Also known as A'Huevo, I was so happy to see Tradicion Quetzal! Mexican cuisine typically has a healthy amount of herbs, onions, spices, and even veggies. I desperately needed this after Mallorcas galore! Time is a bit fluid so they will open up a half hour late, but their happy hour deals run all night long, and every night. Some of the food will be fresh, and some will be less desirable. But I'm not mad I stopped here- Ya can't really beat two margaritas for $10 and two tacos for $7. The chicken is dry, so opt for the pork tacos. Request for the cook to go easy on the salt on every dish, especially with the fish. read more

And on our final night in Old San Juan, a bit weary of mofongo and filetes en ajillo, we tentatively sought out what Yelp led us to believe is the area's best Mexican food. My partner is Mexican and I'm a world traveler who has eaten Mexican food cooked by Mexicans (partners, suegras, cooks, sister in laws, etc) for 14 years. I don't want to see yellow cheese and any sort of lettuce on my tacos. Like everywhere in San Juan, the atmosphere is rustic burned out bar, aka perfect. The woman running the front of the house was casual and friendly, and unlike some of our dining experiences here, prompt and attentive. We ordered the special mole enchiladas and alhambre, plus elotes, drinks and desert. The menu is something I would be excited to explore in the United States, lots of traditional dishes including several moles, birria, cochinita pibil, tacos, etc. It's southern Mexican cuisine, and when we learned the chef is from Puebla it made perfect sense. The food was excellent. After days without spicy anything (why does everywhere offer Tabasco?) we were excited to have three homemade hot sauces brought to our table. The mole was very special, and I've eaten like six kinds of mole in Oaxaca. Enchiladas with perfectly done vegetables covered half in white and half in the more traditional dark/mole Poblano. I wish I could recreate it over and over at home. My partner's food was also excellent, and everything we saw coming out looked great. So sad we can't come again soon. read more

Found this place by accident, and decided to give it a try. It was a Friday night and the place was a little empty so we were able to be seated right away. Our waitress was polite, and brought us our drinks and took our order. I ordered the pork quesadilla, my boyfriend ordered the chicken quesadilla. It took a whole hour from the time we ordered it, to the time it got to our table for our food to arrive. But I must say the quesadillas were really good! Was it worth the wait? No, but they were still tasty. I'd come back but only if I have the time. read more

Tradicion Quetzal - I asked for extra cilantro - Bars Near Me - San Juan, Puerto Rico

I highly recommend visiting Tradición Quetzal if you are in the Old San Juan area! They have, quite honestly, the best Mexican food I have ever had (and I grew up in Florida and now live in NYC so I know good Mexican when I taste it!) The space is very clean, the staff is so friendly and you simply cannot go wrong with anything you try on their menu. Their Bloody Mary's are handcrafted to perfection and you MUST try the setas enchipotladas! Trust me, you won't regret it. I now have memories I will hold dear for years to come. read more

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Great tequila selection. Enchiladas with mole are excellent- I'm having the goat in the recommendation of a friend. Bravo to the chef. I'll be back for sure. read more

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The worst meal we had by far in PR. The quesadilla was so salty, I held off eating more than half. I would have eaten nine if we were so hungry. My wife tacos al pastor were not pork. We have no clue what it was. Go anywhere else. read more

It's a rare time when you're at restaurant and you want to write a yelp review before you even leave. I don't know how this place got such high reviews, it was the worst restaurant we've been to yet in PR. To be fair there was only one waitress but simple things were not provided - no napkins,utensils or water, waitress keeps going MIA and drinks are coming out one at a time for a group of nine and food was cold. As for food it was blah, not worth the long wait and bad service. read more

My wife, Isabel, and I have been trying to get into this place for a little while. It seems that their actual business hours are different that what is posted on social media, so we kept missing it. . We finally made it in on a Saturday afternoon with the intent of having a couple of margaritas and a nice meal. The margaritas, which it took about 30 minutes to get, were amazing. Fresh pressed citrus and a generous pour of tequila will win us over every time. The chips were light and crispy and very fresh tasting but be cautious with the salsa that they offer in the jar, if you overdo it there is not enough margarita in your cup to make that burn go away. . While waiting to place our orders, which took an exceptionally long time, we finished the chips and drinks and just sat there. My wife came across a Gustazos (the Puerto Rican Groupon) offer and we decided that rather than ordering after being there for almost an hour we would go eat somewhere else, buy the offer and come back the following day to try the food. And that is what we did. . The very next day we showed-up just as they opened, announced that we had the Gustazos offer and that immediately covered our food and drink orders. The margaritas were as good as the day before, and the food was as good as we were expecting. The ongoing challenge is that the extra touches like having the citrus fresh-pressed to order for every margarita just takes a lot of time. The place filled-up quickly, probably due to the offer, and the server, bartender and kitchen team just can not keep up in order to take orders and deliver food and drinks quickly. That in turn impacts their ability to turn tables over quickly which works directly against their profitability. I hope that they survive their learning curve. . If you have a chance I do recommend that you try this place out. Go early. Check Gustazos for an offer. Bring all of the patience that you own. It is worth it, even if only once. read more

