The two epicentres of San Juan's drinking are Calle San Sebastián in Old San Juan and La Placita de Santurce. Calle San Sebastián is the loud, touristy strip — half a dozen bars in a couple of blocks, music spilling into the street, and an enormous Thursday-night queue. La Placita is the produce market by day and turns into the city's biggest open-air bar district at night, with the noise and energy of a Caribbean New Orleans.
For better cocktails, look to La Factoría in Old San Juan — one of the World's 50 Best Bars list regulars — and the small group of speakeasies hidden behind the same address. Local coffee is excellent: Puerto Rico has been roasting at high standards for generations, and Café Cuatro Sombras and Cafetería Mallorca are the two essential morning stops.