Princesa Gastrobar

This was a great find. Not too expensive and pretty nice portions. A entire staff of professional chef’s were really kicking out great cuisine. I had the best paella ever and it was under 40 for two. I will be back. FYI Mojitos are like 5 bucks, but for some reason no prices on the drink menu??? Belly up 5 bucks it’s a steal. WHOO HOO

Riquisima la comida y el ambiente. Nuestro mozo José nos atendió excelentemente. Todas nuestras dudas fueron aclaradas con mucho respeto. Los tragos de la casa divinos entre estos el martini y la sangría de parcha, fabuloso!

Great Pina coldas. The best I’ve ever had. Raphael is a great bartender and person. All the staff here are top notch. I will always visit this place on my trips to pr.
First met this place on a food tour and ver happy about it.

Awesome ambiance with the live music and lighting of their gardens. The service was great. Waiter refilled our waters without asking and checked on us regularly. The waiter’s recommendations were outstanding. And the portions were bigger than expected.

This review is only for their rum bar and drinks.
On our last stretch of our trip my boyfriend and I hung out at their awesome rum bar. The bartender taught me a little on the rums and which were sweeter, stronger and most flavorful.
They have the best piña colada known to man kind. Honestly after three or four mojitos and coladas my boyfriend and I felt a little buzzy. The bartender will glad do his thing and make you a drink that he thinks you would enjoy. Ask question they will love to answer them for you!
The lack of 5 stars is because they have a million mosquitos. I left full of bites, I think the establishment should try to have some type of repellent out.

Because of it’s location, I initially thought Princesa must be a tourist trap type of restaurant. I couldn’t have been more wrong.
The menu is loaded with really interesting Puerto Rican and international dishes, including really great paella and risotto dishes. The appetizers are equally appealing — try the ham croquettes for a really refined, modern take on a traditional dish.
Their bar is also fantastic, and their outdoor garden makes this an ideal place to go for a cocktail and get out of the sun for a little while exploring Old Town San Juan. Ask about their rum-​based recipes for traditional cocktails — their bartender Anjel is a magician!

It doesn’t get much better than this.
The Roulade Princesa (called something else on their menu) — a mofongo-​stuffed chicken breast with a guava coconut rum sauce — was out-​of-​this-​world. Best chicken dish I’ve ever had. The mampostea’o rice & veggies on the side were perfect. My husband had the ½ rack of ribs which he thoroughly enjoyed, too.
For drinks, I started off with a passionfruit colada… delish! And then I had a ginger & limon rum drink, which was very refreshing!
Last, but not least, was the relaxing ambiance created by the surrounding trees, romantic lighting, and jazz trio playing in the background.
We will definitely come here again!

Princesa as great! I loved the food and the service. Oh yeah, and the drinks were good. Old San Juan is so charming and this is a must-​stop!

Great ambiance with plenty of outdoor and indoor seating options. The bar has nearly 100% tree coverage and serves up great rum cocktails. We stopped in for drinks but the menu seemed to offer plenty of global food options (including Puerto Rican!). Ask the bartender for plastic to-​go cups and get bigger «double» cocktails for your stroll through Old San Juan.

Tried to get the rum time special 2 for 1 at the bar. White girls don’t get service. Food was ok. I had a salad with dry chicken. The pasta my niece had had good flavor.

If you want Puerto Rican rum, come here. Great drinks, helpful, friendly bartenders. For the beer forward, FOK beer on tap is quite good.

My fiancée and I just visited Puerto Rico with 7 other friends and this was our first stop for a real dinner. Let me just start by saying it was a great choice!
The location is cool, it’s right in Old San Juan and easily walkable to other cool bars and things to see in the area. The place itself is decorated beautifully. You’re basically eating outside in a lit up canopy with a koi pond behind you. It felt like vacation.
The service was also both good and bad. Good in that our server was almost like a tour guide. He explained that we were right next to what used to be the old jail in San Juan. He also went into explaining the menu and how some of the items have been served for centuries. The history nerd in me really appreciated it.
The bad side though, is that we ordered appetizers, drinks, and food. But the appetizers came out first and the drinks came out long after. In general, it was all pretty slow given that there were maybe two other tables of 2 – 3 people aside from us. The place was by no means packed.
However, the food and drinks we did get were pretty freaking stellar! I would have to say it was our favorite meal while in Puerto Rico. I had this beautiful black ink risotto with fish and I’m still thinking about it. I would definitely recommend going here if you have the time to spare!

