El Cepo Restaurante Mirador

Open air restaurant with spectacular views of the central mountains with service that has been friendly and professional. The food has been consistent and the steaks are seared and cooked as ordered with no heavy spices, but with sides of chimichurri garlic, lemony and olive oil to add zip to the steak as you want. Dark red wine reduction was also provided. The mofongo had crispy crunchy mixed in with garlicky soft areas also well balanced with garlic and lemon. Great balance! Have come back several times and consistently the same. Reservation recommended.

I have just one word to share and it is PERFECT. This is the best restaurant on the island that I found for the last 2 years of my stay in the island

Definitely a place you should visit. Since you enter you feel the special place, the service that Maribel gave us was exceptional and the dinner insurmountable.

Great view accessible to the public through the restaurant. The restaurant was gorgeous as well though we didn't dine there. We'll definitely dine there when we return.

If you are looking for a great place to eat with great food, service and atmosphere come to El Cepo. Wow, simply amazing!!!

First of all the food is so amazing! Everything was super good. Risotto Balls, Dorado Sticks, Fried Pork, Mamposteado Rice!!! and Mofongo all were top of the line and with great flavor. Second is the view, it’s amazing 360 degrees of beautiful mountain and trees of different fruits everywhere. Great restaurant and the inside is clasy and stylish. Also Lares is a beautiful town.

Good service, delicious food. I loved the Croquettes de Mamposteao with Recap Alioli.

This place is absolutely amazing! From the delicious drinks and food to the attentive staff and stunning rooftop, it's truly wonderful. I highly recommend it!

Best restaurant I’ve been to in all of PR. Everything we had was delicious, the service was great and the views are amazing. It’s off the beaten path but well worth it.

Excellent food quality, good prices, great cocktails options and Awesome environment . The service from Eliaenitte was great. The only down grade is that American Express card is not accepted, even when the check holder is from Amex and welcome the cards member.

Just gorgeous, the place is so relaxing and the food is great

Amazing and beautiful restaurant with a breathtaking view. The food was fantastic and our waitress (Jeanmarie, I think?) She was so sweet and wonderful! Will definitely love to come back!

Awe inspiring view and food to match. In the mountains and worth the drive. Attentive friendly and professional service.

Amazing food and service

Beautiful setting, perhaps an emblematic mounting view one, great drinks and service. A must visit for our visitors.

The service is excellent. Very good food, taste, quality and presentation. Recommended in all aspects.

4 different dishes, ALL of them extremely good. Highly highly recommended!!

Excellent views. Atmosphere was great and the food amazing.

Excellent food and service with a huge country view.

Great atmosphere/music, incredible staff who were very attentive and accommodated English only speakers, and very VERY delicious food. The 4/5 stars for food is only because our steak was requested medium rare, but was basically still moving in terms of rareness (still was seasoned and seared perfectly). Can't speak to the mountain views since we dined at night, but the restaurants decor and layout were outstanding. Worth every penny, I couldn't recommend it more. Also the carne fritas are a must have!

This place is amazing 👏 , I totally recommend. I was there on 9/22/24 after Driving 1 h 30 min from San Juan. and it was worth the drive 🚗. The personal was really friendly even they were almost Full and we didn't have reservations they make it happen and found a table for 3 of us . The server was very professional and fast , 💯 points . Food flavor and presentation great too . The View amazing, for a moment I thought we were at the Smokey Mountains in Tennessee. This is a Restaurant you have to go if you visit PR . Thanks one more time to all the staff.

I just had the most amazing lunch experience at El Cepo!!! The views, atmosphere, service, and food were A1! We went without reservations and they seated us downstairs. Our server was so nice! My eyes were bigger then my stomach, and we ordered all kinds of dishes. Everything was just absolutely amazing!! *See pictures. It was worth the hour plus drive from Rincon. I will be back!

Visited on a Friday and our bartender Kenneth absolutely made the night. Super friendly, fast, and really knows his craft, every drink was perfect! The atmosphere was good with an amazing view. Kenneth’s great energy kept everyone smiling. You can tell he loves what he does. If you’re heading to El Cepo, make sure you head to the bar and Kenneth will take great care of you!

I can’t say enough about this restaurant in a review. The service at arrival until the check was top notch. I was greeted when I arrived before I even fully came into the building. The food was great and the drinks were some of the best mojitos I’ve had. Atmosphere was incredible as well, from music to the view…the view was something that will bring me back many more times.

