Dominican cuisine tends to center on seafood, rice, beans and meat, but Puerto Plata itself is an international destination boasting a multitude of cuisines from the world over. A small selection of the traditional Dominican dishes you may encounter include Mangu, a dish of mashed plantains and fried onions typically served alongside meat or eggs; Moro, a rice dish with red kidney beans; Sancocho, the national dish of meat and vegetable stew; Pescado con coco, fish in coconut milk; or Congrejo cuisado, a dish of marinated crab and herbs.

Many of the resorts on the Puerto Plata beaches are all-inclusive destinations that will provide for meals, but for the traveler who wants to venture from the resorts, there are a number of options. Cofresi, Playa Dorada Plaza and Puerto Plata are home to numerous restaurants popular with the locals and people who want to mingle with the locals. About a half an hour outside of Playa Dorada is Cabarete, whose restarants tend to be more popular with tourists to the area.

Seafood lovers will enjoy the large portions of lobster served up at Le Papillon in Cofresi. There is also the new Poseidon Restaurant, part of the Ocean World complex. specialized on international cuisine, specially sea food. and it's not only a restaurant. on the 2nd floor there is a casino, then a discoteque, the Bravissimo dance show... all in one place.

In the Playa Dorada resort area, Hemingway’s mixes dinner with nightlife, offering reasonably priced meals during the day and opening up into a nightclub in the evenings. On El Maceron in Puerto Plata city, Aquaceros Bar and Grill is a local favorite offering Mexican food, rum punch and Merengue music in the evening hours.