El Platanal

The prices were great and the food was even better! The menu is in English and in Spanish, which makes it easy for those non– Spanish speaking foodies to select a great meal. The food portions were large and definitely in charge of my empty stomach. We had mofongo with bistek /​crispy chicharron /​side of potato salad. Everything was sooo tasty I couldn’t stopped eating ! I highly recommend eating here. Good vibes, good décor, good food!

YES! Recommend! Staffers don’t speak a whole lotta English, so eh, it was a bit of a challenge, but the menu is in English too and they were working with us and were very friendly. My friend got the fried plantain basket filled with seafood in a tomato sauce. Holy shit that was the shiz right thurr. Highly recommend this dish. It was crunchy, kinda like Chinese style taro basket.
I got the plantain «sandwich» was, less interesting. I actually wouldn’t order it again. Too much soft plantain, so it was just a very starchy feeling meal. The menu has quite a number of things, so if I were ever in town, I’d def come back but would try something else. Pics for some of the fried foods looked delicious, but I was a little bit over all the fried stuff by that time in the trip.
Unilocal helped us find this spot; I’m glad we came.

Excellent place! Food is superb and generous portions! The ambiance is very nice and the place is vevry well kept. The service is very good. Highly recommended! Although the place was packed, the service and the quality of food was escellent.

Un lugar muy tipico, el menu bien variado, no amo el platano pero el mofongo de yuca fue una opcion perfecta. Me encanto, y tienen buen pescado tambien, pues no solo es churrasco y carne frita como todos los restaurantes criollos.

If you are looking for great food at awesome prices El Platanal is the place for you. The Sangria is a must. It reminds me of a smaller version of margarita vile in Jamaica. A must visit when u r in San Juan PR.

0 tourists
0 English
100% real traditional Puerto Rican food at great prices.
$ 4 virgin pina coladas, bingo!
Been back 3 times within one week, because that’s how good it is.

Plantain as bread? Yep and it was uh_​mazing! This place gets 5 stars. And the staff was very helpful and friendly as well.

Highly recommended. 4+ stars compared to other local casual restaurants.
We found ourselves in an unfamiliar area in Puerto Rico. Being hungry, we consulted Unilocal for its nearly infallible recommendations and discovered this casual, reasonably priced but nicely outfitted gem.
Once we entered and experienced the rich spicy smells filling the room we knew we chose well. The menu provides an extensive array of Puerto Rican and Caribbean foods. My bride enjoyed the plantain soup («excellent») and fried whole red snapper. My delicious bacalaitos were crisp, not at all greasy and accompanied by a spicy ketchup-​like sauce. This was followed by an entrée of grouper with a sweet, very slightly peppered creole sauce. The fish was moist, flaky and perfectly cooked. A side of «trifongo» — mashed plantain, amarillo, and yucca was slightly dry but good.
My bride ordered the chocolate and Nutella flan. It was silky smooth, rich and thick and delicious. Other flavored were offered as well as the more traditional caramel or cheese flans.
The room is bright and airy, with plenty of elbow room. If a guest is celebrating a birthday it can get noisy and fun as the staff turns out for a raucous rendition of Happy Birthday with a self unite Caribbean twist.
Located about 15 minutes from Isla Verde. 25 – 30 minutes if you miss the turn-​off a few times as I did.

My husband has a knack for finding great places to eat & this was another success. He found it on Unilocal (thank you again Unilocal!) & decided to give it a try. We had a bit of a challenge getting there via GPS, but it was definitely worth it. I never had plantain soup before & am so glad I tried it here. The fried snapper was flash fried & only on the outside so it was extremely dry. The inside was moist & flaky, although a bit difficult to eat as it came with the head & tail & was hard to filet but was very good with sautéed onions on top. The chocolate & Nutella flan was delicious although a bit too sweet for me. The only real negative comment I’d make would be their use of plastic cups for the drinks & a plastic spoon for the flan when all else were regular dishes & silverware. Other than that, wonderful. Definitely recommended.

Excellent service, great food and prices. Not a drinker but piña colada was delicious. Had the mofongo w/​chicken big servings and great taste. Accessible parking…
Servicio excelent, un mofongo delicioso y variedades.

After a day at Isla Verde in Carolina. The group of friends and I decided to stop here and grub. The food was very good, great customer service the host is very nice. The interior is really nice. The beverages are fresh. The food was done quick and very hot. I will come here next time i visit Puerto Rico.

Was on our way and decided to give it a try. Hostess was real nice, and the place is very welcoming. Got slow after that. No one came to take our order in a while, but once they did, they got back on track. Home specialties are mofongo and plantain sandwiches (plantain instead of bread). Had the fried cheese for app, hubby had fried pork with mofongo, I had chicken milanesa with mofongo. Portions were good, filling. Pork was excellent, chicken was ok, mofongo was well made. Food came out quickly, prices are reasonable, staff (Edison) was very nice.

YUM!!! We ended up here on a rainy night out of convenience but it turned out to be a great choice. We are returning tonight!
The food was delish! the tamarindo juice was perfect. The conch salad was to die for! Every thing we ordered was great and nothing was just ok.
The place is not fancy, everyone was down to earth and nice. We will definitely return and recommend to others.

I came here thinking it was going to be great but I didn’t even get to eat the food! After a cold appetizer and after waiting for an hour (literally one hour) for my food I noticed plenty of people who were seated after me get their main course. My waiter Jose never came back once to check on my table so I had to wave down another waitress and she had no clue what was going on. She went to the kitchen to check but she didn’t come out. We soon realized our order was never put in. We still waited a few minutes to see what they’d say but we just got up and left. The service was just horrible. I was looking forward to the platano sandwich :(

Very good food. The service was a little slow, but when they are really cooking that’s what happens.

Great food, fair pricing, nice place and good service.