Semilla Kitchen & Bar — Restaurant in San Juan

I have a lot to say about my experience. I intentionally waited a day to post this to see if my opinion changed.

I am going to preface my review by saying that I will give this place another chance when I return to San Juan because the atmosphere, ambiance, food and drinks were fantastic. I genuinely want to try their other brunch items. I hear their dinner items are awesome as well.

We had a horrible wait experience. Which was apologized for. However, it taints the experience when you wait for 2 hours after being told 45 minutes and see multiple groups that arrive after you being seated and fed.

The hostess came out after over an hour of our wait and told us that it would be another 20 minutes. After that time had passed, I went in to see if there were any alternative seating options..after telling her we had been waiting for over an hour and a half I was then told it would be another hour for a 3 top. This is obviously when my fuss started (and does not begin to include the opinions of the irritated members of my party that were on the patio). After sitting inside for less than 10 minutes we were seated. I will add that this room had other available tables.

I respect the restaurant industry and those that put effort into it. I am not sure of the staffing on this day. I just know that there was no organization or communication at the door and this should be looked at.

I want to highlight Ricky for going above and beyond once we got in the door and in a seat...I'm pretty sure he is the one that made it happen. He really made our experience special. He alone would have made this a 5 star review: Over the top attentive, friendly, and timely - but a potentially inexperienced hostess dropped my rating.

Again, the food was delicious..the service was impeccable once we were inside but the lack of communication was in bad taste.

Pictured is the Benedict, 2Die4 and The Constitution. Tamarind mimosa, Cafe and a couple others that peaked...

We've come here once in 2019 and now again in 2025 and both times the food was spectacular.

2025: I got the Piñonwood Benedict and my wife got the French Toast. Her French Toast was great with a beautiful presentation but my Piñonwood Benedict was incredible. We had never had anything like that, the textures and flavor were truly unique. Service was solid and the place itself has good atmosphere. Highly recommend if you're in the San Juan area (Condado especially since there's a lot of so-so tourist traps here.)

2019: Super creative and flavorful food plus a cool vibe overcome so-so service here. The cafe con leche was picture perfect and the Semilla Eggs Benedict were amazing (the eggs are served on top of a what appears to be fried plantain stuffed with pork and yes that is as wonderful as it sounds.) When we interacted with staff they were friendly and welcoming- we just didn't interact enough. After our waiter took our order, we didn't see him until we were pretty much done with our meal. This seems like the type of place that doesn't have a ton of staff so many of the employees are doing some sort of double duty which is understood especially when we went (Easter Sunday.) Also my plate came out a solid 10 minutes after my girlfriend's plate which isn't ideal. Overall though, I highly recommend this spot because the food...

Extremely disappointing business ethics from the Semilla/Vine administration. I attended a private event and used their valet service, trusting my car would be handled responsibly. Instead, the valet employee parked my car on the curb, received a ticket from a police officer (which he didn’t even wait to collect), and failed to inform me. To make matters worse, he charged me for the valet service as if nothing had happened. I only discovered the ticket months later when I was hit with late fees.

I immediately approached the business in good faith to resolve the situation and personally spoke to the owner, Mr. Benmaman, who assured me the ticket would be paid for and requested a few days to handle it. Despite multiple follow-ups, he failed to follow through and never responded to my messages.

While the space is visually appealing and their cocktails are enjoyable, this lack of professionalism and accountability is unacceptable. Proceed with caution if you choose to visit.

“Unethical behavior significantly increases the cost of...