San Juan Smokehouse

Went there today for a late lunch with my teenage son. We were both very hungry… So we ordered the BBQ Feast for Two. OMG!!! Everything was perfect! Plate brings ribs, pulled pork and brisket. As sides we ordered corn in the cob, corn bread and mashed potatoes. We literally had a feast! Going back very soon!!! Excellent lunch.

Great place to eat. We had a group of 6. Service was prompt, great craft beer menu and the food was delicious. Our server Kyria was great, we tried all the sides between the group and no complaints. Ribs were good, stuffed avocado, brisket sandwich, and meatloaf Berger were also excellent. Free shot at the end of dinner was yummy!

We came for cocktails but first I needed coffee, so they made me a tiny espresso! Charming atmosphere and the bartender was very nice.

Small spot in La Placita de Santurce. Every table was full, so I was expecting the usual crappy service that is rampant in Puerto Rico. Surprisingly, the service was great. Drinks were excellent. The food is simply just ok. Nothing memorable.

I initially gave this restaurant 2 stars, but seeing the comment of the restaurant’s owner, I can’t do anything better but to lower the rank of this restaurant to 1 star and modify my review.
I have been traveling through five continent, and I tried food from fine dining restaurant in Paris to rural street food in Cambodia. I wrote reviews about many restaurant across the globe and I always gave my true experiences. What I value is not only the food, but also the hospitality and the kindness of the host.
What I can tell about the food here is, that’s not better than average. The pulled pork is a little bit salty (for my taste), the ribs is quite good and I really like the watermelon salad. Other things aren’t special.
I came here looking for dinner since the name of the restaurant is a smokehouse, but actually this isn’t anything else but a open bar with some tables on the terrace and no doors. The quarter is very crowded and noisy with loud music. I didn’t say that it isn’t fun, but just not appropriate for a meal. It would go for a drink. And the QUANTITY OF FOODS IS EXPENSIVE FOR THE PRICE. We got only few bite of ribs, pulled pork and some kind of garnish for a dish of $ 40.
So, for advice, I wouldn’t recommend it for dinner. If you are drunk and looking for some munchies for blackout food, this is a suitable place for you.

Hello Stephen,
To be honest, I don’t know what you were talking about. I did not leave 2 reviews here. My reviews might be too short so it was counted as tips in Unilocal but I deleted it already and kept only this. Sorry if I messed that up. Still keeping my one star for this place though. I never came into your smokehouse and expected it to be «fine dinning». The drinks here (I tried piña colada) was bad. I tried many popular places that Unilocal recommended in Puerto Rico (both cheap and expensive) then came to a conclusion that the food here was not worth my money at all. Have a good day! (:
Cheers,
Huong, L.

The best bacon I have ever had in my life and let’s face it I’ve had a LOT of bacon! Great service and it’s an an open area so cool atmosphere.

San Juan Smokehouse
Short and not too sweet, in a few words, On November 7, 2015, my family and I went to SJ Smokehouse with great expectations and left the place with a «sour» taste.
We were looking to eat something tasty, different and good; San Juan Smokehouse looked like the place to go. Based on this experience, it will be a loooong time for us to return and to recommend this place to others. We found the place overrated and under attended.
The service was weak, vague, friendly but not professional. The place was nearly empty (just 2 tables occupied) and we had to wait for someone just to acknowledged our arrival and then to be seated by ourselves. No one said, «sit here».
We placed a mixed order (meat, breakfast, coffee, lemonade and beer) and after 15 minutes a lady came back to us, just to clarify that brunch/​breakfast was only served on Sundays and not on Saturdays. Oops, why did they offered us the breakfast/​brunch menu and also took the order?
Also, we ordered coffee and apparently coffee is extrictly tied to brunch/​breakfast, because there was no coffee since the lady helping us said that she «forgot» to bring it. I ordered an «artesanal» beer (nothing fancy, Sierra Nevada), oops sorry not available either. My wife ordered 2 grouper and 1 pulled pork tacos; surprise!!! she received a taco sampler, not what it was ordered.
My daughter and I ordered the beef sampler (the one that cost $ 41 and that is intended for two people) with mashed pototoes. The mashed potatoes were fully covered (repeat, fully covered) with gravy (nobody warned us about the excessive gravy) that there was no way to taste the potatoes. The brisket was good (kudos), the ribs and the pulled pork, I think that I can do better at home. The chicken, was good, but under cooked (pink inside).
Our main attendant was new (first day), no problem with that, but he had NO idea (or was not appropriately trained) regarding serving in a food place; offering breakfast when there was no breakfast available and my shirt and pants received a good portion of mashed potatoes and gravy when the serving felt to the table and managed to land over me.
The experience was not what we expected and after almost spending $ 100, we found that a $ 5 tip was more than adequate, since the lemonades, the brisket were good and the Medallas were not chilly but good.
I am sure that this is a great place, but not the date nor the time that we visited. First and last.

If you are visiting San Juan you have to try this place in Placita de Santurce. The food is awesome, expecially for brunch. Lots of cocktails. Try the Howling Wolf and After.

Great drinks ! Cool location at Mercado — many neighbors here have drinks, here they have great barbecue AND great cocktails ! Ronaldo is a good bartender !

