostones awesome appetizers. Pollo end salsa criolla was delicious. Lechon asado cooked to perfection. Staff very friendly and helpful.

The best Puerto Rican Food all week. A must lunch or dinner spot in San Juan. I had the red snapper which was huge and delicious. We had rice and beans all week but these were the best. Good drinks as well.

I wasn’t terribly hungry but I was looking for a spot with good empanadas for my last night in town.
Empanadas — I ordered shredded beef and ended up with 4 shredded beef and 2 chicken. Not sure if that was by design or not. They were small in size which was perfect since I wasn’t too hungry. They came with both a garlic sauce and pepper sauce for dipping. I enjoyed their flavor.
Croquettes — I ordered the cod and wasn’t terribly impressed. The outside was beautifully cooked but the inside wasn’t too flavorful, and was a little mushy for my liking.
Service — Slowwwww. Although I was seated right away, I had to ask for everything from napkins to more garlic sauce to more water.
It seems they cater to large parties and families so the wait seemed longer for those types of groups. But to be honest, it wasn’t busy enough for the service to be so poor and slow.
Probably wouldn’t go back.

Just come here and nowhere else!
Super good food that won’t break your pockets! Anything you order will be delicious!

Espectacular servicio, ambiente y sabor. Muy recomendadas las bolitas de queso. Las masas de puerco y el trifongo

Try the trifongo. Amazing. Garlic shrimp rock solid and garlic chicken was amaing. Rum punch was good. Meals are great size and came out really fast. Didn’t have any appetizers.
Service was on point.

With just two people in our party, we were seated pretty much immediately and didn’t experience the long waits that many other reviews mention (probably partially due to an awkward between-​lunch-​and-​dinner time).
Since this was our first Puerto Rican food, I was hoping to like it more. I will say that the trifongo was good, but the tamales, meh. They weren’t exactly what we were expecting, and they would have been fine if it wasn’t for the rice: there were quite a few chunks that were extremely hard and inedible. Really put a damper on the experience.
The only other thing was that service can be slow. They forgot our order of coke, which is no big deal and I don’t fault them for that, but overall it was part of an underwhelming experience. If I ever come back to San Juan, I’d probably be willing to give it another shot and try different menu items but I’d be more likely to explore other options first.

My friend & I both started w/​chicken empanadas, which were really good. Make sure to get the hot sauce & the ketchup/​mayo combo they have. Then we ordered the stew chicken which came w/​mofongo. Our food didn’t take a long time to come, we literally waited 10 – 12 minutes.
The chicken was delicious, but the mofongo was really bland. Not even the garlic sauce saved it.
The pistachio tres leches cake was drowned in milk, but it tasted okay.
Our waiter wasn’t the most attentive, but in starting to think that’s somewhat customary in PR. Overall, it was a really good meal, but I would not order the mofongo again.

Over rated. Red snapper was dry and very salty. Salad was dry and no seasoning whatsoever, yellow rice was dry and salty. Chicken in garlic sauce was also very salty and not juicy. Long wait for the food. Nothing special.

Excelente trato bien serviciales. Se comportan con los locales como el turismo extranjero como todo un súper negocio. Lo recomiendo muchísimo.

We were so excited to come eat here as the place is very cute and nicely decorated. Unfortunately we had a horrible experience. The service was awful. The waitress was rude. The wrong order was brought out on multiple occasions. We never received an apology. Food wasn’t even great. My biftec had no flavor. Will never come back!

