Catalina Bar de Tapas is entering a new phase in Condado, expanding its menu beyond the small plates that helped establish the restaurant while keeping Spanish cuisine at the center of the concept.
The restaurant, located at 1407 Ashford Avenue, recently introduced a revamped menu with additional meats, seafood and larger dishes designed to give diners the option of a full multi-course dinner rather than limiting the experience primarily to tapas.
Owner Adrián Romano said the changes followed a recent trip to Spain, where he came away feeling that Catalina’s original menu had room to grow. The restaurant had been performing well, he told Ey Boricua, but there were dishes and flavors he believed should have been part of the concept from the beginning.
The result is an expanded menu that continues to draw heavily from Spanish cooking while broadening the restaurant’s appeal for diners looking for a more substantial evening meal.
Among the additions are papas bravas, pan tumaca, piquillo peppers filled with cod in cheese sauce, lamb chops, prawns, ribeye, seafood casserole, chorizo cooked in wine and croquettes made with Manchego cheese and serrano ham. Metro Puerto Rico reported that the menu now includes a wider selection of meats, fish and seafood alongside Catalina’s traditional tapas.
The shift is less a reinvention than an attempt to make the restaurant’s identity more complete.
Catalina was conceived around Spanish food and wine culture, with its name and décor drawing inspiration from Catherine of Aragon. Romano previously operated an Argentine restaurant called Agárrate Catalina on Calle Loíza, and the Condado concept carries pieces of his longer restaurant history while leaning more clearly into Spain.
That evolution also extends to the wine program. Catalina has expanded its selection of labels, reinforcing wine as a larger part of the dining experience rather than simply an accompaniment to tapas. The cocktail menu remains an important part of the operation as well, including house creations such as La Marquesa, a sangria made with tempranillo, aged rum and cinnamon, and María de las Mercedes, which combines fresh watermelon with tequila or mezcal and basil.
Desserts include an in-house Basque cheesecake and bread pudding. Romano told Ey Boricua that the cheesecake went through 28 test versions before the restaurant settled on its current recipe, which includes a touch of Manchego cheese.
Catalina has already received recognition for the Spanish side of its menu. In 2025, diners voted its gambas al ajillo the Best Tapa during the first Ruta de las Tapas organized through Eat Spain, Drink Spain.
The restaurant is also leaning into its role as a nightlife destination rather than operating solely as a dinner venue. Live music remains part of the schedule on Fridays and Saturdays, and Romano has described Catalina as a place where customers can eat, meet friends or stay later into the evening.
The location itself has a nightlife history. Catalina occupies the former Kali space on Ashford Avenue, a venue Romano knew before taking over the property. His goal, he said, was to retain some of that social energy without recreating a traditional nightclub.
The changes arrive at a complicated time for Puerto Rico’s restaurant industry. Romano pointed to rising costs, labor shortages and recurring problems with electricity and water as some of the pressures restaurant operators continue to face. Rather than continually passing higher expenses on to diners, his restaurant group has tried to control some costs through a centralized kitchen that produces pasta, processes meats and supports its different operations.
Those pressures are particularly visible in Condado, where restaurants compete for both local residents and tourists while dealing with some of the highest operating and occupancy costs on the island.
Catalina’s response is to broaden what customers can do once they walk through the door: stop for tapas and wine, stay for a full dinner, or extend the evening with cocktails and music.
Catalina Bar de Tapas is open at 1407 Ashford Avenue in Condado. Current published hours are 5 p.m. to midnight Sunday through Thursday and 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday.
Related coverage: Condado Daily continues to track restaurant openings, closings and major menu changes along Ashford Avenue and throughout Condado.
Sources
- Ey Boricua — interview and reporting on the menu expansion and restaurant concept
- Metro Puerto Rico / Sabrosía — reporting on the updated menu, wine and cocktail program
