El Picoteo

Amazing food, superb service, and beautiful view. The restaurant attached to El Convento is one of the best in the area and the price is very reasonable! We tried one of the chilled red wines on a hot summer evening and it was perfect. The paella with seafood is a huge portion but all delicious (though I wouldn’t mind a bit more seafood.) The tres de leche cake is thick and satisfying. I would definitely recommend this place for a romantic evening or a fancy night out.

Food was yummy! Service was ok. Sangria is pretty much cranberry juice. A little pricey for what you get.

Great food and service!!! Highly recommend the shrimp! Sangria was the best I’ve had on the island!!!

Best Sangria in Old San Juan! Tapa’s were really good, great Tres Leche’s cake and extremely friendly staff. The only issue we had was the bartender really didn’t know how to make a mojito very well, but overall great experience.

A nice courtyard with shade and fans provided a much needed mid-​day break after a morning at the Bacardi rum factory. We didn’t do the drinks for the aforementioned reason so I can’t comment there. However the three tapas we did have were passable but overpriced. The calamari was overly chewy, the patatas a little mushy and the sauce for both lacking in flavor. We also ordered chorizo which was in a sweet sauce but cooked well. I wouldn’t bother coming back, especially since the service was quite slow all around. But honestly if you don’t mind the prices, I suppose this place is fine…

I really loved the atmosphere and décor of this place as well as just the overall feel. We sat at the bar and the bartender Amir (sp?) was extremely nice. Sangria was delish.
We ordered Tapas… here is where my love of the place got dialed down. Everything was fresh, which is a plus, but everything also lacked OOMPH.
IMHO Tapas, as a rule, tend to be more expensive overall than a regular main course dish. Doesn’t generally stop me from loving and ordering them, but if it is the way it is they need to be amazing, again IMHO. We ordered the asparagus, which if I recall was $ 10, or $ 2 a spear. Basically it was asparagus that any place would serve as a side order. The shrimp was lacking flavor, the salmon relied on the cheese sauce for flavor and the chorizo, although it doesn’t say on the menu has a honey mustard, comes with half that way and half with chimichurri. Again, not spectacular, 2 pieces of sausage grilled with 2 different sauces over them.
Was anything bad? No. Wasnt anything spectacular? Again no.

My wife and family have come here several times over the years on our annual trip to Puerto Rico. The open air courtyard feel is amazing and creates a great atmosphere. The food is all tapas and can be very pricey at times but we’ve been here at least five times and have never had a bad meal. The sangria is fantastic and I don’t typically drink wine. We weren’t able to get in on our most recent visit this past week because of the San Sebastian Festival and the town was mobbed. Worth checking out even if it’s just for a drink and a snack.

Best food in PR! We loved this place so much that we came back the next day. We tried quite a few items on the menu so here is a rundown of our faves: Manchego cheese drizzled with honey was to die for. I can’t wait to try this at home. Goat cheese and tomato fondue was so full of flavor and just perfect. Chorizo sausage with sauce. One had honey and the other had green chile sauce. Amazing! The paella was delicious. Pecan crusted salmon was cooked to perfection! Probably our least favorite thing was the gazpacho but I will be dreaming of the rest of our food for days!!! We ordered a pitcher of sangria and the mojito was Muy Bueno! The courtyard of the hotel is beautiful, relaxing and you feel like you’ve been swept away to Europe. I highly recommend!

This is technically a no star review. Two things happened during this meal that I NEVER do… 1) I returned a dish to the kitchen and didn’t ask for a replacement. Why… because everything else was so marginal that I didn’t want to taste any more of their food. The Gazpacho was bland. The pricey mushrooms and patatas bravas were edible, but the chorizo was chewy and content questionable. The worst, that we actually spit out because it was so overlooked that we couldn’t chew it, was the chicken skewers. Nasty. What a waste of $ 60. There was no fruit in the sangria. Our water was never refilled. And she took away my sangria before I had finished! So, 2) we didn’t tip. To top it off, the fabric roof covering fell in on patrons after some wind and scared the crap out of them.

We stopped at the bar to sample a Mojito. What a great bar! The mojito wasn’t bad either and just what we needed after walking around Old San Juan.

