Osteria Da Fortunata

Their happy hour is great! We asked what time it would be over and they said its all day! We tasted the mojitos, piña colada’s, and sangria’s. All were delicious. The bartenders were extremely nice, especially Julio. He was very attentive and friendly. We came here twice and on the second time we ordered the potatoes and sausage appetizer, it did not disappoint. I would definitely come here again.

Awfull food and bad service. You are better off going To Pizza Hut and trust me, I don’t eat there but last time I did, (like 10 Yrs. Ago) was much better Than Fortunata and a looooooootttttt cheaper.

We made a reservation for 6 4 hours early when they had none and showed up five minutes early to no table. They had given out table away. They accommodated us with combining tables. The table next to us that came in 20 minutes after us got salads (which I had ordered) and a pasta entrée. 1 hour and 10 minutes later with only one trip to bring us our first drink and bread, we got up and walked out.
No one followed us to either ask us to pay or to try to lure us back. Two of us had 50 years of experience in the restaurant industry and it was one of the worst experiences ever!

Fascinating that the reviews here seem so divergent-​either the best or worst experience someone has had. It was 8pm on a Saturday, we were hungry, and the Osteria was one of the few places with open tables. Plus with the guy in the window cutting fresh pasta how bad could it be? We found out. Asked about wines by the glass and the waitress said they have a red and a white and other wines by the bottle. I don’t think she was enthusiastic about us ordering wine-​she really just wanted us to get the 2 for$ 10 mojitos, so, even though wine is a natural for Italian food, we just went with the mojitos-​which were nothing special. Ordered a salad a 2 pastas. Salad seemed to take a long time to come out, but we weren’t in a rush. But then after finishing the salad, the pastas didn’t come till 45 minutes later. Waitress said the kitchen had been busy with a party of 6. If the kitchen can’t bang out a party of 6 and 2 pastas, maybe they need to rethink the business. As other reviews have mentioned, the pasta doesn’t come out al dente-it’s just flat undercooked, which is weird since it took so long to come out. The ravioli dough was the thickest I’ve ever seen. Have been to Italy many times and had fresh pasta-​nothing authentic about this place. Overall, Old San Juan restaurants seem to be very expensive for what they are, but our tab of $ 73 before tip was hardly justified. Even if you have to wait for a table, I recommend you go elsewhere.

Worst dining experience of my life, period. Walked in super thirsty and craving a cold beer, my husband ordered a beer and I said «two, please». The waiter just stood there staring at me for like 2 full minutes, and then blurted out «I have to advise you, if you are breastfeeding, I don’t recommend you order beer.» @!#$%$#@^ ¡We were with our 14 month old daugher! I’m am not breasfeeding and even if I was, who are you to dictate what I can or cannot order in a restaurant. I took a deep breath and decided to let it go just because we were so hungry and tired. Two minutes after that incident, my husband goes to the bathroom, while he’s there a different waiter comes and asks me if my husband was still «using» his menu, to what I replied «of course, we just got here». He then proceeded to take the menu anyways and added «you can share one, we’re running out of menus in the bar.»!$@%@% At this point I was done, ready to leave but my husband insisted we give the food a chance. Bad choice. Terrible choice. We should’ve left. I know al dente pasta, I actually like my pasta pre al dente… this was raw. Hard as a rock raw pasta. There’s a lot more I could write here, I could detail the appetizer experience or how the waiter recommended a dish to then tell us it’s good but very small. I could also explain how they charged us $ 3 for a stale basket of bread. I could, but there’s only one thing you need to know. Ignore whatever 1+ star review has on Unilocal,would give them 0 if I could.

If you are looking for a change of pace from all the Puerto Rican cooking this restaurant is a great option. We ordered fresh homemade fettuccini pasta carbonara, fried zucchini with green salad, walnuts and Gorgonzola cheese, and an order of eggplant Parmesan. The food was well prepared although our server was a little distracted which is the only reason it’s not a 5 rating. I had ordered lemonade with sugar on the side but it took me four reminders that I needed the sugar.

Just awful service and mediocre food. Their idea of cheese platter is mozzarella and fresh mozzarella on shredded lettuce… Really odd. Pasta took over 45 minutes and was cold. Avoid this place if you don’t want to waste your time and money.

