In December of 2024, while enjoying vacation time with loved ones in the San Juan area, we wanted to spend a "day at the beach" and decided to go to one on the north coast and east of the populated city area.
After swimming in the warm Caribbean waters, we decided to enjoy dinner in a bar & restaurant we passed while driving to the beach.
This review is about my experiences at the Los Barriles Restaurant.
Los Barriles means "the barrels", which explains why the whiskey barrels are promptly displayed on their front sign.
This bar & restaurant is very versatile in its services and is located just off the main road and on the northern coastal shores of the beach.
Parking is tricky because their private lot is very small, but you can always park across the street or further down along the main roadside.
Although you are dining mere feet from the ocean, this beach is surrounded by a protective reef barrier. This means that it is more like a "confined pool" area and allows for "wading" in the water, as opposed to actual "swimming".
But this all makes for a breathtaking view to enjoy while dining-out at the exterior tables.
Speaking of dining-in, customers have various options to enjoy their meals.
There is a grab-n-go shop at the front that is facing roadside. This is where you can find "quick bites" like bacailitos, alcapurrias, tostones and more, all visible behind a glass counter.
Next, you can walk in and sit at their bar-counter area, which also has televisions for watching sports.
Then, there are 2 interior dining areas with huge table seating, making them perfect for large groups of friends or family; one is on an upper-deck and is close to a stage platform.
I imagine that when they have live band music, folks get up and dance in the ample space in the same area. This makes great for celebrations.
Finally, there is exterior table seating that allows for groups of 4 to have a panoramic view of the beach and shoreline, only separated by a paved path that runs along the coast.
Los Barrilles Restaurant has delicious seafood and traditional Puerto Rican dishes that were reasonably priced, considering the ocean view.
I thoroughly enjoyed my Mofongo con Chicharrones de Pollo and tostones.
My relatives enjoyed their pescado (fish) with rice & beans and Mofongo.
Food flavoring was on-point, portion size was good and textures were great.
Now for the negatives.
The two major factors that hurt our dining experience was their service and their bathrooms.
As many reviews have stated, their service is lacking. When we first sat down, we were greeted by a man who was friendly, bilingual and helped to answer our inquiries about the menu.
The problem is that after we got our menus, he disappeared and didn't return until about 20 minutes later...
Typically, your waiter will give you menus and take drink orders or give you water. This wasn't the case here.
So the service wasn't necessarily "rude", it was simply lacking and very untimely.
I ended up searching for our waiting to let him know that we were ready to place our orders.
After this encounter, it was almost as if they didn't want us to pay either, because they hadn't come to check on us WHILE eating.
We COULD have easily just walked away after enjoying our lovely meal.
Makes me wonder if this is an issue for them?
As for the bathroom, I didn't have to use the men's, but I was told that the ladies restroom was filthy, had no paper towels, issues flushing the toilet and there was no running water from the sink to wash your hands.
All things considered, Los Barriles Restaurant was a good experience overall. The prices, the flavors, the portions and the views made it all worthwhile.
But I recommend carrying baby wipes (at all times) and don't be afraid to demand better service from the staff. read more