Pelayo

Good authentic Puerto Rican food. This place was suggested by the front desk of our hotel and it was conveniently right around the corner. Fresh food, delicious selection of desserts in the counter case. Friendly staff.

This place was down the street for an AirbNb we stayed in which is the perfect location. Off the beaten path but close to everything just like this restaurant which we really enjoyed.
We went for dinner on the first night and had a really great waiter. The had several types of paella and we each got a different one, one with seafood and another with chicken, sausage and seafood. Perfectly spiced and attentive service, but not overbearing.
They have a counter in back for desserts as well. We didn’t try breakfast because we wanted to hit as many spots as possible, but because we were staying literally half a block away we walked past it and noticed the food and it looked really good.
Location is midway between Ponce area and main Condado Beach strip. There are several little Asian restaurants as well and it was never super crowded and the prices in this little area are better then the more touristy spots along the strip. It’s safe at night as well.
Afterwards and before dark, if you walk straight out of the restaurant down Calle Vieques, there is a beautiful park, Parque Nacional Laguan del Candado, where you can rent paddle boats, one man canoes and just sit and enjoy the park.

Food and service both great. Our sever Luis was top notch. Had the churasco steak. It was delicious… still thinking about it. For dessert we had the coconut pudding. I really recommend you try it and I’m not even a fan of coconut.

Excellent Spanish food! Black rice and squid, sea bass, and ceviche were all great. But, by far, the best part of our evening was our server Luis. Very personable and a great sense of humor.
We will go back for more.

Lovely place, nice attention, great food. Paella, merluza Pelayo and veal scallops highly recommended. Will come back for sure.

All 5 stars for delicious food and outstanding service for lunch. Our server, Joel, was helpful and offered great recommendations. Our drinks were always filled and plates cleared promptly when finished. Now onto the food. He suggested the ceviche and… WOW…it blew my mind. The fish was grouper soaked in lemon/​lime juice for couple days. It was spectacular! This was a winner. Another appetizer we tried was the octopus. It was good, had a nice texture, not too chewy but kind of bland tasting. The sea bass was light and flaky and pan seared to a perfect crisp on top. Now the last but definitely not least dish we almost didn’t order but our waiter highly recommended was the baby pig. So glad we did because it did not disappoint. The baby pig was crispy, full of flavor, soft meat, and just downright yummy. By the time we finished our meal, we were so stuffed that we couldn’t order any desserts.

Much better restaurants in the area. Food was average at best. Not bad but not very creative either. Service was good.

I’m giving this place five stars, and the reason is, The food is fresh cooked. Everything we had was excellent. The place is very clean and the staff is very good.
We had ceviche and the seafood paella. It was excellent. I highly recommend this place for dinner. They also have great pastries, breakfast and lunch. Karlos was our waiter. Top notch service. That is Karlos with a «K»
FYI when we went the place was quite empty. Don’t let that deter you. Go in and give it a try.

Perfect sandwiches! Stopped in to grab a few for lunch. Very clean restaurant, friendly staff. We got a Medianoche, Cuban, and a Choripan. All were excellent. Bread was very fresh and the Swiss cheese was out of this world. Highly recommended.

Excellent food and service. We have group of five here for lunch. We got seated pretty fast. I ordered baby pig. It is Spectacular!!! Our server is Joel, super nice!

Awesome food and great service. We had the paella, and the halibut.
The free bread was excellent. The ambience was very good though it smelled a little fisher but its a seafood place.

This was a massive disappointment.
It was our first night in PR, and we went here because it was closer to our hotel and had decent ratings.
It was weird from the start. The two other, older couples, received star treatment. The waiter was super attentive, chatting away about all sorts of topics. But he was really short with us. I have a number of guesses as to why that might be, but I’ll leave them out of this review. Like I said, he was curt with us, and acted oddly about simple request. For example, he refused to give us a drink menu or wine list. We each ordered drinks from the ones he rattled off, and they were fine, but it felt extremely condescending and i wish I had just skipped drinks altogether.
The waiter wouldn’t really help us order or answer our menu questions and just kept saying vague things like «It’s all great» and «You’ll like anything you order».
To be honest, everything was just «meh». We thought a lot of the food we ordered was over-​salted and didn’t taste that fresh. This was especially the case with the seafood stew I had.
The weirdness with the waiter continued the whole time we were there. He was not friendly, although he happily chatted away with the other guests, and he hardly stopped by our table at all.
To summarize, the food and drinks were «meh” — 2 or 3 stars. The atmosphere was just not notable one way or the other. The service was so bad/​weird, it brings me down to one star. Not worth your time or money.

such friendly service. I dined alone but the servers were so easy to talk to and it made me forget all about being by myself. one of them recommended a Spanish white wine which I fell in love with to the point where I’ve been searching for it back home ever since. I wasn’t going to get dessert, but so glad I did. I think it was called coquito. Definitely shouldn’t be skipped.

