Carmín — Restaurant in Loíza

I’m a Loiceña living in the US and made the mistake of coming to this place while visiting home after some years. If I could give zero stars I would. Tourists who have no idea what real Puerto Rican or food from Loiza is think they’re eating authentic food but they are NOT. The people are not even from Puerto Rico and thus do not know how to cook local dishes. We literally threw our food in the trash (alcapurrua, bacalaito, pastelillo, pincho—all terrible…and don’t even get me started on their supposed fruit juices…nothing but sugar and water). I had the octopus salad and soon after eating it felt sick. I brought an American friend with me and I was so embarrassed for the experience we had. Do your research and go to places owned by true locals/LOICEÑOS ( La Comay, Kiosko de Bebe, El Boricua…) to have a real and authentic food experience. Don’t go to the first place you find closest to San Juan. They are not the real deal. Loiceños serve their food fresh and prepare it at the time you order it. No Loiceño restaurant or kiosk have their food on display for hours! Most restaurants close to this one (one directly across the street—pretty much any place with their food in display) are NOT authentic. They once were, but were bought out by immigrants from Dominican Republic who do not know our style of cooking. Not knocking Dominican cuisine—but it IS NOT PUERTO RICAN OR LOUCEÑA cuisine. This restaurant is a very poor attempt of appropriation.

Si le pudiera dar zero estrella lo haría. El gringo o el turista de afuera no sabe lo que es comida Loiceña ni Puertorriqueña y por eso no saben lo que están comiendo. Ningún negocio Loiceño vendería comida vieja dejada en vitrinas por horas. Negocios Loiceños venden su comida fresca y a la orden. Hide error de ordenar pulpo, y me enfermé. Las alcapurruas crudas, el bacalaito fue arina sin nada de bacalao, y pastelillos sin sabor. Se botó a la basura. Años atrás este establecimiento era de dueños Loiceños y después fue comprado por dominicanos que desafortunadamente no saben nada de cocina Loiceña ni Puuertrriqueña. Haci que lo que sirven no representa la verdadera autenticidad de Piñones. Si quieres comida de verdadera criolla y por LOICEÑOS vaya La Comay, Kiosko de Bebe, El Boricua… No...

Let me start by saying that their beef alcapurrias are the best alcapurrias I have tasted in PR…EVER and I used to live here. We had that along with the dishes I took pictures of below. Mangu with fried pork was amazing (although mangu is a Dominican dish). The other plate was fried pork with tostones de pana (breadfruit tostones). It was also amazing. The food was great AND super cheap! The waitress was extremely attentive and the bathroom were pretty modern considering Piñones buildings are pretty old. Would highly recommend it. It’s the second time we ate there (we also ate there last year) and the food was excellent both times. You really can’t...

We actually found this based on a recommendation from a different restaurant. Thankfully we came. The whole fried red snapper is amazing. They season the fish prior to frying so it really tastes amazing on its own. Combines with the house sauces. If you have any room at all, there is also street food for sale (fried stuff) that is very popular and looks delicious. Would definitely come here for the red snapper alone. Rice and beans on the side and it’s really delicious. Great service very patient with our lack of Spanish. Definitely worth the Uber. I felt safe...