Great dive bar, wonderful atmosphere to chill and have a beer when enjoying the nightlife. It has a cool dive/haunted feel to it!

Always open. Always Cool. Many a sunrise did I see coming out of this place. You will make friends. Home away from home.

Needed a cold drink and stopped by for a cold Medalla. Awesome time with Jazmin. Great customer service. Great service. Great beers. Great prices. read more

Great Dive Bar! Pool table, beer in cans, grafetti, big puddle of water in bathroom, and Floyd on the juke box. What else could you ask for?

As a drunk and a sailor, I have not felt so home in a bar in years. Bring singles for the jukebox and bigger for the bartenders. read more

Your dive bar of choice in Viejo San Juan. Feels like the go-to bar for grad students in the area

Great dive bar in old San Juan where you feel like Hunter Thompson would write a letter while sweating away the afternoon with a rum on ice. It's a punk vibe for sure, so don't expect any table service or food or anything. The bathroom is terrible but why the heck would you go here for that? The prices are perfect and the jukebox is full of hipster classics. read more

Best random dive bar around. Cold beer with music and pool tables. Can't beat seeing a fancy hotel across the street while enjoying reasonably priced drinks. read more

Ok dive bar but pricy drinks and unfriendly bartender. 14 dollar shot of rum and unwelcoming bar maid we didn't stay long

It's a beautiful graffiti laden dive bar in Old San Juan, that makes you feel at home. Nothing splashy, just cold beer some mixed drinks & a pool table with a 30 book library. Cristobal the bartender is chill, playing pink Floyd while he smokes a Marlboro & serves you a drink. No frills, an old wooden bar where travelers and locals have etched their names & ceilings where some wilder souls have sharpied theirs. Stairway to Heaven is playing while I finish this review. read more

One of the most magnificent dive bars I've ever been to. Beautiful people. Strong drinks. Great atmosphere. Exactly what I was looking for.

Dumb, drunk college girls love to play Sweet Home Alabama on the jukebox here during Spring Break.

Literally one of the coolest and chill bars in the Old San Juan area. This bar is iconic and has been around for many years. Definitely a dive bar and you can expect to be served local beers and mixed drinks at an affordable price. You come to a place like this for its history, the good customer service and the crowd. Yes, they do serve in plastic cups, but that's almost every bar in the vicinity. The bathrooms are not 5 stars, but you get the job done. This bar is unique and you can literally be here all night and run across so many amazing people and listen to some good tunes in the jukebox. I highly recommend this place - Carlos and Alberto are more than accomodating and hospitable. If you're not a dive bar kind of person there's plenty of boujee places down the road where you can go pay 15$ a drink and have someone wipe you after you pee (I'm talking to you New Jersey). You don't know epic until you've been here! Take it from a local who now lives far away and wishes to have a place like this nearby. read more

How can you love a bar that has walls covered with graffiti, blasts loud music, has people smoking inside, and serves you drinks in plastic cups? Because it's El Batey!! Experience San Juan as the locals enjoy it and meet a few expats that love Puerto Rico and can tell you all the stuff you need to know. This is a happy place that makes you happy when you visit it. read more

This place was awesome!! One of the only bars open on a Monday night in San Juan. I met some pretty awesome people here. It was such a chill atmosphere. read more

Perfect unpretentious bar. My wife and I went right as they opened in the late afternoon--just us, the staff, and an amazingly drunk Liverpudlian. The bartender, Mario, was amazingly nice and poured good, stiff drinks. Glad I stumbled into this place. read more

This place is fantastic from top to bottom. It's super dingy and grimy but in the best possible divey way. In addition to fantastic ambiance, the staff here were really friendly and fun. We came here 3 times over the course of our visit, and every time there was a different bartender, and every time that bartender was super friendly and great. Definitely come here if you're into a divey experience. read more

A rough and tumble looking rock n roll antique of a pirate bar with a laid back vibe and unapologetic seediness. The carved and scored dark wood bar top leans with age from the heavily gratified walls. A lone pool table resides in the back and a rock filled jukebox give some entertainment to the motley crew of tourists and locals that frequent this joint. The bar selection is basic and the drinks are generally stiff, but it's not really the drinks you go for. read more

I love this place. It is easy going, simple, and friendly. Also, the informal (that's being nice) atmosphere can make anyone feel at home. Everyone is there for the same purpose, and thus very friendly. Also, the jukebox is the best you will find anywhere. Someone with good taste in music put some time into it. Definitely my favorite bar in all of Puerto Rico. read more

There's only one El Batey!!! Absolutely the best and most enjoyable bar to spend time in.

Great dive bar in the Old San Juan area. Drinks are cheap and strong. Unique atmosphere with great music.