Rating is based solely on breakfast. Their lunches and/​or dinners could be more highly rated; I haven’t tried them yet. With that preamble out of the way, onto the review.
I came here for a business breakfast and the place was fine. Not good, not bad, just fine. Like most places in PR (and the DR) thanks to a nasty coffee addiction and the low volumes they serve you the Caribbean, but it is what it is. The food was on the bland side of good and the menu was more limited that I thought it should be.
Not a bad place, but certainly not a place worth making a special trip to visit.

My husband and I found this place listed on a few Asian blogs, noted for its paella. We came for dinner tonight and were really blown away.
It was pretty quiet, but we did come on a Tuesday night. The service was amazing. Really. Above and beyond helpful and professional.
The seafood paella was out of this world. Simple and delicious. My husband had the squid and cuttlefish rice in ink and that was equally amazing. They presented the food in the paella pans and served us each with plenty of leftovers that we took back to our hotel. The chef even came out to see if we were satisfied with our meals.
For dessert, you must try to the coconut custard. Our waiters explained that this is a dish traditionally eaten during the holidays. Holidays or not, it’s excellent and so light!
Overall, this restaurant is perfect for an intimate and delicious meal in Condado.

Ate here on our first night in PR. Service was decent. I ordered the pork chop «can can» but when I saw the paella arrive at the next table, I asked to switch my order. The waiter informed me that it was for 2 and that there would be a half hour wait. I decided to stay with my original order. It was a great looking dish but no taste whatsoever. Not worth the money we spent. Service though was good.

We went here for dinner one night since it was close to our hotel. We were pretty much the only people in the place, but for once that turned out not to be a bad thing. First of all– 5 stars for service. Our waiter was INCREDIBLY helpful, and there were 12 of us, so we were not an easy table. Not only did they provide amazing service while at the restaurant, but one of the waiters actually left the restaurant and walked WITH us to our next location to make sure we wouldn’t get lost. It was so far above and beyond– I would give more than 5 stars for service if possible!
The food was a solid 4.5 stars. The paella is… ridiculous. In the best possible way. First of all, it’s enormous, like barely fits on the table enormous. We got the seafood paella and the presentation was beautiful, and it was just the right mix of spices, rice, and seafood. We couldn’t finish it, but it wasn’t for lack of trying!
Would also highly recommend the plantains. They have both kinds– savory and sweet, and as a plantain snob I can confirm they were in fact delicious.
I took one star off the review for the décor, because it looks like just a casual lunch place. I know it is a casual lunch place, but it wasn’t the best ambiance for dinner.
TL;DR would HIGHLY recommend if you’re in San Juan!

Not a bad spot. Located close to the highway, the menu is entirely in Spanish but the waiters speak English and can help you navigate it. People seemed a little prickly with us at first but by the end of the meal warmed up. Good food, vibe was ok. Ate dinner outdoors, definitely get a cold beer if you go that route (or bring a sweatshirt and brave the air conditioning indoors).
The Food:
Garlic Bread — this starter came out for free, not bad but nothing to report.
Cuttlefish al Ajillo appetizer — cuttlefish in a garlic sauce… Very good, reminded me of squid, and dip that garlic bread in this sauce to amp it up!
Ribeye Steak — very good, cooked as ordered, and much bigger than I expected. Had to cut off a bit of the other white meat, but no complaints here.
Plantain side — plantain chips, not a ton of flavor but I should them.
Coconut Flan dessert — creamy and rich, not a strong coconut flavor, plain and simple — I very much enjoyed it.
Overall an ok dining experience. Food was good. Not a must visit but better than a lot of options in the neighborhood.

Well, we just had an interesting experience at Pelayo. We went in and there were just a few tables full in the dining room. Our server and seemed very serious and intent on providing good service. Since the menu is not in English and we are, admittedly, tourists, he explained menu items for us with patience. Things started to go south when my husband asked for the paella and he told us it was meant for 2 people. When I suggested that I would be willing to switch my order, he then stated that it took 30 mins to cook and that he had a party of 22 coming in. He seemed pretty irritated at this point. I started to switch back to my original order and he insisted that he would get us the paella and pushed us into ordering an appetizer. We did.
The croqueta appetizer was outstanding. Another party of 2 came in while we waited for our paella and they ordered… surprise! the paella! They had a different server who didn’t give them trouble about it. Our order of paella came and it was okay. Some of the seafood seemed fishy. I admit that I probably wouldn’t order it again. We also ordered the white and red sangria-​both were okay and fairly priced although not outstanding.
When we got the check, our server apologized for the poor service. He explained, that they had a 22 top on one side of the restaurant and (now) a 10 top soon to arrive on the other side of the restaurant (in addition to a few remaining tables) and (I counted) only 3 servers. (On a Tuesday night at 8pm no less.) I appreciated the fact that he owned his mistake and mentioned it.
In conclusion, I think we likely ate here on an off night. I can’t give full stars for that– the food wasn’t up to par for the price and the service wasn’t stellar. But I did appreciate the honestly, and that increases my rating. Additionally, if I lived locally, I would give them another chance.

This place is amazing… the service is first class… and the food is phenomenal. …the menu is is Spanish but all the servers are happy to translate. …you will be very happy with breakfast and dinner… and the prices are very reasonable…

Buena selección de vinos. Los especiales de almuerzo son muy buenos y a tremendo precio. Buen servicio también.