Field notes · Puerto Rico

I'm going to San Juan. Tell me where to go.

November 3–10, 2026 San Juan, Puerto RicoBy Eric Tomchik

Know someone who knows San Juan?

On November 3rd I land in San Juan, and I'm there through the 10th. I'm going as an advisor — which means I'll be walking the streets, eating in the places locals actually go back to, and coming home with the kind of specifics you can't get from a booking site's description. But eight days is eight days, and the best of anywhere is almost never the thing sitting at the top of a search result.

So I'm asking you first. Whether you've lived in Puerto Rico your whole life, went once in 2011 and never forgot one meal, or you're a client who's about to send me your own trip questionnaire — put your recommendation on the board below. It takes about twenty seconds and you don't need an account.

What I'm hoping to find: the kiosko worth the drive, the beach that's still quiet at 4pm, the bar where somebody's actually playing, the corner of Old San Juan that isn't a cruise-ship queue, and the one day trip you'd tell a friend not to skip. Tell me what to order. Tell me what to avoid. Tell me the thing that only works if you go on a Tuesday.

Then upvote the recommendations you agree with — the ones the crowd backs are the ones that go on my actual itinerary, and I'll publish where I ended up and what it was really like when I'm back. If you leave your email when you add a rec, I'll send you that write-up directly.

The San Juan board

Add a place, or back one that's already here. Open to everyone — no account, no login, no email required.

  • Nothing on the board yet.

    Be the first — the first recommendation is the one that gets used.

Open thread

Prefer to talk it through rather than file a single place? Comment below — it's the same conversation as this post in the Journal.

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