The place was empty when we came in, but we were enticed by its sign out front, advertising Happy Hour prices at a steal:
2 x $ 10 mojitos
1 x $ 7 cuba libre
Decent service with fresh caprese (tomato and mozzarella cheese with basil sauce). 5% off if you pay with cash in lieu of credit! A tad too dark inside… although it does aid in fostering a more intimate vibe to the place.

It’s a home made Italian Noodle Place. Very relaxing. You can see how there make the noodles. You can also just sit on the bar and relax. Very clean and friendly place.

What the actual heck Unilocal?This place is awful I have no idea why anyone has given it more than 2 stars. It’s non air conditioned just fans so it’s not a relief to come here for dinner after a hot day touring old San Juan. Water was $ 5 which is so ridiculous. I ordered the eggplant Parmesan which isn’t the American breaded version it’s just eggplant and sauce. They left the skin on the eggplant too which is disgusting and chewy I spit it out. Awful. My husband and friend got pasta dishes. Slightly better, pasta is thick and dense. For a place that markets themselves as homemade being able to see the giant cans of sauces in the kitchen is not impressive. Portions are very small and very expensive and will never come back. We eventually went to a pizza place since we left hungry.

A quiet osteria past the main drag of rambunctious and upscale restaurants on Fortalezza, this quiet restaurant serves simple but solid dishes. The pastas were made fresh, al dente, and the Cacio e Pepe was reminiscent of slow sweltering but savory summer nights in the trattorias in Italy. Five stars for effort and hospitality too — the manager had run out of candles for a birthday we were celebrating and had run up and down Fortalezza to locate a candle to plump upon a light and delicious strawberry banana birthday cake they made for us for dessert. Don’t let its quiet and humble interiors fool you — exquisite Italian food awaits you in Old San Juan!

We decided to take a break from Mofungo and try some Italian for dinner. We had a nice dinner here. They make their own pasta. I had ravioli and my wife got eggplant. Her eggplant was fantastic and mine was very good as well. We split a Mista Salad and some Bruschetta. I thought the Bruschetta lacked a little flavor. The salad was greens and carrots with a very flavorful olive oil vinegrette (a little salty) but I really liked the quality oil. We had a glass of the house chianti, which was good, but probably the smallest glass of wine I’ve ever been poured. The waiter and chef checked on us. They were both very nice. I could tell the chef was proud of his work.
Overall I would recommend this restaurant. The homemade pasta was an uncommon treat. The pricing was good. Be aware big eaters may not be satisfied. Portion size was European.

Unfortunately, our experience at this restaurant was unlike some of the other rave reviews.
Started off with mojitos — even though we didn’t order them??? I guess the waiter assumed that since we were sitting at the bar and had read the sign outside the door advertising mojitos that we wanted some??? This wasn’t the case… Thought maybe he was giving us free drinks since it took nearly 15 minutes for him to acknowledge us, but nope, there they were on the bill. I mean, I would’ve been fine with some drinks pre-​dinner, but these weren’t mojitos. Don’t waste your time ordering them, despite the deal of 2/​$ 8, or 2/​$ 5 on some days — watched him make them and it was just rum, sour mix, and some sprite. Definitely not mojito ingredients.
The restaurant was not busy — about 5 tables were seated — yet it appeared as though the staff did not have a contingency plan for managing more than 2 parties. Watched a man at a table near us wait nearly 45 minutes to get his credit card back from paying the bill, and another table be served their food in intervals (i.e.: one person eating their main at a time).
It took us forever to place our orders, and when they came, they were disappointing. While the pasta was fresh, and looked amazing being made in the window, both of our dishes were severely undercooked. When we mentioned this to the waiter, he told us that it was supposed to be this way — that fresh pasta had a «stronger» texture. This was not my first rodeo in the fresh pasta realm, and was sort of annoyed that he would infer that we just didn’t know what fresh pasta was supposed to taste like. There is a BIG difference between al dente, and whatever this was.
I’m hoping all of these mess ups just had something to do with them being busier than they’re used to managing because the place certainly has potential. Cute spot, decent atmosphere, pasta looks good being made in the window, etc, wouldn’t recommend unless it looks like you’re going to be the only people in there.

