La Factoría

2 words Lavender Mule. Great atmosphere with delicious drinks. Bartenders are quick & were bringing me drinks across the room. Awesome. pow.

This Old San Juan speakeasy is a perfect mix of savory cocktails, cool bartenders and a mixed ambiance of a cocktail bar and back room for dancing. I visited on a trip with my brother and we started off with the Lavender Mule then moved on to the Spiced Old Fashioned, each were absolutely delicious. We had a few rounds of everything on their house menu and left in great spirits!
La Factoria is on the corner with no sign in front. We were lucky to grab two seats at the bar early in the night and get to know the bartenders while watching them put on a show making drinks. As the night progressed more people packed out the bar and dance floor in the back making for a really fun night and very friendly crowd.
If your in Old San Juan, put La Factoria on your list of bars to check out!

We are still here but hands down the service and cocktails at La Factoria are The Best! Carlos made every drink too the «T» very positive with high energy and his recommendations were great. Spiced Old Fashion with Don Q Añejo? Fire! His version of a Mai Tai, also on point. Must come here if your in Puerto Rico. Good looking Crowd i must add

If you would like to enjoy salsa live band, you should go on a Monday. Those guys are insane!!!

Awesome place to drink, dance, or just chill. One of my favorite bars in old San Juan. Going in you’ll see a main bar with a dance floor. But if you go in the back, there’s a secret entrance to a hidden bar in the back, which has a speakeasy vibe. The place has a great atmosphere no matter which part of the bar your at. The drinks are good too. They make a good lavender mule. Overall a great experience.

I came here with the expectation of having a great cocktail. Although the atmosphere was great and very similar to that of the bar scenes in New York, the quality of the cocktails were anything but. First and foremost, they were using wet ice when mixing the cocktails so these bartenders never factored that in to modify their ingredients. The end result was a watered down flavorless drink. Top that off with the bottom shelf liquor used, you have a recipe for disaster. Yes yes, great atmosphere, but… watered down cocktails.
If you want a great cocktail, visit El Bar Bero if you are willing to deviate from Old San Juan.

Boyfriend and i’s goal is to go a craft cocktail bar in every city we go explorer. Well San Juan was no exception!
The bar is insane! They have every bottle of liquor imaginable. Liquor inventory must suck!
I tried a few drinks all enjoyable and the bartender was talkative. It’s a low key «hipstery» place as its not fancy a little dirty looking. But the drinks are great and service is friendly and educational. Tell them what you would normally like Cosmo, Manhattan etc and they will match your taste with a fun different drink.

Being spontaneous and they gave me this cocktail called perfect lady. It makes the night perfect! Also the music is great!

Loved it here! Came here for a girls night out and had a great time. They have a little speakeasy bar in the back which i thought was super cool. Also the drinks are amazing!!! The bartender created awesome drinks for me and i loved them all

Such a cool hidden local place. I say local Bc it’s where the locals go hang out. Housed in a building from the 1700’s, La Factoria is pretty cool! I gave 4 stars only Bc it was super crowded. Very hard to walk and I typically don’t like that too much. The drinks were amazing! The lavender mule and old fashioned rum! This place has so many rooms it’s really cool. There was even a live salsa band on Thursday when I went. It’s dark and has such a cool vibe. There is no sign on the outside so if you don’t know where it is you might miss it.

Amazing and affordable cocktails! Wasn’t able to stay for long but managed to order the Lavender Mule ($ 8 only)! This was a super tasty drink.
I went around 10pm Friday which was kind of early for the night, but I could definitely tell things were getting heated up and more packed by the time I left.
This is located in Old San Juan which is a 10 minute drive from where I was staying — would have definitely come more if this was closer to where I stayed.
If you’re a fan of cocktails this is definitely a MUST DO on your list!

We loved the ambiance of this place. Great for cocktails late on a Friday night. Loved the hidden rooms that opened up at different times. Such a great vibe, wish I could take this place back to Orlando with me!

A wonderful bar with a super chill music scene unlike any I’ve seen before. The bartenders are super friendly and know their stuff. Have a designated driver who cannot drink? No problem — let the bartender know, and he’s got you covered. I don’t think there’s a drink in the world they cannot make! It might get a tad bit crowded, but there always seems to be place for everyone.
The bar is actually split into 4, each in a separate room, each with its own vibe. These include a hipster indie bar, an upscale wine bar, a chill-​restaurantesque bar and finally a disco/​salsa bar.
I’d highly recommend this to anyone visiting Puerto Rico.

We loved this place so much we ended up going twice during our trip. It’s a fun bar. The atmosphere is hard to describe, but the building has a rustic feel to it with lots of concrete. There are 4 rooms with the first serving cocktails, the second serving cocktails and wine, the third being more of a dining area, and the back bar opening up later in the night for dancing.
We were there though primarily for the cocktails. We thought they lived up to the good Unilocal reviews. They are well crafted without being fussy or overwrought. We also thought there was a really nice range of cocktails. This is especially true if you’ve had a lot of sweeter cocktails on the islands. We were also pleasantly surprised by the food. We had croquettes, bao, and fried goat cheese and they were all delicious. Portions seemed fair for the price and the flavors were great for a late night snack.
We found the service to be efficient. This doesn’t seem to be the place to go if you want to strike up a conversation with your bartender, but we had no problem flagging someone over in a timely manner to make us a drink.
The dancing in the back room was also fun. Music seemed to vary between salsa and reggae. If you’re looking to watch some impressive dancing this didn’t seem to be the place. But it’s a great atmosphere if you often feel intimidated by dancing as most people seemed to have no idea what they were doing making the vibe more casual and laid back than some salsa places.
Looking forward to going back next time we’re in PR.

