No matter where you stay in the DR, plan on venturing out to try some delicious Dominican or international cuisine. Most tourist destinations offer a variety of restaurants that serve every taste and budget. The owners of these establishments include Dominicans and people from all over the world, so their cuisine is as varied as they are. Many will bring your meal to your beach chair. Enjoying Happy Hour and watching the sunset is a very popular activity at these establishments.
For most Dominicans, lunch is the largest meal of the day and is usually served from about noon to 2:30. In tourist areas, restaurants usually serve three meals daily. In the larger tourist areas, you can usually find at least one restaurant specializing in fresh seafood, American, Mexican, Italian, French, German, or Asian cuisine. Establishments range from locations right on the beach that offer candlelight dining under the stars, to smaller roadside gems offering something more casual and economical.
Many of the medium to higher-priced restaurants will accept major credit cards, but most do not, so ask before ordering. The DR collects 16% value-added tax and allows restaurants to collect a 10% service charge. This means an additional 26% charged to your total bill. To keep things simple, many restaurants include these charges in their food and drink prices. Since service charges rarely make it into the hands of the actual servers, an additional 10% tip is customary.
The DR offers an array of nightlife options: you can drink, socialize, dance, gamble, or celebrate various festivals long into the night. Options range from small beer/pool halls, frequented predominantly by Dominican men, to large nightclubs where thousands of tourists and Dominicans dance to live bands or DJs. Most hotels and restaurants offer casual bar/lounge settings with international music and a wide range of local and international drink selections. Dominican-owned bars tend to offer only locally produced drink selections and Merengue or Bachata music.
Casinos can be found in most of the larger tourism destinations and cities throughout the country and usually provide gamblers free drinks while they play Black Jack, Roulette, and Poker. The hours of operation for most casinos are from 4 pm - 4 am daily.