I dont like it, the chicken was overcook, the ribs were ok, the pulled pork ok, almost all was ok at best.

Super cool vibe and really good food. Home made sweet tea recommended if not in the mood for a beer (which is hard not to here). The house bbq sauce was a bit too sweet for me, but combined with the house hot sauce you have a winner. Their brunch menu looked interesting and different for whats around. Two thumbs up for this place. i will be back.

Gotta love BBQ!
This is a pretty great place to go in La Placita if you’re not in the mood to go fancy for dinner. There are a lot of expensive places and this place is much more reasonable. The food is pretty bomb, too. My gf and I got the St. Louis ribs and the nachos and we weren’t disappointed. Everything was cooked to perfection and the portion sizes were appropriate.
We went during happy hour and our server told us our vodka crans would be $ 1 a piece. We were disappointed when they charged us $ 3 a piece and wouldn’t change it back. Lame!
The place is decent if you’re in the mood for some food that’s reasonably priced in the area and don’t wanna get all dressed up.

Went to La Placita last minute my last night in San Juan and was not disappointed! Stumbled upon San Juan Smokehouse and decided to sit and order a drink because I saw the bartender pinching leaves off a large mint plant at the corner of the bar for the mojitos and for decorative garnish on other drinks. REAL mint picked a moment before your drink is made = good sign. I ordered a southern mocktail to start of with, to see if their drinks were good and flavorful even without alcohol, and I was very happy with the friendly, timely service given how busy the one bartender was. The mocktail was delicious (included fresh mint!) so I went ahead and ordered the Tequila Gimlet, with Salt and Chile rim. YUM! It was amazing; well crafted by the bartender (he was on fire making drinks), and the Chile rim gave a wonderful spiciness to the drink. My tastebuds were SO happy. If I had had more time I would have also tried a Mojito (they had regular, passionfruit, coconut, tamarind, or guava) or a Pineapple Mint Julep.
This Is one place I definitely recommend! Next time I’m in San Juan, San Juan Smokehouse at La Placita is gonna be one of my first evening stops!

First time to a BBQ smoke house in Puerto Rico. The service was great and very clean location. We tried several items on the menu.
— pulled pork nachos w/​bbq beans — overall taste was it needed more pulled pork
— chicken wings — excellent some of the best bbq wings that I have tasted
— St. Louis Ribs — nice and tender ribs. The ribs need more smokey flavor and a better tasting rub as not much of a flavor profile
— Corn Bread — Amazing
— Mac and cheese — excellent

It’s a bar, not a restaurant. If you want a bar with good food, go here. If you want a restaurant, skip it.
the bbq bottle was slimey with grease, the napkins were too thin, no wet wipes (it’s bbq for goodness sake!), plates are plastic, and there drunks standing all around yelling and having fun. The food was quite good. But it was an unpleasant setting for a meal.
It’s in the Placita– a few blocks filled with bars spilling out onto the street. A great place for drinking and being loud. Though we read prior reviews, we didn’t understand what we were getting into at all. And definitely don’t bring the kids!

The ambience is really great. There’s a lot of creativity in the decoration. The service was good, the waitress was very nice. We asked for recommendations with the menu, and she said ribs and wings. Unfortunately, the ribs were not juicy and they were so hard to eat. The wings were ok. At the end, they gave us a courtesy coquito shot. I can give it another try, because others aspects besides the food were great!

We loved this place. The food was great and the service was good. I had the pork tacos with a side of mac and cheese. My husband had a pork stuffed avocado and baked beans. We shared corn bread, too. You can skip the corn bread, as it is really dry and doesn’t have much flavor. Everything else was great! The atmosphere was fun and it was good to get away from the masses of tourists and cruise people. The prices were great here, too: all of our food plus a beer was $ 28. Yum. Happy eating!

We have been in San Juan for a few days now and this is what we have been looking for… great food and great service.
Crazy location, full of tiny bars and restaurants, this joint is the place to eat. Very simple menu, everything looked good. I had the pulled pork on the largest avocado I have ever seen, great choice. My wife had the pork tacos and they were perfect. The side dishes were really standout, the baked beans were wicked good and the bacon and mushroom mac and cheese had a great smokey flavor. I didn’t want to stop eating.
Best part? The prices are right! $ 10 entrée with a side and just under 4 bucks for a beer. And our waitress gave us a couple of homemade coconut rum shots at the end. Nice!
Just leave the restaurant you’re at right now and come here, you’ll be so happy. We’ll be back tomorrow.

I feel so lucky to have stumbled across this place! On an unfortunately rainy day while on vaca in San Juan, the bartenders and staff welcomed us and had the absolute best attitudes. The pork nachos were unreal, the prices were right and the spirit and overall demeanor of all on staff was warm and welcoming.
El Placita is a unique area of San Juan. When we went on a different night, there was a ton of live music and people filling he streets with salsa dancing. El Placita has a mix of amazing little restaurants, but also some local «dive» bars. San Juan Smokehouse is unique in that it is totally open, serves great drinks, but the food is really on point. Highly recommend!

Servicio excelente y ambiente blues de los 70s! Me encanto el mojito de parcha! Concepto original y buena localizacion, la placita de santurce hello!!!