I’ve been to Old San Juan a few times but I’ve never had the pleasure of El Jibarito cause it’s always packed. A good sign, right? Authentic Puerto Rican/​Latin American food served in this cute little restaurant that looks like it’s outdoors. What could go wrong?
In a word: Just about everything.
It all started off innocently enough. We ordered some appetizers. The waitress seemed a bit annoyed, but overall okay. I had to ask for extra water cups but she obliged, if not a bit begrudgingly.
Oh, and this small child was screeching every 30 seconds or so. Obviously not the restaurant’s fault, but my gosh, won’t someone just hit this kid already? (I’m kidding. Sort of.)
That’s when things started to go badly. We ordered food and then a pitcher of sangria. It wasn’t clear that we were going to get new glasses for the sangria — the waitress didn’t mention it, so one of my friends went to go get cups and then they almost collided and the waitress spilled one of the glasses on a patron and that’s when she stared at us with the hatred of a thousand suns.
After that, I got the sense that she didn’t really love us.
The food came out quickly enough, but was definitely pretty solid. I’m not sure if I loved it, but it was pretty good. The fried yucca I got (she called it something else which confused me and let to further anger) was awesome, and the chicken con chili was solid, if not spectacular.
When we needed more water, I was literally AFRAID to ask. I thought she might slap me.
As a bonus, when you use the bathroom, you actually walk through a little outdoor area. I guess what I’m saying is that if it’s raining, you should probably just hold it.
Still, we had a nice time and I thought the food was good. Not great, but very good. The service was a bit mixed and I admit some of it was our fault, but I also feel the waitress started off a bit pissed off and only got more angry from there, so to some extent, I feel she’s a bit responsible, too.
But assuming you don’t force the waitress to spill a drink on someone or accidentally confuse your side order with someone else, you shouldn’t raise their ire and you may have an entirely pleasant time.

Authentic family cooking. I had a garlic chicken stripe dish. Pretty good. Comfort food.

This was our second authentic Puerto Rico restaurant on our trip and we were very satisfied. With a wide range of tastes in our family from my 12 year old to my mother and father it is sometimes challenging to find authentic cuisine that suits everyone but this place was perfect. The only disappointing thing was that they did not have a few things available that were on the menu that my family wanted. The only other thing we did not like was the pork tamales. But the pork chops, chicken were great and the chicken and beef empanadas were our families favorite! Also I tried the trifongo with the white sauce they recommended and it was outstanding!
The wait was a little long but the ambiance was perfect for Old San Juan! This would be one of the must do restaurants that I would recommend for anyone visiting San Juan!

Ordered beef empanadas, chicken empanadas, tamales, trifongo, cubed pork in plantain sauce, and yellow rice. Also ordered a glass of sangria and rum punch.
The empanadas and tamales were not anything special. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the trifongo — lightly crisp on the outside with a dense, sweet texture in the inside. The cubed pork was in a stew of plantain sauce that was delicious along with the yellow rice.
Overall, a great meal while we were starving!

This was the first restaurant stop on my first solo trip to Puerto Rico and everyone must have read the great Unilocal reviews because this place was packed. Luckily, I only waited about 20 to 30 minutes. Even the waiting area outside the dining area was packed and tight.
Before deciding on what I had to order I checked Unilocal to see if there was something I just had to try and there were too many items to choose from, lol. I was seated with two other diners who were also there solo. One of the guys were from Newark, NJ and the other from Dallas and they were both cool as we shared our table to chow down and talk about our travel experiences. I eventually decided on the garlic chicken with rice and vegetables and it was good. The chicken was just a tad bit salty and one of my dinner mates said his food was a bit salty. I tried some of my new dinner mate’s mofongo and it was pretty tasty and I wish I would’ve ordered some.
The service was okay because they seemed a bit short staffed and the servers were running around trying to keep up with their tables. However, despite the busy night on a Monday, the staff were friendly and welcoming. When I left the restaurant with my belly full, there were a group of people outside singing and dancing to Latin music which was very entertaining to witness and record. I would check this place out again and try that mofongo, please come prepared to wait

I realize my rating is a bit high, a 4 star would be more accurate. Why the 5, because, I had such a magical night and the restaurant was central to it. it could be my naiveté in PR, but, you have to walk down these beautiful, magical cobble stone streets passing by beautiful buildings to get to this place. The food is fine. It is not spectacular but it IS good. It appeared authentic to me, and was full of locals, few tourists. It’s a little overpriced on some items, IMO, like the shrimp.
My rating is based on my experience, that’s the penultimate decider, so I’m sticking with it for now until I return.

I left stuffed, but the service could use some improvement, while friendly it was very very laid back and slow. The place was cute, the garlic shrimp were yummy and the mofongo too! You won’t necessarily find much faster service anywhere nearby as it’s the norm but why not break that norm?
Really great flavors all around, decently priced and authentic in the heart of old San Juan. I loved it. I really did.

La comida es muy buena, el problema es el servicio. Cuatro para atender al público en un restaurant vacío, pero por alguna razón no nos veían, tuvimos que pedir que nos atendieran.

Es un restaunte pequeno pero la comida es una delicia y atienden muy bien y vale la pena darle esta puntuacion