Aliado Bar & Aperitivo — Restaurant in San Juan

TLDR: Imaginative, vegan cuisine that excites the pallet with great service in a cute atmosphere.

Atmosphere: historic and very cozy. The place was clean and the decor was so inviting. Be aware, there are multiple steps due to being an older building on a hill.

Service: perfect all night. Everyone was prompt, kind, and considerate. Our glasses were never empty and the only note for improvement is that the cocktails took a tad too long, but they apologized profusely.

Food: we literally ordered "one of everything" on the menu. While we all had different preferences on which dish was "best", we all agreed that every dish was a 5/5 delish except for the final pasta plate that just didn't pop with flavor like the rest of the options. That said, the pasta was cooked al dente in the traditional Italian way with fresh, homemade noodles. The desserts were killer. Even ordering one of everything plus drinks and a couple of doubles, it came out to under $90 / person. Overall, I can not recommend this place enough after multiple disappointments in...

Just incredible gastronomy! This place serves dishes that create a full explosion of flavors. They have a great balance of savory and sweet and the dishes come together perfectly. First, the papaya nigiri. They worked some voodoo on that papaya because wow, how is it possible to make papaya taste like that! The brie toast was also so well done. I usually hate figs but the fig and onion marmalade combination was to die fooorrr! If I could eat that for breakfast every day, I would. And finally the pumpkin raviolo. Beautifully delicate yet impactful flavors (I need everything stuffed with that mozzarella and sage cream). We sadly devoured the pumpkin raviolo before remembering to take pictures, that's how good everything was. And let me not forget the drinks! They were also fantastic. They're serving up some of the best vegan food in San Juan. One thing to note is that the plates are small since this is more of a tapas style bar BUT that's even better because it allows you to try more things! So go go go! (Also, we need you...

We came here for dinner on a Friday night and the place was fairly packed. We had reservations and were seated right away. We opted for the patio table which was incredibly small for two people. We could only have one plate at a time and couldn’t try multiple dishes at the same time.

For apps, we had the papaya nigiri and the roasted cauliflower Caesar. The nigiri was incredible! For mains, we tried both the raviolo and the pasta Fresca. Both tasted very fresh and delivered on thoughtful curation. We also tried the pistachio brûlée for dessert.

The apps were served right away and there was an awkward 45-min gap to get our specials. We almost gave up. Though the food was great, we couldn’t appreciate it entirely because we were too hungry waiting for it to show up. When we were paying the bill, I noticed the chef carefully preparing each meal, which explained the delay.

Overall, great service! Stunning decor and vibe, we felt like we were tucked away for a quiet night in the heart...