Food carts of Puerto Rico

Having so recently been to Portland where food carts are a big thing, it was interesting to find that in Puerto Rico they are a way of life.  Maybe this is where the idea came from in Portland; any way they are everywhere here selling pinchos (kebabs) roasted pork, and all manner of deep fried things.

Food cart

Some food carts reminded me of the ones in Portland, like the one above.  And others are smaller with a barbecue and cooler along the side of the road like the one below.

Some were just outside someone's house on the side of the road, maybe they just made a little too much dinner that night. But one thing they all had in common was a shady spot to sit and enjoy the food. Most of them moved unlike the carts in Portland, you would see them one day and then they would not appear again for a couple of days. I am not sure if they were taking a couple of days off or if they went somewhere else.

We stopped at this one for a cold drink, but they had some wonderful chicken pinchos it was very tempting.



We did have lunch in Rincon one day from a cart, though the menu was confusing to us as neither of us speak any spanish, and every time we asked what an item was he said "fried chicken" so Dave ordered fried chicken and I ordered pork.

Menu of pork and fried chicken

What came was an absolutely delicious shredded pork and shredded chicken, Dave got his chicken with fries (which were very good) and decided to try testones which are squashed fried plantaine. They were quite good, but really it is had to beat good french fries.

Shredded pork and testones

The pork was wonderful and far too much for lunch so we saved some in our fridge for snacking, who does not like to find some left over shredded pork in the fridge.

Chicken and chips

I am not sure how this chicken was cooked but it did not appear to be fried.  everything was served with a ketchup mayonaise that seems to be served with most things here.

Later on the trip when we are up in the mountains we saw a food stand on the side of the road and we were ready for lunch, I think "Frituras home made" means home made fried things. Indeed everything was fried.

We chose empanadillas carne, which appeared to be a meat pie made exactly like a cornish pasty except it was deep fried like everything else.

It was a fair size and Dave was a little afraid of fried pastry, so we shared one.  It was actually quite good and along with two pops cost $3.00 even Dave could not complain at the price.

Inside empanadilla

Some of the best food was from the food carts and road side stands.  It appears that Puerto Ricans eat this way a lot, and at the prices you would be hard pressed to cook it as cheaply.