El Jefe Burger Shack

The Luquillo area in Puerto Rico is know for its beautiful sandy beach & deep blue waters offering great waves for surfing & bogey boarding. It's also know to the locals as a great place to stop off after a day at the beach for some great grub! There's a strip of locally owned restaurants that runs right along the main highway in town. This area is called the Luquillo Kioskos. Here you can kick back with a cold Medalla beer and enjoy some local dishes like empanadillas and rice & beans.

If you stop by Kiosko #12, you're in for a real treat, you'll find El Jefe Burger Shack. This stand is know for it's hand packed angus beef burgers & some truly delicious pina coladas! We stopped off at the Burger Shack after a great day exploring the El Yunque Rain Forest. JJ and I were greeted by a nice young lady, who invited us to grab a seat and check out the menu.

The vibe is totally relaxed, with people mingling about, drinking cold beverages and exchanging laughs. We headed to an open table, near the back of the open air restaurant. We ordered up some of tasty drinks from the bar - a pina colada for me and a margarita for JJ.

Time for lunch - we decided to share a burger & some beer battered onion chips. We ordered up a 1/2 lb. burger, topped with sauteed onions, swiss cheese, sauteed mushrooms, mayo, lettuce & tomato - all stacked between a fluffy toasted bun. Check out the picture below - now that's what I'm talking about, some serious goodness here people! Yummm...

The El Jefe Burger Shack in Luquillo, PR totally rocks - it's an absolute must visit if you are ever in the area. Now I know this is not the type of food you think of when you might think of "local" Puerto Rican food, but what I love about this burger joint is that lots of their products are bought from local farmers and they work one on one with a local bakery to make the buns that are delivered fresh to the restaurant. They make their sauces & dressings from scratch and their walls are covered with artwork from local artists. The owners fell in love with Puerto Rico and have created a gold mine, right along the beach - does it get any better than that, seriously!