El Jibaro Del Sazón - Nowatney

I would give it ZERO stars if I could. We went to this place on high recommendations from the hotel, locals and online reviews. People please stop LYING to yourselves and to others! I'm not sure what you normally eat that you think this place has great food but you definitely need to broaden your food experience. All the proteins looked like they were boiled, I mean everything, steak, chicken, shrimp everything. We were 9 people in total and 5 of us had food poisoning after suffering with vomiting, diarrhea and stomach cramps for days after our visit here. The food had a weird offensive odor instead of appealing seasoned aroma. If the food was not AWFUL enough the lack of pleasant welcoming service was just as bad. The employees are more concerned with just hanging out with each other on their phones ignoring the customers and the cleanliness and stocking of the bathrooms. I am ASHAMED that this place passes for authentic great Puerto Rican food because it is anything but. Do yourself a favor and use your time and money to go to Bebo's Cafe on Calle Loiza instead, they have great food and service.

We went to El Jiberito per recommendation and we did not regret. The food was really good and the place looks authentic. We tried several dishes and loved all. Out favorite was garlic chicken with mashed plantain.

My family and I were eager to eat the supposedly delicious food that was so highly rated on reviews and suggested by a taxi driver. The food however, WAS NOT DELICIOUS! I can 't emphasize how disappointing every plate of food everyone in my family ordered, it was horrible. I ordered pollo al ajillo, chicken with garlic sauce. I was expecting a nice chicken fillet covered in a rich garlic sauce. What I received was a small bowl of shredded chicken cooked in a greasy, watery fish-smelling sauce. The look of it alone was unpleasing. And there was not a hint of garlic in that chicken. My sister ordered the same dish with the same results, we did not eat it. Next were the steaks ecebollado, or steaks with cooked onions on top. Several members of the family ordered this dish. The steak had very little flavor, no proper seasoning and very bland. Again, not tasty at all and disappointing. My other sister ordered mofongo with camarones, shrimp with smashed plantains. That dish was also not well prepared. Everything was just so lacking in 'delicious '. The service of the young waitress was also unpleasant. She was not very friendly and did not pass even once to ask how our food was. There was a disconnect between the staff and customers. They seemed more busy with personal matters constantly talking amongst each other and looking at their cell phones. At the end when we were paying, the girl did not even give us thank you quickly grabbing the money from my sister 's hand. So, horrible food and terrible service. Definitely this is not a place I would recommend going to and one we will not visit again--ever!

The food is delicious, but no written menu..must use phone app, and none of us were able to bring up the full menu wi fi/internet issues?? The waiter was nice to lend us his phone and brought up the menu, but I suggest they go back to using printed menus. After going around all day in Viejo San Juan with phones taking photos, etc.,one could have no juice, and then can't access a menu. Got there at 5:45, and had to wait about 15 min, but when we came out around 7:15, the wait line was long. Suggest getting there early.

It 's really loud in this place and the waiter brought me something I didn 't recognize because of a miscommunication. I had to get up and walk to him to get his attention. I said I didn 't know what the dish was but it wasn 't what I wanted and that it made me feel ill. He didn 't even get up to see what I was talking about. He just responded with well that 's what you wanted. I explained I wanted shrimp and I must have misheard him. He continued to say that this was what I asked for. I asked him to come to the table because I was confused, I didn 't even know what it was until he said it was octupus salad. I told him I never said I wanted octopus, I told him I wanted shrimp (camarones) but he argued that I had said I wanted octopus. I was confused because I never said the word octupus, and I said I didn 't want to eat whatever it was because it made me feel ill. He never apologized for the fact that I felt sick now or showed any sympathy. He just got a bad attitude and FINALLY after I said Yo nunca dije la palabra octupus he finally agreed to bring me the dish I wanted. I shouldn 't have had to say more than I don 't like the food to get him to offer to bring me something else, it 's the service industry not court, don 't put me on trial and accuse me of lying! It 's a loud restaurant, miscommunications will happen. Don 't blame customers and act like a child over something that 's not going to affect your paycheck. What a nightmare.