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El Jibarito
Categories: Restaurants Latin American Restaurants Caribbean Latin American, Caribbean [Edit]
Calle Sol 280San Juan, PR 00901
(787) 725-8375
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Good For:
- Lunch, Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Ambience:
- Casual
- Has TV:
- Yes
- Caters:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- No
- Dogs Allowed:
- No
176 reviews for El Jibarito
Review Highlights
"This is the place to go for good Puerto Rican food."
(in 26 reviews)
"I think we are now addicted to mofongo."
(in 64 reviews)
"Don't forget to try the garlic sauce in the squeeze bottle."
(in 9 reviews)
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176 reviews in English
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Review from Helen M.
Boston, MA
1/25/2012
Oh my goodness. This place is it for local cuisine in Old San Juan without the pricey amounts. So down home and delicious. We went because of Yelp reviews and we were not let down. We loved it so much after our lunch that we came back for dinner another night.
The menu is basically a handwritten piece of paper that they photocopy and put in a plastic protector and it changes daily. For lunch, we ordered two short rib dishes with plaintains and rice. The meat was literally falling off the bones and the sauce was just to die for.
When we went for dinner another night, we wanted the same dish but unfortunately it wasn't on the menu that night. So instead we ordered tamales (which were only okay, not the best) and a mofongo dish (which was delish!).
Go! You will NOT be disappointed. The food is great, the atmosphere is wonderful (there was a guitar player serenading us while we were eating), and the wait staff is amazing! Oh yeah, the prices are pretty bomb too! -
Review from Jimmy L.
Brooklyn, NY
2/4/2012
Great place. We went here on the recommendation of the concierge of our hotel. We asked for good puerto rican food and this was the place they suggested. (stayed in la concha)
Our dining party had: baked pork, chicken stew, and skirt steak. Everything was great - skirt steak probably a bit better then the rest given the seasoning. However all of it was tasty. Service was good. Coconut flan was awesome - we had to order another round after tasting it.
So, of you're looking for a local food experience, value pricing and fun dining, this is your spot. As a warning, it's not a fancy place like the hotel restaurants. -
Review from Joan H.
1/30/2012
Yes! A Puerto Rican dining experience that did not take a million years!
I love the feel of this spot, which offers some local cuisine, served up fast. I wouldn't say I really enjoyed my fried pork, but the mofongo (I got the trifongo - a mixture of different plantains and yuca) was a yummy fried up delight.
I liked my sangria - tasted like fruit punch, and it also packed one too.
Reasonable pricing too and neatly in the midst of Old San Juan. -
Review from Brittany B.
Los Angeles, CA
1/29/2012
Upon arriving I felt like we had definitely made the right choice. We wanted authentic Puerto Rican cuisine and this seemed to be just the place!
The menu was photocopied and hand written with local specialties like mofungo and tamales. It definitely has a rather dirty feel but in a good way, where you know there is care going into the food, but not much else if you get my drift.
We had the "camarones" - shrimp in garlic with a side of mofungo and the "meat sampler," a treat that wasn't on the menu that the waiter recommended. It consisted of pork ribs, the tamale, yellow rice and plantains. I preferred the shrimp although both meals were good. This food is extremely heavy and definitely has you wanting to take a nice long nap after!
The food took quite a long time to come out. But we relaxed and embraced our environment that was so honestly Puerto Rican.Listed in: Puerto Rico
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Review from Philip T.
Chicago, IL
Come here before you go anywhere else... Simple menu (so deliciously simple it was hand written), friendly staff, very good food (ask "what's good? band they'll tell you).
Forget the tourist traps the rental car agent and concierge send you to... Come HERE! ¡Vien Aquí!
Thanks Jennie for the recommendation... You were right! -
Review from Jessica S.
Brooklyn, NY
1/1/2012
Delicious food that's like your grandma would make, but unfortunately the service is also like being at grandma's. A no frills place that's clearly all about the food. If you're looking for romance or ambiance, go somewhere else.
The dishes here seem to be a bit hit or miss, we got one dish that was just OK (roast pork) and one that was can't-stop-eating fabulous (the skirt steak criolla, kind of like a carne asada, but thicker sauce). Monfongo was great. I'd recommend maybe asking them what's popular before ordering.
