Previous Chapter | Next Chapter | Table of Contents
Though most restaurants here cater to locals, their number and quality rival those of tourist magnet San Pedro on Ambergris Caye. The city has inexpensive dives serving “dollah chicken” (fried chicken, a local favorite, though it no longer costs just a Belize dollar), Chinese joints of 1950s vintage specializing in chow mein, and lunch spots for downtown office workers seeking Creole dishes such as cow-foot soup and rice and beans. Belize City also has upmarket restaurants serving the city’s affluent elite. Only a couple of these are “dressy” (by Belize standards, this means a nice collared shirt for men and perhaps a long tropical dress for women), and reservations are rarely necessary.
A few restaurants around the Tourism Village target cruise-ship passengers, typically for lunch and drinks, but the one thing you won’t find here are chain restaurants.
Bird’s Isle.
SEAFOOD | This longtime local favorite is an open-air seaside bar and restaurant on the little islet at the south end of Regent Street, also called Bird’s Isle. The thatched-roof spot is a great place to sip tropical drinks and eat local seafood or other dishes, away from the hustle of downtown. You’ll like the prices, too. Take a taxi after dark, as the Southside area near Bird’s Isle is not the best. | Average main: BZ$16 | 9 Albert St., at south end of Regent St., across bridge on Bird’s Isle, on South Side, Commercial District | 207/2179 | Closed Sun. dinner.
Chon Saan Palace.
CHINESE | Locally adored for more than 35 years, Chon Saan Palace is the best Chinese restaurant in Belize City, which is otherwise full of bad Chinese eateries. It has some 200 dishes on the menu, most Cantonese-style, such as sweet-and-sour pork. We like the Chinese-style crab legs. There’s a live-seafood tank with lobster and the catch of the day, kept alive until you’re ready to eat it. On Sunday, the restaurant switches gears a bit and makes sushi. | Average main: BZ$18 | 1 Kelly St., at Nurse Seay St., Commercial District | 223/3008.
Global Spice.
LATIN AMERICAN | We don’t often include airport restaurants, but Global Spice, a no-frills restaurant near the “waving gallery” on the second floor of the main terminal, will leave you with a nice taste of Belize. Chef Jason de Ocampo has been a winner in the annual “Taste of Belize” cooking contest, which focuses on Belizean national and regional cooking. It’s not a gourmet restaurant, just a good place to get that farewell plate of stew chicken with rice and beans and a cold Belikin. | Average main: BZ$14 | Philip S. W. Goldson International Airport, 2nd level of main terminal, Ladyville | 225/3339.
Hour Bar & Grill.
SEAFOOD | Created by a branch of the Barry Bowen family (owner of Belize Brewing Company), Hour Bar & Grill has quickly become a popular Belize City hang out. The food, mostly standard seafood, is only mediocre. Its greater appeal is its breezy seaside location. There’s plenty of safe, guarded parking, good drinks, and, naturally, plenty of cold Belikin. It’s got a lively atmosphere with lots of locals. | Average main: BZ$25 | 1 Princess Margaret Dr., Marine Parade Harbor Front | 223/3737 | Closed Mon.
Nerie’s.
LATIN AMERICAN | Often packed with locals, Nerie’s is the vox populi of dining in Belize City. The many traditional dishes on the menu include fry jacks for breakfast and cow-foot soup for lunch. Stew chicken with rice and beans and a soft drink will set you back only about BZ$11. | Average main: BZ$12 | Queen and Daly Sts., Commercial District | 223/4028 | No credit cards | Average main: BZ$12 | Douglas Jones St., Commercial District | 224/5199 | No credit cards.
Fodor’s Choice | Riverside Tavern.
AMERICAN | Owned and managed by the Bowen (Belikin beer) family, Riverside Tavern is one of the city’s most popular and agreeable restaurants, with dependably good food, friendly service, and safe parking. The signature hamburgers, which come in several sizes from 6 oz. to enormous, are arguably the best in Belize. The Riverside has steak and prime rib dishes, from cattle from the Bowen farm at Gallon Jug. Sit inside in air-conditioned comfort, at tables set around a huge bar, or on the outside covered patio overlooking Haulover Creek. This is one of the few restaurants in Belize with a dress code—shorts aren’t allowed at night. The fenced, guarded parking lot right in front of the restaurant makes it easy and safe to park for free. | Average main: BZ$25 | 2 Mapp St., off Freetown Rd., Commercial District | 223/5640 | Closed Sun.
