68 Best Restaurants in British Virgin Islands

Seasoned yachties gather here nightly to share tales of the high seas; the open-air bar is the busiest on the island. Dinner is by candlelight under the stars and always includes famous Anegada lobster, steaks, and succulent baby back ribs—all prepared on a large grill by a little open-air bar. The ferry dock is right next door, so expect a crowd shortly after boats arrive. Dinner reservations are required by 4 pm (seatings are at 6:30 and 7:30). Breakfast favorites include lobster omelets and coconut rum-soaked French toast; at lunch the Reef serves salads, sandwiches, and more lobster.

The sunset sea-and-mountain views are stunning at this poolside restaurant at the Heritage Inn, so arrive early for the predinner happy hour. Caribbean fusion best describes the fare, with an emphasis on steaks, seafood, and pasta, including shrimp swimming in ginger butter sauce and pork tenderloin marinated in rum. One of the better wine lists on the island and a selection of frozen drinks vie for attention at the bar.

At this Brandywine Bay restaurant, candlelit outdoor tables have sweeping views of nearby islands. The menu has a Mediterranean bistro flair but changes often; you might find grilled local kingfish or a classic paella. Or, just graze on the extensive selection of tapas. 

Stop by this casual, authentic Italian outdoor café for an espresso, gelato, a fresh pastry, a bowl of perfectly cooked pasta, or a crispy tomato-and-mozzarella pizza.

Tucked into a sleepy corner of Spanish Town, CocoMaya has a dreamy waterfront location, a buzzing, Balinese-inspired atmosphere, and delicious Asian fusion fare that makes it a jewel of the island's restaurant scene. Lounge near the crashing waves of Spring Bay with beach games and live music while you enjoy sushi rolls or small plates like shrimp lettuce wraps and spicy pork bao buns. If your group can snag one of the large tables, share a platter of Thai chicken green curry or even a whole, crispy Peking duck. Or sit and swing behind the bar with some of the most creative mixologists in the BVI: the tart, creamy CocoMoon—coconut sake, coconut rum, lemongrass, and lime—is a crowd favorite. Reservations are recommended for large groups.

It's well worth the winding, hilly drive or sometimes rough sail to get to Taboo, where there's a sophisticated menu and friendly staff with a welcoming attitude. Kebabs, hummus, and veggie-stuffed pitas stand alongside eggplant cheesecake on the Mediterranean-inspired menu. Located at Diamond Cay on Jost's mostly undeveloped East End, Taboo is less of a party bar than Foxy's in Great Harbour but has scenic views and usually a great breeze. The lunch menu differs from the standard island fare. Even the burgers, topped with mango chutney, are a step up from the average and the salads are the best on the island. Dinner reservations are recommended.

This upscale but family-friendly beach bar at White Bay beach features a handsome wood bar, lounge area, and hammocks nestled in among the palm trees, making you feel as if you're at a small resort. The pulled pork tacos are excellent, and bottomless mimosas are served with Sunday brunch. Come on Thursday night for sushi prepared with locally sourced tuna; the dinner menu ventures into more refined territory with offerings like tomahawk steak, lobster ravioli, and vegetarian pad Thai.

The million-dollar sunset view is the thing at this simple wooden restaurant perched on a hillside overlooking the North Sound. If the scenery alone isn't enough to make you feel as if you're ready to be singing with the angels, this barbecue joint's succulent pork, local fish, and conch in butter sauce will help.

For an elegant evening, you can't beat dining in this enchanting, candlelight, open-air pavilion, with its always-changing sophisticated contemporary fare and attentive service. The superbly prepared seafood, meat, and vegetarian entrées, most drawing upon Caribbean cooking traditions, including dishes like a Trinidad-style seafood pot, Montego Bay marinated fish with Jamaican spices, and tandoori-marinated lamb chops.

