Restaurants in Bay Islands
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Bundu Café
Its panini sandwiches are enough to keep you fueled all day, and the breakfast is legendary. Unfortunately, hygiene is a bit circumspect. The large book exchange has a few good finds, if you search hard enough.
reviewed
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Ultralight Café
An Israeli restaurant run by a Utila native named after a doomed flying machine – you know there’s a story here. Joya, the owner, leased her burger joint to an Israeli couple, who switched from hamburgers to hummus, but were mainly interested in flying their ultralight. They were better chefs than pilots though: the ultralight crashed (no one was hurt) while the restaurant took off – the aircraft’s propeller still hangs in the little wood eatery. Joya returned, the Israelis left, and Joya planned to go back to burgers. But the Israelis’ kitchen assistant had memorized all the recipes and convinced Joya to stick with shakshuka (a popular Israeli egg dish),…
reviewed
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Jackson’s Mini Super
A well stocked supermarket.
reviewed
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Blue Channel
Blue Channel serves up a decent pizza pie, and has live music on weekends. It’s across from Ocean Connections.
reviewed
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La Tienda del Pueblo
La Tienda del Pueblo has a wide selection of food, plus hippies selling their wares out the front – groovy.
reviewed
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Dave’s Restaurant
In front of the Cocoloco, this is a massively popular spot serving grilled chicken or pork with your choice of sauces, from cilantro to basil and garlic.
reviewed
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Myrna’s Café
Down Jewel Cay on the north side of the main road, this hole in the wall serves baleadas, enchiladas and tajaditas at budget-busting prices.
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
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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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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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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 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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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