Trendy Loíza Street

I lived in Ocean Park for many years. A small seaside neighborhood, it is wedged between the better known tourist districts of Isla Verde and the Condado in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Skirting the edge of Ocean Park is McLeary Street, bordered by modern upscale condominiums and a small handful of lovely old mansions that haven’t yet met the wrecker’s ball. Paralleling McLeary, one block farther inland, is Loíza Street.

A new bar/restaurant on Loiza Street

Loíza was my street in Puerto Rico, the setting for hundreds of daily tasks: The small post office, where mail was sent, packages received, and good-natured customers waved me to the front of the line when I was pregnant. The two drugstores, one local, the other a chain, where you could find far more than medications, everything from beach flip-flops to Christmas decorations. The hardware store, where the owner could procure just about anything you might need to solve a household emergency, its counters home to a couple of overfed, contented cats. The bank where I mastered the art of using an ATM machine. The corner house which metamorphosed into a jazz club, and, years, later, an upscale boutique. The grocery store that closed and reopened as a seafood restaurant. Streetside fruit and vegetable stands. Flower shops and a sprawling craft store along a warren of streets connecting to Loíza. The commotion of pedestrians, faces coated with a delicate sheen of sweat, some moving with purpose, others gathered outside doorways. A trip to Loíza Street always had the feel of an adventure.

Yes, the street had its flaws. Buildings lined up in a hodgepodge of concrete and wood, most in need of a fresh coat of paint. Power lines draped in tangled garlands, and sidewalks rippled with cracks and dips. A patina of dirt and baked-in heat encrusted the neighborhood, begging for some supernatural force to wipe it all clean. Stray dogs and cats scrounged for food in scattered garbage, and the occasional homeless person slept on cardboard under building overhangs. One extremely decrepit bar operated under rooms of ill repute. On especially hot days, the air smelled of rotting fruit and rancid meat.

Rundown, bustling, and convenient – Loíza Street offered an intriguing slice of life in San Juan and was one of the places I most missed when I moved away.

After Hurricane Maria plowed its way across Puerto Rico in September, 2017, I got periodic updates about the state of the island. Curiously, the one bright spot in an otherwise bleak picture was Loíza Street. People told me it had undergone a renaissance of sorts, becoming a magnet for small trendy restaurants. When I returned to Puerto Rico last month, I checked it out.

Areyto, exterior

The street does feature a number of new restaurants that have appeared, phoenix-like, in buildings where businesses were struggling even before the arrival of the hurricane. The walls of many of them have been painted in colorful designs, and the interiors upgraded with hip décor. I found artsy hole-in-the-wall eateries, bars, upscale bistros, and outdoor patios. Mix and match cuisines from Italy, Mexico, Asia, and the Caribbean. Steaks, seafood, small plates, and vegetarian dishes. Most were crowded with college students on spring break and locals enjoying lovely tropical evenings. Yet the neighborhood retains its rundown charm, with the trendy superimposed on the Loiza Street of old. I just wish I’d had time to try all the new offerings.

Areyto, interior