Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
( 200 Sol; noon-late; )
The passionate owners of this new craft beer bar, which
serves more than 20 artisan brews on tap (and over 100 in the bottle), rhapsodize about
Trappist ales while dishing out beer-infused Puerto Rican comfort food such as a drunken
bean soup or bacon-stuffed burger braised with brown ale. Local art students take turns
gussying up the interior.
Blend
BAR
( 309 Fortaleza; 6pm-late)
Think dressy, uberchic - and on weekend evenings, uber-
busy. Cocooned in an old colonial building on Fortaleza, this fashionable dining and night-
life spot belts out electronic music from Friday to Sunday in its cavernous and moodily lit
interior.
El Batey
BAR
( 101 Calle del Cristo; 11am-7am)
If Hunter S Thompson were still alive and living
in Puerto Rico, this is where you'd probably find him. Cool, crusty and unashamedly bo-
hemian, the walls of this cavernous drinking joint are covered in graffiti, while the low-key
lighting will have you groping in your pockets for spare change to light up the suitably
retro jukebox. Across the road from the exquisite El Convento Hotel, El Batey is a place
to down shots, shoot pool and ramble soulfully about when Elvis was king and the BacardÃ
bottles still came from Cuba. There's no phone, but a helpful soul drew one on the wall.
CONDADO, OCEAN PARK & ISLA VERDE
La Concha
BAR
( 1077 Av Ashford, Condado)
Take your rightful place with the beautiful people at the
undisputed hot spot of San Juan. On weekend nights, the lobby bar explodes with activity
and chic cocktail-bearing waitresses in space-age outfits and wedge heels do their best to
swivel through. Things get progressively wilder as the night turns to morning, with dancing
to DJs and live music.
Pa'l Cielo
BAR
( 2056 Loiza, Ocean Park; 5pm-2am Wed-Sun)
Caribbean kitsch rules at this bo-
hemian bar modeled after a rural roadside food shack. Dolled up in colored lights, with
artsy little
altares
and tropical murals, its funky mismatched tables get pushed aside after
midnight for DJs or live salsa, reggae and hip-hop.
