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Reservations at this intimate, 20-seat restaurant within the CHIC Resort in Uvero Alto are highly coveted since it welcomes nonresort guests and is not on the resort’s all-inclusive plan. The chef's table offers a nightly six-course tasting menu, including wine pairings and choreographed musical accompaniments. The talented chef prepares all courses in an open show kitchen. The cuisine is food art, the presentation contemporary, the menu ever-evolving and never disclosed beforehand. This meal is well worth the long ride to Uvero Alto. In fact, it may be the best meal you have in the country.
CHIC Punta Cana by Royalton, Uvero Alto, La Altagracia, Dominican Republic
809-468–0404-(ask for the club concierge)
Known For
- Open show kitchen
- Fine dining
- Food art
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed days vary, Reservations essential
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Everyone from college students to cigar kings, presidents to politicos, photographers to movie stars pack this eccentrically decorated culinary landmark; check out the ornate mirrors and Romanesque plaster sinks in the bathrooms. Chef-owner Paolo's mouthwatering creations are authentic and fresh. Ask about the tasting menu, or try the great antipasto selections; commence with the Pasticcio salad. Even the bread service comes with three sauces (the best is a creamy anchovy). Finish with a shot of limoncello and cheesecake. And if it's too dim to read the menu, just look up—it's also written on the ceiling. The outdoor terrace seating is new, along with a wall of black-and-white photos of former film stars. The value here is remarkable.
Av. El Lano, 51000, Dominican Republic
Known For
- Fun and eccentric decor
- Menu is written on the ceiling
- Owner is larger than life
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Mon.
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$$$ | |
Dining on the deck here with the gentle breeze blowing, you feel as if you’re actually aboard a yola (a small, local fishing boat). The menu, which has always had Mediterranean and Caribbean influences, has been contemporized and given a French flair. Seafood dominates the menu (you'll also find meat and chicken selections). Main courses, including the catch of the day—usually red snapper, grouper, or dorado (mahimahi)—are artfully prepared and presented and most side dishes are extra but worth it; the expanded kids' menu has five options. As always, service is professional and attentive. What does come up short are the desserts—there aren't enough of them—but the passion fruit cheesecake is a palate pleaser. Happy hour remains popular.
Punta Cana, San Juan, Dominican Republic
Known For
- Marina front restaurant
- Professional service
- Strolling musicians
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Reservations essential
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$$$ | Playa Dorada |
With a setting as artistic as a gallery—befitting its location within Casa Colonial, a refined boutique hotel—and an ambitious Caribbean-fusion menu, Lucía is successful on all fronts. In a room with orchids galore, crisp white linens, and waiters in white guayabera shirts giving impeccable service, guests love the delicious appetizers and signature dessert, the molten chocolate volcano. When the digestif cart is rolled over, be daring with a Brunello grappa or the local Brugal Unico rum.
57000, Dominican Republic
Known For
- The ultimate date-night venue
- Marinated tuna appetizer
- Remarkable main courses are rack of lamb and Caribbean lobster
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: No lunch, Reservations needed
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$$$$ | |
Located in a historic building that has been meticulously restored to its 1914 glory, this elegant restaurant feels old-fashioned without being stuffy. American classics meet local ingredients in familiar but brilliantly executed dishes served by waiters in pin-striped uniforms and white gloves. This steakhouse imports only prime cuts of beef from Chicago’s Allen Brothers and the bar features classic cocktails elevated with local fruits. Well-to-do locals love this restaurant for proposals, and while the dress code is not strictly enforced, you will feel out of place in shorts.