Good for families, food lovers, and those looking to avoid the full-on tourist circuit. -
Review from Helena G.
Chicago, IL
12/21/2011 4 photos
I'm giving 2 star because I think that place is a bad value for money, the food is expensive and the staff is not very friendly or efficient.
I tasted
- pastel de cerdo (it's a tamale with a very few pieces of meal) *
- ribs with plantain sauce, the meat was very tender and tasty ****
- mofongo (fried plantain) ****
- fried sweet plantain ****
The juices are not natural, are from Walmart...
We payed around USD$60 for 2 dishes and 2 juices from Walmart. -
Review from Michael C.
Anaheim, CA
12/17/2011
This was my first experience with Puerto Rican food. Came here with my friend/travel buddy for lunch after wandering around Old San Juan all morning. My taxi driver had recommended this place the night before.
We split the bacalaita (salt cod) appetizer- basically looked and tasted like fried cod chips. The flavor was good especially with the garlic sauce, but the texture made them hard to eat. Some parts were too crunchy and other parts were too soft.
I ordered the oven-baked pork with mofongo (mashed plantains). I was very impressed! The pork was flavorful with just the right amount of fat. I had never had mofongo before, and it was delicious. My friend ordered the pollo al ajillo (chicken with garlic)- we both agreed that it was nothing special. The chicken was kinda dry.
Overall, a great introduction to Puerto Rican food in a casual, no-frills atmosphere. Would love to eat here again. -
Review from Gabriel P.
Miami-Dade, FL
12/9/2011
After my terrible experince at the tourst trap den of hell called "Raices" we were pointed to El Jibarito for lunch.
Legit Puerto Rican. I had the navideno which is basically a sampler of tostones, arroz con gandules, chuleta, and pastel. A nice cold medalla beer hit the spot. We also ordered the mofongo which was amazing.
Tycial Latin food isnt fancy but it is supposed to be a hearty,flavorful home cooked type of meal. El Jibarito hits the spot.
Thumbs up! -
Review from Rebecca S.
San Francisco, CA
1/10/2012
I was recommended to El Jibarito by my hotel as, "really good, typical Puerto Rican food that is the cheapest in Old San Juan." I am more than thankful my hotel led me here.
I arrived for dinner at 8pm. It was packed with a 45 minute wait list. Inside, the restaurant was lively and bustling with few tourist faces. Because I was by myself, I was able to be seated right away. My waiter was so friendly and eagerly recommended me to the Puerto Rican Tamales (VERY distinct from our corn masa tamales in CA, but delicious), and yellow rice with pigeon peas (OHHHHHmg - this rice and beans tops the list as my favorite dish of the trip). He even brought over some fried plantains (best I've ever had) and chicken soup because, "If this is your first time in Puerto Rico, you've got to try these".
I loved it here. I loved the ambiance, I loved the people watching, I LOVED the food. I loved it so much, I went twice more :) -
Review from Fern H.
11/23/2011
We had a long travel day to San Juan and hadn't eaten at all. The staff at the hotel we were staying at recommended El Jabarito since we were looking for something authentic and tasty.
El Jabarito is a charming restaurant that was filled with both tourist and locals alike. We ordered the tamales with a side of monfongo ($8.95) and the short ribs with rice and beans ($8.95). Dishes came quickly and tasted hot and fresh. The clear winner was the short ribs. The meat was tender and flavourful. We also loved the monfongo - deep fried goodness!
I couldn't resist dessert so we ordered the strawberry cheesecake ($4.25) and the coconut flan ($3.50). The flan was delicious. The topping on the cheesecake seemed like it was just regular strawberry jam so not that great.
Service was alright although there was a bit of wait to get our bill. Not a huge issue since we probably needed the time to digest.
El Jabarito is a fantastic option to try some Puerto Rican homecooking.Listed in: Adventures in San Juan
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Review from Tammy A.
Miami, FL
1/24/2012
We visited in April 2011... We did have to wait for about 20 minutes to be seated but it was well worth the wait! I ordered the mofongo and applied the garlic sauce (in the squeeze bottle on it) it was... AMAZING! My husband had churrasco with rice and beans and we top it all off with a pitcher of Sangria ( EVERYTHING WAS AMAZING!)
