Jewish travelers to Puerto Rico are delighted to discover a kosher eatery in the heart of Old San Juan. 

Kosher in Paradise, Chabad of Puerto Rico’s new kosher restaurant opened recently just blocks from the docks where cruise ships unload thousands of tourists daily. 

The only kosher sit-down restaurant on the island, is adjacent to Chabad’s Jewish Welcome Center, under the leadership of Rabbi Levi and Rochel Leah Stein. Opened earlier this year, the center offers traditional Jewish experiences to people thousands of miles from home.  

“We established the storefront to serve as a friendly place to meet and welcome Jewish people from all walks of life,” explains Rabbi Mendel Zarchi, founder and director of Chabad of Puerto Rico and the Caribbean Islands. "People are excited to encounter a Jewish experience in such an exotic locale; they love the opportunity to talk to a rabbi.” Now, in addition to spiritual nourishment, Chabad of Puerto Rico offers visitors a taste of home away from home. 

Thousands of travelers have visited the Jewish center since its opening, “and everyone asked us if there was a kosher restaurant in the area,” Rabbi Stein observed. Many of the visitors are day trippers who are only staying in the immediate area to tour, and don’t have time to travel into the city proper where the main Chabad center and its kosher kitchen are located. “It became clear that what we needed was something local that was quick, easy and Kosher.”

Until the establishment of Kosher in Paradise, the only option for kosher food in the area was a popular food delivery service run out of Chabad's main center. Freshly prepared and beautifully packaged gourmet meals are regularly delivered to Jewish visitors throughout the Caribbean Islands.

With its opening, tourists can dine in style enjoying selections from a menu of Israeli-style delicacies such as falafel, paninis and fries, drawing Jewish tourists who are not necessarily kosher.

“Between the welcome center and the restaurant we typically see between 75 and 100 visitors a day, with around 200-300 visitors during peak travel season.” Stein said. “On our busiest day this year we had over 1,000 visitors.”

Ninety five percent of the tourists, Stein says, would not describe themselves as observant. “But they all are very excited to find a kosher dining establishment in Puerto Rico. I’ve seen many tourists walk by, and then backtrack to read the sign again to make sure they read it correctly. Then they come inside, thrilled with their discovery.”