Calle Isabel La Católica at Calle Mercedes, 10210, Dominican Republic
Known For
- Old-timey vibes
- Elegant classics like wedge salad
- Imported prime cuts of beef
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Recommended Fodor’s Video
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$$$ | |
On a white-sand beach shaded by coco palms, this understatedly cool seafood restaurant is efficient, friendly, and fun. Start with a perfectly executed cocktail—like a lime or mango daiquiri—then dig into the savvy menu, where fresh fish and shrimp done three ways are staples. The prices are an excellent value for the amount of creativity and skill, which seems to increase each season. Refreshing salads and cooked appetizers never disappoint. And there are paellas, pasta, risotto, ravioli, and grilled lobster and meat. Sides are usually extra but worth it. The best dessert is the coffee rum trifle. Live music weekly is just one aspect of the beachfront entertainment; another is watching the kitesurfers—poetry in motion—just next door.
Punta Cana, San Juan, Dominican Republic
Known For
- Chaises are a great place to hang after dining
- Location between Club Med and the Westin
- Beachfront bar
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$$$ | Ensanche Piantini |
This formerly old-fashioned and elegant restaurant has morphed into something much more contemporary, but has still retained many of its old-world touches. Each bite is a sensory explosion; a sushi bar complements the grill menu, which offers both fish and foie gras. Prices are surprisingly reasonable for such a classy environment—there are even gourmet burgers. End your meal with a slice of warm guava cheesecake and an aged port. If you want to smoke, you'll have to take a seat on the outdoor terrace. You can join the young and beautiful at the granite bar until 3 am on Friday and Saturday (1 am the rest of the week). Signature cocktails are as attractive as they are heady.
Look for a sign that says simply "SBG".
Paseo de los Locutores 9, Santo Domingo, Nacional, 10127, Dominican Republic
Known For
- High-end neighborhood fine dining
- Twenty- and thirtysomething social scene
- Contemporary, eclectic menu
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$$ | Gazcue | Caribbean
Hotel concierges still recommend this Malecón institution for Dominican food (it's now a local chain of four), although it has been branded as fast food. It's touristy, yes, but Dominicans still make up the majority of customers. Start with mojitos at sunset. The three-tiered, outdoor setting overlooking the sea is unique here. Opt for the excellent sancocho (a rich, meaty stew), mofongo (stuffed mashed plantains), or sopa de pescado (fish soup). Breakfast and lunch (a buffet) is served, as well as dinner: it's open 24 hours, and the clubbers come calling for late-night sancocho. The prices are reasonable, but the service is, unfortunately, somewhat inconsistent Be careful crossing the street here: use the crosswalk, and at night on the Malecón be alert for sketchy characters.
Av. George Washington 2, Santo Domingo, Nacional, 10205, Dominican Republic
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Hotel concierges still recommend this Malecón institution for Dominican food (it's now a local chain of four), although it has been branded as fast food. It's touristy, yes, but Dominicans still make up the majority of customers. Start with mojitos at sunset. The three-tiered, outdoor setting overlooking the sea is unique here. Opt for the excellent sancocho (a rich, meaty stew), mofongo (stuffed mashed plantains), or sopa de pescado (fish soup). Breakfast and lunch (a buffet) is served, as well as dinner: it's open 24 hours, and the clubbers come calling for late-night sancocho. Service is, unfortunately, somewhat inconsistent. Be careful crossing the street here: use the crosswalk, and at night on the Malecón be alert.
Av. George Washington 2, 10205, Dominican Republic
Known For
- Authentic local food
- Close to Malecón hotels
- Prices are reasonable
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If you are looking for a rustic hideaway with great food, this may be your place. The "furniture" might be a tree stump, decoration a cow horn; tablecloths are raw burlap; the floor is dirt. Men sidle up to the bar, which looks like a western movie set, smoking Dominican cigars (bought here). The food served up by chef-owner Juan Alberto, is why they come: flavorful and authentic, the seafood is always a star. Look for langoustines and lambi (conch), pulpo (octopus) and land crab, not to mention the freshest fish. Juan goes that extra mile in his preparations, far beyond the ubiquitous creole sauce you find in most Dominican fish joints. If you come with a group, Juan may even hire musicians to entertain.