The owners, the Soares family, have lived on the island for more than half a century, and catch, cook, and serve the seafood at this homey bar and restaurant a short distance from Setting Point. The fresh lobster, swordfish, tuna, and mahimahi are all delicious. Pam's Kitchen, a small bakery, has been incorporated into the restaurant and rounds out offerings with freshly baked breads; sweet treats including made-from-scratch desserts (including key lime pie, chocolate brownies, and apple pie); and pizzas. Potent "Jungle Juice" is the happy hour drink of choice at the tiki bar on the beach. Dinner is by candlelight at the water's edge. Dinner reservations are essential by 4 pm.

This pretty pastel Soper's Hole eatery has reinvented itself as a coffeehouse, but you can still get "Sunday" brunch every day until mid-afternoon or sip your prosecco or cappuccino during "Mimosa Mondays" with live music. Omelets, crepes, high-protein breakfast bowls (with vegetarian and vegan options), and even the "full English" breakfast are served at a breezy counter–dining room combo, but the best seats are out back by the marina. There is another location in Nanny Cay, serving a similar menu alongside some of the best Indian curries in the BVI.

Caribbean-style, casual beach fare rules at this must-stop destination for BVI boaters, whose habit of wading ashore for a drink gives the bar its distinctive name. Don't miss the Painkiller cocktail, the semi-official drink of the BVI, invented here. For lunch, find your way through the throngs ordering drinks at the bar to get mahimahi sandwiches, hamburgers, chicken roti, and conch fritters. A bottle of Soggy Dollar rum makes a nice souvenir that you can use to make your own Painkillers at home.

Candles gleam and the background music is peaceful in this romantic restaurant inside a 17th-century sugar mill. Well-prepared selections on the French-inspired à la carte menu, which changes nightly, include pasta and vegetarian entrées, but the best deal is the three-course prix-fixe menu. Conch fritters with mango chutney for dredging is a good starter. Favorite entrées include scallops in Champagne sauce, smoked duck breast, and a "risottera" menu of rice dishes. Save room for dessert, which include a locally grown banana flambéed in rum. 

The laid-back, low-key vibe of this Setting Point bar and restaurant is infectious. Lobster served on a seaside rooftop pairs with draft beer and craft cocktails, but the menu is surprisingly diverse, offering everything from braised lamb shanks to cauliflower steak. Start with the irresistible lobster bacon foie gras "nibbles," which are as wildly indulgent as they sound. Inquire about the live entertainment schedule in season, from rock to steel pan to reggae; drinks are sometimes served by a fire-breathing bartender.

Relax over dinner in this open-air eatery at Long Bay Beach Resort. Expect to find starters like carrot hummus served with house-made focaccia or Vietnamese fish cakes, and entrées like fresh-caught seafood, tenderloin filet steak with truffle demi-glace, and Thai coconut green curry with your choice of protein. For breakfast, choose from smoothies and breakfast bowls featuring healthy ingredients, as well as more traditional offerings like omelets.

Many sailors who cruise into this quiet bay come so they can dock right at this open-air eatery to enjoy the conch, lobster, and other fresh catches, always with peas and rice and coleslaw on the side. Chicken and ribs round out the menu, and affable owners Abe Coakley and his wife, Eunicy, add a pinch of hospitality that makes a meal into a memorable evening. Casual lunches are also served, and an adjoining market sells ice, canned goods, and other necessities. Dinner reservations are required by 5 pm.

Crispy thin-crust pizza with specialty toppings—the burrata with prosciutto, tomatoes, arugula, and balsamic reduction is a can't-miss—is the star at this hidden gem tucked in Soper's Hole Marina. There's also a bar with live music on weekends, a lively, nautical crowd, and outdoor seating with an up-close view of the megayachts.

Lobster is the main attraction at this beach bar with a sandy floor, which is just some 20 feet from the sea. Grilled local fish—including swordfish, kingfish, and wahoo—are caught fresh daily, and the BabaQ ribs are the house specialty. Hammocks on the deck are made for swaying and supping on Ali Baba's special rum punch, as potent as it is delicious. Reservations are a good idea at dinner.

