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    El Campeon

    3.9 (65 reviews)
    ModeratePuerto Rican
    Open 12:00 pm - 10:00 PM

    El Campeon Photos

    EL CAMPEON ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Casual
    Trendy
    Happy hour specials
    Good for groups

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    Recommended Reviews - El Campeon

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    Quandra T.

    I got pulled into this place by the hostess who was actively encouraging streetgoers to come on in and marketing it as "The Best Authentic Food in Puerto Rico." Super friendly service and I got a great spot at the table right by the open front window for people-watching. I was hungry but I didn't want something TOO heavy, to which the hostess recommended I just chill with an appetizer. I ended up getting the mahi-mahi bites with a side of rice and beans. I will say the mahi-mahi bites, while incredibly filling, could have been more flavorful, but they did the job, and the rice and beans were top notch delicious. It even ended up raining while I was inside having my meal, so good karma timing. Definitely a great chill place to grab lunch, with good drink specials, though I didn't partake.

    Skirt steak mofongo
    Philip G.

    Good was great and service was awesome! Would come back. Close to old town, but far enough it wasn't packed with the cruise crowd.

    Plantains stuffed with skirt steak
    Omayra Aka Myra J.

    Stopped here as we were being tourists in Puerto Rico. Ordered the plantains stuffed with skirt steak and the rice with beans. It was fresh and sooooo good. The employees were kind and Kind and knowledgeable of their menu. Definitely places that if you're in the area. BTW. The espresso was on point

    Dining area
    Lizbeth D.

    My plate was alright. My family enjoyed their plate. The empanadas are amazing! The drinks are really good! I got a strawberry mojito & a 7 chorros. The restaurant is cute and clean. The service was great!

    Nequel B.

    The food was so good. Didn't get a picture of everything because eating it was more of a priority then the photo. The service was great and my group truly enjoyed the experience.

    Mofongo de pernil and grill chicken with manposteado rice
    Kike L.

    The food has a lot of flavor, taste like real criolla food, they rake their time to serve the food but the quality is very high, services was ok, and the place is very interesting

    El Champeon Puerto Rico San Juan

    First time there , (Puerto Rico ) they had a happy hour sign ordered the Piña colada and Mojito , nice tall glasses but the drinks Were Terrible ,food has good reviews but didn't order anything as the drinks were not good

    Wings / alitos
    Allie G.

    Pretty good! We came here on a Sunday evening and they were able to seat our large party immediately, without a reservation. El Campeon had a large selection of flavored mojitos and I picked the coconut one (good but on the sweeter side!). For food, we ordered a ton, including their mofongo (delicious), wings (pretty good, but nothing special), and chicken tostones rellenos (fantastic). The service wasn't the quickest, so I recommend this spot if you're not in a rush!

    Pork stuffed avocado with rice mamposteado... This is a grandma's recipe and a definite must try...
    Michelle C.

    If you are in the San Juan area you MUST stop by and enjoy a delicious meal at El Campeon Restaurant! Ask for Cecilia and Please be patient because everything is freshly prepared to order. Also, make sure you are hungry, because the portions are amazingly satisfying (to say the least). From the bartender to the waitresses, service is superb. Attention to detail was an order in my personal experience! Believe me when I say; you are missing out on everything that signifies a cultural meal if you don't stop here. I will make it my business to stop by here on every trip I make to Puerto Rico from now on . I did not post pictures of the drinks but highly recommend all of their drink (which can be made with or without alcohol). My daughter had a virgen piña colada, my sister had a very refreshing watermelon Flamingo drink and I had a coconut Cofresí drink and were all very refreshing.

    Menu
    Pam H.

    I will start by saying the food here is actually really good and delicious but the service wasn't all that great. They were super friendly and helpful, however I got the wrong food and had to send it back. I wasn't upset, just a little disappointed because I worked in this industry for many years. The shrimp Mofongo with the garlic aioli sauce is a must try on the menu. I wanted to try the red snapper but they were out! Bummer. Overall all this place is super cute inside and offers a great menu with fairly decent pricing. Just be patient with the service I guess.

    Tostone shrimp
    Amiel C.

