Ay Bonito Grill

Ay Bonito Grill! Wow!
First of all, my credibility; I’m a serious amateur pizza maker, and I have been making my own pizza once a week for the last 2 years. I grow my own herbs, make the sauce and dough from scratch, and bake it on my pizza stone on the grill. I have special flour shipped in for my dough. So you can say that I’m serious about it. When I eat pizza somewhere it will be for inspiration and ideas. I quit eating any and all frozen pizzas; no more Pizza Hut, Dominos, etc. because they are like what McDonalds is for fine dining. yes, I’m a pizza snob. I deem my own pizza better than at least 95% of the pizzas out there. My pizzas have inspired several other people to start making their own pizzas as well. I’m not mentioning this to brag about my pizza, but to share how passionate I am about pizza.
I showed up on a Sunday when the power went out… No pizza. I was able to talk to the owner/​chef and we started talking about pizza. The chef grows his own basil, oregano, and whatever else he needs. He showed freshly cut branches of the herbs and they smelled amazing… Where most pizzerias just buy their ingredients, he grows his own. You get fresh herbs, cut daily. This is a huge plus to me. Unfortunately, no power. So I wasn’t able to try it this day…
All the signs were there for a great pizza, so I had to come back and try the Margherita pizza… The pizza looked absolutely amazing and I couldn’t wait to dig in. The effort to return to this place paid off: The family secret recipe thin crust was made to perfection, very thin delicious sauce, lots of marinated cherry tomatoes, fresh cheese, fresh herbs… It was all-​round amazing. I was analyzing every bite and visually inspecting everything how this pizza was made.
The 17 years of pizza baking and passion for his trade really reflected in the pizza. A master of his trade. Every aspect of this pizza was unquestionably superior to mine, I don’t want to admit that, because I’m partial to my own pizza :). The bar has been set incredibly high.
If you want an amazing, honest fresh artisan quality pizza, this is the place to go to… If you want to settle for something less, go elsewhere.
The worst part is that I’m going back to Houston, and this pizza will haunt me…

The kioskos aint what they used to be.
Its a shame cuz i used to LOVE them.
Just stick to the Dominican spots at the entrance. If you’re gonna pay for cheap crap, it should at least be cheap prices.

Yummy food. Almost fine dining in a casual yet elegant ambience, excellent service. We had the Carne frita and queso frito for appetizers and meat lovers pizza as a main. Food comma. We’ll definitely be back.

What a great little spot! Food was amazing and the service was absolutely wonderful! Manny the waiter was so great and welcoming and he gave us so many tips for our stay here in PR. Definitely the best kiosk in Luquillo!!!

The place was completely dead when I ate there, but it was great food and ambience. In the busy strip it was calm and a little more friendly atmosphere for the kids besides the surrounding bars. Waiter was fantastic, perfect English, and explained each dish to us with a smile.

My husband and I enjoyed this place so much we ate there two days in a row! The staff was incredibly friendly and the restaurant was impeccably clean. After walking along all the kiosks, this was definitely one of the best, if not the best! We had the chorizo and Manchego pizza, very delicious! When we went back the second time, we shared the garlic chicken mofongo, which was the perfect meal to end our visit to Puerto Rico with. We loved meeting the cat, she was very friendly and was actually the reason we wanted to go here in the first place after reading other reviews. This place is a must if you visit the luquillo kiosks!

Best meal we had on the island. Jolie very personable and excited about the menu. Made great recommendation. Had the sword fish with risotto. Superb. Some plantain side was so tangy and delicious. Service was attentive and quick. Check this place out!

This was an interesting little place. The whole area is. Food was good. Not exceptional, but glad we went for the experience…

This place was an unexpected delight. We came here with serious appetites after hours of body boarding and the place did not disappoint! We ordered the chorizo and manchengo pizza and a burger. Both were delicious. To top it off, the wait staff were extremely friendly and the atmosphere lovely. I would definitely recommend eating here.

The food was wonderful. Service a little slow, for only having 4 table’s with costumers.

Excelente servicio. La calidad de la comida exquisita. El tiempo de salida de aperitivo y comida, excelente. Es una opción buenísima si estás en el árra o incluso, vale la pena el viaje después de ir a la playa o el Yunque! No tengo una sola crítica negativa. Sugerencia: que sirvan café. Eso no estaba disponible y para los que pisamos una buena comida con un posillo, eso faltó. Por lo demás, dos pulgares!

Our second night at the kiosks brought us to ay bonito and man am I glad because it was wonderful. I had the Chorizo and manchego pizza, which I highly recommend. They have a real wood fired brick oven and the crust on my pizza was perfect, thin and crispy, but chewy at the same time, could have been New York for all I knew. The whole place was full and they only had one server who never seemed to be in the weeds and was always attentive and timely, one of the best servers I have ever had actually. Live music completeed the package and the bill left me with a smile.

