Santo Domingo Restaurants

Santo Domingo's culinary repertoire includes Spanish, Italian, Middle Eastern, Indian, Japanese, and nueva cocina Dominicana (contemporary Dominican cuisine). If seafood is on the menu, it's bound to be fresh. The dining scene is the best in the country and probably as fine a selection of restaurants as you can find anywhere in the Caribbean. Keep in mind that the touristy places, such as those in the Zona Colonial—with mediocre fare and just-ok service—are becoming more and more costly, while the several fine-dining options, such as La Residence have lowered prices and are now offering daily specials for around $10. Supplement your entrée with a couple of appetizers, and you can have a nice dinner for less than $30 per person. Most notably, you'll have caring service and be sequestered in 'luxe surroundings away from the tourist hustle.

Some of the best restaurant choices are not in the tourist zones but in the business districts of the modern city and in the upscale residential neighborhoods where the wealthy capitaleños reside. Know that they typically dress for dinner and dine late. The locals usually start eating after 9:30 PM, when the Americans are just finishing their desserts.

Among the best Dominican specialties are queso frito (fried cheese), sancocho (a thick meat stew served with rice and avocado slices), arroz con pollo (rice with beans and fried chicken parts), mofango (mashed green plantains and shredded pork or chicken and chittlins), pescado al coco (fish in coconut sauce), plátanos (fried sweet plantains), and tostones (fried green plantains). Shacks and stands that serve cheap eats are an integral part of the culture and landscape, but eat street food at your own risk—more like your own peril. Presidente is the most popular local beer, but try a Bohemia, which has more flavor. Brugal rum is popular with the Dominicans, but Barceló anejo (aged) rum is as smooth as cognac, and Barceló Imperial is so special it's sold only at Christmas.

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