    This restaurant is one of the few that looked clean and welcoming in old San Juan. Servers were very friendly and welcoming. I enjoyed the yuca fries and the dipping sauces a lot. Chicken to be honest was a little dry so I used all the sauce to make it slightly easier to swallow. Those sauces really made all the differences. Def try the yuca fries. They were very good.!

    Seafood Paella and Seafood Risotto Paella
    Al J.

    Great staff...excellent service...fantastic food... best dining experience overall during our visit!... we had the paella and mofongo....no long waits on the kitchen here!... Sangria was very tasty!

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    3 years ago

    Service was iffy. Didnt get our drinks for 15 minutes but empanadas came out quick. Empanadas very small but very good.

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    4 years ago

    Great chill place. Music is not too loud and the food is delicious. Get the Paella with sea food. Magnifique!

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    Page 1 of 2

    El Campeon Reviews in Other Languages

    Review Highlights - El Campeon

    The mofongo was really good but for some reason the smell with the meat and platanos made me a little nauseous.

    Mentioned in 10 reviews

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    Deaverdura - Sampler

    Deaverdura

    4.2(1.2k reviews)
    0.2 km
    $$

    Food was amazing! Highly recommend the platter to share and try a little bit of everything.read more

    This restaurant has been on my San Juan list and it happened to be near my Airbnb so it was a no…read morebrainer for my friends and I to visit. Since I've always seen the long lines outside this store when I passed by, we decided that we try to go in as soon as it opened. So, we lined up around 11:30am. We barely waited much and we got seated. The server that day was quick/efficient/friendly despite the fact that she was running a one woman show. And the food arrived within a decent time. My friends and I decided to order the PUERTO RICAN PLATTER with a side of a side salad. This platter comes with everything you could want & maybe something that might be a bit adventurous for you to eat like blood sausage. Despite that, it's a nice platter to share and try a bit of everything. It's really nice that if you order for 4 people, they give you exactly the amount of pieces that are divisible by 4 (so everyone can try 1-2 pieces of each thing evenly). It also comes with a decent amount of rice/pork as a supplementation, which was nice. It's a balanced meal. And I think the side salad did well to balance out all the fried foods. Overall, we really enjoyed this place. It's a great place to come with friends/families to share. It's a great place as a visitor to try a bit of everything. The platter is a great introduction of puerto rican fried finger foods. And it all taste great! From the presentation of the food to the service here, it's all good. I would recommend this place to others.

    Photos
    Deaverdura - The ambience

    The ambience

    Deaverdura - Small house salad

    Small house salad

    Deaverdura - Passion fruit juice

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    Passion fruit juice

    Borikén - Passion fruit mojito and rum punch

    Borikén

    4.3(8 reviews)
    0.3 km

    I remember coming to this restaurant aBout 5 years ago oomph my layover in San Juan. The food was…read moreso memorable that I decided to come back in 2020 to see if it was still good. Well good news, the food is still good! I stopped in during the festival of San Sebastian and the restaurant was packed! We luckily got a seat for two and were able to order right away. I order the mofongo de pollo and my friend ordered a different meal with a soup. I am not going to lie, the service was extremely slow and the food took about 30 to 40 mins maybe to come out. I expect this was because of the festival and how busy the restaurant was. When the food came out, it was delicious! The chicken was great and drenched in a salsa criolla sauce. It was definitely worth the wait! After my meal, I ordered a coffee to digest the food. Luckily this didn't take as long as the food. I would definitely recommend this place however if you are in a rush, it might be best to go somewhere else. The food is very tasty!

    This is a difficult review to do because technically we only had an appetizer and drinks. First of…read moreall the rest is located next to the Christopher Columbus Plaza in Old San Juan which makes it an ideal location for tourists coming in and out. The restaurant is very small inside but they do have outside dining which is what we chose to do. The service was good, they were very attentive to our needs. Unfortunately, the appetizer we ordered was just awful. We ordered a mix of very traditional Puerto Rican bites-small alcapurrias, sorrullos, chicharrónes de pollo and some fried cheese. There was absolutely nothing good about the mix. The alcapurrias has no meat whatsoever, the chicharrónes were not crispy and the cheese was just awful. I wanted to give them a 1star review but I felt this would not be fair because we did not try an entree and I hope that would be better. The 3star was because the service was good. In addition to the service later on in the evening they had live music which was essentially old traditional Puerto Rican music which was excellent. So to be fair I thought a 3 star review would be the right thing to do. Hopefully the entrees are much better just stay away from the surtido appetizer because it was not good.

