Susie's — Restaurant in Culebra

Kudos to the team at Susie’s for creating the most memorable dining experience in Culebra, hell, I’d even go so far as to say Puerto Rico as a whole.

As many of you know and if you’re planning a trip to Culebra will soon find out, dining options are extremely limited on the island, and some definitely more, how would I put it, genuinely authentic to Puerto Rico cuisine than others. Susie and her husband Jacinto created something that truly elevates what island cuisine can be, and serves it up with incredible flair. But what really puts Susie’s over the edge is the five-star service which, as a hospitality professional myself, is something very hard to come by on the MAINLAND, let alone on an island the size of Culebra. But they managed to find and maintain such passionate and dedicated staff that put this experience to the top of my list during my short two-day sprint around the island. Special shout out to Heidi whose amazing story of moving from the mainland to start fresh in Culebra is inspiring, as well as the entire service team from the 29th who helped make my final dinner on the island one for the books.

The menu changes regularly depending on the freshest meat and fish available, so I strongly encourage doing what I did and order the specials of the day. See the below pictures for my delicious and beautifully presented meal. The icing on the cake was a Verdejo that was out of this world and very reasonably priced (I love the focus on Spanish wines considering the history of the island and PR as a whole.)

From the amazing value for the experience I had to the service and the incredible ambiance of the Al Fresco dining area, if you come to Culebra without having at least one dinner at Susie’s, you’re truly missing one of the...

Susie’s was a lovely dinner with a casual but beautiful open air garden/patio setting. We loved the ambiance; especially the sweet cats that would wander around very politely asking for pets! The owner apparently feeds a good number of street cats and we loved the additional company.

Our waitress (Heather maybe?) was incredible, giving us menu suggestions as well as tips for our visit to Culebritas we had planned for the next day. She was super friendly and we enjoyed chatting with her and learning a little of the history of the restaurant.

The food was mostly amazing- we loved the escargot, it was a different preparation than I’ve had before with a sort of buttery herby sauce. Also loved the sides, the beans and rice were top notch and the mixed mash was very fun and interesting though a little dry without sauce- delicious with some sauce from other dishes. I heard very good things about the chicken and shrimp; unfortunately one star off as my husband and I bought got the Mahi-mahi and it was rather chewy and tough. The flavor was there but didn’t really enjoy the texture.

I would 100% go back and get the...

Spectacular meal, and fabulous service. I was hesitant about ordering the lamb chops (not the type of food you normally find on this remote island) but my fear was unjustified. The meal and the exquisite preparation was on par with the best restaurants in San Juan, but much more affordable. The wine list was also especially notable, with excellent choices that were all reasonably priced. After 3 weeks here in Culebra we’ve been surviving on low budget wines from other restaurants and grocery stores; having a wonderful bottle of Tempranillo at Susie’s was heaven! With appetizers, entrees, bottle of wine, and dessert, it was a well spent $60 per person! We...