Restaurants in Bay Islands
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Munchies
Located on the 1st floor of an island home built in 1864, this restaurant has a great Caribbean vibe, with pleasant outdoor seating on the front porch and at the back. The menu is a bit limited, but includes good vegetarian options and big breakfasts, which keeps it busy with travelers.
reviewed
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RJ’s BBQ
Huge, cheap, well-prepared dishes attract a crowd here – it’s lucky for the other restaurants in town that RJ’s is only open three days a week. Choose from barbecued chicken, wahoo, kingfish, pork or beef, all of which are served with mashed potato and salad. The selections are written on a chalk board near the cash register, and erased one by one as the night wears on and the food runs out. Needless to say, come early. It’s across from Alton’s Dive Shop.
reviewed
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Beach House
This is a fine hotel, but they’re simply overpriced – the last, spectacularly so.
reviewed
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Bite on the Beach
Perched on a rocky outcrop at the north end of the beach, this was West Bay’s second establishment, and the first restaurant, when it opened in 1996. (How times have changed!) The friendly American owners, who took over in 2001, serve an eclectic menu, from hamburgers and blue-cheese-and-sundriedtomato chicken to Thai curry and conch soup. Its large garden salads are made with vegetables from Roatán’s hydroponics garden, and the key lime pie is divine. The view isn’t too shabby either – from the restaurant’s raised two-level eating area, the bay and ocean spread out below you, both endlessly blue.
reviewed
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Mayoka Lodge
For a couple of grand each, you and the other jurors can deliberate in style at this stunning six-bedroom, 1980-sq-meter beachfront home, surely one of the most beautiful houses (and most luxurious accommodations) in the whole country. Overlooking Sandy Bay, the home features a wine cellar, cigar humidor, infinity pool, flat-screen TVs, multilingual book and DVD library, pool and poker tables, tennis courts, kayaks, sea scooters, wireless internet, maid, chef and chauffeur service…the list goes on and on. Rates include meals and most drinks, but not taxes.
reviewed
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Lighthouse Restaurant
Everyone loves an inside tip, and Lighthouse Restaurant is that easy-to-miss ‘secret spot’ that hoteliers like to recommend to their guests. It’s pricy, but has great views and a landed-elite British Caribbean feel. The coconut prawns and Thai-style seafood bowl are reliable, and the daily specials usually have some intriguing items. The setting is the real highlight: it’s hidden from the main road and (amazingly enough) is one of only a couple of restaurants with seating right on the water. Service is a bit hit and miss. It’s near Mavis and Dixie’s.
reviewed
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Thompson’s Café Bakery
Don’t leave Utila without stopping here at least once to try the famous Johnny cakes – a doughy biscuit that is like manna from heaven when fresh from the oven and smeared with butter. For something heartier, have it with egg and ham: a Ferrari to the Egg McMuffin’s Pinto. Thompson’s opens early (and starts baking even earlier) so you can snag breakfast before an early dive. Good egg-and-bean breakfasts, fresh bread and cinnamon roles are also served.
reviewed
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Pura Vida Hotel & Restaurant
There’s no shortage of Italian food to be had in West End, but Pura Vida still takes the cannoli for quality and service. For lunch, the grilled veggie focaccia sandwich is humongous and terrific, while the black fettuccine with shrimp is a delectable departure from the typical spaghetti and meatballs dinner (though they have that too). It’s on the turnoff to Mariposa Lodge.
reviewed
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Gío’s Restaurant
Long considered one of the best restaurants on the island, Gío’s specializes in seafood – especially crab and lobster, for which they issue bibs – but serves up a pretty mean churrasco (Argentinean-style beef) and filet mignon. All dishes come with salad and garlic bread, and are served in the air-cooled dining room or on a patio overlooking the harbor.
reviewed
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Creole Rotisserie Chicken
Super tasty roast chicken is served in quarter-, half-, or whole-bird portions at this small, open-air eatery, along with large sides of rice, beans, potato salad or coleslaw for a buck and change each. The fish fingers don’t disappoint, either. This is a longtime backpacker haunt, but you don’t have to be on a budget to appreciate the good food.