Wonderful meal!
This place is a gem — handmade Italian food to-​order, with nothing frozen or made ahead. They make pasta in the window, so make sure to take a good look before you walk in.
We were here on a quiet night and were the only ones in the place. We got the 2/​$ 5 Mojito special and they were not great. Overly lemony. It looks like the place has a wonderful wine cellar, though, so we will try that next time.
The food was slow to arrive, but worth the wait.
We got the Fried Zucchini on a Unilocaler’s suggestion, but it wasn’t very good. I liked the gorgonzola dip okay, but the breading on the zucchini tasted weird. In uncharacteristic impoliteness, I ended up just peeling off the breading and eating the zucchini. Yep.
Next, we had the gnocchi pomodoro and the eggplant parm. Both were *amazing* — the eggplant parm was sliced thick and not thin, but it was perfectly cooked. The gnocchi was so flavorful and fresh and the sauce was amazing. We wish there had been bread to sop it all up.
We shared the Tiramisu for dessert — no regrets!
Definitely vegetarian and pescatarian friendly — maybe even vegan, since they don’t prebake their eggplant parm.

This is one of the few Italian restaurant’s open on Mondays. (What do Italians have against Mondays anyway).
This restaurant serves GREAT food. Pastas are all homemade. Chef/​Staff all from Rome. A really superb addition to Old San Juan’s restaurant scene. C’ent Anni!!!
Try These:
1) Ricotta Lemon Ravioli in Tomato Sauce.
2) Chicken in White Wine Sauce with Roasted Rosemary Potatoes.
3) Tiramisu to share.

If you are looking for true authentic Italian food in Old San Juan, this is the place. They were making fresh pasta in the window which immediately drew us into the restaurant. We ordered four entrees plus an appetizer and they were all delicious.
The staff was equally amazing. My 7 year old asked the owner for the recipe of her dish and he had the chef personally write it down for her. He was also nice enough to pose for a photo. What a wonderful experience!

Everything was perfect from the minute we walked through the door. We were greeted by the owner and shown to our seats. The pasta freshly made in front of us was superb and cooked just right. The accompanying sauces were so delicious we soaked up every last bit with the lovely crusty Italian bread. The tiramisu for dessert was heavenly. The service was stellar. This restaurant is a must if you are seeking a five star authentic Italian meal. Bravo!

Estuvimos ahi hoy. Nos encanto la barra, la manufactura de pastas frente a los clientes, el sabor de las pastas y un aperitivo exquisito; bacalao frito pero no el boricua sino el bacalo «pollock» rebosado (?).

For starters, we started with the fried zucchini which was light as air and not at all greasy and the homemade sausage which is a must.
As our main course we all did various pastas. Here is where the restaurant shines. IT’S ALL ABOUT THE PASTA! which we all had as our main course. Homemade right in front of you. The menu lists the simple ingredients, flour, water, and salt, (sometimes egg — depending on the pasta) nothing more. The Carbonara served with fresh Strozzapreti (priest-​strangler) was the best I’ve ever had, hands down. While in San Juan and you like great Italian pasta, this is the place to go. Not much on the ambience but great on the food.

My boyfriend and I were immediately drawn into Osteria Da Fortunata when we saw the pasta being freshly made up front. We got the fried zucchini appetizer as well as gnocchi and fettuccine with pork for lunch.
The fried zucchini was wonderful and came with this really unique gorgonzola and walnut dip. I found myself still eating the dip when the zucchini sticks were done! The entrees were great as well. My gnocchi with a spicy sauce was really savory, and my boyfriend told me the pork in his dish was the best he’s had since we’ve been here.
The staff were all very friendly and attentive as well. Osteria Da Fortunata looks like it’s a new restaurant, and I really hope they do well! It was really tasty and fresh food and if I come back to San Juan, I’ll definitely be back here for a drink and meal.

The food is superb. Pasta is basically done when you order it. Can’t be fresher than that. I had gnocchi with rib and my husband ravioli with meet. Soon good. Service is excellent, always checking on you and helping translate the menu. Also has baccala fritters. The Italian version of baca kairos Fritos, very good. Prices are good for the quality of the food. Try the bruschetta with roasted peppers, oh my God, so good!

Excelente comida Italiana. Fuimos a Roma y visitamos el restaurante 4 veces de los 5 días que estuvimos… Exquisito! Cuando vengan será uno de esos restaurantes q se repiten x la comida, los empleados (son italianos y excelentes) y la comida…