Smoky Mermaid.
ECLECTIC | The atmosphere here currently is better than the food. On the ground floor of The Great House hotel, a small shopping gallery leads to the Smoky Mermaid, where you can, if you wish, dine on Caribbean-influenced seafood, pastas, and other dishes. (It’s not smoky in here, by the way.) The large dining courtyard has a fountain, shaded by breadfruit, mango, and sapodilla trees and big turquoise umbrellas. During lunchtime on days when cruise ships are in port, the restaurant is packed with day-trippers. | Average main: BZ$28 | 13 Cork St. | 223/4759 | www.smokymermaid.com.
Sahara Grill.
MEDITERRANEAN | This Mediterranean/Lebanese restaurant in the Northern Suburbs has good kebabs, kofta, falafel, and hummus, with many vegetarian options. | Average main: BZ$20 | 1st Floor, Vista Plaza, Mile 3, Northern Hwy., across from Belize Biltmore Plaza, Northern Suburbs | 203/3031 | No lunch.
Sumathi.
INDIAN | Tasty northern and southern Indian food is created at Sumathi in their authentic tandoori oven—a large clay oven with intense heat—which cooks meat and seafood quickly, leaving it crispy on the outside and juicy inside. Try the tandoori chicken, with cumin, ginger, and minty yogurt, served with naan (Indian flatbread). There are many vegetarian options, too. Portions are generous. Service is sometimes a weak point. | Average main: BZ$22 | Off Newtown Barracks,19 Baymen Avenue, Marine Parade Harbor Front | 223/1172 | Open for lunch and dinner. Closed Mon.
Wet Lizard.
AMERICAN | Located in the Tourism Village, overlooking the boardwalk where cruise-ship tenders drop off passengers, there’s no question of the target market of the Wet Lizard. Don’t expect more than a bar with mediocre bar food. The Wet Lizard, which focuses on lunch on days there are cruise ships in town, has expanded with a gift shop and a tour operation. | Average main: BZ$18 | Fort Street Tourism Village,1 Fort St. | 223/5973 | www.thewetlizard.com.
Roots Belizean
If you spend time talking with Belizeans, sooner or later conversation will turn to “roots.” It’s not a vegetable, but a term referring to people born in Belize who share a certain set of values. Usually, but not always, it connotes ordinary folk, not wealthy Belizeans. These are Belizeans who ride the bus instead of driving a new Ford Explorer.
“Being roots Belizean is a way of life, a mind-set, and a unique set of values,” says Wendy Auxillou, a Belizean who spent much of her life on Caye Caulker. Roots Belizeans enjoy the simple pleasures of life: talking with friends they run into on the streets of Belize City; skipping work or school to swim in the sea, river, or lagoon; sitting on a veranda on a hot afternoon; fishing in an old wooden skiff; raising chickens in the backyard for Sunday dinner.
Roots is also about community involvement. Children are often looked after by aunts and grannies, as well as neighbors. Misbehaving children might find themselves answering to a slew of adults in addition to their parents.
It’s going to the market and eating boiled corn, dukunu (boiled cornbread), garnaches (crispy tortillas topped with beans and rice), and Belizean-style hot dogs, which are wrapped in bacon and grilled with onions. It’s buying bananas 10 for a Belizean dollar. It’s enjoying the smell and taste of all the local fruits, like tambran, grocea, a dozen different kinds of mangoes, sapodilla, mamie, jicama, watermelon, pineapple, guava, and papaya. It’s about going to restaurants with local flavor, like Caladium in Belmopan, Nerie’s or Dit’s in Belize City, and Clarissa Falls in Cayo.
“It’s about eating johnnycakes or plucking chickens with your neighbor, just because,” says one Belizean.
Some claim that the original and perhaps only roots Belizeans are Creoles, descendents of the rough-and-ready Baymen and freed African slaves. Others argue that anybody can be a roots Belizean, that there are roots Mestizos, roots Maya, even roots Mennonites.
—Lan Sluder
Previous Chapter | Beginning of Chapter | Next Chapter | Table of Contents