We discovered this place too late to fully enjoy it, as we visited as part of a ‘food tour’ on our very last day. Though we only sampled a few small dishes, they were amazing and really the highlight of our food tour. The host gave us the interesting background on the space, amazing overview of the «Rums of Puerto Rico», and also a detailed overview of a fascinating coffee plantation on PR (we went back later after the tour to sample the coffee — delicious!) with this restaurant as the only distributor. Next visit we’ll definitely visit this place earlier in the trip to sample the full menu.

After an evening stroll and some street eats of arepas and empanadas, we wanted coffee and possibly dessert. The arepa vendor recommended Princesa Gastrobar.
We continued our stroll and there it was, still decked out with Christmas decorations. The glittering lights were welcoming and the promise of the greatest crème brûlée was even more so.
Café con leche all around and my choice for dessert was the chocolate mousse. It was beautifully presented and was delicious and to top it off, the mousse came with the best ice cream to ever pass through my lips. Amaretto ice cream, will you marry me?! The coffee was great also and only $ 2 a cup. Our server, Luz, was extremely friendly and helpful, her recommendations did not disappoint.
Only regret? Not finding this place sooner… Loves it!

Excellent service! Excellent ambience! Amazing food, dessert, and coffee! We walked here from the Sheraton Old San Juan and it’s just so lovely!

Delicious food period! It has a great ambiance, the outside seating is divine. The fact that it’s patio is alongside the castle wall gives it a rustic charm. The Ropa Vieja was delicious! My new favorite!

Excellent experience overall.
We got off to a slow start and waited a while for a waiter to come to us, so I notified one and he was happy to take us and apologized for our wait. We asked about the various rums offered and he took us to the bar where the bartender took a lot of time to explain the different local rums, and gave recommendations. We ended up having 4 appetizers instead of entrees, the tiburon en tempura, which was my husbands favorite, the papas principenas, croquetas espanolas, and dueto de ceviche. All were excellent. We wanted to go back again the next day!
We also enjoyed the atmosphere and outdoor seating.
Would highly recommend this restaurant.

Location, décor and food were good. However, it was horrible and SLOW service. We were there for almost 3 hours, and even had to end up changing one of our meal orders because they ran out. A few other tables were complaining too. Will never return.

Great patio for people watching in Old San Juan. Just make sure you go before any cruise ships dock. We went for appetizers and drinks. Really adventurous but very approachable menu. They have a bar outside with an awesome bartender with every type of Rum, I mean the good stuff. Better yet take the Rum tasting tour. Near the water and at entrance of Old San Juan.

Princesa Gastrobar is one of the most beautiful restaurants I have seen. It is right in the middle of Paseo La Princesa in Old San Juan and its surrounded by trees and the magnificent historic Wall. The Rum Bar is simply stunning as well as the rum drinks they serve. The food is excellent and the prices are reasonable for the location. I went on a Friday, and they had live music. Simply a magical place that I highly recommend.

Wow wow wow Wow! This is a great «find». Convenient, great prices, food that I could substitute at «fine dining establishments» and be better off, an efficient staff supporting the waiter without being ever present (water, food delivery, bread, clearing plates etc).
What we had. Ensalada de Espinaca Princesa $ 8.95 & Penne Pasta a la Vodka with skirt steak $ 16.95.
My fiancé raved about her salad and I did the same about the pasta. Her salad was well mixed and each bite contained feta cheese pine nuts just enough red onions and dressing to provide good balance and was very fresh tasting. The pasta was perfect. The vodka sauce was delicious and the cheese was complimentary compared to places that overpower the dish with too much cheese. The skirt steak was very tender and moist (options for the pasta were steak, chicken, shrimp or plain by the way). The rolls were fresh from the oven and the butter must be mixed with fruit perhaps. We had two rolls apiece and asked to take a couple home!
The outdoor seating area had a very nice ambience. The restaurant is off the Paseo de la Princesa and next to the tourism center building. The street is off the ocean and is lined by the old city walls /​fortress. The restaurant seating is outside and the courtyard area is covered. The trees within this area are accommodated by small holes in the roof that allow the branches to go through them. Staff is incredibly friendly. The restaurant’s creations are courtesy of Chef Luis Freyre.