Open-air, small, under wood awning in front yard of a normal cement house. Excellent food and service, good prices, but terrible location right on road with traffic and loud sound trucks.
ETYMOLOGY: "Water Tower" Named for steel water tank on top of a cement base, total of about 50 feet high, directly across the road (see Historic Landmark).
very small (see Layout)
"Roadside Gourmet" [Yelp, Parguera Pirate review #561 [1], submitted 15 February 2016] Review was cut to fit Yelp. See entire review on TripAdvisor.
MY RATING: Very, Very Good (4.6/5)
(787) 823-1118
RESERVATIONS: no; TAKE OUT: no; DELIVERY: no; CATERING: no
2-9 pm Monday, Wednesday, Thursday; 2-11 pm Friday; 11 am-11 pm Saturday; 11 am-8 pm Sunday
OWNERS: Erik Vásquez and Lizceidy Ruíz
CHEF: Joito
#17 Calle Cambija, Barrio Pueblo, Rincon, Puerto Rico 00667
18°20'19.88"N, 67°15'13.66"W
From the south, turn off PR 115 onto Calle B at the first Y intersection in town and it is in the turn where Calla B becomes Calle Cambijo on the left across from the water tower and before the public beach. From the north, on PR 115 pass the central square in town, then turn right onto Calle A, right at the dead-end, onto Calle B, and the same as above.
Have driven past this place for many years. Finally, stopped for lunch.
Parking on the street used to jam up the street all the time. Now they have a private lot between the public beach and the restaurant with a shuttle bus to the restaurant. We did not know about the lot and parked on the street. Police stopped to check illegal parking, while we were in the restaurant.
VIEW: Water Tower and street
Open, grubby street and always crowded. Not exactly a quaint sidewalk café. In a run down residential area.
Four high tables on street sidewalk under 2 umbrellas; 1 high table under restaurant awning (where we sat), 8 wood picnic tables with built-in benches, bar on back right with 10 chairs
Open to busy street, front yard of a cement house, tables small, square, on metal post with Formica top; chairs metal and plastic; shark jaws, hanging poinsettias, fans high on posts
Fish-of-the-day, Soup-of-the-day, and special appetizers and entrees
Happy Hour 5-7 pm Monday, Wednesday-Friday
My First Mate has Coronas with lime. They had neither Sprite Zero nor Coke Zero. Diet Coke came warm in 16 oz bottle with a large, soft, plastic glass full of ice; had to ask for more ice.
BAR: full service
bottled water only
Seafood, International, Nuevo Puerto Rican
Medium-weight stainless, white porcelain plates, teaspoon served with soup (bad)
Stingray [A] turnover, Lionfish [B] Turnover, fish, churrasco, ribs, seafood mix, pork cutlets, tacos, fish burger, tortillas, salad, burritos, ceviche. They have had rabbit and shark on the menu, previously.
Excellent, attentive, friendly, knowledgeable, helpful, waiter, Justin Kiene. One owner checked on us twice. There were 4 waiters in this small space bumping into each other.
Four Shrimp Spring Rolls with Kimchee Aioli sauce were very good (special).
SOUP: roasted garlic tomato was good
Wanton Salad with Ginger Sesame Dressing was very good, but could have had more varied greens.
Black Squid-Ink Rice with 2 freshwater prawns, 6 small clams, 2 octopuses; and a filet of Wahoo in a banana leaf with 3-cheese, spinach fondue (special) (photo) was wonderous.
SERVING TIME: Good. Asked for spring rolls to come with meal, but served first, anyway. No problem.
DESERT: have none
Someone in a new Spiderman costume stopped in a red pickup, sound truck, got out, posed, and drove away (photo).
#1 in Rincon (2016, TripAdvisor)
More expensive than local seafood, but well worth the quality.
MADE IN USA: Stainless from Brazil, plates from China
sound trucks blared past on the street
HEALTH:
(I) Flies were irritating at times
They need a better locality.
Certificate of Excellence (2016, TripAdvisor)
rated Very, Very Good, 4.65/5, 611 reviews (TripAdvisor); Very, Very Good, 4.5/5, 131 reviews (Yelp); Very, Very Good, 4.6/5, 17 reviews, 61 mini-reviews, 70 votes (FaceBook); Excellent, 4.8/5, 19 mini-reviews, 10 votes (Google); Very Good, 4.25/5, 1 review, 2 mini-reviews, 1 vote (GoGoBot)
A family-owned business for more than 20 years. We have been driving by it for 20 years just thinking it was a very popular bar causing traffic jams. Up until 7 years ago, it was just a pincho stand and a bar. Renovated in 2014 (?) including adding the wood roof.
HISTORIC LANDMARK: The water tower was built in 1872 and served steam locomotives on the old railroad system.
[1] Plus thousands of unnumbered, critical article and book reviews for hundreds of journals. TripAdvisor, 22,000 points
SPECIES:
[A] Southern Stingray, Dasyatus americanus, is the same species petted at many Caribbean tourist localities. However, it is good to eat.
[B] Red Lionfish, Pterois volitans, is the only species we have examined in the Caribbean. It is a Indo-Pacific exotic species read more