We went for lunch for the first time. We simply loved it. Outside, but covered, dining in the alturas in Lares, with exceptional views. Food and service were excellent. A rare find and must visit. We will go back. Months later: have gone back many times. Still one of our favorite restaurants in PR. Today went back with group of 11 people. Food drinks and service were excellent.

The food was exquisite! The atmosphere was delightful. My only complaint is the attention to detail. It’s like you buy a car but it doesn’t come with a steering wheel! So I ordered a steak and the waitress didn’t bring a steak knife. The fact that I ordered a $40 steak and couldn’t eat it. I was a bit frustrated. I had to wait to get someone’s attention. I asked her if she could bring me a steak knife and I felt a bit of attitude. Then she took her time to bring the knife! So not cool! Then we ordered two waters but she never brought them…ugh! Again, asked her to bring our waters. Again I felt a little attitude. So she brings only one water. But funny enough, when my husband was about to pay for the food, he noticed they charged him for two waters!? Really? Yall need to do better!

Visit for the first time to celebrate my beautiful wife Birthday. It’s an hour and a half trip from San Juan. Is a charming place with stunning views. We arrive on time(3:00pm) the place was full but our reserve table (for7) was ready and at the terrace (they charge $10 per person to reserve tables that will be credited to your ticket). Our server was diligent and amicable considering that has other full tables. Start with the drinks they were unique in their presentation(see photos) to resume, the food was good, the drinks were good the place and the views were spectacular and at the end we have a great time. Worth the trip and Recommended when you want a special place to celebrate with your family and friends.

The place is beautiful, you can see the mountains and the beach. The service was good, not the best, I went there on a Thursday, there was only one waitress on shift, and she had her hands full working takeout orders and dine ins. So, there was some waiting that could have been avoided. The food was good, not great, for the price the steak was just that nothing to write home about and don't even ask about the risotto looked like the chef took already cooked rice and added mushrooms and some cheese. Risotto felt like eating rice soup after it sat for a couple of hours. It was the worst part of the meal. The drinks were the stars of the day.

I visited this restaurant on January 5th, 2025 with my wife, my mother, and my brother. It took us 1 hour and 45 minutes to get there from Yauco taking the panoramic route. My first impression of the facilities was a wow because the restaurant looks decent, is very well located, and the views to the mountains were breathtaking. We didn't have a reservation but that didn't matter to get a nice table quickly. The place was relatively filled with patrons. The restaurant shows an open terrace to the views. You can also go up to the mirador and take beautiful pictures and videos. There is also a patio great for pictures too. All looked clean and orderly. Our waitress Maribel was really nice and professional. My brother and I had "chuletón de ternera." My wife had "lomo de cerdo and plantains, and my mother had "langostinos, thin asparagus, and plantains. The food came relatively quickly, although we all agreed that it needed to be more flavorish. The chops were not sizzling as I was expecting. Do not expect a basket of bread while you wait either because they offer tapas for an extra fee. Some tapas in the menu they didn't have and that was disappointing. I ordered a guava sangria that was so so. Overall, my experience was great for the place and the service, but just okay for the food.

The food was good it could be better. The View is a Spectacular landscape.

Pork Ossobuco was tender and well seasoned but needed more sauce. This place has an AMAZING view! Great romantic spot. Outstanding atmosphere.

Fabulous food, Nice atmosphere with Breathtaking amazing views. However, the service was poor. In PR, waiters are accustomed to automatically receiving tips regardless of the service provided, unlike the rest of Latin America where waiters strive to receive a fair tip. The food was excellent, however, the service is not up to the restaurant's standards.

We dined here on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. We made reservations, we were greeted and seated promptly. Besides the scenery this place offers, and the good food, the dining experience was not a wow moment. The service lacked. The server was cordial but not attentive, and not detailed. We waited 35 minutes for drinks to arrive, actually appetizers were served first! We also ordered a bottle of wine and the server brought the bottle and walked away, he forgot to open the bottle. Our main courses arrived 1 hour and 40 minutes since we were seated. Big gap between appetizers and main course. That said, again, tasty and well prepared food accompanied with a breathtaking view of the mountains, but unfortunately service hampered the experience. I will not patronize this establishment again, where in Puerto Rico there are so many restaurants that offer all of the above.

