51 Best Restaurants in New Providence and Paradise Islands, Bahamas

A meal at this hillside mansion's formal restaurant begins in the elegant parlor, where drinks are served over the sounds of a live piano. It's a rarefied world, where waiters wear tuxedos and Cuban cigars and cognac are served after dinner. Graycliff's signature dishes include Kobe beef, Kurobuta pork, and Nassau grouper. The wine cellar contains more than 200,000 bottles that have been hand-picked by owner Enrico Garzaroli, some running into the tens of thousands of dollars. There are plenty of less expensive bottles, but you'll find the markup on better vintages to be much less than what you'd find in a big-city restaurant almost anywhere in the world. You can even buy the world's oldest bottle of wine, a German vintage 1727, for $200,000. Mere mortals can settle for the weekday wine luncheons. For an extra-special dining experience, you can book the wine cellar's private dining room.

You're greeted with a welcoming "Opa!" at this family-owned authentic Greek spot where they serve up tasty lunches at moderate prices. Sit on the second floor among Grecian statuary or on the balcony overlooking the action below. Enjoy souvlaki, moussaka, or a hearty Greek gyro, a break from the Nassau culinary routine, in a relaxed and friendly establishment. Be sure to save room for one of their authentic Greek desserts. The baklava cheesecake is divine. Dinner is an option only if you eat very early; they close at 5 pm.

A longtime staple in the historic village of Adelaide, the original restaurant closed years ago, but the owner's daughter and son-in-law have brought it back to life. They serve traditional Bahamian fare, but elevate the ingredients with an upscale flair. If you're lucky your visit will coincide with a live music jam session. Weekend Bahamian brunch is also worth the drive to this southwestern side of the island. 

Three generations of Bahamian women treat patrons as if they were guests in their own home. And the Bahamian food whipped up in the kitchen is as close to homemade as you can get in a restaurant. This simple locale is bustling with local professionals during the week and has also become a popular spot for cruise-ship passengers. Grandmother Mena swears their conch fritters are the "conchiest" you'll find. Takeout-only breakfast is served Monday through Saturday, while lunch is both sit-down and take-out the same days.

Nestled in the middle of the International Arcade linking Bay Street and the wharf is this lively bar and restaurant serving up tasty appetizers and meals. Try the traditional Bahamian cracked conch or conch balls. If you're particularly hungry, order the gigantic burrito or Godzilla Burger. Wash it all down with something from the extensive drinks menu, and don't forget to sign your name on the wall before you leave. Kids are welcome, but the menu isn't the most kid-friendly.

The original restaurant, which was made famous in the 1965 James Bond film Thunderball, has long been bulldozed, but with the help of renowned international chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten and New York designer Adam Tihany, this resurrected classic remains one of the hottest tables at Atlantis. Nestled in the center of Marina Village on Paradise Island, Café Martinique is the height of sophistication in design, service, and cuisine. The decor includes a wrought-iron birdcage elevator and a mahogany staircase; a grand piano helps create a refined experience. The classic French menu offers simple, beloved dishes made spectacular thanks to the highest-quality ingredients and Chef Jean-George's influence. The five-course chef's tasting menu is a special culinary treat.

Low-slung settees, stucco arches, and reproductions of the eponymous artist's works set a casual and refined tone at this restaurant owned by a husband-and-wife team. He's Bahamian, she's northern Italian, and the fare perfectly blends the two cultures. Sit in the ground-floor garden under large white umbrellas or dine inside the century-old house for lunch or dinner. Start with the warm Parmesan terrine, then dive into freshly made pasta or risotto with prawns, or the filet drizzled with a mouth watering green peppercorn sauce. Be sure to save room for dessert and the delicious handmade cookies that come with coffee.

This Italian restaurant is a great place to go with a small group. Appetizers, entrées, and desserts come in extra-large portions meant to feed a crowd and are served family-style, so the prices can be more affordable (by Paradise Island standards, at least) than they seem at first, especially if you share among several people. The waiters can help you figure out how many dishes you should order without overdoing it. Whatever you choose, save room for dessert—the chocolate cake and ice cream concoction called the "Titanic" requires all hands on deck.

Award-winning chef Danny Elmaleh's Cleo upholds the imaginative twists on Mediterranean cuisine for which his series of restaurants have gained acclaim. Order hummus and baba ghanoush for starters, followed by grilled octopus or saganaki Haloumi cheese, which is flambéed right at the table. The tagine dishes (served in authentic Moroccan hand-painted tagines) are bursting with flavors. The traditional lamb tagine is a crowd favorite, but there are also vegetarian, seafood, and chicken options. Be sure to save room for some baklava for dessert.