Amazing food at the kiosks. Great brick oven pizza and great tasty puerto rica food. Everything was spiced just right. I would drive back from San Juan to eat here!!! Don’t miss this place. Best food I have had in Puerto Rico.

Their staff is great. Our waitress was super nice. The crab cakes were ok, and the burger was delicious. The place is open till midnight on Thursday, even though it says 10pm. Overall, recommend this place for late night dinner.

On my second trip to Puerto Rico we found Ay Bonito Grill in Luquillo and first let me say if I could give this place 10 stars I would. First, the hostess, waiter and manager were all so friendly and welcoming. Service was fantastic. Second, the drinks were properly made and tasted refreshing. I hardly find anyone that makes a piña colada just right but they hit it on the mark. Third, the food was A-​MAZ-​ING. I will never again find crab cakes that taste this good again. Looks like I’ll have to make multiple trips to the island JUST to have great tasting crab cakes. Others in my party had salmon, homemade pizza and a mouth-​watering bacon burger. (See photos if you don’t believe me — you think it looks good? Wait until you’ve tasted it) Fourth, the live music was wonderful. It wasn’t over powering, so you could still have a conversation with others at your table (and we sat right next to where they were playing). Finally, did I mention the service was GREAT??? Anyone in Puerto Rico … this is a MUST on the to-​do list for dinner tonight :)

Locals and tourists you will love this place. My wife was pregnant and we were concerned with getting fresh HOT food. When our entrees arrived we were very happy. The food is very good! The ocean is right outside. You cannot go wrong here. Ay Bonito!

This was out last stop before heading for the airport, the food was authentic and tasted fresh. According to the some reviews we read previously, the place was on the pricey side but I didn’t think it was overprice. Order the cheese and guava sauce appetizer, you won’t regret it. Their juices are fresh and the crab cakes are worth it as well.

I had been on the island 48 hours and still not tried mofongo — thankfully, the owner of this marvelous establishment understood my desire to sink my teeth into some local flavor — she asked her partner (the chef) to whip some up pronto (even though it was not on the menu) and out came the best dish I had in Puerto Rico — while I tried mofongo at other locations during my stay, none could rival this dish
My wife and daughter thoroughly enjoyed their pizza while I inhaled the mofongo
The atmosphere was casual and friendly — the owner was warm and informative — she sat and mingled with many of the patrons and was a joy to get to know
I highly recommend a trip to this place whole visiting local El Yonque and/​or Loquillo beach! Fabulous food and atmosphere!!!

Other reviewers mention how warm and welcoming the hostess was. I personally saw these warm welcomes, but didn’t experience it for myself. My boyfriend and I watched as she waltzed around talking to everyone besides us. We sat at the bar and were essentially ignored the whole time… and we were there for a while because the food took about 45 minutes to appear. There were only about 4 occupied tables, so I don’t think they were terribly busy. And although the bartenders were about 2 feet away, they failed to talk to us or apologize for the wait.
Food was mediocre and not even memorable. I can barely remember what we had, just that they were extremely salty. The one good thing I actually liked was the sweet plantain mash that came with my chicken.
Meh. There are better kiosks to try.

We ate at Ay Bonitos our 1^st night during our trip to Puerto Rico the hostess Yolay was the Best. She accommodated our every need from the loudness of the music to getting us quickly out of the rain to an indoor table.
We had a number of items including the cheese appetizer which was good but i did not realize it would be fried. 2 of us have the crabcakes which were lightly fried fresh and very tasty. My veggie. Friend had the large salad which was good. My other companions had the mahi mahi lightly grilled, nice fresh taste.
There were 2 or 3 housecats which Yolay said the restaurant had adopted getting them sprayed and neutered, getting them to the vet. They are the most well behaved cats ever, not intrusive at all but made all of us smile.
We left Ay Bonito feeling very cared for and glad we had come to P.R.

What sets Ay Bonito! apart is the ambiance and service. It is a fun bar/​restaurant. As we ate, we listened to a wonderful female singer with a great guitarist on the patio singing Spanish and English songs (Beatles, Norah Jones). The owner came to our table, explained several local dishes and offered the chef to cook several items that were not listed on the menu. At the end of the night, we got hugs and thanks from her. A really personal experience
We ordered carne frita as an appetizer. This was the worst part of the meal and was just ok. Basically fried steak and onions with plantain chips.
My wife enjoyed shrimp on bed of mofongo (not on menu, specifically offered by the owner). Enjoyed very much, shrimp were fresh, well-​cooked with a nice sauce.
I had the mahi mahi, which seemed a touch dry but was excellently spiced. As a side, I had the amarillo mash, which was sweet but not overpoweringly so. The local sides seem to be their specialty, and their dishes are an Italian/​Puerto Rican fusion.
We had mojitos to drink, which were pretty standard but definitely not weak. The price is a bit higher than expected for the food and setting, but it is definitely worth it for the personal service and knowing you are supporting a local business.

Too much expensive!!!
Rica comida pero excesivamente escasa…
Local demasiado ruidoso.
NO volveré!