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    Ariel

    3.9 (35 reviews)
    Ultra High-EndFrench, Spanish, Tapas Bars
    Closed 12:00 pm - 3:00 PM, 7:00 PM - 10:00 PM

    Ariel Photos

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    Recommended Reviews - Ariel

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    The menu cover
    Swati S.

    Outstanding food, service and ambience! The fish is flown in fresh daily if it is not caught locally. The portions are generous. The food is just really amazing and high-quality. I loved the cocktails. The sommelier, Jill, was absolutely wonderful and thoughtful with all her recommendations for food and drink. I just can't say enough good things about this fancy dining place in my hotel. Yes it is in the courtyard Marriott but don't let that stop you because this is an independent restaurant and it's phenomenal. I'm going to share pictures so check out the things I ate and drank. And if you go, celebrate a good occasion and have a good time. Please note that you can also sit at the bar and that's a separate little room and it's really nice and intimate for an after dinner drink or dessert.

    Polenta with Mushrooms
    Tori E.

    We were disappointed in our dining experience at Ariel. We're happy to pay a premium price for good food & drinks, but Ariel just isn't good value for money. It's incredibly overpriced for average food. The ambiance & decor is also lacking. The vibe seemed to be tailored more toward older folks. My grandparents would've enjoyed it! Overall, we won't be back. I'd rather go to STK or 1919 in Condado. Pro: * The staff was extremely friendly and attentive. * The polenta with mushrooms side dish was tasty. Cons: * Overpriced * Lacking ambiance * The cushions on the chairs were super dirty. Kinda gross, actually.

    Nafisa A.

    Went as all the reviews were so great. Not sure if management changed, but the service was very OK. They were not very attentive, and slow. But as for the ambience, it was very very nice. The food was mixed as the wagu ribs my husband got was mediocre at best but my salmon and Mac and cheese was absolutely delicious. 4 star only for the salmon and ambience and also one waiter who tried to be as attentive as possible.

    Octopus carpaccio

    Great food, pretty good atmosphere. I ordered the octopus carpaccio and scallops with risotto. They were the best I've ever had. The food is expensive but worth it. It's a fancy place so don't go there with beachwear unless you want dirty looks. This is a special occasion restaurant. Would go back.

    All American breakfast $12 coffee extra

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    1 year ago

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    2 years ago

    Expensive, food is not good and if you want persian food that is good and reasonable prices go to LittLe Persia

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    4 years ago

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    4 years ago

    Love this place. Great service. Green goddess salad dressing is soooooo good. Call ahead for the fried chicken.

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    7 years ago

    Ask the chef (Ariel) when you dine if he can make a multi-course tasting menu omakase so of the produce available to him that day.

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    7 years ago

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    15 years ago

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    Ariel Reviews in Other Languages

    Review Highlights - Ariel

    Augusto's is, at least, one of the finest restaurants I have enjoyed in my several trips to San Juan.

    Mentioned in 3 reviews

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    Santaella - FILETE DE SALMÓN ORIENTAL

    Santaella

    4.3(694 reviews)
    1.4 km
    $$$

    Kept seeing a bunch of reviews on how amazing this place was and honestly it's up there…read more To start off, I'm not really a sweets guy so my take is going to be a little off from the general public. We were able to snag a reservation but for a late time which was about an hour and a half before close. The service was super great but one thing I wished they mentioned that the bottled water was going to be a $40 charge lol. Makes sense for any upscale restaurant though. Should've mentioned we wanted tap so fair warning, ask cause you WILL get charged haha. We had a group of 10 and for how big the group was, the food came out pretty fast. I don't think we ever had a time between drinks to entrees where we were waiting for food to come out. We got the watermelons mojito for drinks since it was the most raved about. It was good but personally nothing crazy for me. 8/10 score on that. We also curry popcorn chicken, the ahi tuna lollipops, the empanadillas and the goat cheese quesadillas for apps and honestly overall 9/10. This is where I don't like the sweetness part of this meal. The empanadillas were what I was most excited for but it was more sweet then savory which sort of lose my appetite a little. I think if you like that kind of taste then it's going to be good. It wasn't a bad taste at all. Just too sweet for my liking. The curry popcorn chicken was good and the lollipops were great. Again, nothing crazy. The goat cheese quesadillas was good as well but again, too sweet for my liking. Now on to the entree, they didn't have the porkchop since we came late so I ended up getting the porkchop belly dish. When it came out, it looked amazing but then I got a whiff of it and smelled cinnamon. That's when I was sort of disappointed. It was like eating pork but tasting Cinnamon Toast Crunch and as said before, it tasted great but too sweet for me. This one was way too sweet to where it seemed like a dessert item. I just had poor luck and got one of the one items that were sweet. This doesn't tank the rating down whatsoever because I also should've read it had cinnamon. It would've been great if they made a dipping sauce or something to pair it with and not have it on the pork belly itself. I got to try other dishes my friends got which were good as well but I wish I got to try something else. If I came back I would try the sold out item which was the pork shank or the sea bass. I know for a fact the sea bass was amazing. Had a bite of it and thought "I'll come back for that" Overall, 10/10 experience and nothing bad about the place but gotta try different items when I go next time. I understand the hype now

