A Gem in Old San Juan
Small restaurant in Old San Juan. Large portions of homemade pasta to die for. Unusual appetizers: fish balls (delicious, 4 with a dipping sauce) and risotto with seafood (excellent). Very reasonable. Service was excellent and ambiance was adorable. Small and quaint.    [18 May 2006 19:50:46]

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     ­debbie   

A Bad Taste...Without Even Having a Bite
Rude, insulting and unfriendly. A middle-of-the-road restaurant posing as a fine dining dress code restaurant.

We arrived in San Juan and spent a great day shopping! My cousin told us to meet him in a restaurant called Al Dente, which he highly recommended. Being a tourist getting off a cruise ship, I was dressed like a tourist visiting a tropical island.

My office is on Wall Street and I am accustomed to be treated accordingly, with respect.

The owner of Al Dente asked my cousin to go to his home to get better clothes for me and my friend (P.S. the owner was wearing a t-shirt himself). Otherwise he gave us two alternatives - to leave or to dine on a street-side walkway in the humid heat next to the exhaust of the cars facing a parking building (tropical dining at its best). Needless to say we left.

Being a New Yorker who dines in NYC every evening, never have I experienced such ill-mannered behavior from a restaurant and its owner.

I do not recommend this to any traveler who doesn't keep a suit or tux in their travel bag for the Al Dente "fine" dining. And be sure you'll be the only one in the restaurant wearing one.

Anyway with the tux or without there are much better and friendlier places to eat.

Regardless of a great trip and shopping, Al Dente left a bad taste in my mouth... without even having a bite.    [06 Jun 2007 10:28:17]

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     ­Robert, NYC