Highway 3 is lined with an insignificant parade of roadside businesses peddling endless goods and services that can prove almost confounding. Knowing where to stop and eat is suspect at best until nearing Luquillo Beach. When approaching the turn-off from the west, you can't miss the elongated row of clapboard shacks and stands lining the beach. Once turning under the highway overpass, take another left, before the beach entrance, to find some of the best eats on the island!
This unnamed Restaurant Row is like a beachside food court with no less than 25 dining options to choose from. Local government has organized and licensed these renegade vendors which have long-earned meager livings preparing and serving food roadside. Where pulling-in, the first five or so eateries obviously draw the most amount of traffic, and are where I recommend simply because volume guarantees food hasn't set there all day. Otherwise, selections and prices were basically the same when stuffing myself three different times and places.
Catching one's attention will be the glass cases filled with deep-fried items know as Pastelitos. They're an island favorite, costing anywhere from .50-cents to $2, and come in a large variety. The long, thin morsels are Puerto Rican Tacos with spicey lobster, shrimp or chicken tightly wrapped in flakey pastry dough, and deep-fried. Darker colored pieces are Alcapurrias; a spicey ground beef mixture inside fried ground cassava and yatuia. Papa de Relleno has ground beef stuffed inside fried mashed potatoes, or the Piononos, looking like a small sandwich, have the same beef mixture stuffed inside mashed sweet plantain. Most places have items clearly marked, and a trio of these can more than satisfy as an inexpensive meal.
Entrees included grilled and stewed versions of beef, chicken, fish and seafoods served with rice, beans and a coke for $7.50. Every restaurant has a full-service bar, and stationary/roving vendors sell everything from oyster shooters, candies and cocos frios to the standard fare of beach junk foods and accessories. Some places had pool tables and music for dancing; the party escalating on weekends. There's free parking within walking distance of Luquillo Beach. The beach area, directly behind the restaurants, stays crowded and heavily littered.
If hankering for Puerto Rican cuisine but the beach restaurants are a bit too authentic, continue east on Highway 3, to the intersection of Fajardo, and take a left. El Pollo Tropical, in the shopping plaza on the right, is the island's fast food version of home-cooked comida creolle. House specialty is carbon-grilled chicken, but I've always opted for the succulent garlic-marinated pork roast, which was now also served on a loaded sandwich with grilled onions and sweet sauces, and fries with drink for $5.99. Other sides include rice, beans, tostones, boiled yucca and numerous island favorites. Selections are a la carte, or served in value meals which can even be super-sized; a large combo meal costing $6.84.