    My friend travels to PR occasionally for work and this time I decided to tag along. Both being…read morefoodies, she only made one reservation and that was to her favorite San Juan restaurant, Santaella. Not only that, she made it weeks in advance because reservations are hard to come by. We arrived for dinner before reservation time and we attempted to open the front door. It was locked, so we along with two other couples, walked to see if there was a side entrance.. Nope! We kept walking to the rear and stopped a random parking lot attendant that shirt had a different restaurant's name on it. He asked us if we had reservations for Santaella and we said yes, and he directed us to a rear entrance. Once inside, my friend realized this was NOT Santaellas but a rooftop restaurant with an entirely different name. Visibly perturbed, she asked our server QUESTIONS! He said, it's the same restaurant, however, only the rooftop is open on Sundays and it's named Azotea.. WHAT?!? LOL! Because we took an Uber, we decided to stay a while. The menu was extremely limited, but we decided to try the Tamarind margaritas, which were really good, along with two appetizers, the tuna lollipops and the pulled pork quesadilla. Both VERY good, but the dinner menu was lacking. That said, I suggested we go to STK for the seafood tower that I had my eye on the evening before, so we exited stage right! Shame on Santaella for accepting reservations through Open Table knowing full well they are not open. I'm giving them two stars because Azotea was decent but it definitely wasn't what she was going for!

    Photos
    Santaella - Dinning room area

    Dinning room area

    Santaella - Tomatoes with Parmesan Cheese Ice Cream

    Tomatoes with Parmesan Cheese Ice Cream

    Santaella - Pulpo Parrilla

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    Pulpo Parrilla

    Cocina Abierta - Second Course

    Cocina Abierta

    4.4(744 reviews)
    1.2 km
    $$$$

    PHENOMENAL This is…read morenot just a restaurant, this is a dining experience. This is upscale elegance in a relaxed environment. This is global techniques blended with locally sourced Puerto Rican ingredients. From the moment you walk in, you feel welcome. I was there to celebrate my birthday (a reservation is a must). I asked if I could be seated in a different section of the restaurant, and even though they were packed, they said absolutely and found me a lovely seat in the bar area. The staff is knowledgeable and attentive. I suffer from severe food allergies but wanted to experience their tasting menu. My server spoke to the chef directly and then took the time to walk me through every option. I TRULY appreciated that they did not take anything off the menu but rather told me how they could adjust for my allergies. That is very rare and so very much appreciated that they went that extra mile for me. I highly recommend the tasting menu. It's 5 courses and they give you 3 options to choose from, within each course. And for the price ($85), a great value. Everything was delicious but I highly recommend the Breadfruit Gnocchi, Rainbow Runner Crudo, and Criollo Duck Mofongo. Chefs kiss! What I also noticed was, even though they were insanely busy, they didn't make you feel rushed. The invited you to savor the experience - which I did. Next time you are in San Juan, make a reservation and go. You won't be disappointed!

    4.5 stars. Cocina Abierta was one of the better meals of our trip. The food was excellent overall,…read morewith the lone exception being the empanadas, which were simply too salty. Everything else was very well done. The two of us split one order of the five-course tasting menu plus an additional starter, and it ended up being a nice light meal. Had we each ordered our own tasting menu, it would have been far more food than we wanted...something we found to be a fairly common theme with portion sizes throughout Puerto Rico. The standout of the evening was the Criollo Duck Mofongo, which was absolutely exquisite and easily the best mofongo we had on our trip by far. The cocktails were tasty and unique, but a bit small for the price. This definitely isn't an every-night kind of restaurant...the prices are on the higher side. But if you're looking to splurge a little, it's a fun place to do it.

    Photos
    Cocina Abierta - Bar

    Bar

    Cocina Abierta - Snook

    Snook

    Cocina Abierta - FRESH LOCAL CATCH CEVICHE - Leche de tigre | avocado chips

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    FRESH LOCAL CATCH CEVICHE - Leche de tigre | avocado chips

    Ariel - french - Updated July 2026

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