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Review from Rajkumar J.
Sunnyvale, CA
12/12/2011
This review is for lunch. My wife and I went to this place on a Sunday lunch. We were seated quickly and a handwritten menu was put in front of us. I have a weakness for menus written by hand on a paper or a whiteboard.
We had beef pasties and fried yucca for starters. Fried Yucca was great but the beef pasties were all pasty and little filling. They were also too greasy for my liking. My wife had roast pork tamales and I had the goat stew. We had mofongo and rice with green peas as sides. My goat stew had a delightful flavor and was succulent and tasty. The meat was of a lean cut with little fat. My wife liked her tamales too. The yellow rice with green peas is one of the best contributions Puerto Ricans have made to the world cuisine. When done right, the rice dish is very addictive.
The service was great and there was also a resident singer who went from table to table belting out doleful and romantic songs.
The number of locals eating here is a good indication that the food is authentic. -
Review from Alexis O.
Orlando, FL
12/23/2011
Not my favorite food ever. This place was recommended to us by the hotel we were staying at as being a fun and authentic PR experience. On the day that we went El Jibarito was quite busy and the food was what I like to call Meh-OK.
I had the churrascaria with creole and mofungo. The steak came chopped up in a little bowl and the creole sauce it was submersed in was uber oily. The mofongo was a little dry, but I asked the waitress for tostones, but got the response its the same.
My dad had some type of Christmas plate special that was also just OK. I particularly did not like the tamale that was made with plantains instead of the usual corn. Maybe I am just impartial to Mexican food being that I grew up in Texas, but I truly felt that the food was just thrown together. It was overly greasy and kind of bland.
Definitely will pass up this joint on my next vacay to PR. -
Review from Eric H.
San Jose, CA
12/22/2011
Came here based on the multitude of positive Yelp reviews. It was Thursday night at ~7.00pm. Funny thing is that even though the place was about 80% full, there was not a single Puerto Rican in the place except for the staff. I guess Yelpers are the majority of customers nowadays.
We got the 'Christmas Special', which was just a sampler, and a Roast Pork with mofongo.
Verdict:
Roast Pork - pretty darn good. The meat is mostly lean, but does have some fat attached. The end portions (red) are the best parts, since they're slightly crispy on the red portions, and pretty succulent throughout. The large inner (gray) portions of meat are decent, but a bit dry.
Mofongo - first time eating this flan-shaped Brady concoction. Very nice, flaky texture that's nicely moist and slightly salty on the bottom. Not bad, but have never had this before, so I can't compare.
Fried plantains & side salad - decent. But it's pretty hard to mess these up.
Overall, I'd come here again, since you get to stroll through old SJ a bit before reaching the spot. -
Review from Johnny M.
Concord, CA
1/10/2012
If youre looking for authentic PR food, go here. Recommend the mofongo with yucca...awesome!
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Review from M K.
Stockton, CA
1/5/2012 1 Check-in Here
Slow service. Good luck with parking. Use B21 bus if you're coming from Condado then walk. Cashier was friendly, servers were not. Roast pork and roast chicken were super dry, lacked flavor, and the hot vinegar sauce and French sauce made no difference. Only thing good with my meal was the yellow rice. We got charged twice for sangria. Then our server disappeared. Sodas come in a can. Synopsis: definitely overpriced based on overall experience. Spend a little more and try Jose Enrique. You may wait a long time in a sketchy barrio but it will not disappoint.
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Review from Vim I.
12/19/2011
Great, casual dining in old San Juan. This place has the feel of a neighborhood joint versus a tourist trap. It's roughly $12 a person. We had the shrimp in garlic sauce with peppers and smoked ribs for the main dishes. The sides added to these really well. In fact I might go back and just have a slew of sides. We had the fried sweet plantains, yellow rice with beans, and the mofongo. And who knew mayoketchup would be do good with all these dishes?
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Review from Mark M.