Service is TERRIBLE! I don't know how this place stays in business. We waited 15 minutes just to order drinks, then another 15 minutes to get them. Looking around the restaurant you see nothing but angry faces because no one is happy with the service. Bartender is slow because she clearly spends more time jacking her jaws and flirting with customers than doing her job... though I'll admit, the margaritas were good! read more

The food was delicious! Great mexican food. However we went on a Sunday, it was dead and it took 45 minutes for our food to come out. We filled up on drinks and chips with salsa. The homemade salsas were more than sauces rather than nice fresh chunky salsa. Service was very nice. Another downside is this is CASH ONLY. read more

The people were so kind and friendly, the atmosphere was fun and relaxed, and the food was delicious. I will definitely be returning for more Mexican food during my stay in Old San Juan. The tacos and setas were incredible. read more

After working in the restaurant industry for 7 years this is honestly my first review and is well deserved. Ambiance, service, cuisine, cocktails; come enjoy. The goat was the G.O.A.T. read more

Tradicion Quetzal - Bars Near Me - San Juan, Puerto Rico

Slow on the service. It took 20 minutes to get my first drink. The drink was a little small and pathetic, but I stuck it out to try the food. I ordered guacamole for appetizer and tacos asado. Tacos came out first after about 20 minutes more. 40 minutes total then guacamole showed up about 5 minutes later when they realized that hadn't brought the appetizer. My second margarita was much better. It only took about 10 minutes to get. The food was good. It was authentic; however very blan for my taste. Their hot sauce saved the day. It has a delicious smokey taste. I just dump it in everything. The margarita was fresh squeezed but disappointing. The second which was much better still lacked flavor. Like it was missing the orange liqueur. I might come back if I have time to waste. There was some other food ordered around me that looked good too. read more

Great authentic Mexican restaurant in the Old San Juan area. Traveled to Puerto Rico with my friend which is from Guadalajara and we were very impressed. We met owner and chef Chris and she was very attentive and pleasant. My friend is a chef also and Chris was nice to give her a kitchen tour. We spent almost 3 hours there. The bartender was also very nice and made our drink requests possible. My friend ordered their goat birria and I ordered their pozole. Both were yummy! They have fresh ingredients at the bar which it made our experience even better. Definitely we'll be back when in San Juan again. Hasta pronto amigos! read more

I am not only a regular but I'm also a neighbor of this bar/ restaurant. San Juan is a very small town and Tradición Quetzal is the most authentic mexican food you can find . The "mole" is delicious, the "elote" is a must, and if you like or love tequila try a refreshing "Paloma". Their staff is always welcoming and they always have all kinds of cool mexican and latin bands playing on their playlist. One of my favorite places in town read more

We came to stay in Puerto Rico for less than a week and ate here twice. So yummy and authentic- and both servers we had were friendly, kind, quick and happy to serve. One of our favorites in Old San Juan. Must try! read more

Very good! Food and drinks were delicious. Service was friendly, yet a little bit slow. ¡Muy rico! La comida y bebidas estaban deliciosas. Los empleados fueron muy amables, pero el servicio fue un poco lento. read more

We saw the previous great reviews and had high hopes for this fairly new restaurant. Overall, our server was incredibly friendly, but unfortunately the food was a big letdown. Portion sizes were very small--everyone in our group said they were still hungry when we left. Four of the five entrees came covered in cilantro, which was not mentioned on the menu. The taco tortillas were about 3" in diameter with a small amount of food. The veggie tacos per the menu were to come with many grilled vegetables. The actual tacos had very finely diced vegetables, which were unidentifiable, and were drizzled with a bean sauce. The carnitas tacos had about a bite of meat per taco. Although relatively bland, it would have been a decent appetizer, but was sold as an entree on the menu. The ambiance felt like a Mexican cantina. Music was blaring from front to back and fans kept the space moderately cool (air conditioning would have been better, or at least more efficient fans). read more

Lots of interesting options for traditional Mexican food, including goat, smoked fish and of course plenty of tacos.

Best place ever!! Great drinks and music - hosts are so friendly. Really, check it out!

I love Mexican food and I have a hard time finding decent Mexican food when I visit Puerto Rico. Tradición Quetzal is the answer to my prayers. They have your classics like tacos al pastor and dishes a bit harder to find like red pozole and consume de cabrito. Their margaritas are made fresh and the 3 house salsas are amazing. Plus, you can't beat Old San Juan setting. read more

Amazing elote, quesadilla, and service. Walked in on a whim and stayed for several hours. Loved it!!