Ostra Cosa

We were walking around old San Juan when we saw a truck pulling into this place with a load of coconuts! So. Of course we had to come in. This is an outside setting type of restaurant where you can order at the counter, have a seat, and they’ll bring out your food. We initially only wanted a coconut, but after seeing the pictures on the wall, we ended up ordering a grilled octopus dish.
Our coconut was nice and cold and an affordable price compared to all the other tourist spots. And the octopus dish, oh man I think it was one of my fav dishes during my trip.
The top ‘bun’ was a fried plantain and the bottom was fried CHEESE. Yes, that’s right. I said fried cheese. And inside was grilled octopus chunks with a sauce and it was amaaaazing. Comes out on a platter of 3 for $ 5.99 each. Def worthy of checking out this spot.

Excellent choice! Went here twice on my vacation here in Puerto Rico. Once on Saturday night and enjoyed some wonderful Peruvian Ceviche along with a few beers. Weekends they have live music in plaza. We had a great time so we decided to return on a Thursday night. This time we decided to try the new lobsters they sell there! And let me tell you. It was one of the best decisions we made the entire trip. The lobster was phenomenal! 5 stars for the food another 5 stars for the hospitality of all staff we ran into while including the owner, Albert, who was great! Thank you!

We met the owner of this restaurant, Alberto, and he ended up taking us on a private tour of old San Juan!!! This is definitely a particular experience but it speaks volumes to the kind of establishment this is under from the person who owns it. Full of wisdom and intellectual knowledge and understanding of its history.
Their lemonade is also his own recipe. DELICIOUS

Most importantly, the food is amazing. The menu has a surprising array of inventive and «artistic» foods and everything we tried was great. The open air atmosphere was pretty cool as well. This restaurant posts up a the end of the San Sebastian strip and you can take in the nightlife and still hold a conversation at normal speaking levels.
Sadly, the service was pretty poor. To be fair, I think the place is so open that people come and sit and hang out and never order food so the staff maybe assumes you’re just «hanging out» until you’ve been there for at least 30 minutes.

Cool outside atmosphere, drinks were good. Caribbean Cuisine with interesting fish dishes. The Ceviche was the best. The restaurant had very good staff with slow service.

You will be remiss if you don’t order the ceviche. This is the most amazing, fresh fish you will eat. Don’t be afraid of the anchovies, either. They’re not fishy and the sauce it comes with is a great complement.

We are locals but we relocated to US and haven’t been in PR in many years and after a long walk at El Paseo de la Princesa this was the first place we stumble on as we walked towards La Calle San Sebastian. My first impression was wow, this is a nice place! Well looks can be deceiving… The young lady that was bartending saw us standing at the bar and she paid no attention to us for over 5 minutes, place was almost empty and she was involved in a friendly conversation with the only other customers in the place, however was very rude and cold toward us when we asked for our drinks. When we tried to engaged her into some bar side friendly conversation in Spanish she brushed us off and rolled her eyes at us. The other bartender came to the rescue and tried to make up for the bad customer service but the damage was already done. We paid $ 30.00 for two Piñas coladas that were poorly made and two Medallas (local beer) and couldn’t get out of there any faster!
We went to Nono’s across the street and had a great time but most of all great customer service!

This is a great find. I love the tostones with octopus and a rum coconut. You also must try the lobster turnovers. It is a perfect place to have a snack after visiting the surrounding museums

We stopped here after having a horrible experience up the road. The owner was there to greet us and he was extremely friendly. You could tell that he really cared about his customers. He came by to check on us several times. The piña colada here was great. I ordered the pork which was a little dry, which is my only reason for subtracting a star.

6 dollars coconut has little water in it! They refused to open it for coco meat. Cold service.

Ay madre creo q nunca he probado un ceviche más rico !!! A ver, cada país tiene su propio ceviche, su propia forma de cocinarlo etc etc etc. Este simplemente pescado con limón y me encanta! Además que los sirven bastante bien, vamos que lo venden como entrante y lo puedes comer sólo tu de cena y no te quedas con hambre !!! Perfecto para una cena ligera.
Los tostones con camarón son tremendos !! Pequeños pero ricos ricos.
Cuidado con el precio de las bebidas :1 cerveza 5.75usd!!! Estamos locos o que esta pasando??? Me parece un precio desproporcionado, por lo demás el sitio es chulete, fácil de encontrar y con la cocina abierta casi todo el día. Ahhh y tiene shows en vivo, la primera noche que fui había monólogos en directo.

