27 Best Restaurants in The Southern Coast, Belize

This open-air bar and restaurant near the sea with a "tatch" (thatch) roof has long been a popular hangout in the village. Try the huge shrimp burrito and wash it down with a few cold Belikins. Breakfasts are good and hearty here, too.

Above Grounds sells shade-grown, organic Guatemalan coffee straight up, in lattes, iced, or however you like it. Fresh-roasted coffee by the pound is also for sale. The bagels come from The Bistro at Maya Beach, and the fresh donuts from a lady who sells them in the village.

You'll recognize this restaurant by the big sign out front made from one side of a red 1964 Peugeot 404, and inside the restaurant at Parrot Cove Lodge, the eclectic Caribbean-style, locally sourced food is nothing but contemporary and delicious. You can order a four-course meal (soup, salad, entrée, and dessert) from the prix-fixe menu or order à la carte. The menu changes daily, but the entrée might be lobster, fresh fish, or ribs, all presented creatively and with interesting sauces. Guests can also help cook their own food on lava rock, a concept the owner calls "Love on the Rocks." The Chef's Table is a third option if you have a group of at least six, but no more than 12. Rob will prepare a private, sumptuous seven-course dinner for your group for BZ$130 per person. Advance reservations of at least 48 hours' notice are required.

In a slightly Fellini-esque, upstairs setting La Dolce Vita brings authentic antipasti, bruschetta, and pasta dishes to Placencia. With opera music playing softly in the background, it's like being in a small, family-run restaurant in Italy. The spaghetti carbonara, with the owner's own home-smoked bacon, is amazing. Try the signature penne dolce vita, with a shrimp and zucchini sauce or the linguini with calamari, octopus, squid, and shrimp. Most dishes are in large portions. The owner imports Italian pastas, olive oils, and wines to make sure everything is top quality. (The wine is always a generous pour.)

This bistro by the beach is, hands down, one of the best restaurants in the entire country. The setting, in a covered patio by the swimming pool with breezes from the sea, which is just a few yards away, is everything you come to the Caribbean to enjoy. The menu changes regularly, but among the standards you'll go gaga over are nut-encrusted snapper and cocoa-dusted pork chop on a risotto cake. There also are nightly seafood specials. The bistro has a selection of small plates and appetizers including fish cakes, baked garlic (wonderful spread on fresh-made crackers with chutney), coconut shrimp, and honey-coconut ribs. No matter what you choose, you'll find the flavors and presentation interesting and creatively inspired. At breakfast, don't miss the fresh-made bagels or the cinnamon rolls.

The place is small and extremely popular; online reservations are essential.

This upmarket place serves sophisticated international meals at dinner in an open-air, palm-lined, romantically lighted garden. Enjoy the friendly service and an eclectic mix of dishes including ceviche, jerk chicken, black bean soup, and bacon-wrapped steak. The chef can do vegan and gluten-free dishes. Save room for the delicious key lime pie.

Authentic, Italian-style gelato is the thing here, and it's absolutely delicious, the equal of any you'll find in Rome. Try the tropical fruit flavors, such as banana, lime, coconut, papaya, and mango, or an unusual flavor such as sugar corn, all created from natural ingredients. Beware: you may become addicted and return day after day to sample new flavors.

The line forms early for this small bakery’s delicious pastries. A mix of locals and visitors come here to fuel themselves to-go, but the front porch is a time-honored place to begin a Placencia day. Beyond the daily staples, the menu varies here, and last-minute offerings are frequently announced on the bakery’s Facebook page.

This beachside bistro, part of Beaches and Dreams Seafront Inn, is one of the best eateries on the Southern Coast, with delicious dishes like fresh grilled snapper and smoked chicken or ribs. Catch the sea breezes on the covered, open-air deck while you munch a handmade pizza or enjoy a burger.

This place bills itself as purveyors of ice cream, coffee, and wine, and the wide-ranging combo works. Enjoy a selection of specialty coffees, tropical-flavored ice cream, and wines from France, Italy, Argentina, and California. (The wine bar holds court in a separate part of the building.)

A fun dining experience on an open-air porch adjoining the Coconut Row Hotel features a menu using local and organic ingredients. Coconut Husk truly shines at breakfast with filling pancakes or fry jacks with toast and natural fruit juices. The small lunch menu gives way to tacos and a variety of wraps. Bar snacks and lighter fare, rather than a full dinner, make up the evening menu, which is in effect only three nights a week.

Friendly service, local atmosphere, good food simply prepared, modest prices, ice-cold beer—what more could you want? Dawn's Grill 'n Go is in a small no-frills building behind the soccer field in Placencia Village. These folks are open only for dinner; go for the grilled or fried chicken, or the fish of the day.

Driftwood arguably has the best pizza in southern Belize, served up in a friendly, casual atmosphere in a beachfront thatched palapa. Try the Driftwood combo pizza, with red sauce, pepperoni, Italian sausage, peppers, onion, mushrooms, and black olives (in three sizes). If pizza isn't your thing, go for the catch of the day or one of the pasta dishes. There's plenty of cold beer and rum at reasonable prices, and occasional music Friday and Saturday evenings.