Off Carretera Río San Juan–Cabrera Entrada de Saltadero, Cabrera, María Trinidad Sánchez, Dominican Republic
Known For
- Vintage license plates hanging in the bar
- Mixed crowd---locals, expats and tourists
- Steak and shrimp are the primary proteins in this funky place
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Tues., No credit cards
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$$$ | |
The tables at this tranquil Italian restaurant flank a night-lit pool, offering the kind of intimate, romantic setting tailor-made for a wedding proposal. The young Italian owners have embraced slow food, offering delicious antipastos, carpaccios, and tartares to start and excellent house-made pastas, including feather-light gnocchi and tender half-moons in a sage-and-butter sauce. Paired with a vibrant Tuscan red, this is the ideal meal. Perfect panna cotta is the kind of dessert you hope to find. End your evening with a mild grappa or Sambuca. The chic set come to dinner and may leave with a new painting under their arm—an adjacent room is an unexpected gallery.
Callejón de la Loma 1, 57000, Dominican Republic
Known For
- "waterfront" dining in a courtyard overlooking a pool
- Mahi and salmon carpaccio with rasberry citronette
- Linguini with lobster fra diavlo
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Sun. No lunch
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$$$$ | |
The fresh catch of the day is always the best choice at this restaurant on a palapa-shaded pier overlooking the gentle Caribbean. Dominican specialties are offered, and the plate presentation is relatively simple. Service is caring and attentive. A blue-tiled fireplace at the bar adds an unexpected, decorative element; it's a great place to chill with an authentic piña colada. The menu is now fixed price, with lunch costing $58 and dinner costing $70.
Blvd. Zona Hotelera, Juanillo, La Altagracia, Dominican Republic
Known For
- South Seas setting (on stilts)
- Fixed price menus
- Caribbean lobster cakes
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Reservations essential
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$$$$ | |
This remarkable Italian-Dominican seafood restaurant continues to be the "in" spot for the young, fun, and moneyed locals as well as in-the-know visitors. The best all-over experience of the Boca beach restaurants, it extends onto a pier with palapas and lots of white draping. Guests go for a swim off the expanded deck, although there is no beach. (A consolation: free Wi-Fi.) You may be greeted by the effusive host and owner; the veteran waiters are professionals. The menu is vast, with lots of creative and classic preparations of delectable mariscos (shellfish), including octopus and lobster. Most of the seafood is 100% fresh and local, some imported. Top-shelf margaritas are fantástico, and there's also an admirable wine list. Breakfast is served here.
Prolongación Duarte 12A, 21000, Dominican Republic
Known For
- Creative and classic preparations of delectable
- Portobello mushroom au gratin
- Swimming off the deck (showers available for aprés swim)
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Relax on a double chaise, snooze on a beach bed, or drink something bubbly as you dine on boat-fresh fish and local shellfish (including lobster) from the grill. Although not wildly innovative, the menu offers something more than the usual fresh ceviche; order simple burgers or pizzas to go with your icy agua verde (Presidente beer its in green bottle). This beach café was originally built for Embassy Suites’ guests and members of Metro Country Club; it's open to the public but by reservation only. Cover-ups are required for dining, and there's a minimum if you want to occupy one of the Balinese sunbeds. Always note the person’s name who takes your reservation, who should give your name to the security guard.
Calle Principal,, 21000, Dominican Republic
Known For
- A fine beachfront hang out
- Ceviche
- Red snapper Veracruzana
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Mon. No dinner, Reservations essential
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The simple, off-the-grid palapa seems to exhale with a breezy, unbothered joviality; bring your camera: from this cliffside perch the sea eagle's view of endless ocean makes you feel as if you're at the edge of the world (and in season it's ideal for whale-watching).The menu offers something more creative than the standard fish in coconut sauce: delicious calamari, seafood paella or stew, or stir-fried squid or conch. Vegetarians are well accommodated, too, but you have to call in advance if you want fresh fish, lobster, or paella. The long wait for your food is best done in a hammock. Remote, it's a rough ride up coastal dirt roads but still accessible with a regular vehicle. You can even stay overnight, as there are several cabanas and a renovated tree house.