    Photos
    Borikén - Appetizer-

    Appetizer-

    Borikén - Chicken mofongo with rice and salad

    Chicken mofongo with rice and salad

    Borikén

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    Mallorca - mallorca w/ butter

    Mallorca

    4.2(843 reviews)
    0.1 km
    $$

    Review #1,046 Posted on 4.26.26…read more We came here on Thursday the 23rd while in San Juan area for my buddies 50th birthday. This spot we had seen on social media a ton for being famous for their Mallorca sandwich, a special type bread, we got the one with bacon & American cheese. Man, I made the mistake of doing the bacon instead of ham, overthought that deal. I tried my buddies with ham n cheese and I think that was way to go. I loved how this spot had that super old school feel of like a diner. You can sit at one of the table tops, or you can do the countertop too, which has tons of seats, we all were able to sit there. I'd 100% recommend this spot, but get the ham n cheese mallorca sandwich, don't overthink it.

    Walked in here at ~8:15am for breakfast. There was not a lot of people yet; we were seated at the…read morebar. After a few minutes, people started trickling down and soon the place was close to being full. I liked the mallorca with ham, bacon, cheese! It was delicious. They looked small but they were filling. The pastries displayed at the window were inviting. If you're dining in, you have to tell your server that you're getting some pastries that are on display then you ask the person at the counter who also serves as the cashier to get them for you. The guava pastry was good. The vanilla bread with strawberry and pineapple/lemon was okay. They looked better than they tasted in my opinion. Payment for everything would be at the cashier after dining. If you're in San Juan, this is a place to try!

    Photos
    Mallorca
    Mallorca - Mallorca w/ ham and cheese

    Mallorca w/ ham and cheese

    Mallorca - Mallorca with ham n cheese

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    Mallorca with ham n cheese

    Cayo Caribe - Old San Juan - Red snapper it's about $30/lb

    Cayo Caribe - Old San Juan

    4.0(220 reviews)
    0.2 km
    $$

    When you want an easy, reliable seafood lunch near the San Juan port, Cayo Caribe hits the mark…read more Our walking tour guide recommended this spot, and it ended up being one of the better casual lunches of the trip. It's located close to the cruise port area, making it an effortless stop if you're exploring Old San Juan. The vibe is straightforward and comfortable--think casual, sit-down seafood spot where you can relax, grab a drink, and not overthink the menu. It's not flashy or upscale, but that's part of the appeal. Just friendly service, cold drinks, and solid food. Service * Very friendly and welcoming * Easy walk-in experience * Relaxed, unpretentious atmosphere Food & Drinks * Standard beers and cocktails--perfect for a mid-day refresher * Seafood Fried Platter - especially the fried cod; crispy, flavorful, and well-executed * Tacos (Fried Shrimp & Fried Cod) - the standout; fresh, generous portions with crunchy slaw and spot-on sauce The tacos were the surprise hit--bright, crispy, and packed with flavor. Exactly what you want from a Puerto Rican seafood lunch. Verdict Cayo Caribe is a dependable, casual seafood stop near the port. Nothing overly complicated--just good service, fresh seafood, and a relaxed setting. A great lunch choice if you're in the area and craving fried seafood and tacos. Solid four stars.

    HIGHLY RECOMMEND…read more We had the fried whole snapped it was excellent!! Also the beef empanadas were amazing. Great service and friendly. Inside the bar was playing Pickleball on the tv at the bar and we got to watch the finals.

    Photos
    Cayo Caribe - Old San Juan - PICKLEBALL AT THE BAR!!!

    PICKLEBALL AT THE BAR!!!

    Cayo Caribe - Old San Juan - 1.5lb snapper

    1.5lb snapper

    Cayo Caribe - Old San Juan - Crazy shrimp

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    Crazy shrimp

    El Campeon - puertorican - Updated May 2026

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