At Innies, as at most local restaurants in the village, you're eating in a spot that was once somebody's house or back porch. Here you can dine inside or outside and get the full flavor of village life. The food is authentic (though some dishes cater to the taste of tourists), delicious, and inexpensive. Traditional Garifuna dishes such as hudut (fish cooked in coconut milk and served with mashed plantains) and ereba (grated cassava bread) with bundiga (a gravy of grated plantains and coconut) are available, but more familiar dishes like fried chicken and rice and beans with stew chicken are also served. You'll find the staff very friendly.

Seating is on the front deck of a simple wooden structure here. Choose from a bench, a picnic table, or low tables and enjoy a variety of gourmet coffee drinks. If you need something more fortifying, sandwiches, waffles, and quiches are on the menu, too, with gluten-free options available.

The aromas waft out to the street and entice you in to this upscale—upscale for Hopkins, that is—Italian spot just south of town. Kick off a meal with a wide variety of bruschetta, followed by a Caprese salad, mushroom ravioli, and tiramisu for dessert. The wine list is one of the best in the country.

You might feel like you've stumbled into a bar in the States, but this open-air bar just has all those trappings—several TVs tuned to sports channels, nice restrooms, and efficient service. If you're craving fried-not-greasy food, get the Chicklets (chicken tenders skillfully battered in buttermilk and cornmeal), or the Lucky Clucker Lollipops (chicken skewers). Come back for the great night scene.

“I Got Lucky at Lucky Lobster” visors, koozies, and T-shirts can be purchased.

The buses all stop at this roadside restaurant along the Hummingbird Highway on the way to Dangriga for the hearty tamales boiled by a family in the tradition of their mother, the late Bertha Lisbey. A tamal—that’s the singular—is a self-contained meal of vegetables, with or without meat, wrapped and steamed inside a banana leaf. Psst. You untie the leaf, but you don’t eat it.

The village’s bright, pastel, tropical beachfront ice-cream shop offers 19 regular flavors dished up in cones or dishes. (This is Belize, so expect lots of banana and pineapple and coconut offerings among the choices.) Never fear, though: vanilla and chocolate are on the menu if your tastes run less adventurous. Also never fear: you’ll find a few vegan and lactose-free options to cool you off on a hot day.

The engaging German owner here makes use of locally sourced and the best of in-season ingredients to whip up an eclectic menu of European and American food at this thatched-roof restaurant in the center of town. He’s quite proud of the large pork chops they serve. Fresh salads, seafood, cakes, and a good wine selection round out the menu selection here. You’ll find secure parking, too.

This popular thatched-roof restaurant and bar sits smack-dab in the heart of Placencia Village between the main road and the Sidewalk. Try the Philly cheesesteak or the burgers and fries. The owners' dogs wander the place and might ask for some acknowledgment.

This little place on the Sidewalk is a nice stop for fresh ceviche and cold beer at lunch; just sit on the open-air veranda and watch the village life pass by. If you're craving greens, it also has some of Placencia's best salads. For dinner, try the pizza or pineapple shrimp quesadillas. The chef--owner, Rick, is well experienced in the hospitality business in Belize and treats his customers well.

The Creole and Garifuna dishes here are hearty, tasty, and prepared fresh. The restaurant is often busy with fishermen and the guys who run boats out to Tobacco Caye and other offshore cayes, but it's basic and clean. If you're going to the islands you can arrange transportation while sipping a beer or having breakfast or a plate of rice and beans.

This hip spot run by transplanted New Yorkers, in a breezy second-floor location near Tutti-Frutti, is a good place to have drinks, tapas, interesting seafood creations, and Italian pasta. Try the small plates of Thai shrimp cakes or pescado relleno (red snapper stuffed with shrimp). Bigger dishes include fish stew and several pasta and seafood dishes. There's a good selection of Italian and California wines.

In a shack at the beginning of the Sidewalk, overlooking the harbor, The Shak is the spot for fruit smoothies. For lunch and dinner, there are several curries, wraps, sandwiches, and stir-fry dishes. If you come for dinner, though, make it an early one; the place closes at 6.

This European-run coffee shop and bistro is small but stylish, with Belizean wood carvings and paintings on the walls and free Wi-Fi. Expect good coffee, well-prepared breakfast omelets, and satisfying smoothies. For lunch, try the salads.

The prime tables on the front patio fill up quickly so get here early.

Long-established Wendy's—no, not that Wendy's—always delivers good, no-frills food at reasonable prices. The Belizean breakfast of fry jack (the local version of beignets without the sugar), bacon, eggs, and refried beans is nearly perfect. The grilled fish is fresh and delicious, and at lunch there are many dishes to choose from on the lengthy menu, including Creole items like cow-foot soup or mestizo soups like escabeche or chirmole with fresh flour tortillas. Dine inside or outside on the veranda; both are pleasant.