Now for those of you not familiar with Raices, let me warn you that you will get vastly different opinions on what people think of the place. I hear the phrases touristy and tourist trap thrown around. Although I can understand why people think Raices is a tourist trip the reality is Raices is authentic Puerto Rican.
While the decor of the restaurant definitely looks as if it was played up for tourists, this place is the real deal. In fact, this is actually the second location of the restaurant. The first location is in Caguas, Puerto Rico which isn’t the most touristy place on the island. Furthermore I would say there were no more than a half dozen non-locals in the restaurant on that night.
The reason I say I can understand someone thinking it was a tourist trap is because the staff wears what I guess would be historically traditional Puerto Rican clothing. Also the walls are painted with murals and the place does have a certain cheesy appeal.
Onto the food
I ordered a steak and seafood dish and my girlfriend ordered chicken and Mofongo. I am no expert on Puerto Rican food so I am unqualified to determine how well prepared the food was, but I will say that I was definitely satisfied with what I had. While my steak was clearly inferior quality (was expected) to what I am used to eating the seafood was spot on. When the two were married together it became a winning combination. I also had the pleasure of ingesting what may have been the best Pina Colada I have ever drank. All in all I would say Raices was a hit and would recommend it for anyone looking for a place to have a moderately priced sit down dinner in Old San Juan.
After dinner we walked around Old San Juan for a bit including our customary walk along the waters edge. I love the sight of cruise ships at night not to mention its a good way to burn off some of the one billion calories that Pina Colada undoubtedbly contained. Next we headed back to the hotel, walked around the grounds for a bit and then headed to bed.
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[...] looking at the various crafts for sale, hitting the casino in the Old San Juan and another visit to Raices for lunch. It was a nice way to end our March Carnival Victory cruise as it was very relaxing. [...]