Best Dining Bets

Best Classic Creole Cooking -- In his new location in Old Town's Museum of Art of Puerto Rico, Chef Wilo Benet at Pikayo, Av. José de Diego 299 (tel. 787/721-6194), holds forth. He's a master specialist in the criolla cooking of the colonial age, emphasizing the Spanish, Indian, and African elements in his unusual recipes.

Best Wine List -- The luxurious Vineyard Room in the dazzling Ritz-Carlton, 6961 State Road #187, Isla Verde (tel. 787/253-1700), serves a refined California/Mediterranean cuisine, but we'd go there just for the wine list. The countries best represented on the wine carte are France, Australia, Germany, Italy, Spain, and even South Africa. The California selection will make you think you're back in the Napa Valley. There is also a good selection of the increasingly fashionable wines from Chile.

Best French Cuisine -- Against a Moorish and Andalusian background, Trois Cent Onze, 311 Calle Fortaleza (tel. 787/725-7959), serves a classic French cuisine with many innovative overtones. Great attention is paid to color, flavor, and texture of each dish.

Best for a Romantic Dinner -- Out in Miramar, Augusto's Cuisine, in the Hotel Excelsior, Av. Ponce de León 801 (tel. 787/725-7700), lies on the 15th floor of this hotel, offering a stunning and panoramic view of San Juan at night. Not only that, it serves one of the best French and international cuisines in the Caribbean, backed up by an extensive wine list.

Best Nuevo Latino Cuisine -- Parrot Club, Calle Fortaleza 363 (tel. 787/725-7370), wows tastebuds with its modern interpretation of Puerto Rican specialties. Even San Juan's mayor and the governor have made it their favorite. Husband-and-wife team Emilio Figueroa and Gigi Zafero borrow from a repertoire of Puerto Rican and Spanish recipes, and they also use Taíno and African influences in their cuisine. Their ceviche is the best in town, and their Créole-style flank steak is worth the trek from Condado Beach.

Best Burgers -- Patrons freely admit that El Patio de Sam, Calle San Sebastián 102 (tel. 787/723-1149), is not always on target with its main dishes. But they agree on one thing: The hamburgers are the juiciest and most delectable in San Juan. The Old Town atmosphere is also intriguing -- you almost expect to encounter Bogey and Bacall.

Best Asopao -- Soul food to Puerto Ricans, asopao is the regional gumbo, made in as many different ways as there are chefs on the island. Some versions are too thick to be called soup, such as the seafood variety at La Bombonera, Calle San Francisco 259 (tel. 787/722-0658), in San Juan's Old Town, which is more like a stew. One popular version of asopao includes pigeon peas, although the one with chicken is better known.

Best Spanish Cuisine -- You'd have to go all the way to Madrid to find Spanish food as well prepared as it is at Ramiro's, Av. Magdalena 1106 (tel. 787/721-9049). The chefs take full advantage of fresh island produce to create an innovative cuisine. In fact, the style is New Creole, although its roots are firmly planted in Spain. Their fresh fish and chargrilled meats are succulent, and any dessert with the strawberry-and-guava sauce is a sure palate pleaser.

Best Local Cuisine -- Devoted to la cocina criolla, the term for the often starchy local cuisine, Ajili Mójili, Av. Ashford 1006 (tel. 787/725-9195), features food that islanders might have enjoyed in their mama's kitchens. Try such specialties as mofongos (green plantains stuffed with veal, chicken, shrimp, or pork) or the most classic arroz con pollo (stewed chicken with saffron rice) in town.

Best Hotel Restaurant -- In 1997 San Juan City Magazine bestowed best hotel restaurant status on Ristorante Tuscany in the San Juan Marriott Resort, Av. Ashford 1309 (tel. 787/722-7000). It has continued to maintain high standards that won it the accolade in the first place. We've found it even better in the early 21st century than it was in the 1990s. The chef searches the markets for some of the best and freshest ingredients to whip into succulent northern Italian cuisine that is smooth and refined to the palate.

Best Italian Restaurant -- In Wyndham El San Juan Hotel & Casino, La Piccola Fontana, Av. Isla Verde 6063 (tel. 787/791-0966), takes you on a culinary tour of sunny Italy. Plate after plate of delectable northern Italian food is presented nightly -- everything from grilled filets of fresh fish to succulent pastas. Service is first-rate, and the welcome warm.

Best Late-Night Dining -- If you have hunger pangs late at night, forget the fast-food joints and head to Amadeus, Calle San Sebastián 106 in Old San Juan (tel. 787/722-8635). It offers Caribbean ingredients deftly handled with a nouvelle twist. And it does so Tuesday through Sunday until midnight. An attractive, trendy, generally young crowd arrives late to feast on the refined cuisine, enjoying such delights as Cajun-grilled mahimahi.

Best Family Meals -- Ciao Mediterranean Café, in the InterContinental San Juan Resort & Casino, Av. Isla Verde 5961 (tel. 787/791-5000), offers an excellent and reasonably priced menu. Many tables are placed on a private boardwalk adjacent to the beach. Pizza and pasta are favorite dishes, and you can also choose from a large selection of other Mediterranean fare.

Best Pizza -- At Via Appia, Av. Ashford 1350 (tel. 787/725-8711), you should try the special: a delectable blend of sausages, onions, mushrooms, pepperoni, green pepper, and bubbling cheese. Or sample a pizza with meatballs or one with vegetarian ingredients.

Best Sunday Brunch -- Both locals and American visitors flock to Palmera at the Caribe Hilton, Calle Los Rosales (tel. 787/721-0303), for its delectable all-you-can-eat Sunday brunch. Good food, glamour, and live music are combined here. The freshly prepared seafood alone is worth the set price, which includes champagne.

Best Aphrodisiac Cuisine -- Take someone special to Ostra Cosa, Calle del Cristo 154 (tel. 787/722-2672), for a night of romance. Even if you aren't in the mood, the owner promises that you will be after consuming his dishes, which are "chock-full of aphrodisiacs." All the food is guaranteed to enhance your performance in the bedroom.

Best Ice Cream -- On a cobble-covered street in Old San Juan, Ben & Jerry's, Calle del Cristo 61 (tel. 787/977-6882), is a block from the landmark cathedral, Catedral de San Juan, across from the entrance to the El Convento Hotel. This North American chain offers the best ice cream in San Juan. Any of the 32 flavors -- 10 of them low-fat -- taste particularly good on hot, steamy days, when their names, such as Chubby Hubby and Phish Food, seem especially ironic and/or flavorful, depending on your point of view.

Best Drinks -- Even when we're just in San Juan waiting for plane connections and have time available, we take a taxi to Maria's, Calle del Cristo 204 (tel. 787/721-1678), in Old San Juan, for the coolest and most original drinks in the city. On a hot day, there is no finer place to enjoy a mixed-fruit frappé; a banana, pineapple, or chocolate frost; or an orange, papaya, or lime freeze.