first time in san juan

Going to San Juan for our anniversary. We travel quite a bit (St Martin our most visited and loved island) so we are looking for the local spots. Great food, great people, casual, outside/patio seating. Any suggestions?

Take a look at El Convento in Old San Juan.

<img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Cheers.gif" alt="" />
Jim W

Ditto the restaurants of El Convento.

Old San Juan is loaded with restaurants of different ethnic varieties that are totally different then the big ballroom type settings of the larger hotels.
El Convento is in the heart of the old city and part of the local culture and history of San Juan for it was once a convent for the Catholic Nuns going back 100's of years.

We stayed at the El Convento two years ago and loved it. Interesting, small hotel in a great location.

I am not crazy about Trip Advisor, but I think they are correct about El Convento. The number one hotel in San Juan. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Thumbsup.gif" alt="" />

Where are you staying? There is a wide range of restaurants in San Juan. In Old San Juan, Marmalade is an amazing but very expensive restaurant. Metropol in Isla Verde offers good Puerto Rican/Cuban food. Casa Lola in Condado is a good option as well, but more expensive than Metropol. La Playa in Isla Verde has a great location on the water. El Alambique in Isla Verde is a beach front (across the street really) bar/restaurant that is very low key and fun. The hotels in San Juan are nightlife attractions for both tourists and locals. Even if you don't dance, it's worth going to El San Juan hotel and take in the scene. Locals come for the serious dancing and it's a very festive atmosphere. However, nightlife in San Juan is not as casual as St. Maarten. People get a little more dressed up and you can't wear shorts at night in the lobby at El San Juan for instance.

La Placita (Plaza del Mercado) on a Thursday, Friday or Saturday evening is filled with little bars and restaurants and lots of locals enjoying some after work drinks and eats. There are a couple of more upscale restaurants in the area (Jose Enrique and Santaella) which are very good but more for tourists than locals.

If you like authentic Cuban food, recommend you check out The Metropol in Isla Verde.

I used to always get their fresh fried whole snapper with red beans & rice, and plantains. Excellent.

see: http://metropolrestaurant.com/

They have a couple of sampler items that are great too! Old style, next to the [censored] "chicken" Fight place at the round-a-bout. Great choice!

The unregistered user couldn't be more dead on...
La Placita in Santurce on the weekends if you want really local, fun flavor. Lots of dancing. Jose Enrique's ( one of Food & Wine's up and coming chef's and an all around very nice guy) is not to be missed. Some taxi driver's arent' even familiar with it.
and don't expect to just catch a taxi after dinner and fun.. you must pre-arrange for someone to pick you back up.

Oh and there is this tiny, West Indian place in Old San Juan called Fattie's that is awesome. Your food takes a while, they only take cash and you get what they make that day.
It is great!!

Ditto on Marmalade, excellent food and refreshing service. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/dine.gif" alt="" />

We are staying at Caribe Hilton, looks like it is close to Old San Juan. Thanks for the suggestions, I had read about a few of them but trust this forum more than writers! Anyone know about Yantar? Or El Jibarito? or the Parrot Club, these were mentioned in articles that had the ones you guys have suggested? Thanks again, really helpful to hear about cabs? In another note will my us cellphone work?

My Verizon phone worked fine as it is part of the US network. I would go online and check your cellular company's coverage.

SXM??? Wendell