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    Puerto Rico was a beautiful vacation and a great celiac destination. I
found the attitude in all the restaurants, from the cheapest diners to the
most expensive, to be  helpful and interested in my requests. Although the
majority are quite bilingual, the Spanish restaurant card is still a must.

      One caution. I searched through the archives before our trip and found
that someone had listed fried plantains, or plantanos, as GF. This is true in
that this staple is made without any gluten in the ingredients. But I did not
find a single place where they were not cooked in oil with other breaded
fried foods. There are lot of wonderful (my husband's assessment) breaded and
fried foods in local restaurants, but no such thing as dedicated cooking oil!
 But another staple is rice and beans, and those were delicious and GF.


    One standout restaurant is in Old San Juan--The Parrot Club. This is an
institution there and starred in all the guide books. It serves wonderful
medium priced Cuban and Puerto Rican dishes.  The owner, Emilio Rivera, came
to my table when the waiter showed him my card. He then brought the chef out
and introduced him to me as a "special guest we want to serve a wonderful
lunch"! And they did. Not only was the food outstanding, but the attitude was
incredibly gracious.

    If you get there--enjoy!   S. Taylor(CT)

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