How much do restaurants cost in Cayo, Belize, including San Ignacio and Belmopan?

There are numerous good restaurants in the Cayo District, San Ignacio, Belize, all offering a variety of food catering to different tastes and budgets. A meal at an inexpensive restaurant will cost $5 USD with a 3-course meal at a medium-range restaurant costing approximately $30 USD. Heading to the upper end of the spectrum, price-wise, dine at the San Ignacio Hotel and Resort where a steak meal will cost around $35 USD. At the Cayo Welcome Center in downtown San Ignacio, you will...

There are numerous good restaurants in the Cayo District, San Ignacio, Belize, all offering a variety of food catering to different tastes and budgets. A meal at an inexpensive restaurant will cost $5 USD with a 3-course meal at a medium-range restaurant costing approximately $30 USD. Heading to the upper end of the spectrum, price-wise, dine at the San Ignacio Hotel and Resort where a steak meal will cost around $35 USD. At the Cayo Welcome Center in downtown San Ignacio, you will find Fuego Bar & Grill, a popular Cayo tourist hangout famous for its drinks. If you like to walk (or drink) on the wild side, try their “happy hour kamikaze specials.” A full meal at Fuego’s costs approximately $15 USD. 

 

The Guava Limb Café, way down Burns Avenue in San Ignacio, is operated by Chaa Creek Resort and offers delicious fare with daily specials around $12 USD. The Travel Channel ranks these two local haunts in the top 5 restaurants in Belize! Serendib Sri Lankan Restaurant is located on Burns Avenue right across from the RE/MAX Belize Property Center office in San Ignacio. Their diversified menu of mostly Sri Lankan dishes costs $13 USD on average.  Ko-ox Han-nah (also known as Hannah’s), located almost across from Atlantic Bank, has really good Belizean food - on average around $10 USD. If you are into Mexican food in Belize, then Rolson’s would be the place to order the best roast pork tacos washed down with a margarita, priced at $13 USD for both. Mr. Greedy’s Pizzeria, on Burns Avenue, caters to pizza lovers of all stripes for around $14 USD for a pizza. If you are seeking high-end pizza, head to Francis Ford Coppola’s Blancaneaux Lodge in Mountain Pine Ridge. His Belize restaurant, Montagna Ristorante, serves up made-to-order pizza, cooked in an authentic brick oven. Rumor has it that they’ll make you a pizza you can’t refuse!

 

Proceeding east from San Ignacio, along the George Price Highway (formerly known as the Western Highway) you will drive through a series of quaintly named villages including Santa Elena, Esperanza, Central Farm, Unitedville, Ontario, Teakettle Village, Camelote, Roaring Creek, Cotton Tree and Democracia. In Santa Elena, the Aguada Hotel has its own restaurant with really good food, averaging $12 USD. In Unitedville, on your way to San Ignacio, you will find Casa Sofia. Be sure to stop there for authentic Italian Cuisine at very affordable prices. 

 

Just outside of San Ignacio, heading west towards the Village of Benque Viejo del Carmen, Ka’ana Resort offers inspired breakfast, lunch and dinner menu choices - with prices reflecting this Belize luxury resort. Full-breakfast choices range from Banana Pancakes at $10USD through to Chorizo and Egg Burritos at $12USD. All full-breakfast dishes are served with fresh fruit; and complimentary tea or coffee. They offer a medley of breakfast beverages, ranging from Papaya Protein Blast at $5 USD through to a Bloody Mary at $8USD! The caption beside this menu choice reads “what better way to start the day, with homemade pickled vegetables”. It’s a matter of taste!

 

As you roll into the village of San José Succotz in Cayo, do your taste buds and pocketbook a favor and head to Benny’s Kitchen, across the Mopan River from the Xunantunich Mayan site. Great place for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Well-priced and tasty home-cooked Belizean food, averaging $10USD.

 

Heading further west to the Village of Benque Viejo del Carmen, cruise into Charli’s right across from the Benque Farmers’ Market at the corner of Kennedy and Wyatt Streets. They serve burgers, wings, salads, pasta, pizza, and vegan dishes at very reasonable prices. There are 6 Chinese restaurants along George Price Boulevard in Benque – all economically priced. The Cave Garden Restaurant & Bar serves up affordable beef and chicken tacos and bar fare. They serve rum and coke for $1.25USD during their “Thirsty Thursday” and “Wet Friday” happy hours. And, there’s always the Cafeteria in the Catholic Church at the corner of Church Street and Guerra Street. Welcome to Benque Viejo!  

