Dining in Old San Juan | Puerto Rico

One of my favorite breakfast spots in Old San Juan was La Bombonera, however to my dismay this lovely coffee house closed down its doors after 110 years!  La Bombonera served the BEST mallorcas, but no more.  The next best option in the vicinity is Cafeteria Mallorca.  In general, Old San Juan offers some wonderful cuisine, in particular, Puerto Rican.  To name a few places in Old San Juan are Cafeteria Mallorca, Toro Salao, Tantra, The Parrot Club, and so many more.  Just stroll around on the cobblestone streets and you'll find some amazing places to dine at.  You simply cannot go wrong with the food here. 

amazing café con leche, slightly strong, yet perfect.

plain mallorca… flaky, sweet, & buttery.  Perfection!

flan con queso (flan with cheese)… essentially this is cheesecake with caramel sauce, was slightly more rich than I was anticipating.

LOCATION: 300 Calle San Francisco (Old San Juan)
COST: $
CUISINE: Breakfast & Brunch, Bakery, Coffee.
VERDICT: 4 / 5
Since La Bombonera shutdown, I headed to the next best place for mallorca – Cafeteria Mallorca.  The café con leche here was great, but slightly strong.  The mallorca was perfectly sweet and buttery.  The flan was very good, but not as light as I was expecting it to be.  A great spot for breakfast or just coffee where you will get excellent value for your money. 






2. Toro Salao (tapas & drinks) 
A fun night out for sangria and tapas.

lovely ambience with Al Fresco dining

red & white sangria… both exceptional, perhaps the white was a teeny bit better.

queso cana de cabra al horno (goat cheese platter w/toasted bread).  I hate goat cheese, but I went ahead and tried a little, and I still hated it. Definitely an acquired taste, but I’m sure all you goat cheese lovers will love it.

patatas bravas con aioli de chorizo… these garlicky potatoes were finger lickin’ good.

jardinera (spanish flatbread pizza) topped with arugula, artichoke, shitake, kalamata olives, and goat cheese. Given the amount of veggies on this pizza, the goat cheese in this dish was not prominent, and thus I enjoyed it.

LOCATION: 367 Calle Tetuan (Old San Juan)
COST: $$
CUISINE: Spanish, Puerto Rican, Tapas.
VERDICT: 4 / 5 
The service and ambience at Toro Salao is wonderful and romantic. As much as I’d love to give Toro Salao a perfect score for it’s amazing sangria and delicious patatas bravas, I simply cannot since the other 2 dishes I ate had goat cheese in them, and as mentioned above, I absolutely LOATHE goat cheese.  Well, that’s what happens when you are on vacation with 9 other people, sometimes things don’t always go as planned and you just gotta go with it.  In the future, however, I’d love to try the manchego cheese, croquetas, arroz con pollo, and fried calamari.  Here is to visiting Puerto Rico next time, for the 5th time. 

TELL ME: What restaurants/cafes/foods in Old San Juan?