This was a great random stop. We wanted to grab a bite to eat after hiking at El Yunque on our way back to Ponce. This was a super random stop and we didn’t really expect much out of it, but ended up utterly and pleasantly surprised by how fantastic the food was here. This is a simple food stand with outdoor seating that sits out front of a husband and wife’s property. There is some room just inside the gate too to park your car. The wife was really friendly and is the one that cooked up our food for us. I got the chicharrones de cerdo(pork belly), which was served with name and other starches, along with macaroni salad. The macaroni salad wasn’t anything special, but everything else was absolutely superb. We had already eaten a lot of starches while in Puerto Rico and had been dying for some ketchup to douse it all in up to this point. The lady at La Parada cooked up the starches in a delicious way that didn’t have me desiring for a condiment — it was delicious. The pork belly was also excellent. It’s definitely not a health food, but is more than worth the calorie splurge. My husband got the guanimes with bacalao. The guanimes, a sort of corn concoction, were really good. The bacalao(shredded fish) was also pretty darn good. We tried out Mavi for the first time ever as well, which is a sweet fermented drink. Worth a shot at least once in your life. Of all the food we had during our week in Puerto Rico, this place is definitely a stand out. Do yourself a favor and give it a try.