 

(Francis Ford Coppala's Blancaneaux Lodge in Mountain Pine Ridge Belize, pictured.)

In downtown San Ignacio we have everything from street venders to nicer restaurants.  There are also restaurants in the resorts here in Cayo with a more extensive and expensive menu. The cost to eat from a street venders is very inexpensive. You can get tacos or burritos for about $1.25 Belize (US 62 cents). Then you move up to restaurants where for two people you’re not going to get out for less than $50 to $60 Belize (US $25 to $30). When you go to the resort restaurants...

In downtown San Ignacio we have everything from street venders to nicer restaurants.  There are also restaurants in the resorts here in Cayo with a more extensive and expensive menu. The cost to eat from a street venders is very inexpensive. You can get tacos or burritos for about $1.25 Belize (US 62 cents). Then you move up to restaurants where for two people you’re not going to get out for less than $50 to $60 Belize (US $25 to $30). When you go to the resort restaurants or to the hotels in town, the cost would be over $100 Belize (US $50). Of course all this depends on whether what you’re buying is a bottle of wine / mixed drinks or just having fresh juices.

 

The fast-food restaurants here in Cayo are more commonly called street vendors because some just have little carts on the street while others have a stall in the market. One of the most recommended places for breakfast is a sit down restaurant called Pop’s which is located in downtown San Ignacio.  The menu is all local food and his slogan is "breakfast all day."  For breakfast he has banana pancakes covered in fresh fruit or eggs anyway with or without chaya, fry jacks or johnny cakes.  “Fry jacks” is basically a tortilla dropped in hot grease and when they come to your table they’re “popped!” They are beautiful, delicious and served all over Belize !  For two people if you really load your table up (which we do!) it can cost around $25.00 Belize (US $12.50 ). Pop’s is a sit-down restaurant but does have take out.  It was just a hole in the wall but the owner expanded because all of the resorts send people there for the experience of eating good Belizean food. If you are looking for an adventure for lunch you could try cow foot or pig tail soup. Chaya is something like spinach. It’s extremely nutritious and usually sautéed with tomatoes and onions.  The Belizeans put chaya on a lot of their foods and in their soups.

 

(Pop's restaurant, San Ignacio, Cayo District, Belize, pictured.)

The cost to eat at restaurants here in Cayo has a wide range. You can have barbecue chicken at the roadside for $5 Belize (US $2.50). We like eating at the roadside restaurants, which are pretty much the only fast food option that we have here in Cayo. They serve meals with corn tortilla or wheat tortilla with either barbecue chicken or pork. Each of them has their own secret recipe for the sauce. You will find some eateries that are very busy and you will find some where there is...

The cost to eat at restaurants here in Cayo has a wide range. You can have barbecue chicken at the roadside for $5 Belize (US $2.50). We like eating at the roadside restaurants, which are pretty much the only fast food option that we have here in Cayo. They serve meals with corn tortilla or wheat tortilla with either barbecue chicken or pork. Each of them has their own secret recipe for the sauce. You will find some eateries that are very busy and you will find some where there is barely anybody there. But we love it and every once in a while we treat ourselves to a roadside barbecue chicken. Drinks are not included so you have to pay extra for that.

 

If you go to one of the nicer restaurants, you will pay around $20 Belize (US $10) for a salad and some chicken. 

 

When we came to Cayo five years ago, there were hardly any fancy restaurants here. They just came around two years ago. An example is Guava Limb, which was named the best restaurant in Belize by the Belize Tourism Board last year. It is my favorite restaurant. It opened around two years ago and belongs to the owner of Chaa Creek Lodge. It used to be a residential home but was converted into a nice little restaurant. Their prices are around $20 Belize (US $10) but there are days when they have a special, which is priced differently. They have a nice organic selection and they also cater to vegetarians and vegans. Guava Limb is a nice place to relax and dine. It is not only for expats or tourists, as a lot of Belizeans come to eat there.

 

They have different chefs, who are very creative and they do something very special every day, so it seems like there is a competition amongst the chefs. They use fresh ingredients. Sometimes they use fish, tenderloin, etc. The price for the special is between $25 and $30 Belize (US $12.50 and $15).

 

The prices at the restaurants in Cayo are very reasonable compared to the restaurants on the coast, especially in San Pedro, in Ambergris Caye, which is a tourist destination.

 

(Pork chops with cherry glaze at Guava Limb Cafe, San Ignacio, Cayo, Belize, pictured.)