Chicago, IL
12/27/2011
Authentic Puerto Rican food with excellent, friendly service at a good price. Totally enjoyed my lunch at El Jibarito. No frills are necessary as you join the locals enjoying tasty cuisine from the island. I had a chicken dish with rice and it was more I could eat for lunch. All employees not just our waiter were genuinely friendly. Our food came quickly despite being a busy lunch time. Despite the large portions I sampled a flan for dessert and was not disappointed. Its worth the wait to get a table at El Jibarito. Just don't expect something fancy- its more of a local place to relax and enjoy what puerto rico has to offer.
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Review from Vivian L.
9/9/2011
First meal we had in Puerto Rico and it was yummy!
There were 3 of us and we ordered family style so as to try more things (aka us all sharing what we ordered). We came in around 6ish for dinner and there were plenty of empty tables. You're going to have to be a little aggressive about flagging down a waiter though as they tend to just rush past you without stopping to see if you need anything.
We got puerto rican pot roast, tamales, and a plantain pot pie w/ chicken. The 3 sides we chose were white rice and beans, yellow rice, and mofongo. I'd say the pot roast/pot pie were the best two entrees and the tamales were kind of just meh in my opinion, a little too sweet and mushy. The runaway favorite side was definitely the mofongo (we got the yuca one)..yum!
Affordable, hearty, and just the right portion size so that you're full and also able to finish it all...good choice in old San Juan! -
Review from Lili X.
Altadena, CA
9/25/2011
If you're looking for legit Puerto Rican food, this is your place. All the locals eat here, and the food was EXCELLENT.
It's a casual, mom & pop kind of place with simple decor and a hand written menu, but they certainly deliver on the cuisine!! Definitely get the mofongo and enjoy a Medalla (Puerto Rican beer).
If there is a wait for a table, stick around - it will be worth it!! -
Review from Johnny T.
7/5/2011 1 Check-in Here
This was a perfectly spent afternoon. My experience wasn't so much a restaurant/client one as it was hungry traveler walks in off the hot, dusty street into a house, speaks a little Spanish, gets a couple of cold, frosty beers, good food, minimal conversation -- all the while the music of a Spanish Spaghetti Western plays in the background. The only thing that could have made this more perfect/authentic is if I got into a western-style shoot-out with the varmint I was tracking.
But that day, there would be no shooting, gasps from female onlookers or old-timers sighing in the background that the bad guy got what was coming to him. That day there would only be Medallas served ice cold (and with plastic cups??), bacalaitos with cilantro, tomato and garlic sauce (any opportunity I have to say bacalao, I'll take) y mofongo con camerones (garlic and hot sauce, por favor). It was a good day.
I love how El Jibarito is an old house. It fits seamlessly into the neighborhood. Inside, the dining room effortlessly welcomes locals and tourists alike. The wood, high ceilings and balcony make one forget that he's dining at a popular destination. Rather, it invites him to make believe that he's an island bounty hunter, playing by his own rules and living for the moment. Or, maybe it's a reminder that no good comes out of imaging Quentin Tarantino plots in real life. Potato, potah-toe. I came at a popular time and nabbed a table right before the place got packed. I was dining by myself and never felt pressured to hurry and turn the table over. In fact, my waitress kept asking me if I needed more food. Si senora... but that would be a gun fight for another day. -
Review from Kevin Z.
Hollywood, FL
9/10/2011 1 Check-in Here
I have been to Puerto Rico twice in my life (so far), and been here both times. The first time a few friends and I were in for New Years and one of them heard this place was "good". Turns out they are far better then just good. We ordered a bunch of stuff from the menu and shared. Everything here is full of flavor, but doesn't over power. There wasn't anything I didn't like. This was too many years ago to remember what we had, but I remember on my most recent flight down thinking "I have to find that place".
When I stopped by there the second time, it was almost packed. I can understand why. We got a table in the back, and were seated quickly. A round of waters and two of their juices later we had decided on the chicken filet and the grilled flank steak. One with a side of mofongo the other with the mashed yuca. Both came out great. The flank steak tasted perfect and the chicken was tender enough to cut with a fork. At this point my mouth is watering again!! The mofongo and yuca were just side dishes, so I can't really compare it to the entrees I have had. Both were good, and plentiful in size.
