Gustitos Criollos

Right off the main road to San Juan, this wonderful local restaurant was a delightful surprise. The food, served cafeteria style, is fresh and flavorful with generous proportions. We had the steak, cooked so tender and juicy with peppers and a chimichurri sauce. And the chicken breast with peppers and onions was tender, juicy and delicious. Many different sides accompany the main, and the rice and beans were equally top notch. For excellent, fresh, delicious comida criolla go here.
The manager/​host was very welcoming, bringing us samples of the lasagne (yum) and suggesting beef stew broth to accompany our rice. Very friendly and generous service. We will definitely return.

Ordered double meat plus two side combos. Food here has a very unique homely taste, like the smells and tastes of grandma’s cooking during thanksgiving break. Unfortunately I came close to the shops close, so I was left with only a few choices. The food that I did chose tasted good and the meals were pretty inexpensive, despite the hefty portions. If I came during peak hours this would have gotten 4 stars.

Un buen lugar para comer. La comida es rica, no se tardan mucho en servir, pero a mí en lo personal se me hizo caro para almorzar. $ 10 por un almuerzo es un poco caro, aparte de eso todo muy rico.

I come here all the time. As you expect for a place that serves a lot of different plates, not every food is perfect, but most stuff will be at least well above average. However, one thing I can always count on is the delicious Rice & Beans, which is as good as it gets. Price wise, it isn’t actually the cheapest place in Arecibo, there are few food trucks and fonditas that are cheaper, but Gustitos really has a great balance between quality, a clean comfortable setting and variety.

Fantastic food, friendly staff, and very reasonably priced! The people were friendly and helpful with us non Spanish speakers and went out of their way to make us feel welcome.

We left Fajardo early to get to Arecibo without hitting too much San Juan traffic. We had some time to kill and were ready for breakfast, so we found this place via a small but consistently positive number of reviews. Breakfast was sort of ad-​hoc: no menu, just discussion such as «we can do this, we can do that.» Three of us had omelets, one had a ham, egg and cheese sandwich; all had coffee. It was all delicious. The coffee was served as a latte, complete with artwork in the steamed milk’s foam. And cheap, less than $ 2 per cup!
By the time we headed back from our day at the Observatory and Cueva Ventana (Window Cave) we were starving. Hey, why don’t we hit that same place since they serve lunch cafeteria style? Definitely the best meal for the money of our entire week+ trip to PR. Pork chop, chicken Alfredo, and chicken breast stuffed with mofongo and wrapped in bacon. Their $ 8 pork chop (with two sides) beat the $ 20 one I had at a fancy restaurant a few nights earlier. (In fact I didn’t even have to pay for that one at all because it was gristly and over cooked.) my family raved about their meals. Our bill: only $ 36! The owner’s daughter came over to personally thank us for our business and offered us free dessert and coffee. We were stuffed but who turns down free dessert? Certainly not us, cuz ‘Murica!
Also worthy of note beyond the excellent food and affordable prices is the cleanliness. Staff were constantly cleaning the emptied tables and other common areas. A real gem of a restaurant; if you’re passing by you should stop for sure, but it’s even worth going out of your way.

Tremendo lugar. La comida es exelente. Variedad aunque me encanta su lasagna y canelones. Todo es muy bueno y las chicas que atienden son muy complacientes.

We followed the wisdom of the crowd, and in this case the crowd was right! This may have been the most satisfying meal of our trip — and this includes the tasting menus at 3 of the top rated San Juan restaurants. The staff was so friendly, and the pride in their offerings as evident. Every offering from the mains to the sides was crafted with a focus on flavor. A few standouts include the pork loin with chimichurri, the bean side, and a plaintain crusted fried chicken breast. The value was beyond belief — 3 of us ate enough for two meals for less than $ 30. It was so good we were tempted to make the 1 hour drive from San Juan on our last day there just to have one more meal here.

We followed the wisdom of the crowd (this is a top rated restaurant on other sites), and in this case the crowd was right! This may have been the most satisfying meal of our trip — and this includes the tasting menus at 3 of the top rated San Juan restaurants. The staff was so friendly, and the pride in their offerings as evident. Every offering from the mains to the sides was crafted with a focus on flavor. A few standouts include the pork loin with chimichurri, the bean side, and a plaintain crusted fried chicken breast. The value was beyond belief — 3 of us ate enough for two meals for less than $ 30. It was so good we were tempted to make the 1 hour drive from San Juan on our last day there just to have one more meal here.

Amazing. Clean and friendly inside, but the best part is the food! It is SO GOOD. Don’t let the neighborhood scare you away. Parking can be hard to find but trust me, inside there’s plenty of seating and new friends. We saw that it was cafeteria-​style and almost didn’t go… fools! We were on our way from San Juan to Cueva Ventana and this was perfectly in between for our honeymoon adventures. My husband said the ribs were the best he’s had and I love love loved the pastelon de amarillos y carne molida. The woman behind the register was so nice, she gave us a little sample of (I think) carne de res estofada and it was GREAT! If you are traveling out that way, you must stop in. Thank you wonderful Gustitos Criollos!

This place is not reviewed enough! It is a classic cafeteria style restaurant with fantastic home style Puerto Rican food. If you want to try as many new things as you can, this is the way. They are friendly and helpful even during the lunch rush when packed full of hungry locals. It was cream and comfortable and I am overly full from a great meal.

I do not even know where to start! We read amazing reviews, and the locals agreed that it was the best restaurant in the Area. We drove for two hours to go there, it was so highly recommended that we thought it was worth the trip. When we arrived the owners were getting ready for an event and the restaurant was closed. The owner, apologized and offered to cook for us, if we allowed him the time. We left and returned to find the most amazing food. The chicken filled with mofongo was perfect. The rice was cooked to perfection. Every single bite was a taste of haven. The ingredients are fresh, and since the restaurant was closed for the day, the owner let us walk around the kitchen, which was impeccable! The owners were so kind and generous that they refused to charge us for the food!!! HOWEVER I did look at the menu, and the prices are extremely low. This is a family owned restaurant, the labor of love, and it shows in their food!

This place is really good and affordable. The staff speak English well and are super friendly. This is a must stop for folks headed to observatory or caves.

Plate is around 10 bucks and food is really good… you most try the potatoe salad, it is real good. Parking is kind of hard to find since it is always full (as most of good places to go)
Restaurant is real nice to go with your family.

Not sure how this place hasn’t been reviewed yet.
We stopped by here on our way to the Arecibo Observatory and various caves. It’s right off the 22 highway on Rte 2. You’ll have to make a U-​turn if coming from 22 since it’s on the left side of the road. Parking is a little weird, but I think you can park in the lot next to it because finding a spot out front was tough.
This appears to be frequented almost solely by locals. The food is served cafeteria style and we got by with limited spanish. Get in line, grab a tray, order your food, and then sit down and enjoy.
The food we had was great. There’s a lot to choose from. I had the stuffed chicken with yellow rice and tostones (smashed and fried plantains). The fiancé had the turkey (pavochon) with gravy, white rice and plantains. Everything was great and the prices were very reasonable (I think it was like $ 12 – 14 for everything).
Also note, the location shown by the map here isn’t correct. The restaurant is on the south side of Rte 2 when you are heading west after getting off Highway 22. It’s between calle A and calle D. There’s a baseball field right across the street from it on the north side of Rte 2.
It’s like a half block west on Rte 2 from this address:
Iglesia Muralla de Fe
1722 Santana
Arecibo, PR 612
Correct address is: GPS 18.443 229,-66.640 340 (204 – 228 PR-​2, Arecibo, PR 612, Estados Unidos de América)