This hidden gem is worth a visit even if you are not staying at the Comfort Suites; the casual and family-friendly, alfresco restaurant has enticing menus. The lunch menu is available whenever the restaurant is open and offers a variety of sandwiches, wraps, and salads as well as delectable desserts. Their guava brioche bread pudding is something you must try. For dinner, there is something for everyone if you're looking for a more substantial meal. It's a great spot for seafood, but they also offer a variety of meat, chicken, and vegetarian dishes.

Conch salad is the draw at this popular roadside joint; it might take half an hour or longer to get your made-to-order food, but you can grab a stool and order a refreshing (and intoxicating) gin and coconut water while you wait. If you're in a hurry, call ahead to place your order. Dino's is credited with being the first to put a twist on conch salad, adding apple, mango, and pineapple to make it "tropical." The vantage point across the road is a great spot for photos.

Feast on Jean-Georges Vongerichten's intricately prepared dishes while overlooking Cabbage Beach at the renowned Four Seasons Ocean Club. Go for breakfast or lunch for the most (relatively) reasonable prices. For breakfast, try the eggs Benedict or traditional Bahamian boiled fish. For dinner, share a Black Plate appetizer sampler featuring everything from crab spring rolls to chicken samosas to start, then end with one of their signature sweet treats like the delicious banana cake topped with caramelized banana slices or the decadent Dune Sundae: rice pudding ice cream, caramelized Rice Krispies and chocolate fudge. It's a great place to unwind amid ocean breezes.

Follow the plume of smoke wafting onto Shirley Street to find this roadside spot with some of the best jerk chicken, pork, and slow-grilled ribs around. It's open Friday and Saturday for takeout only; meals come with a fresh baked roll as well as pasta salad or corn on the cob or cajun fries. At $14 for chicken or pork and $16 for ribs, you can't find a better deal. Their native macaroni and cheese is worth the $3 upgrade. They also serve fried fish.

Celebrity chef and philanthropist José Andrés has added his name and global reputation to the restaurant offerings on Paradise Island. As you would expect from the name, seafood takes center stage on this restaurant's mouthwatering menu. Conch is served in all the traditional Bahamian ways, but with Chef Andrés' unique twist. Three tasting menus ranging from 7 to 13 courses give you a chance to taste it all. Offerings for non–seafood lovers are limited, though the various steaks are sourced from the top spots around the world and cooked to perfection.

Part of the Jimmy Buffet Margaritaville Beach Resort complex, this steakhouse hits all the right marks when it comes to food, drinks, ambience, and service. Dine indoors or outside overlooking Nassau Harbour and the resort marina. To start, seafood lovers can't go wrong with the seafood tower to share from the raw bar or the fried oysters. The steak tartare and classic French onion soup are also hits. Try the lobster-stuffed ravioli or one of the many steaks cooked to perfection and topped with your choice of sauce. Sides are sharing size. Happy hour at the bar is from 6 to 9:30, Tuesday through Saturday, with a specialty sushi menu in addition to drink specials.

For the best views of Nassau Harbour, dine at this quaint bar and restaurant. As you watch the cruise ships pulling in and out of the nearby port, you can sip on a frozen margarita and enjoy some of the best ceviche around.

Celebrity chef and James Beard Award–winner Marcus Samuelsson is the mastermind behind this Baha Mar restaurant, which sources fresh local ingredients in its Bahamian dishes. The restaurant has a beachfront dining area and a rooftop cocktail bar, with a DJ from 9 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights. Start with the delectable cornbread for the table slathered in hot buttered rum, and move on to raw bar favorites like conch salad. Dive into the pork pastor for a fresh take on jerk pork, and pair it with a tropical cocktail. For a special treat, check out the weekend brunch.

You no longer have to venture over the bridge to get a bowl of authentic conch salad—this takeout shack in Marina Village makes conch salad to order. Pull up a bar stool and watch the dizzying display of knife skills it takes to make this local delicacy. Wash it down with a local beer or a sweet daiquiri.

She bakes, and he makes ice cream. Together this husband-and-wife team created a unique ice-cream parlor and bakery where everything is whipped up by hand on-site. The doughnuts are huge and fluffy, and there's always something new on the menu—try the guava cream cheese one for a taste of The Bahamas. On the ice-cream side, this is not the place if plain ole vanilla is your flavor of choice. The exotic flavor combos range from coconut carrot cake to goat cheese with toasted pecan or oatmeal cookie miso eggplant. They also use local ingredients like soursop and hibiscus jam. 

This funky little spot puts a unique Asian street-food twist on the guava duff, a traditional Bahamian dessert. Fluffy, handmade steamed bao buns filled with sticky sweet fillings like guava or caramelized coconut and smothered with traditional sauce are a must try, but they also serve savory bao buns filled with island flavors like jerk chicken, curried mutton, and ginger pork. Wash it down with a traditional bush tea, choosing your preferred level of sweetness. While you wait, check out the tiny museum display with interesting artifacts from The Family Islands of old.