Calle La Caleta, Dominican Republic
Known For
- Cliffside setting
- Creole specialities
- One-of-a-kind experience
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Tues., Reservations essential
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This gastropub is the go-to place for both local expats and tourists with taste. Owner Bruno lends this modest establishment a personality, offering warm welcomes and quality food. The international menu ranges from Thai beef salad to great burgers with authentic Belgian frites. While meats dominate the menu, fish is not neglected, and you won't be disappointed if you go surf instead of turf. The Caribbean rum cocktails that are served up in frosty, metal mugs are creativity personified. The only drawback is sometimes haphazard service, but that doesn't seem to keep anyone from coming back.
Calle 27 de Febrero, Dominican Republic
Known For
- Trendy atmosphere
- Small and scene-y
- Dares not to focus on seafood
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Tues.
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$$ | |
Pelicano has an enviable deck with chaise longues and even Balinese sun beds both right in the clear water and on the beach. The least expensive of the Boca Chica trio of waterfront restaurants, and the only one with a beach, the fairly simple menu features good bets like lobster bisque and any fresh fish on the plancha (grill). Las Américas Airport is just 15 minutes away, making this an ideal place for a long layover, so grab a piña colada and have a swim.
1 Calle Duarte, at Caracol, 21000, Dominican Republic
Known For
- Fresh ceviche
- The tender fillet and garlicky whole red snapper
- Ideal layover spot—it's only 15 minutes from Las Américas Airport
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$$$ | |
This outdoor eatery a few paces from the ocean is on a prime stretch of beach, with a thatch-roof palapa to shelter diners. By day, this Euro-hip hangout with beach beds and blender drinks is the place to be if you want to escape from your AI resort. (And they will let you hang out as long as you’re buying something.) It opens early (9 am) and stays open late (11 pm). Pricey artisanal pastas and other Italian dishes are given a contemporary twist, but you can also get lobster and fresh seafood. During the winter season you can expect to find a beach party going on Sunday afternoons; check online for promotions and special events.
Calle Mare 01, Bávaro, La Altagracia, Dominican Republic
Known For
- Seafood dominates and ceviche is a fave
- Kids go for the pizza
- Vegetarian-friendly with vegan options
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$$$ | |
This double-deck, open-air restaurant right on the sand is within walking distance of some of the big resorts, including Paradisus Palma Real and the Barceló Grand Resort complex, and it draws diners looking for fresh seafood. When weather demands, sheer white linens offer protection against sun, wind, or rain without obstructing the exquisite beachfront views. Families come, too, because kids have a safe haven and a special menu. At night, soft lighting creates a romantic effect, but service is lacking at times. Often staffers are slow, not overly friendly, and lack English skills. Weddings and other private events are popular, and the average diner can be ignored when there's something big going on. Walk here along the beach; the dirt road is rutted and difficult to navigate.
Bávaro, La Altagracia, 23000, Dominican Republic
Known For
- Starters like mahi carpaccio
- Entrées like whole snapper, langoustines, and lobsters
- A great alternative to the AI resort options
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Reservations preferable
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$$$ | |
On the waterfront, La Casita (a spin-off of the original in La Romana's downtown) has a contemporary feel; at night dramatic lighting positioned over waterfront tables casts a beautifying glow. Professional waiters guide you through the menu of pastas, risottos, shellfish stew, and paella, which reflects the Spanish owner's heritage. Prices can be high, but many main courses are large enough to be shared. The restaurant is included in the all-inclusive plan for guests of Casa de Campo and is one of the better choices. Ask for a waterfront table and be adamant that you do not want to sit near the kitchen door.
22000, Dominican Republic
Known For
- Romantic marina front restaurant
- Fideuà (a variation of paella made with pasta)
- Professional waiters can handle large parties
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: No lunch, Reservations essential
