Native Dominican cooking combines Spanish influences with local produce. There is plenty of fresh fish and seafood, island-grown tomatoes, lettuce, papaya, mangoes and passion fruit and all citrus fruits are delicious. Native coffee is excellent and very strong. Locally-produced beer and rums are cheaper than imported alcohol which tends to be expensive. Choice varies from a Las Vegas-style revue, discotheques and casinos to a quiet caf by the sea in Santo Domingo.
Hotels offer more traditional shows including folk music and dancing.
Popular dances are the merengue , accompanied by a 3-man group called perico ripiao , and the salsa . The Mal con , along a seaside boulevard in Santo Domingo, is known as the world's longest discotheque. Concerts and other cultural events are often held at the Casa de Francia and Plaza de la Cultura in Santo Domingo, among other venues. These are a national speciality, some pieces encasing insects, leaves or dew drops within ancient petrified pine resin. Larimar or Dominican turquoise is another popular stone.