Grilled · Roadside Skewer

Pinchos

📷 Closely related photo — Photo via Pexels/Unsplash — free for commercial use

The stick often ends in a chunk of toasted bread whose only job is to soak up the drippings.

Chunks of marinated chicken or pork are threaded onto a stick, grilled over charcoal, and basted with barbecue sauce until charred and sticky. Sold from roadside kiosks and beachside stands islandwide, classically along the strip of grills at Piñones near San Juan.

Why it's made this way: Piñones grew as a food-vending strip built by Afro-Puerto Rican communities along the coast road, and quick, cheap grilled skewers were an easy way for kiosk cooks to serve a hot meal fast.