We had the ceviche and it was so fresh and delicious! We also tried the conch toston and it also was great! The empanadilla de carne was delish as well.

So my wife and I chose Puerto Rico for our honeymoon … after our rental car broke down in Old San Juan, my wife and I stumbled across Ostracosa (as we had to wait 2 hours for a new car) We stumbled across an open air bar/​resto in old San Juan. We were served by an AMAZING bartender/​server named Ivannnie. She was a wealth of information and provided some of the best service I’ve had not only Puerto Rico but the Mainland too.
She and this resto should be a MUST for travelers and tourists alike.
Ivannnie made our day, and wait, for a new car worth the wait.
I’m happy our car broke down… Otherwise we never would have discovered this Old San Juan gem.
P.s NEVER use United Car Rental Service. They are expensive and inefficient.
Get a decent car and go to Ostracosa !

It was worth a try. Kid friendly restaurant with a bar. Outdoor seating and reasonably priced. Try it, you may like it.

MY FAVORITE PLACE IN ALL OF OLD SAN JUAN! Great food (a little pricey but granted, it is all fresh seafood, steak, and lamb), fresh drinks– all made to order, fun staff and it’s all outdoors which makes for a refreshing breeze off the coast.

This is a lovely café and bar! We came across it while seeking shelter from the rain. Try the empanadas, fish bites and Espinosa drink! You will reward your palate. The staff is courteous and friendly, with a smile and genuine conversation!

Nice place to have a quick drink lunch!
Friendly staff
BUT!!!
1– margarita was not good!
2– the food is really average compare to what we ate before on the island!

The place is easy on the eyes but deceiving. Nice staff but don’t expect to catch a buzz at all. Drinks are reasonably priced but weak… And I’m not a drinker! Asked for a double and still… Nothing. Just keep this in mind.

Sometimes, dining outside makes everything better. On your way back from Castillo San Cristóbal, cool off with an Espinosa here.
Get it in:
1. The Espinosa is strong and $ 6 at h.h. Two will get you nice.
2. The fried whole shrimp is fried to perfection and you can eat the whole thing-​shell and all. The head, naturally, is where the flavor is most concentrated.
3. The fresh (not canned) anchovies, are a MUST for fans (my fav) of this little fish. Ask for bread to sop up that infused olive oil.
4. That mashed/​fried potatoes thing w/​the ketchup/​mayo drizzle thing was odd, but surprisingly tasty.
5. The scallop ceviche with the odd paring of crackers was a hit.
6. Get the coconut (as in, still in the shell) w/​your fav spirit. I mean, it’s a thing you have to do.
Other reasons:
The breeze and view of the plaza. Super clean bathrooms. Decent people watching.
Warning:
1. The feral cats are harmless, just ignore them.
2. The service is island slow, so chill… you’re not in New York anymore.
3. The restroom is across the way, in the other building and the key is at the bar.
Final reason to come:
Fridays a band plays in the courtyard behind it and they covered, «Careless Whisper» with a Spanish guitar. They were really good, I was really drunk and dusk in OSJ is magical, so what else do you need?

Ok. So my boyfriend and I wanted to go elsewhere but it was closed, so we ended up here.
Food was very bland.
Fish was white and unseasoned.
Service was muy slow.
Skip this place, keep walking, and go elsewhere.

Classic tourist restaurant scam: I ordered Fried Pork Chunks for 12 dollars. They served Lamb Chops for 30 dollars. Pretending they didn’t speak English well and insisted that what I ate was pork. When he was putting down the dish, I asked the waiter if that was the pork I ordered. He said yes, it was pork. When I got the overpriced bill, I asked again. He insisted it was pork, just more expensive then what I ordered!
My friend ordered Grilled Chicken which was dry and plain. Too expensive for the quality.
Two stars for the Lamb Chops. They were delicious.

Buena intención en la selección de los platos. Pobre ejecución.