I am sure to make this a regular stop on any future trip to Puerto Rico. It is in the middle of a quiet block on Calle del Sol, so be careful not to miss it. -
Review from Paul P.
8/22/2011 2 Check-ins Here
We visited El Jibarito twice for lunch. The menu was different each time so it is difficult to comment on a specific dish. That said, this is a place where it is a very good idea to carefully review the menu. Ask the waiter what he thinks are some of the best dishes of the day. We had the Yuca Mofongo, ribs and some pork dishes. They were all fantastic.
El Jibarito gets busy and sometimes doesn't have as much staff as I am used to at restaurants near my home. So, occasionally there is a wait to catch the waiter's eye if you need something else. However, once you catch their eye the service is prompt and professional.
Be sure to ask for the homemade hot sauce. It is really good.
We would certainly go back. It was friendly, had great food and reasonable prices.
Thank you. -
Review from Marissa S.
Brooklyn, NY
10/30/2011 1 Check-in Here
Food was amazing, prices were good, service is great! Yuca monfongo to die for. I want to eat here every night. Good sign when you see Puerto Ricans eating at a spot. Off the hook!!!
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Review from Gisselle H.
Brooklyn, NY
7/2/2011 2 photos
After reading all the amazing reviews my fellow yelpers had written about this place, I decided to head down here and see what the big buzz was about. Because the restaurant had such high ratings, I developed high expectations which ended in huge disappointment.
THIS PLACE IS A HUGE TOURIST TRAP- there are so many other BETTER places for original Puerto Rican food, next time you're in San Juan ask the locals for suggestions because they know where the REAL good food is .
So we walked into the restaurant last Saturday night preparing for what was supposed to be "a great food" experience. Since mofongo is my favorite Hispanic dish, I ordered the mofongo with baked pork chunks while my friend ordered the white rice with bistec encebollado. After a 20 minute wait the food finally comes out. The pork meat was good,not excellent but pretty good.The mofongo was prepared right, but guess what? YOU FORGOT TO BRING OUT THE SAUCE. For those who are not familiar with mofongo, go to google and type it in and you will see that every dish of mofongo comes with some type of sauce to soften it, whether it's salsa criolla or garlic sauce. So I asked the waitress if she could bring out a sauce for me and she responds "our kitchen is currently close". The staff here was simply rude .
To make matters worst..my friend's bistec encebollado dish came without any onions.(check out the pics ) That is like ordering a cheeseburger and receiving it without any cheese. When we asked if they could add the onions they responded "we are out of more onions, but you could add the onion from your friend's plate". Through out our meal no one asked us if everything was okay or if we even needed anything . I was not able to complete my meal because the mofongo was simply to dry for me to even eat it.
Please save your money and go to Punto De Vista restaurante...It's in San Juan and their food is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G ! -
Review from Kevin L.
Costa Mesa, CA
Good spot if you are looking for LEGIT Puerto Rican food. It can be hard to find, but this spot has it. I had the Pasteles with Mufongo, and it was amazing. Also a tip, if you are looking for some Puerto Rican specialties, they are only made on Sundays, or weekends. P.S. the hot sauce on the table is ridiculous. I offered the waitress $20 for the bottle and she said no.
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Review from Arnaud S.
10/31/2011
The best place to have lunch in San Juan. Hole in the wall restaurant with very cheap food. You have to try their yuca mofongo!!!!!
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Review from Aurore L.
4/19/2011 1 Check-in Here
Aw! Boo! Bummer! Dammit!
Instant downer: http://instantrimshot....
(please click on the red button. It adds to the whole experience)
From start to finish our experience at El Jibarito was a disappointment.
The restaurant was empty; we came a little off hours but nobody acknowledged us for a few minutes. EMPTY of customers, mind you not staff. They were just busy with something else and didn't want to be bothered. Okay, island time, I get it. I am on vacation myself, and not in a hurry.
But still.
Or maybe it was a good thing after all.
Because when finally someone came over to take our order she was so grumpy and borderline rude that I would have been happy to be left alone. And the food was absolutely mediocre - not to say down right bad. My dining companion got a "pachuga de pollo rellono" that was fried directly from the freezer. You can buy the exact same product in cheap supermarkets.
What a letdown.
