I will be staying at the Marriott Frenchman's Reef hotel in St. Thomas. What restaurants are recommended either at the hotel or are there any good restaurants near the hotel? Do you need to take a taxi to get to the restaurants? Thanks for the information.

I stayed at the Frenchman's Reef in June 01. It is a wonderful property. The hotel has 4 restaurants on site. The Sunset Grill is an outdoor restaurant. They have wonderful seafood buffets on some evenings. There are 2 restaurants inside the hotel. Windows on the Habor is a good spot for breakfast. They have outdoor and indoor seating. The also have restaurant on the beach, I can't remember the name. Also if you travel into Charottle Amalie for any shopping eat at the Hard Rock Cafe. Great food and service. You can take the water taxi right from the hotel. They also have a little store inside the hotel, try the pizza it is yummy. Have a great trip!!! You will love the pool!

Dawn - Thanks for the information! Do you remember how much the water taxi is roundtrip? What hours does it run?

Lori-I remember paying $20 roundtrip for 2 people. We gave her a $5 tip as well. I believe the ferry starts around 8a and runs until dark. It runs every hour. They give you a ticket for your return trip, so make sure you hold on to that. I enjoyed that rather than taking a taxi to town and it would cost you about the same. The taxi drivers were a little to wicked for me. You can pick up the water taxi down by the pool area. You will see beautiful views of the island. Have a great trip! I'm jealous, I would love to go back.

Cuzzin's on Back street in Charlotte Amalie is very good if you want to try some local food. We always try to go there at least once during our stay.

I never stayed at the Marriott, but can recommend a few restaurants on the island.<BR><BR>For upscale, and a special treat, Agave Terrace is absolutely wonderful!<BR><BR>Raffles is a quaint place with good food.<BR><BR>And for a more casual place, try Polli's. They serve awesome Mexican (or Tex-Mex) food!<BR><BR>We rented a car when we went, so I'm not sure how much a Taxi ride will be.

My husband and I just returned from St. Thomas last Sunday. Our favorite restaurant was Blue Moon Cafe at Secret Harbour. Food was WONDERFUL and service was great. It's open-air dining on the beach right next to the water. We also thoroughly enjoyed Agave Terrace, Off the Hook in Red Hook, Raffles (bit expensive but worth it) and Duffy's Love Shack in Red Hook. All of these places were recommended to me by people from this chat forum...and very good recommendations. We also thought the Green House in downtown Charlotte Amalie was good. You'll have to take a taxi to all these places unless you're planning to rent a car.<BR><BR>I posted a more detailed trip report last Monday if you want to do a search on this forum using St. Thomas as a keyword.<BR><BR>Have fun! I'm so jealous of you! I'm ready to go back already!

We're in St. Thomas every year and never fail to go back to the Toad and Tart English pub. The food is real home-cooked, consistently excellent and the ambiance of this great place is hard to beat, Prices extremely reasonable compared to most places and service excellent. Tell Anna that the Kurts said hello. Have a great trip.

There are reataurants in the towna rea that are just as good as most of those talked about and are closer to the hotel.<BR>You have the Frenchtown area that consists of Alexander's, Craig and Sally's, The Point, and Hook. Line, and Sinker. <BR>In town besides Cuzzin's and The Greenhouse, you have Virgilio's, Herve's, Marisol, Tavern on the Waterfront, Blackbeards, Room With A View, Banana Tree and Fagioli's. All these within a few minutes of the Frenchman's Reef.<BR>The East end resaturants are a little further to get to.<BR>Ronnie

Hey Alex,<BR><BR>Polli's is now over on St. John. It moved from Tillett Gardens a year or so ago.<BR><BR>Schultz

Just posted this in response to another question but it might be helpful on this post too.<BR>We lived in St. Thomas for many years and return frequently to visit friends and family.<BR><BR>One of the problems in finding the right places is that although many restaurants stay under the same ownership, the chefs sometimes change frequently so where one group might have a great meal one year, the next month or year someone else might be very disappointed. Without wanting to make a particular example, we’d have to classify most of the hotel restaurants and Agave in this category. <BR><BR>Conversely, although Raffles has recently changed ownership, the same excellent chef is still there. The Banana Tree and Grille has had the same excellent chef for several years. Toad and Tart is simply Anna who does all her excellent cooking herself and her place is wonderfully comfortable with good ambiance and excellent home-style service.<BR><BR> For a real treat of island-style seafood, The Seafood Inn has been run by Diane and her daughters for years - not a real tourist place but we’ve always enjoyed it very much. Virgilios has always been great - expensive and crowded usually but worth it, and ditto for Romano’s.<BR><BR>Fungis is a casual place but it’s a bit up and down on food and service. We also didn’t like that they charge a gratuity on checks for visitors (which our party didn’t have to pay because we were treated as residents)<BR><BR>Sure you’ll have a good time and find something to suit your tastes.

Lori: Sometimes helps if you give your approximate age or basic tastes, price range, etc. as the restaurants are quite varied on St. Thomas. I'm a frequent visitor and agree with the last post, have been to most of those that were recommended or mentioned, although I do tend to shy away from the hotel restaurants unl;ess it's for breakfast or a quick lunch.<BR>Did go once to Hard Rock Cafe but wouldn't recommend it for any kind of real dining experience but good for a quick bite. Hard Rock Cafes are everywhere and are much the same wherever you go.<BR>Although some of restaurants mentioned are not close to the Frenchmans Reef resort, taxis are readily available and, when you get to the restaurant, you can either call the taxi driver who brought you to pick you up or ask the restaurant to call you a taxi for the ride back. The island is very small and even a ride from Frenchman's Reef to the East is only about 15-20 minutes, particularly in the evening when most of the downtown workers have left for the day.<BR>I'll be going back for a break from the Northeast in July and will definitely be going back to Toad and Tart which I thought was a well kept secret but I guess not from some of the postings on this forum, and to Alexanders in Frenchtown. Seaside Inn sounds interesting - anybody have any more info on the place? I've driven by it but haven't paid it any attention.<BR>You didn't say how long you were staying on St. Thomas but you should definitely take a daysail over to St. John and/or the BVI or at least take the ferry to St. John for a day.

Interesting to see that someone mentioned Seaside Inn. It's a really local place but we always spend at least one night there because the seafood is excellent. This place is not for someone looking for a typical tourist venue but it has its own unique charm. Mosquitoes can be a problem so spray before you go. Diane or her daughters will show you the fish choices (in a plastic bucket) and you pick your fish and then can have it fried or "boiled". Would recommend the ole wife (triggerfish) boiled with sweet potato, salad and everything else. The locals who hang out at the pool table and bar are very entertaining and are very nice to visitors. If you really want to get wild, try the "ROOTS" with either milk (my preference) or OJ on the side. Seaside is one of the few places that serves this concoction which sits on the bar in a huge 5 gal jug. Comprised of Cane Garden (Tortola) rum and all sorts of herbs and roots, it's supposed to be an aphrodisiac. Maybe one night be an aphrodisiac but two or three are too many, take it from someone who's done too much of it!<BR>Agree with the recommendation on Toad and Tart. Great place, Anna's a doll although she would hate hearing that kind of comment. Great food, great place.<BR>Hope we've been of help. Enjoy your trip.