The restaurants in Ambergris Caye are fabulous!
There are more good places to eat than you can shake a stick at. That is one thing that I do find amazing – the number of good restaurants in Ambergris Caye, both from a tourist cuisine perspective all the way down to the local foods. If you want a local-made tamale, burrito, or taco, you could find people who would make them for you. That is what we call with affection, “street food” here in Ambergris Caye.
We also have nicer restaurants in Ambergris Caye. You won’t find fast food restaurants here. There is not a Wendy’s, a Burger King, or a Subway, but you might have the local equivalent of that. Local lunch meals would be around US $5 to $7.50, and would consist of stew, chicken, rice, and beans with plantains.
I lived in front of a bar that has knocked off the McDonald’s type of burgers. A quarter pounder with cheese and French fries would be about $7.50. Pizzas tend to be more expensive. They will be anywhere from $5 to $27.50 for a pizza with different toppings. There are several pizza places here.
It would cost around US $20 to $40 per person for a high-end meal. Steak would be the most expensive thing that you could buy in restaurants here because it costs more to get them to the island. A nice grouper with some mango sauce or some coconut rice and a salad would probably be around $15 to $20. A lobster tail, some coconut rice, and a vegetable will cost around $20 to $25.
The local food items in Ambergris Caye tend to have rice and stew chicken, or stew beef, pork chops, pork, beans, plantains, or coleslaw. Those meals cost around $7.50 all day long. Barbecue is a big item in Ambergris Caye, typically on Saturdays and Sundays. Barbecue chicken with tortilla and maybe some rice and beans and some coleslaw will cost around $5 to $7.50.
There is a wide variety of food here in Ambergris Caye. One of the Thai restaurants is very close to the office. This restaurant has very private seating, about five or six tables in total. Their meals cost around $15 to $35 but is it absolutely fantastic. It is right within walking distance off my office.
There are also Italian restaurants in Ambergris Caye. Pinocchio’s has some great food. Across the street is the Melt Café, which is one of the favorite places for breakfast. Within walking distance of our office complex is probably four or five of the better places to eat. Those five or six restaurants are just a couple blocks or not even a block away. The Thai restaurant is a block to my left and I can see the Melt out my window. I can also see the hamburger place out my window. Pinocchio’s is across from the Thai restaurant. You can get great chicken wings across he corner to my back and there are two local restaurants that serve rice and beans. Cabin’s Diner, right behind our office, has some nice meals, too.
It is surprising. You will not find a TGI Friday’s, a Chili’s, or a branded restaurant on the island or in the country of Belize as a whole, but there is no shortage of very good restaurants within a very close area here in Ambergris Caye. Then a 4 or 5- minute walk away from my office, you’ll find some of the nicest restaurants in the island of Ambergris Caye, such as Blue Water Grill, Mangoes, Red Ginger, and Estelle’s on the water for breakfast.
You can find lot of places to eat in Ambergris Caye with great variety and very good prices.
(David Drummond and friends at the aforementioned Thai restaurant in Ambergris Caye, Belize, pictured.)