Cool decor but way too icy (in every single aspect) for my taste.Listed in: Puerto Rico
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Review from Darin A.
6/26/2011 1 Check-in Here
This was exactly what we were looking for. Authentic, flavorful, air conditioned restaurant with kind and helpful service. The sampler was a great choice that my wife and I split. It came with a tamale, beef, red beans and rice, sample salad, and fried plantains. We also got the homemade sangria and enjoyed it very much.
Highly Recommended. -
Review from Jason M.
6/25/2011
Unfortunately, by the time we reached El Jibarito, they were out of all the good stuff, including the Pork in Plantain sauce that everyone was raving about.
I had the pork and plantain tamales and the mofongo. The tamale wasn't good - it had the consistency of a bread pudding. The mofongo was fine, but not prepared like any other mofongo I had on the island - sort of baked / deep fried on the outside, which made it kind of dry.
My friend's Carribean chicken was much better. It's nice that there were definitely lots of locals there, but I feel like there's some better options if you're only in OSJ for one night. -
Review from Jessica B.
West Newton, MA
4/12/2011
El Jibarito is totally awesome. Say you roll into Old San Juan at 1PM and your hotel doesn't let you check in until 3. This is the perfect solution, the opposite of fast food. We had to wait for a table, but it was totally worth it.
The decor is unremarkable, no tablecloths or trendy architecture.
The food is sublime. I got fresh grouper that tasted like a good ichthyologist could bring it back. My husband got chicken mofongo, the best we had in Old San Juan. It was full of chicken and amazingly tasty. The portions were large.
I saw the most locals eating here on a Saturday afternoon, and it was easy to see why; delicious food.Listed in: Oh! The Places You'll Go!, Eat or Die, Old San Juan Puerto Rico
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Review from Christine R.
Princeton, NJ
6/22/2011
A trip to Old San Juan is not complete until you go and have a meal at El Jibarito. This trip was the second time I went to Puerto Rico, and I was recommended this restaurant by a friend my first time I went. SO and I went for lunch and ever since then, I've had a 'taste memory' of their yuca mofongo. When my girlfriend decided to have her bachelorette party weekend in Puerto Rico, I scheduled our first dinner of the trip to be at El Jibarito, just so I could get my little hands on their mofongo.
The restaurant is located on a skinny street in old san juan, a little further away from the touristy calle Fortaleza and docks. The decor and ambiance is super local and you will see locals and tourists and returning visitors (we met a lovely couple from NJ who come to PR 4x's a year and eat at EJ everytime they are there, as well as another family right next door to me in Skilman!) dining at the tables. The servers are very friendly and it didn't hurt that the guys who were serving us were very attractive :)
We all poured over the hand written menu and many of us decided on the steak, garlic chicken, and I had the pork with the plantain gravy. Our food came out pretty quickly (they did run out of some sides, but we did go toward closing , around 8pm). We also got some tostones and a side of mofongo for the table. I of course, got yuca mofongo.
Our food arrived, and my mouth was already watering at the thought of savoring the mofongo I first visited several years ago. It did not disappoint. Everyone tore into their food and everyone was so pleased and satisfied! I was very happy, that everyone loved it as much as I did.
Along with a bunch of Medallas, our bill was barely over 100 dollars. We tipped pretty well. They also had a guitarist who came and sang to us (be sure to tip him) and our waiters told us where to go for after dinner drinks.
a MUST if you're in Old San Juan. Go go go go go! -
Review from Matt O.
Washington, DC
6/13/2011
Yelp gets full credit for this one. With less than 24 hours to spend in Old San Juan, my girlfriend and I were hoping to avoid the usual cruise ship tourist traps. El Jibarito was the right choice.
The handwritten lunch menu was pretty different from what's posted on the website, but we split the tamales and the mofongo with flank steak. Both were great (the mofongo was an especially large dish, and they had a heavy hand with the steak - there must have been three quarters of a pound of it in there), and the atmosphere in the restaurant was excellent - a cool and calm escape from the humidity and the hubbub down by the piers.
As others have noted, service was surly and slow. I think the food made up for that, but don't expect cheerful waitstaff. -
Review from Josh V.
