• 1. Where to Stay
• 2. Where to Eat
• 3. What to Do
• 4. Insider’s Tip
• 5. An Oddball Day

Sunset at Playa Balneario Luquillo.   (Photo: Courtesy Cel Kulasekaran)

Though San Juan's new boîtes could keep you busy for days, those in search of real Rican cuisine should head out of town. A mere twenty miles from San Juan is the lush Playa Balneario Luquillo, a government-run beach where offshore reefs disappear into an azure lagoon and numerous smoke-spewing food stalls line nearby Route 3. Stop for a cold drink and a platter of tasty comida criolla snacks like piononos, plantain slices wrapped around beef stew and flash fried in a crisp farina crust, or bacalaitos, deep-fried salt-cod pancakes spiked with garlic and oregano.

Published on January 10, 2007 as a web exclusive.