Well, it does smell ike a dive bar when you walk in, but the drinks were great and so was the company! Very friendly bartender and regulars during the afternoon. read more

Love this place!!!! A must when in San Juan!!!!! Thanks guys for the hangovers! Open late cheap drinks!

This bar reminded me of a grungy indie movie with lots of Spanish sex appeal. We arrived around 8pm to find an old sailor, a drunken couple, and an artsy tattooed woman purchasing cigarettes and pounding shots of Jagermeister at the bar. The walls were discolored with many years of graffiti from bar patrons. The bar tender was also downing shots of tequila behind the counter and dancing to the mix of Dire Straits and other classic rock. We ordered in Spanish, " Me gustaría tener un clásico rum coke. " And down the $3 rum and cokes went, delicious. There's a pool table in the back and plenty of seating in the side room. I feel like a movie could be filmed here, it just has outstanding character for a dive bar. read more

I spent the summer of 1986 working in Old San Juan and El Batey was my favorite bar. From these reviews, I'm pleased to see it hasn't changed much! read more

Love the dedicated grungy vibe. Love the high ceilings with the permanent marker scribblings. Just still in a very touristy area so that always bugs me. But love what the bar stands for. read more

Love this place.... Hole in the wall, best jukebox around. Good little spot and I love it. Sign your name on the wall. Here is why it gets 3 stars.... Service is so slow, you will wait 10 minutes or more for a beer at the bar. Lastly, it's cash only. read more

located next to the beautiful hotel el convento (known for its old world charm) ... this bar is not quite like others. It may seem gloomy, but I like the darker decor here. I havent tasted their drinks since i've only purchased beers here and played pool when i come with friends. It's not as traditional as other fancier bars in OSJ, the lamp shades consist of business cards & graffiti on the walls. It is also usually open later than other bars. read more

What a DIVE! Seriously though after traveling to PR about 6 times in the past 7 years I always have to stop by El Batey to say hi to the owner Davey! If you are lucky enough he will provde you with the ladder so you can climb up it to write your name on the ceiling instead of the wall. That way your inscription won't get covered up. Take two steps in to the place, look up, and find ICEMAN! Service...ughh, nothing special but the drinks are nice and strong. You might even run into a few celebs there (and no, I don't mean a reggaeton rapper). Give it a try for a unique experience. read more

Please don't tell me you made the trip to Old San Juan and didn't have a drink at El Batey. Shame on you privileged jerk. Real Old San Juan Five bar, so many real people and great history and fun as hell. Tell stories and live your life. Don't pretend, live it. Hunter S Thompson conjured up Rum Diaries here. Salud! read more

Really cool spot. Low key. Dive bar. Not trying to be something it isn't like factoria.

A pretty fun, eclectic dive bar. Cheap drinks. Strong (but not very tasty) drinks (in a plastic cup). Some dancing. Pool table. Graffiti. Good mix of locals and tourists. read more

Bar hopping on a Tuesday and heard this place was great . We got there and the bartender had no limes for mojitos, we ordered them any ways and it was awful . The bathrooms were not clean , the group I was with had one drink and we moved on to the next bar. read more

character in spades! this is a superb dive bar with graffiti walls and best jukebox ever (as in surpassed my previously best known one at Frolic Room Hollywood). I asked for a mixed drink with passoa (passion fruit) and got a very delicious "between the sheets" rum drink that was cheaper than a draft at a bar around the corner. The pool table room is kind of a narrow space but they use shortened lighter cues to accommodate. Also be aware there are add-on Puerto Rican rules which add a whole other level of strategy to a regular 8-ball game. Come in, play the juke, play farkle, mingle with locals, play some pool, have a memorable time. I visited this place almost every night of my vacation and met some really cool people. read more

A lot is going on, definitely not a boring ambience! Very dimly lit and a fun place to go to with your friends!

Such a great dive bar with an awesome vibe. I'm allergic to pineapple (I know, it sucks) and I asked the bartender to make me a drink without it. He literally mixed passion fruit juice and Don Q together and it was my favorite drink of the trip. read more

Cheap drinks and a cool vibe. Jukebox added ambiance, and was super fun! A quiet, fun alternative to Old San Juan's bustling nightlife.

Miami needs more places like this. Great dive bar. Interesting characters. Dark ambiance. It even has a juke box. Cash Only. Nothing fancy. Just come in jeans and a t-shirt. People watch and strike up a conversation with the bartender. It was raining the night we ended up in El Batey so there wasn't too many people here, but the people and the decor interesting enough. Good times. read more

Great!!! A must place to start, get locals ideas on what's the best places to go and do.

A great dive bar that is open air. Had a great couple of drinks, a great conversation, then we went on our way. Stop in for a good time