11 Best Restaurants in Rincón and the Porta del Sol, Puerto Rico

A dining room facing the ocean is a fitting place to try some of the southwest coast's best seafood. You can snack on empanadillas (fritters), then move on to red snapper with rice and beans or mofongo relleno. This place, in an unmistakable lime-color building on the main drag, has festive music and great views.

Although the menu at this family-friendly restaurant includes pizza and pasta dishes, it's a good place to dine on hearty Caribbean fare, including Puerto Rican specialties like mofongo, churrasco, and bistec encebollado. The wine list is short but well curated, and the cocktails are creative and affordable.

Watch seagulls dive for their food while you dine on a covered deck extending out into the bay. The long list of seafood is prepared in a variety of ways: shrimp comes breaded, stewed, or skewered; conch is served as a salad or cooked in a butter-and-garlic sauce; and the lobster can be prepared just about any way you can imagine. This restaurant, on stilts above the water, is about the most charming setting in Joyuda.

You'll find some of the freshest seafood in town at this casual roadside restaurant. Order an assortment of grilled fish skewers, choosing from tuna, mahimahi, grouper, wahoo, rainbow runner, and more. The lobster is excellent, and the empanadas are great, too. Happy hour lasts all day—no wonder it's always packed.

Many things stand out at this picturesque resort restaurant: the emerald-green golf course in the foreground, the majestic cliffs on the coast, and the roaring ocean in the background. A fair amount of the fruits and vegetables used in the dishes here are grown at Royal Isabela's River Farm and Gatehouse Garden; all the fish is caught offshore.

Open daily 5 am–midnight, this popular bakery is a good spot to try one of the city's trademark delicacies: the brazo gitano (gypsy arm), a gigantic jelly roll filled with anything from guava to sweet cheese. There are also tasty pastries like flan, tres leches cake, mallorcas, and cheesecake, as well as freshly baked bread and a selection of sandwiches.

This charming restaurant specializes in vegan, vegetarian, and pescatarian dishes. The summer rolls are made with veggies from local farms, and the fish in the poké bowl features the catch of the day. The signature juices, designed to boost your immunity, are the perfect post-surfing treat.

The best thing about this bar and grill is its beachfront location. The open-air venue serves a mean mojito, and the deck is a great place to watch novice surfers wipe out on the beach. The kitchen prepares a wide range of unique items, from fresh-fish sandwiches to baby back ribs brushed with guava sauce. On weekends, you can enjoy live music.

Beautiful beachfront dining, farm-to-table ingredients, and fantastic service are worth the drive from San Juan. The setting is rustic yet elegant, and the view is unbeatable. Sweet and savory brunch selections range from coconut brioche French toast with caramelized bananas and nuts to pizza frittatas. Lunch brings delicious, classic, Neapolitan pizzas baked in a handmade brick oven. The catch-of-the-day ceviche—caught in Isabela—is perfectly marinated, and lobster is usually on the dinner menu.