8 Best Restaurants in Grenada

Take local seafood, add butter, wine, and Grenadian spices, and you have excellent French-creole cuisine. Throw in a beautiful location at the northern end of Grand Anse Beach, and this West Indian cottage becomes a perfect spot for either an alfresco lunch, snacks at sunset, or dinner by moonlight. Lobster is a specialty, whether it's lobster thermidor or perhaps wrapped in a crepe, dipped in garlic butter, or added to pasta. Homemade coconut pie is a winner for dessert. Dine "wet or fine" at a table on the beach or inside. At lunch, you can walk down Grand Anse Beach to the restaurant; at night, either drive or opt for a taxi. And on Saturday, stick around for late-night drinks and DJ music.

The marriage of contemporary and West Indian cuisines and a splendid view of the twinkling lights in distant St. George's are the delights of this romantic hillside restaurant. The five-course menu is based on original recipes from the owner's mother, a pioneer in incorporating local fruits, vegetables, and spices into "foreign" dishes. Try, for instance, Grenadian caviar (roe of the white sea urchin), green-banana soup, callaloo quiche, creole fish, baked chicken roulade, or shrimp in coconut/ginger sauce—with house-made mango cheesecake for dessert. The inspired cuisine, romantic setting, and gracious service are impressive.

Overlooking St. George's Harbour, on the north side of The Carenage, BB's Crabback features Grenadian and West Indian dishes prepared by Grenada-born, England-trained, Chef BB (Brian Benjamin). Crabback (local land crab) is a house specialty, but you'll want to try some of his seafood dishes, as well, like prawns in lobster sauce. Other dishes to try: the signature curried goat dish, the breast of chicken marinated in 12 herbs and spices, the pan-fried barracuda in a crab and lobster sauce, or oildown (Grenada's national dish). The views of the harbor and out to sea are nothing short of spectacular. It's definitely the place to go for lunch or dinner in downtown St. George's.

If you're visiting the northern reaches of Grenada, plan to stop at Belmont Estate, a 400-year-old working nutmeg and cocoa plantation. A waiter will offer some refreshing local juice and a choice of callaloo or pumpkin soup; then head to the buffet and help yourself to salad, rice, stewed chicken, beef curry, stewed fish, local vegetables, and more. Dessert may be homemade ice cream, ginger cake, or another delicious confection. The breezy open-air dining room overlooks enormous trays of nutmeg, cocoa, and mace drying in the sunshine. After lunch, feel free to take a tour ($6) of the museum, tree-to-bar chocolate factory, sugarcane garden, and old cemetery. Farm animals (and a couple of monkeys) roam the property, and there's often folk music and dancing on the lawn.

No alcohol is served here.

A tiny spot just steps from the jetty, the "dining room" is simply the back porch of a Main Street building with a handful of tables overlooking Hillsborough Bay. Enjoy freshly prepared local food—callaloo soup, lambi (conch) fritters, cracked lambi, fish cakes, fresh fish, fish chowder—or staples such as a good burger, fish-and-chips, delicious sandwiches, tasty wraps, and freshly prepared salads. Wash it down with local juice or a fresh fruit smoothie. All baked goods—wonderful bread and even better pies, cakes, and pastries—are house-made each day. Breakfast—try a sausage roll—is served from 8 to 11 am, lunch until about 3 pm. 

As you approach this popular restaurant and bar on Main Street, you're greeted by the unmistakable scent of authentic Jamaican jerk chicken and pork. That's the specialty (and personal favorite) of Chef Purgeon Reece, who hails from Jamaica, although his menu also includes other local and regional dishes such as curried goat, baked chicken, or grilled fish with rice and peas. Daily specials are posted on a streetside blackboard. This "jerk center" is definitely a casual spot, the best bet for a delicious lunch, and a good place to catch the local vibe.

Settle into a seat at a colorful picnic table, set right in the sand, and gaze out to sea at the picture-perfect view of Sandy Island. Your mouth will water from the scent of lobster, chicken, fish, and ribs being barbecued on the grill. Curtis, the extremely laid-back owner, is usually around and will even arrange a water taxi to take you to Sandy Island to swim and snorkel for EC$40 ($16) round trip. Come for a frosty drink or hang around all day, but you won't be able to resist the barbecue.

The fixed tasting menu of 20 or so local dishes, served family-style, will astound you—it's Grenadian home-style cooking at its casual best. The restaurant, in a tiny cottage on the outskirts of St. George's, is named for the late and very charismatic chef Patrick Levine. Owner and chef Karen Hall has continued Patrick's legacy since his passing in 2010. You'll sample successive helpings of superb callaloo or pumpkin soup, lobster salad, codfish fritters, breadfruit salad, ginger pork, fried jacks (fish), cou-cou (cornmeal cakes), lambi creole, curried goat, stir-fried rabbit, oildown, rice pelau (layered with meat and vegetables), starchy tania (yautia) cakes with shrimp, green papaya in cheese sauce, carrot or banana cake, and more—all for $23 per person. Everything is cooked fresh, so you must call ahead for reservations.