Santo Domingo Restaurant Tips by Belsaita

Restaurant Name: Barra Payan

Only local sandwiches and fresh squeezed fruit juices! The place is great: food is tasty, cheap, and open 24-hours... Very busy and noisy. All kind of people there, mostly locals (if you don't speak at least basic Spanish, probably better go elsewhere)

Favorite Dish: Sandwiches are made with the famous local bread "pan de agua" and are just delicious. To drink, you can have many different combinations of fresh squeezed fruits, with or without sugar or "carnation", the glasses are huge!

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Theme: Local
Comparison: less expensive than average
Prices: less than US$10  » Currency Converter
Phone: (1) 6896654
Address: 30 de Marzo 140

Restaurant Name: El Conde

Better know by the locals as "El Palacio de la Esquizofrenia" (Schizophrenia's Palace) as it seems it used to be, or maybe still is, the favourite place of the poets, painters, novelists, historians and playwrights...

Favorite Dish: Cannot speak about meals, as we only had some beers here, in the terrace. A very pleasant place to see the world go round, after doing some sightseeing or shopping in the nearby streets.

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Theme: Local
Comparison: about average

Directions: Square at the end of Calle Conde, near to the Cathedral. Sorry I forgot to write down the exact address, but you cannot miss it. (If someone knows, please tell me!!)

Restaurant Name: Cinema Cafe

I did not know if put this as restaurant or nightlife tip. This is definitely NOT a tourist spot. It's a meeting place of artists, students, young professionals and movie-lovers (as it's next to the Cinemateca Nacional -National Film Library). Eventually, my Dominican friends use to meet here, so we joined them a couple of times during our short stay.

It's a nice place to speak and to eat or just to have a drink. Obviously movie-related, the place is decorated in black and white, photos of scenes of famous movies and posters... It has an nice patio, an interior closed area with a/c, and a space with tables and bar. The music is a strong point: bossa, flamenco, ethnic, some soft rock in Spanish or in English.

It can be a good place to go after visiting the museums in the area or seeing a film.

Open daily from 11:00 AM to midnight or later...

Favorite Dish: The owner, Victor, happens to be a Catalan... so unexpectedly we ended having some tapas of butifarra and escalivada for dinner in RD!! I've to say these were excellent, as well the more local dishes. There is a good selection of Spanish wines, but we sampled some local beers. The place has cocktails and drinks at very reasonable prices.

They may have special nights (Japanese food on Thursdays, live Jazz music on Wednesdays, etc...)

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Theme: Eclectic/International
Comparison: about average
Prices: US$11-20  » Currency Converter
Phone: 221-7555
Address: Plaza de la Cultura, Fimoteca Nacional
Directions: You should enter to the Filmoteca, at the end of the corridor you'll find the cafe.