This is the kind of spot I love back home. and love even more when I am back to my homeland!
It’s a divey dark bar with different rooms specializing in different types of drinks, from mixed drinks, to wines to beers. It’s pretty easy to go from one room to the other and since we went on a less busy night (not a weekend) we didn’t have to fight any crowds. The décor is really hip and cool too.
The drinks were excellent, made with great ingredients and mixed perfectly. The wine list was wonderful, with a nod to Spanish and South American wines, which is fine by me since I rarely see those on my neighborhood wine bars. I cannot tell you about the beer selection because that’s a far as we went. Next time I am in San Juan, I will visit the place and try more things.

Super charming bar with great décor, great drinks and great vibe. Had a lavender mule which was delicious. The walls have a decadent, old world look and there are a couple more rooms in the back. The music was a lively mix of classic hits and salsa. Loved this place!

Cocktails: are very good to excellent.
Ambient: cool hip meets old world
Service: it all goes down hill from here. I love cocktails bars and I have been to many. I know it takes some time to build a good cocktail but this guys take their sweet time. I stood there for 15 min before anyone acknowledge my presence. The bartenders were talking between them and I wasn’t the only one waiting for them to get their act together. The bar wasn’t even half full. I don’t care how good your cocktails are if your service sucks I take my $$ somewhere else. I encouraged the staff to really improved their service if they really want to call themselves the best cocktail bar in the Caribbean cause with this kind of service they are far from it.

We came here after spending time at the nearby beer garden. The drinks are good and the late night menu is surprisingly delicious. We ordered the sliders (who knew you could get bao buns in San Juan?), mushroom pasta (deliciously creamy, crunchy from the bread crumbs) and I forgot the last dish.
The food and drinks were not cheap, but it’s open late and everyone is friendly. Plus, there is always a taxi cab driver waiting nearby so you’ll never be stranded.

I found my Happy (Hour) Place in Puerto Rico.
Well, just being in the Island makes anyone happy… it’s a little piece of paradise, especially Old San Juan, with its history, cobblestone streets, colorful apartments, the ocean breeze and amazing view but, La Factoría makes it even better.
I learned about this place through my sister and brother-​in-​law, who found it while walking around the streets in Old San Juan.
As soon as I planned my trip to PR I looked it up on Unilocal to go.
La Factoría is like a «speakeasy bar», there’s no name or sign on the door, you have to know it’s there or come across it.
It’s dark, lit only by little lightbulbs on strings. From the outside looks like almost an abandoned place (previously Hijos the Boriquen, and you can still see part of it inside) but once you go in, it’s a whole new feeling.
Bottles of every single spirit you can think of, fresh herbs and fruits. Bar stools, tables and sofas. A big blackboard up on the corner wall gives you an idea of what the mixologist can make for you.
The way they explain it is that those drinks represent each type of spirit and, an idea of flavors for you to decide what type of drink you want.
Based on that you can either go with what’s on the board or have them create something along those lines, or anything you’re in the mood for, what they call «Dealers Choice».
I tried it both ways, right from the board, with their Get Lucky Mule (passion fruit, gin, ginger ale) which I loved, and their Lavander Mule (vodka, ginger beer and lavender infusion) very good as well. Then I asked the mixologist to create a rum drink for me, not sweet, with a little kick, and he created a Mary Pickford with a twist (Barrilito Rum), it had the spice and the smokey flavor of the aged rum.
On a different night I asked them if they could make something similar to a French 75 (Gin, simple syrup, lemon and champagne) and they did a version with cucumber, very light and fresh but, a little too sweet for my taste. Still a very good twist to the original.
The mixologists there love the challenge of creating these «dealer choice» drinks for you. They take pride in their creations and wait for your approving reaction, if not, it’s back to the start and they will make a new, better one for you.
The laid back, welcoming atmosphere of the place reflects on the people that visit it. Everyone’s really friendly, talking to everyone, comparing notes on drinks, recommending others they’ve tried before, even if you don’t see them again, they’ll be your friends for the night.
But, don’t just sit here… La Factoría has 4 rooms. The one next to this is «Vino» where they serve wine, and drinks with wine. It’s a smaller room, with dim red lights. Here I tried the Ginger Delicious Tropical Spritzer (Campari, passion fruit, cointreau, white wine, and ginger ale) amazing and refreshing.
The third room, I think is where they serve food, and of course more drinks (it wasn’t opened at the times I was there) and the fourth room seems like the dancing room. Must go back to try that one out. A night our dancing with great drinks and people is always a good night.
As if I needed another reason to visit my beautiful island, La Factoría has given me one more and I can’t wait to go back.

By far the coolest bar I’ve ever been to in San Juan, and one of the coolest anywhere. Made up of nearly 10 different bars tucked into each other speakeasy style, this place is packed with young and good looking locals and visitors alike. The cocktail lounge was a winner-​the Smokey Old Fashioned made with spiced rum was the perfect island take on a classic drink.
There is also a wine bar, tables for snacking as well as drinking, a bar with a dance floor that’s perfect for a little salsa, and a number other small bars, each manned by attractive and talented bartenders. And the drinks were reasonable for what you got in quality and atmosphere!

Es un lugar al cual si vienes. Playa del Carmen tienes que visitar!!! El lugar ! Los tragos! El servicio son expectaculares

Mi bar favorito de San Juan. Tragos perfectos, tapas suculentas, buena música y excelente ambientación.

El mejor bar de San Juan! La comida es excelente, el servicio fue personalizado y rápido. El trago de la casa, Ginger Spritzer, es delicioso! El ambiente es súper cool, sin ser intimidante. Live Dj. Great job!