El Picoteo’s entrance is situated on the side of the Hotel El Convento. With its open air feel and view overlooking the courtyard with live music, this tapas restaurant is spot for fine ambience. The food is another story…
I ordered the paella with seafood/​chicken in a saffron sauce and my boyfriend ordered the salmon. The paella consisted mostly of rice, and while it had chicken and seafood as promised, there was significantly more rice than chicken/​seafood. Furthermore, there was also more chicken than seafood — I was hoping more for an even ⁵⁰⁄₅₀ split on the protein! Definitely landed closer to the mediocre end of the taste scale. In terms of size, the paella serving is enough for two.
The $ 22 salmon my boyfriend ordered had, oh, about three smallish slices of salmon. Also somewhat mediocre. He ended up eating half of the paella I ordered.
We also each had a glass of wine, which was fine.
If we go again, we’ll probably stick with the drinks and avoid food. Given the price vs. quality, it’s fairly unlikely that we would revisit.

Way over priced for what you get. Ceviche, chicken skewers and 2 beers — $ 47.00. Not including tip. Portions were small and nothing to write home about. Cut the price by 65% and it gets better.

Service is friendly. Location and ambiance is wonderful. My mom and I ordered flavored mojitos. They came with rotten mint. Not very classy.

Great food. This place was recommended by our hotel as we were looking for a place to grab some tapas and paella. We started with the chorizo and croquettes, both were delicious. We then shared the paella and enjoyed it as well. Staff was friendly and attentive. We will definitely come back on our next trip.

Wonderful bar placed in an amazing open air courtyard. Very Hemingwayesque (although that’s probably not a real word) Luis made fantastic cocktails and gave very good advice for places to seek in the neighborhood. This is not my hotel (came for beach front) but after visiting this hotel and bar I cannot imagine a better place to begin and end each day.

Wonderful desert tucked inside of Hotel El Convento. The flan was creamy, cooling, and fresh. Their tres leches (3 milk cake) has the sweet richness that can be found in a milkshake but the texture of a rich cake. These deserts were the best we had in Old San Juan.

We have come here every year for about ten years and we always have a fabulous time and love everything! We were here in December of 2014 and did not enjoy much about it. The food was mediocre, the mojitos were bad, and the service was also mediocre. Our favorite waiter (who was their best waiter) Jorge moved on a few years ago and it’s never come back up. We have had two waitresses who are good but not phenomenal and this time I don’t even think this new waitress even smiled!!! So disappointed, this is an expensive spot and we have spent a lot of money here over the years. But I don’t know if we will keep going back, we definitely won’t sit here for hours like we once used to…

No AC on a hot and humid day didn’t damper the extraordinary Jean and the culinary team. I think we ordered almost all the menu items!
In a world of Jaleo and Tapeo, nice to find a Spain hugs PR tapas style. Spanish nostalgic décor of Spanish times with contemporary soul. They cook the food you want to eat. «Picoteo» (to pick/​peck), tapas yo share Barcelonarrican style. Of all the items, the pulpo a la gallega was my least favorite (a tad short of tender and a tad short of salt) yet delicious. Beautiful crudo of grouper, perfect chicken croquetas, beef skewer, beef and manchego empanadas, perfect patatas bravas, and huge perfect gambas is silky ajillo… Washed down with dry cava rose.
Their tres leches is robust and crema catalana brulee mouthful. 4 diners, one a teen, gleefully sharing while Jean glided on air, not missing a beat!
Buen Provecho!!!

I only came here for a quick bite of Cerviche and a drink. It was midday so the place wasn’t crowded. I was actually served by the dude from the website. I thought that was cool.
If you stay at the hotel, I think it’s a good place to stop and have a bite or a drink.

I was staying at the beautiful Hotel El Convento toward the end of a trip to PR. After a few days of fun, I had to muster my attention to some work. So, I grabbed a table at a restaurant at the hotel, El Picoteo.
If location is anything, the El Picoteo has it. It’s within a courtyard of El Convento. If you choose to look at the stars, it’s an option (as long as the tree’s branches cooperate).
I went with small plates & big drinks. Ceviche was nice; the mojito which accompanied it was so-​so (FYI, I could do better). For round 2, I went with a crème brûlée (also good), and a red sangria (which was an improvement from the mojito).
My server was nice & the atmosphere was nice. I was able to give the impression of working (but who could work when you are in a beautiful joint in Old San Juan?!).
Solid 3.5stars.