reviewed
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Tong’s Thai
You really can’t beat the ambiance – right over the water with ceiling fans warping overhead, pine everywhere and views of the Caribbean night on all sides – and the Thai cuisine isn’t bad either. But the service moved at a snail’s pace when we visited, so be sure you have the next couple of hours free before you commit.
reviewed
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Casa Romeo’s Hotel and Restaurant
A fine Italian restaurant right on the harbor’s edge, Casa Romeo’s offers excellent, though pricey, meals. Seafood is the focus – the conch chowder and Caribbean king crab are superb. A wine list featuring Italian, French, Chilean and Californian wines rounds out the menu nicely. The hotel rooms are best avoided.
reviewed
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Café Mariposa
Housed in a canary- yellow building jutting out above the sea, the Mariposa has friendly service, yummy snacks and tremendous views. Don’t miss the pan-seared prawns accompanied with a freshly-mixed Piña Colada (after all, we’re in the tropics). You can save some duckets by going with the snacks and sandwiches.
reviewed
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Galley
Another great place for good cheap meals! The Thai curry and a three-meat BBQ plate are the most expensive with cheaper options like fried rice and a killer carbonara. As it's just a small wood shack a dozen or so meters off the road, it's easy to miss - look for the gravel path next to Paradise Computers.
reviewed
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Velva’s Place
This low-key, outdoor restaurant is away from the hubbub of West End’s main strip. An ‘Island breakfast’ of eggs, bacon, beans and toast costs L$100, burgers are about the same, and fish and shrimp dishes range from L$70 to L$110. It’s two minutes north of the intersection.
reviewed
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Mavis And Dixie’s
This beachfront restaurant delivers, with delicious seafood dishes – from coconut-stung wahoo to blackened mahi-mahi – and some of the friendliest service on the island. Its location, on the spit leading out from Half Moon Bay, offers a welcome respite from the traffic of Main Street.
reviewed
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Argentinean Grill
The hottest restaurant in town, this is the place to splurge if your lemps are burning a hole in your wallet. As the name suggests, steaks are the specialty – the filet mignon is spectacular – but if red meat isn’t your thing, the seafood and chicken dishes are just as good.
reviewed
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Cannibal Café
A favorite spot for afternoon snacks, the open-air Cannibal specializes in Mexican food – and the owners guarantee that no meat of the Homo sapiens variety makes it onto the menu. It serves up a mean baleada, but you might be disappointed by the entrées.
reviewed
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Rick’s American Café
This is a pricey restaurant with a fine view, superb meats and big salads. The specialty is the baby back ribs, though the lamb is a favorite among regulars. During the NFL season, this is the place for Sunday brunch. It’s located west of Anthony’s Key Resort.
reviewed
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The Lobster Pot
Right on the beach, this mellow restaurant serves fine Caribbean cooking. It’s not cheap (or fancy for that matter) but it’s worth the splurge. The dessert choice is killer – key lime pie, yucca cake or coconut brownies (L$60).
reviewed
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La Piccola
This classy restaurant serves excellent homemade Italian food – and a few traveler favorites. Most of the pasta is made fresh by hand and served at tables with candles and tablecloths in a second-floor patio setting.
reviewed
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Dian’s Garden of Eat’n
While it’s often closed, Dian’s Thai-Caribbean fusion cuisine is reputed to be some of the best on the island. The restaurant is a three-minute drive or taxi ride from the West End turnoff toward West Bay.
reviewed
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La Dolce Vita Pizzeria
In the courtyard of Mango Inn, this place serves great brick-oven pizza and decent seafood pastas, as well as breakfasts. It’s a good place to come for drinks, too, before Tranquila and Coco Loco get fired up.
reviewed
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Fish Burgers
On the east side of the bridge to Pigeon Cay, this waterfront eatery offers up – surprise, surprise – fish burgers. There are a few more options on the menu, but why would you even try.
reviewed
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Comedor Jaylin
Locally recommended, this little hole in the wall is cheap and clean, with good local fare. Go for a baleada for just L$10. It’s adjacent to the Wood Medical Center.
reviewed
