L’Osteria

Estupendo. De los mejores restaurantes que he visitado. La comida fenomenal. Bien fina.

We sat at the bar and had appetizers. Amazing pork. I’m now dying to return. Beautiful & open in the nicer quiet part of OSJ. Service is FANTASTIC. Even the bread was great. What OSJ should be.

If you want authentic Italian with the best real Italian service experience, then come here!
Just came back from L’Osteria for the 20+ time and this time had to write about why we keep coming back. Apart from the fact that we love to encounter tourists from multiple destinations, the food here is amazing and as close to being in Italy as you may presume. The restaurant serves whatever is fresh from that day, hence there is no menu other than what is written on the chalkboard. The imported Italian waiters will explain their dishes in either Spanish, English, French or Italian together with their ingredients. They know exactly every detail of why and what wine to pair it with and the desserts are even better than the meal itself. The dessert and moscatto experience may be perhaps the best part of it all.

Restaurant recommended by hotel concierge. Have been to San Juan many times, and never heard of this place before. The meal was EXCELLENT.
Do not be fooled by the simple, sparse décor. Everything about the experience was excellent. The waitstaff (several of which were Italian) was very friendly and knowledgeable. The food was delicate and very sophisticated. A truffle and poricini mushroom flan was incredible. Pumpkin soup was simple and very tasty. Ravioli (homemade) was very good. Bronzino was simple and perfectly cooked.
Have been to mak of the «trendier» restaurants in old San Juan andupscale restaurants in the condado area, but this meal was by far the best. It was sophisticated, and very delicious. Having spent two weeks on Italy recently, can honesty say this food was just as Italian and better than my finest dining experiences there. Rounded the meal off with an excellent tiramisu. Will definitely return next time I am in San Juan!

Boring place and way too expensive. Is not romantic is boring… Not ambience at all. Service is nothing special. The Chef is annoying when trying to tell you the whole menu. Dude, use a printer a give your guests the menu so you don’t have to spend 15 minutes describing plates one by one. I wish I had the opportunity to go somewhere else on my birthday — not here. There are plenty of places where we can get more for our buck and most important great service.

Excellent! Very quaint. Owner/​chef comes to your table and tells you what is today’s menu (no menu) because everything is fresh from local and international markets… Pasta and bread is made fresh as well.
Delicious to say the least!

Creative pairings while keeping in mind traditional, Italian regional food. Exciting waiting to see what Chef /​owner Cristian has in store for fine diners… Always something unexpected. Wish I could drink the wonderful wine pairings presented… Just a delight for you palette.

My favorite italian restaurant in puerto rico. The food is always consistent with quality ingredients. I love the chef/​owner he’s always polite and gives amazing recommendations on what to eat. True there are no prices and many changes on a daily/​weekly level based on the fresh ingredients he’s able to get. But what I say about the price thing is don’t go if you can’t afford it otherwise have fun, enjoy good food and eat at my favorite place. 5 stars on everything

I go to Puerto Rico a few times a year, traveling from NYC. I have tried almost all the recommended restaurants in the San Juan area and time after time I keep coming back to L’Osteria. I think it is above and beyond the best food in PR. Amazing Italian dishes with a great, reasonably priced wine list. The Chef, Christian, is beyond nice and always gives us the best service. If this restaurant was located in NYC, it would be twice as expensive and have a line out the door every night. I recommend this restaurant to everyone traveling to Puerto Rico. I have sent numerous family members and friends here and they have all experience the same outstanding food and service that i have raved about. I recommend anyone of their pastas with a great bottle of Barolo.

If you are not given a menu with prices or even tell you what the prices are as he goes into his drama of telling you what he has for the night then it’s deceitful!
Coming from New Jersey I have tasted excellent Italian food so this experience is nothing to brag about. Way too expensive and his waiter is not friendly at all! STAY AWAY.

An unbelievable experience, the most close to the food that I get in Venice italy, Caorle area. Italy in Puerto Rico is =L’Osteria. Buon appetito

Great place! Great food, environment, and service!

Very romantic, food made from fresh ingredients with savory taste. Service was excellent. We had the ravioli that were delicious but not too heavy and a rabbit stuffed pasta that was also very delicious. The chocolate dessert was divine.