Fort Lauderdale, FL
11/3/2011
Decor not the prettiest but great friendly service and the food were delicious but don't eat desert. Not homemade! Price was reasonable and would come back if I had another chance.
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Review from Amber J.
Chicago, IL
10/30/2011
I'm not a huge meat eater, but I didn't want to leave PR without having at least one legit PR meal. The guidebook said El Jibarito is "sunday dinner' style PR food.
We loved it. Butter and garlic chicken was incredible, as was the carne asado. Sangria was okay. Mofongo was good. Prices were reasonable (about $12-20/entree.)
The environment was the best - great street. If it's your first night in Old San Juan, though, you may want to take a taxi as it's not exceptionally easy to find. -
Review from Marika T.
9/26/2011 1 Check-in Here
This cute restaurant blends in with rest of the pastel buildings in OSJ. I thought it was a little odd that it closes at 9pm but most of OSJ closes early around 6pm. El Jibarito had an open kitchen in the back with prepared food, something you find in a deli or a buffet. The prices were $5 cheaper and the portions were significantly smaller compared to the other locations we've been to. The boyfriend and I ordered the sangria. I can't even remember if there were fruits inside. I tasted the sangria mix and soda. No bueno. Back to the menu - couple of things were already out at 8pm. I ordered the chicken with arroz con grandules (can't remember, it could've been the oven baked chicken). The leg quarter fell off the bone but the rice was definitely hard. How do I know this? I ordered the last scoop of rice so the waitress gave the bf whatever else was scraped from the bottom "on the house". The waitress recommended the cube steak with onions over the grilled flank steak to the boyfriend. Big mistake - the bland rough meat wasn't even cut up in cube pieces. My friend enjoyed her small PR tamale along with a Starbucks sandwich afterward.
Overall, I wouldn't suggest this place. Lunch might be a different story though!! This was clearly a touristy restaurant with less than average food. -
Review from Scott L.
9/25/2011 1 Check-in Here
We went here on a recommendation while looking for authentic Puerto Rican food and it was a great lunch. The place is a nice, simple, and clean. The menu was a simple hand written list of all the authentic options they had. There were almost too many to choose from, but I had the Pork in Plantain Gravy and it was wonderful. I also had a Mofongo and the rice and beans. All of which were very good too. The waitress was very friendly and took good care of us. Next time I'm in Old San Juan I'll definitely go back.
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Review from Ashley L.
Boston, MA
6/5/2011
I only had one day in San Juan after a trip to Vieques. Traveling with two friends who had been to San Juan three years prior, we knew we had to find the restaurant they had amazing and authentic food at before. We wandered around the streets of San Juan until we finally found El Jibarito.
All that was worth it. We ordered some drinks, the sangria was the perfect balance. Our entrees tasted truly like a home cooked meal. Our server Fernando was friendly and present without interrupting us. I loved the mixed mofongo. As it was my first time tasting the dish I had nothing to compare it to, but I was in love. I also had a steak dish that was so tender and full of flavor. For dessert we ordered vanilla flan and the tres leche cake and both were the perfect end to a great dinner experience. Cheap ($20 a person), delicious, and the perfect environment. I would definitely visit again. -
Review from Erika B.
Manhattan, NY
8/6/2011
This was the place and food what we were looking for :) We went there on our last night in PR and wish we could go back again.
Since it was a Friday night, the place was very busy, but we didn't mind the 20 minutes wait; it was worth it.
When we sat down to our table, an old man came to us, and asked if we wanted something to drink. Couple minutes later he saw that I was looking at one of the pictures on the wall and he said, that's not him. Finally it turned out, that he was the owner. He started the place 37 years ago with his wife, and they both work there, talking to guests and helping out if they are needed. During our dinner he came many times to us, making sure that we are satisfied. My favorite part was when he asked: "Do you like my food?" Our answer was: Of course, it's delicious.
We ordered 2 meals that were not on the menu, but we saw them on some pictures on the wall. I ordered shrimp with mofongo, my boyfriend their pork special. They both were delicious and we almost couldn't finish it all.
It's not a fancy place, but we got everything what we needed for a great dinner: tasty, home style made food, served by nice, friendly people, who care about you.
I highly recommend this place!