Sushi connoisseurs, celebrities, and tourists pack this Atlantis restaurant night after night. The rock shrimp tempura, yellowtail sashimi with jalapeño, and miso-glazed black cod are Nobu favorites, but this restaurant also takes advantage of fresh Bahamian seafood—try the lobster shiitake salad or the Nobu-style crack conch. The central dining room is surrounded by a Japanese pagoda, and guests seated at a long, communal sushi bar can watch chefs work.

The name describes this vibrant and popular roadside eatery and bar perfectly. It's a wooden pink shack on the roadside of busy West Bay Street. This hot spot is chill and casual, with outdoor seating and a simple but delicious menu. Food is cooked in the tiny, no-frills outside kitchen, and every morsel is delicious. The burgers are thick house-made patties in island bread, with all the toppings. Besides burgers, there are Bahamian standards served snack style with a side of fries. Try the cracked conch, grilled pork, or fish fingers. Whether you're the only ones there or the place is packed, head to the bar to order your drinks or you'll be waiting a long time for table service.

There's no better way to take a break from the hot Bahamian sun than with a cool ice cream, and this new hot spot puts the cool in ice cream. Their signature dish is a cup or cone filled with premium rolled ice cream. There's also the heavenly ice cream taco, a split waffle cone on its side overflowing with scoops of ice cream and your choice of a large variety of toppings.

Enjoy authentic Southeast Asian–inspired cuisine at this popular restaurant and bar. The little fire symbols peppered throughout the menu indicate their propensity for spice, but they're happy to tone things down if you ask. Start off with the dumplings—the best on the island—or the unique crispy soft-boiled eggs. From there, the green papaya salad is a popular hit as are the selection of curries. It's a bit far from most hotels, but your taste buds will thank you.

With a team of chefs flown in from China, this is as close as you can get to authentic Chinese cuisine on the island. The menu includes dim sum for starters and the impressive Pork Pyramid, which is made with one piece of braised pork belly that is sliced into thin strips and shaped into a pyramid with pickled Chinese mustard inside, served with a freshly steamed bao bun. The chefs take advantage of local seafood, including conch, but the other traditional must-try is the Peking duck. When you are done with your pancakes, they whisk the carcass away to make the most delectable stir-fry or soup. Reservations are not required, but it's a small restaurant that tends to book out weeks in advance.

This casual, open-air restaurant and bar overlooks the Sandyport Canal and the pedestrian-only streets of the Old Towne at Sandyport. Seating is limited, so reservations are recommended, especially for busy weekend nights. The wood-fired pizzas are a local favorite, and their northern Italian chef brings a taste of his hometown with a wide selection of pasta dishes.

This cozy upstairs restaurant pays homage to its former life as Compass Point Studio, where Bob Marley, the Rolling Stones, and James Brown used to record. In addition to Asian-fusion cuisine, they have a burger named after the B52s, live music or karaoke most Fridays, an acoustic brunch on Sunday, and rich desserts.

Charge up your phone before you head to this funky spot—you'll want to take pictures of your food. For the ultimate fun factor, start with a platter of sliders served on a rainbow of colorful buns or the fried mac-and-cheese pops and end with a nostalgia-inducing milkshake or cocktail. Choose from a full menu of heaping burgers; perhaps the most photo-worthy is the Flamin' Hot Cheetos burger. There's a selection of soups, salads, pasta dishes, and sandwiches, as well as entrées like surf and turf, chicken and waffles, and steaks. Save space for a milkshake that's a feast for the eyes and the belly; whatever your candy choice, there's one to suit you. A crowd-pleaser is the King Kong Sundae that feeds 12 people. Adults can choose from a full menu of eye-pleasing cocktails served in goblets that require two hands to drink and take you back to childhood memories of Astro pops, gummies in all different shapes, and rock candy.

Nothing beats ice cream to cool off after a hot day on the beach or by the pool. This local ice-cream shop serving unique Bahamian flavors is located in the heart of The Coral lobby in Atlantis and often has a long line, but it's worth the wait. Bahamian chef Wayne Moncur has whipped up frozen culinary delights like soursop, guava, and sugar banana using native fruits and a mint chocolate chip using locally crafted Mortimer Candies. This is also a great spot to grab a quick and simple breakfast pastry and coffee.

This intimate spot is usually packed with locals who reside on the eastern end of the island; be sure to call ahead to book a table. Dine surrounded by bottles of wine and, on some nights, live acoustic guitar. There's also an outdoor terrace. Choose from a variety of small plates: sweet-heat conch bites, BBQ pulled-pork poutine, and the grilled lobster crostini. There's also a selection of flatbreads, burgers, pasta dishes, and hearty meat and seafood entrees.