If you want to experience the culture and the gastronomy of Puerto Rico, nothing better than making a trip to Guavate. Every year thousands of Puerto Ricans and tourists visit Guavate to enjoy traditional dishes like: roast pork, BBQ ribs, rice and beans, “pasteles” (smash green banana filled with meat), pavochón (pork and turkey), Puerto Rican sweets and “piña colada”. At Christmas and on weekends, Guavate becomes extremely festive. Some of the restaurants have live music. The rest of the year, most of the restaurants are open only on weekends. In the area you will find kiosks with crafts, candy and reminders. The trip is very nice because you can breathe the fresh air of the mountains of Puerto Rico.

Guavate is a sector of the town of Cayey, located on Highway 184. This road is crowded with restaurants and lechoneras. Reaching Guavate is very easy, If you are going from San Juan to Caguas on Highway # 52, you should use exit 32 (is labeled Guavate or these are the GPS coordinates 18.1511, -66.1029). After taking the exit, turn left and you will start seeing the lechoneras. Now, let's see some of the restaurants and lechoneras of the area. The photos are in the same order in which they are located:

Lechonera El Mojito (787-738-8888) - Bruny's Restaurant (787-738-4915)
Lechonera El Rey (787-535-4200) - La Placita (787-738-8600)

Cultura Bar Artesanal (787-439-0618) - Los Balcones (787-263-4141)
El Antojito Restaurant (787-263-0069) - Mi Terraza

Casa Tropical Restaurante (787-263-2660) - El Rinconcito Sabroso (787-204-7113)
Lechonera Los Gemelos (787-512-5322) - EL Nuevo Rancho (787-286-0265) **Open 7 days**

Lechonera Los Pinos (787-286-1917) **Open 7 days** - Lechonera La Reliquia
Rest & Grill Don Felo (787-744-3921)

As you can see there are more than 10 lechoneras and about 5 restaurants. One of the most famous lechoneras is El Rancho Original, it features live music, dance area and many gazebos to eat, let's see.

El Rancho Original (787) 747-7296

Don’t forget to enjoy a delicious piña colada or a frappe.

Also you can enjoy Puerto Rican crafts and traditional games.

We recommend visiting Guavate on weekends, because during the week, you'll find some lechoneras closed and the open ones won’t have live music.