Service is excellent, establishment clean and quiet. As other reviewers state, this is a very expensive option. Choices and preparation are different from the typical island offerings which is a nice change of pace. Nice to try for a quiet night, bring the CC!

Christian has done an amazing job with his new venture. The freshness of the ingredients, the creativity yet simplicity of the menu is as interesting as it is delicious.
The atmosphere is quaint and unpretentious but the delivery is equal to any major metropolitan city in the world.
Make a reservation through open table right now! You won’t be disappointed.

I’m on the fence post between 3.5 and 4 stars. Lets start by warning diners that it is VERY EXPENSIVE/​PRICEY, and that the cost of the meal is not necessarily reflective of the quality of the meal. A lot of my fellow Unilocalers know that I am picky when it comes to seasoning, so lets just point out some of the positives first, and end with what in my estimation are some of the less impressive notes related to the experience. By PR standards, the staff is AMAZING. They all have learned to communicate with Chef in Italian, so they are all very fluent in English, Spanish and Italian. The restaurant has a high end simplicity to it, small but very tastefully decorated, but only 35 seats. Highly recommend reservations, but on the Island, diner crowds don’t start showing up until after 8pm, so you are relatively safe if you show up before that. Parking is questionable, so definitely go for the affordable and also very attentive Valet. Chef Christian is an italian ex-​pat from Le Marche, Italy. Had I done my homework before I got to the restaurant I would have been better educated in the expectation of the meal. Back to the seasoning issue — Umbria/​Le Marche region is noted for its very humble/​poor simplicity, where meals are characterized by lighter sauces/​braising, and preferably no more than 4 ingredients, not to be masked by seasonings. I took what I thought was a very runny polenta to be a dish that was a bit lacking in technique. Come to read and learn that the polenta grain in this region IS a bit finer, and polenta is consumed at a consistency very similar to farina, and sauces will be very «soupy» like. Chef is not culinary arts trained — he comes from a family line of restauranteurs and learned to cook the family recipes. Chef keeps the menu simple, and daily — there IS NO MENU, so what is on the board upon entering the restaurant, is what will be served. When he is out, he is out. They will accommodate dietary requests within reason, but Chef cooks the way HE likes to eat, and does not take criticism personal. This is HIS home, he sets the price point based on what he has to import and whatever limited ingredients he can find in the local economy, and prepares them in the tradition he learned. HE LOVES what he does, and does not see himself doing anything else or elsewhere. The Island is where he’d like to be. He is not «celebrity chef» material — but he is a home cook with incredible pride in what he serves. He enjoys people, and his staff is reflective of that philosophy.
I forgive him for serving rubbery scallops — definitely the scallops were not of good quality to begin with, and with carry-​over cooking, they wouldve easily bounced off the floor. If you order any fish at the restaurant, order it slightly «undercooked» and it will arrive perfect. I found the ravioli uneavenly cooked and a bit passsed «al dente» for my liking, but, by the chef’s standards — THAT is how ravioli are supposed to be served, and that is how he likes them… OK Chef, I will forgive that one too, because the goat cheese and spinach filling and your oh so simple cherry tomato, unpeeled garlic and olive oil sauce, were of such elegant simplicity, I could’ve just had bowls and bowls of it, and ignored the pasta itself. He had braised beef «guanciale» (cheeks), that were melt-​in-​your mouth. I also had to forgive him for running out of the squash blossoms… but because he cooks the way HE likes to eat, he hadn’t bought a lot of the blossoms because it is not one of his favorite dishes, but his customers crave them… We finished the meal with a dark chocolate molten cake, chocolate, one of the passions of his childhood region, and as for molten cakes go… perfect. A shot of grappa and call it a night. (oh yea, and the bottle of 2003 Brunello for $ 52.00 wasnt shabby at all!).
His wine list is characteristic of the region that inspired his cuisine — Barolo, Barbaresco, Brunello, Nebbiolo. At beautiful prices. The meal will break your bank but you can drink up a storm affordably.
This is a restaurant for special times, there is no way of eating here inexpensively. Impressive if you want to conduct business or toast to good fortune. Chef and staff will treat you like you are VIP, its a different world from the outside Chaos when you enter the establishment. Be open minded if your experience with italian cuisine has been Northern OR Southern. And ask for Giacomo, another Expatriat, with an incredible eye for customer service, intellect and impeccable manners.