Every year, tourists flock down to Puerto Rico to get some R&R, feed their wild side and let loose in Puerto Rico’s pulsating nightlife. But no trip to Puerto Rico is complete without having a go at the food. Festivals like the Saborea Puerto Rico Culinary Festival, chefs like Wilo Bennet and Iron Chef Roberto Treviño have turned Puerto Rico into one of the hottest culinary destinations in the Caribbean.
We could go on and on about Puerto Rico’s cuisine and mainstream restaurants, but not today. It’s time to delve into a world where plates are a challenge to eat and would leave a giant begging for mercy. Although they’re just a handful, these epic eateries are more than just fun for the whole family, they’re actually DELICIOUS! Think you’re ready for the challenge?
Restaurante El Quijote
Named after the famous Cervantes novel, the giants at Restaurante El Quijote are not a figment of your imagination. The menu at this quaint Cayey restaurant is pretty standard but they don’t call it the “Home of The Biggest Burger Challenge” for nothing. Standing at a whopping 3 pounds, the Quijote burger is huge! Made with 100% lean beef and served with a hefty side of homemade fries, this jumbo-sized patty is not for the faint of heart. Eat it in 90 minutes or less and the burger is on the house. You also get an “I conquered the Quijote Burger” t-shirt, a certificate with your name and time it took you to defeat the burger and a spot on the coveted Wall of Fame. Only 10 lionhearted burger lovers have conquered the Quijote Burger, with the current record being an astounding 26 minutes! Swing by Restaurante El Quijote and take the Quijote Burger Challenge by yourself or share it with your friends, there’s plenty to go around.
Click here to find your way there.
La Casa de los Pastelillos
Welcome to heaven, golden and crispy heaven! La Casa de los Pastelillos or House of Turnovers, is a family owned restaurant in the sizzling Porta Caribe town of Guayama. It’s been comfortably sitting right on the beach in the Pozuelo sector for the past 8 years, serving everything from fresh red snapper filled with rice and crab to juicy 12oz. skirt steaks. But it’s not their seafood or their meat that brings hungry visitors in by the carloads; it’s their turnovers.
Typically, a turnover is between 3 to 6 inches long, but La Casa de los Pastelillos is no run-of-the-mill restaurant. Eight years ago, they started making foot-long turnovers in their beachfront restaurant and success soon followed. On weekends, hungry locals and tourists eagerly pack the tables at the wooden outdoor terrace for a taste of the famous 12-inch turnovers. It doesn’t matter what your taste in food is, there’s fried goodness for everyone. They offer the standard fillings like ground beef, shrimp, chicken and even lobster! For the more adventurous palate, you can try the feisty crocodile or shark filled empanadas (don’t worry, they won’t bite back) or the 7 Potencias, a mix of octopus, shrimp, conch, crab, trunk fish, clams AND calamari said to cure everything from a cold to the worst hangover. After you’re done chowing down, take a nap on the hammocks and enjoy the cool ocean breeze compliments of the Caribbean Sea. If you want to have one of the most unique turnovers in the Caribbean, follow this map.
Vaca Brava
Barranquitas is a quiet, rural town in the Central Region of Puerto Rico. The winding roads that lead to it offer spectacular panoramic views of Puerto Rico’s mountain landscapes. The people are friendly and the atmosphere is relaxed. There aren’t many activities or attractions, but one restaurant changed all this and has become more than just the talk of the town: Vaca Brava.
If you were to describe Vaca Brava, or Fierce Cow, you could say it’s a steak house gone mad. Everything in Vaca Brava is HUGE! With dishes like the Barney Ruble, a towering rack of ribs surrounded by a sea of french fries or the Cow Totem Pole, a massive chicken breast wrapped in skirt steak and bacon, Vaca Brava is a sanctuary for meat lovers. Their signature Vaca Acostá (The Sleeping Cow) dish is a challenge to eat, literally. In The Sleeping Cow challenge, you have 40 minutes to eat 8 pounds of flame grilled sirloin steak and a pound of oh-so-crispy french fries that form a sort of bed for the meat to rest on. Survive the challenge and you get a t-shirt and a crisp $100 but so far only 3 people have been able to put the cow to sleep. Think you’re up to the challenge? Here’s the map that will get you there.
Check out Vaca Brava in this episode of Travel Channel’s Man vs. Food.
Questions? Comments? Drop us a line and we’ll be happy to help!