San Juan--3 nights

[lilsalty]

Hello fellow BNers...after hitting the BVI for about a week, we're ending our trip in San Juan. We'd like some suggestions as to where to eat & drink (not too touristy) in Old San Juan while we're there. We're not going until next year, but it's never too early to start gathering important and necessary info.

[citcat]

ooooo....I wish I could think of the name of the place that had the amazing sangria....

anybody ?

[catsway]

There are many good places to eat and drink in Old San Juan but the one that comes to mind that isn't too touristy would be The Parrot Club.

The Parrot Club is casual and has a cozy bar area where we normally have cocktails and graze the appetizer menu. Ask for Miguel behind the bar, he makes a mean Mojito.

http://gopuertorico.about.com/od/dining ... t_Club.htm

There are many other small, local cafes up and down the streets there, but the Parrot Club is our favorite.

Enjoy!

[lilsalty]

Ah, yes I read on tripadvisor about the Parrot Club; we will be sure to hit there. It sounds like you can just roam around the streets of OSJ and pop into numerous bars/restaurants. We'll probably enjoy appetizers at numerous places so I'm eager to hear some more names of places to hit! A mojito sounds good right about now....

[ContinentalDrifterIII]

I hear you can find the home of the Pina Colada and Mojito. Does anyone know where to find these establishments?

[catsway]

Here's a link to OOF, Inc., a restaurant chain in Puerto Rico. Included are links to The Parrot Club, Dragonfly as well as others. One drink that is wonderful at the Parrot Club is the Parrot Passion. Ask the bartender to "float" some of that special dark rum that they keep in the back of the cooler at the bar... . We didn't recognize the brand but it sure added a kick to the Parrot Passion.

http://www.oofrestaurants.com/

As far as who invented the Mojito, here's a a history lesson:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/articl ... cuban.html

Cheers!

[Coconuts]

We're going back for Christmas, I think.

We enjoyed Aguaviva, but that was two and a half years ago. Their watermelon sangria was very good.

[SuperTrooper]

I found an article tracking down the origins of the pina colada. The origins go way back before the San Juan story.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/18796/Pina-Colada

[Calypso Poet 99]

The closer you are to where the cruise ship come in, the more "touristy". During the day its worth the drive to the north east side of the island to the rain forest and beach right below.

[lilsalty]

Thank you for all your helpful tips...but our plans have changed!! Airfare was cheaper to do nyc to st. thomas (both non-stop) so we decided to end our trip in St. John (our 3rd trip back there!) We'll have to hit Puerto Rico another time.