4 Best Restaurants in Belize City, Belize

The large dining courtyard here is shaded by breadfruit, mango, and sapodilla trees—you’ll see the staff cutting down those fruits to put in your dish—and big turquoise umbrellas. The solid Belizean menu contains dishes with whimsical names like “Not your mamma’s waffles, unless she’s vegan,” which designates plantain waffles with scrambled tofu. Service is attentive: 501 doubles as a training facility for workers in the hospitality industry. The proceedings all take place on the ground floor of The Great House hotel, although it’s a separate business. (Belize’s international telephone code is 501, hence the name.)

Visit at lunch or dinner almost any day and you'll see a cross-section of Belize City's movers and shakers—attorneys, businesspeople, politicians—enjoying the restaurant's large menu of U.S.-inspired seafood, steaks, pasta, and salads, along with Belizean comfort food. If you can get past the flamboyant wallpaper in the main dining room and the fairly basic selection of drinks and wine, you'll enjoy it, too. This is a dressier restaurant. No ties and evening wear are needed, but shorts and T-shirts are out of place. There's a guarded parking lot.

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. 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.

Often packed, 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 is always an economical choice. There's another location on Douglas Jones Street.

You're in the heart of the Commercial District, so a taxi to and from is a must if you come here for dinner.