Bungalu Rest & Bar — Restaurant in Río Grande

Went to Bungalu for the first time last night on an online recommendation and I’m so glad we did! Bungalu is a rooftop restaurant that’s off a main road on a side street. For those of you that stick to the hotel or resort restaurants but want to venture out for authentic local Puerto Rican food with a bit of a modern flair, you can’t miss by going to Bungalu. The place is super laid back and casual, with a tin roof and open aired otherwise, so dress accordingly. We started off with drinks. I had a traditional mojito which was fantastic. What struck me about it was how big the drink was vs how much it cost. You’ll find the pricing very reasonable. We asked our waiter Jay for recommendations and he really steered us in the right direction. We started off with the crab empanadas and Yuca Frites (my favorite) both delicious. Our mains were a trio of tacos (skirt steak, ceviche, and octopus) and the Mahi Mahi stuffed avocado. The tacos were crazy good. You’d bite into one and say “this is the best” then go on to the next one and say “no wait, this one’s the best”, they were that good. The stuffed avocado was something I’ve never seen before and you would think hmm, a small avocado stuffed with Mahi Mahi doesn’t sound that filling but if you look at the photos I posted with this review you’ll see it’s huge! It’s accompanied by tostones and a side salad. Fantastic is all I can say. I wish I wasn’t so full after our meal because their house dessert (sugar and cinnamon arepas with ice cream) sounded awesome! If you’re in the area don’t miss out on this great little place, it won’t disappoint! Had to come back after reading some of the bad reviews. As far as the service being very slow, if you’ve been to PR before that’s pretty much the whole vibe at the restaurants. So order that extra drink and relax and enjoy the atmosphere while you wait for your food, life’s too short to complain about slow service while...

Placed an order for takeout, restaurant advertised a 25 minute wait time. Fast forward 30 minutes, we arrive at the restaurant hungry and confident the five minute buffer window would ensure a swift pickup procedure. We were very wrong. Upon entering the establishment, it was not clear that anyone worked there at all. No host to greet us, no wait staff parading around, just a drunk man behind the bar. We inquired about the status of our order with said man, who deferred to another apparent employee, who assured us they were “working on it.” We assumed this meant we would receive our order in the next five to ten minutes. We were very wrong, again. We stood around for about a half hour, twiddling our thumbs and looking like professional lurkers. Every so often we again asked about the status of our order, and each time we received a similar response: “it’s coming out now, they’re working on it now…” It became abundantly apparent at the 40 minute mark that this establishment has a different definition of “now.” Eventually we sat down at an empty table and ordered a couple of beers. We actually had to remind the waiter after about twenty minutes later to bring us the beers, since he forgot. We spent a total of an hour and a half waiting at the restaurant, totaling 2 hours from the time our order was placed to the time we walked out with bags in our hands. I literally watched my hair turn grey waiting for some of the most mid tacos I’ve ever had. Not to mention we were missing three dishes from our order. If you are looking for a pleasant or even mediocre dining experience, I do not...

I wish I could give this place a better review, but I can't. We actually ordered pick up around 7:45 PM, and arrived to the restaurant at 8:15. When we got there we spent five minutes looking around for someone to help us. Then Jenny found us, bless her heart, and assured us that our food was almost ready, but that we should have a seat at one of the vacant tables and wait. There we sat for the next hour and a half waiting for our food, being given false promises by other waitstaff that our food was the first ticket. meanwhile, short king bartender with the dreads is throwing back shots with a group of girls who i KNOW would never go home with him (they were way out of his league) and a chef walking in and out of a kitchen to take a smoke break every 5 minutes. After much MUCH waiting, we finally got the takeout boxes, which I noticed had been sitting on their countertop for a solid 20 minutes just waiting to be brought out to us. We high tailed out of there, but at least they let us have two beers for free. As for the food, if these are the best tacos on the island then i'm never eating tacos here because they were... fine. nothing to write home about and definitely not worth the wait, to be honest i don't think anything is worth that wait. We actually left so fast we didn't even realize that they had left out THREE ITEMS from our order. Jenny, if you're reading this girl, find a job where you're appreciated more and not left to scramble around and take care of everyone while your co...