Beautiful scenery but unless you're nearby for a reason, I'm not sure if driving the long distance (just to come here) is worth it. Service is decent, albeit a little slow....even with early dinner reservations, they asked us to order our entrees quickly to get it in the kitchen queue. Our party of 6 shared a few dishes, but only a few items stood out - the shrimp appetizer (CHICHARRONES DE CAMARÓN) and lamb chops (EL PASTOR JIBARITO) entree with risotto option for the starch. Both were seasoned well and cooked perfectly. Unfortunately, the other items did not meet our expectations. Tomahawk steak that was meant to be shared by 3 people was way undercooked and had to be sent back twice. Should've been medium rare but it was blue rare/cold in the middle. They were nice enough to remove the item off the bill and fired up a Churrasco entree to take home with us. The grilled snapper (CHILLO A LA PARRILLA) was served whole and while it was cooked okay, the entire fish had zero flavor. The accompanying mofongo was flavorless and dryyyyy. So sad. Again, if you're in the area, it could be a nice place to share a few appetizers & bougie drinks with friends while snapping some cool photos against the lush plantation backdrop. But to drive a few hours out of your way JUST to eat here, meh, probably not.

Came here with great expectations, saw all the advertising in social medias, drove for about 1:45 minutes to get here, "it was by reservations only, we were one of the few that made early reservations on Thursday, for Sunday at 3pm, were told to arrive 15 min early, but as the weekend when by in social media said walk ins allowed, so the restaurant was horrribly full and had to wait till right at 3pm to be able to get in line. Once in waited about ten minutes before the waiter took our order, another 12 min. for the refreshments once refreshments arrive we order and took around an hour and tweenty minutes for the food to arrive. The food was good but not as we expected, service was very slow, waiter had no experience in waitering never ask us if needed additional drinks, napkins or if the food came out ok. It was the fourth day after opening and for me not worth the wait or the long drive. Additionally there was a Birthday celebration at the first level of the property, one to many waiters and to few kitchen personnel. Wich them good luck.

The restaurant has an amazing view of the mountains. However, they took approximately an hour and 15 minutes to give us our order. Also, they gave us bottles of water instead of from the house without asking us first. We oredered the paella which was good, but not worh the price or waiting over an hour. The view is quite unique and may be worth it for the sake of a special occasion.

Went here a few months ago and fell in love with this place therefore, I made sure to return as soon as I could. Unfortunately, my second visit was not as good as my first. Let me mention the positives first, beautiful place with amazing views, service of our waiter was really great, she new exactly how to handle customer needs and concerns 💯 to her (do not remember her name maybe Genesis). On the flip side; we ordered medium well and got medium rare meat (waiter handled well). The food was just ok; fish sticks felt dry and not fresh, risotto somewhat salty. We ordered glass of water with ice , we ordered an extra sauce for the fish sticks and olive oil for our salad to our surprise with no notice they bought bottle of water and charged $2.50 for each extra sauce. Do not get me wrong it is fine they only offer bottle water and charge extra sauce however, I believe they should let the customer know and let it be their choice if they are willing to pay this extra charge since this rarely happens in any restaurant. Last but not least my reservation was at 6pm (we did get there a bit earlier and were seated) with a 2hour opportunity for our reserve we should have been able to stay there until 8pm. It was a surprise when at 7:38 they were telling us we needed to leave the table not in a bad way but not in a comfortable manner either. So sad I drove a long way with high expectations. You have a lot of positives I just ask you to keep your standards in good and service all around.

Beautiful place and view, but not the same with food 👎

appetizer was wrong had to wait for another 15 min for the correct appetizer to come out..food took forever, more than usual for Island time. Manager came at last minute said will be out in 6 minutes. 6 minutes later veal and steak came out rare . Had to send back which gave the resturant time to finish cooking At this point waiting for food 1 hour 15 min../steak still came out undercooked and risotto was sooo salty.. our experience.. they ruined our 35th wedding anniversary. Stay away from this resturant for special occasion you will be disappointed..if you are coming for the view it is beautiful and you want typical PR food you’ll be good. they say they specialize in cooking the steak however steak was inedible-

We got there at 1 pm drinks took half hour to serve food 2 hours and they gave my sister wrong order. Only 1 bar tender. Place was pretty full but I notice they would serve tables more then 3 ppl faster then only 2