For our first night in San Juan, we decided to take a taxi from our hotel at Isla Verde to La Plazacita. If you ask your taxi driver for Jose Enrique, they’ll know where to go. We weren’t sure what we wanted to eat, but I knew there was supposed to be a lot of restaurants and music in the area, so our plan was to wander and find something.
The music in La Plazacita wasn’t quite what I expected. The music and the people enjoying it are right on the street! We would our way through the crowds and read menus at the restaurants as we decided where to eat. We were looking for something small because we ate a late lunch and weren’t especially hungry.
We eventually decided to try the San Juan Smokehouse and just get some things for the four of us to share. The San Juan Smokehouse has a tiny dining room and the entire front of the restaurant is 2 garage doors that open right onto the street. We were lucky to get the last 4 person table inside because it started to rain and everyone at the few tables outside got soaking wet. 
We ended up ordering a sampler plate (see picture) that came with BBQ nachos, wings, and bacon. And then we also ordered a plate of brisket and a small order of Ribs. We even received CocaCola in cans that were bottled in Puerto Rico. One of the things I love about traveling is getting to see how different places put their own spin on things. First, the nachos. They were regular tortilla chips topped with pulled pork, cole slaw, beans, and bbq sauce. And what’s more, they were really good! The bacon was also interesting. It actually was really thick slabs of bacon cut into bite size chunks as an appetizer. I was less into that because the bacon was pretty fatty. The wings were also pretty small and maybe a bit overcooked, but they were fine. The other interesting things was that the brisket came with a side of saltine crackers. And the side for the ribs was a watermelon and feta salad which is just watermelon topped with feta cheese.
Overall our meal was really good. It was the perfect choice for people who wanted to share some small things. And I loved the Puerto Rican take on an American classic like BBQ.