Puerto Rico Travel Guide - Going Out

Puerto Rico (and especially San Juan) abounds with good restaurants, catering for all tastes from Spanish to Chinese, French, Greek and Italian. The island cuisine is Spanish-based, with rice and beans as the staple diet.

National specialities:
• Paella.
• Chicken dishes.
• Black bean soup.
• Sancocho (beef stew).
• Jueyes (land crabs).
• Pan de agua (native bread).

National drinks:
• Barrilito and Don Q (both rum).

Legal drinking age: 18.

Tipping: Generally 15 to 20% if not included on the bill.

Puerto Rico’s nightlife is abundant and varied. The streets are lively in the evening. Many shops are open late, and the visitor can sit in the squares of old San Juan and indulge in people-watching. A recommended walk is down La Princesa Promenade, lined with antique street lamps. Meeting places include a Bogart-style cigar bar and cocktail bars. Hotels provide some of the entertainment, but there are also different types of clubs, both modern and more mainstream. Many Puerto Ricans favour traditional Latin dance clubs with large dance floors, which often have live bands playing salsa and merengue music. Puerto Ricans are passionate about their nightlife, and often dress up. Casinos are intimate and friendly, generally opening at noon and closing at around 0400 daily. Hotel casinos are open to guests and non-guests alike.

Special purchases are cigars, coffee, hammocks, rum, straw weavings, sculpture, santos (carved religious figures), festival masks and stringed musical instruments.

Shopping hours: Mon-Wed and Sat 0900-1900, Thurs-Fri 0900-2100, Sun 1100-1700 (shopping malls). Some shops open on Sunday if cruise liners are in port.