The simple, open-air B-Line Beach Bar brings "getting away from it all" to a new level—if you're on mainland Jost Van Dyke you'll have to charter a dinghy or boat, or wade (at low tide) across the few hundred meters of water between Little Jost Van Dyke and Jost Van Dyke. Here you can have an ice-cold beer, an assortment of rums, and great grilled food like barbecued ribs and chicken on a beautiful, remote beach.

Attached to the Bamboushay pottery boutique on Main Street, Bamboushay Lounge on adjacent Waterfront Drive serves barbecue ribs, fish and chips, and roti alongside and offers live music in the open-air garden. The bar attracts a lively mix of young local professionals, resident expats, visiting yachties, and tourists.

Watch the world go by with a passion-fruit mojito and a platter of coconut shrimp or crispy tamarind wings as you mingle with locals and visitors in a social environment and the friendliest service in town. The menu offers something for everyone, with lobster and daily fresh fish specials, as well as standard pub fare like shepherd's pie and fish-and-chips. Live music, darts tournaments, and trivia nights keep the atmosphere lively on weeknights and weekends.

This beachfront bar and restaurant tucked among seagrape trees at famous Loblolly Bay is the island's most popular destination for lunch. After you've polished off a plate of succulent Anegada lobster, barbecue chicken, or fresh fish, you can spend the afternoon on the beach, where the snorkeling is excellent and the view close to perfection, or browsing through the gift shop. Fruity drinks from the cabana bar and ice cream from the freezer will round out your day. Dinner is by request only. If your heart is set on lobster, it's a good idea to call in the morning or day before to put in your request.

Knots, art from regattas past, and signal flags from the hundreds of vessels decorate the newly revamped Buoy Room at the Bitter End Yacht Club, which serves as a buzzing way station for hungry salts from Virgin Gorda and parts beyond. Raft up—it's only accessible by boat—for all-day brick oven pizzas and shared plates like fresh-caught fish tacos, seared tuna, and shrimp mango lettuce cups.

Located at the entrance to Nanny Cay, this sports bar attracts expats, locals, and sailors with its promise to have "the second-best burger on the island," underlining the eatery's irreverent tone (we never found out who has the best!). Hot wings, pizza, ribs, and burgers are on the menu, and most people come to watch the game on the big-screen TVs. A children's play area reflects a surprisingly family-friendly atmosphere. There is an upstairs nightclub occasionally featuring live music and dancing.

With a tropical-nautical flair, The Bitter End Yacht Club's open-air waterfront restaurant is a favorite rendezvous for sailors and their guests, so it's busy day and night. Dinner selections include green Thai curry, seared ahi tuna, local lobster, and rib-eye steak, as well as vegetarian dishes and a variety of house-made desserts, including key lime pie. Famed Virgin Island sailor Basil Symonette built the Clubhouse bar from the wreck of Huey Long's yacht, Ondine.

This brightly colored eatery with a pool table and big-screen TVs for watching sports is frequented by locals and visitors. Expect a range of dinner options, including fresh grilled lobster, barbecue chicken and ribs, and vegetarian dishes. Come Tuesday night for a pig roast and karaoke; the bar stays open until midnight.

This reopened Road Town institution is a restaurant and lounge where you will find Asian fusion and gastropub fare and craft cocktails with local ingredients. Get comfy in the romantic dark wood dining room downstairs and start out with the tuna carpaccio with coconut chili and lime, then move onto the tamarind chicken. In the hip upstairs lounge, try the spicy sriracha-enhanced Dragonfries while sipping on a gin and tonic featuring local island gin.

The big draw here is the owner, Foxy Callwood, a famed calypso singer who will serenade you with funny songs as you fork into grilled chicken, burgers, barbecue ribs, and lobster. Check out the pennants, postcards, and weathered T-shirts that adorn every inch of the walls and ceiling of this large, two-story beach bar; they've been left by previous visitors who are mostly either day-trippers from elsewhere in the Virgin Islands or yacht owners. On Friday and Saturday nights, Foxy's hosts a Caribbean-style barbecue with grilled fresh fish, chicken and ribs, peas and rice, salad, and more, followed by live music. Other nights choose from steak, fresh lobster, pork, or pasta; at lunch Foxy serves sandwiches and salads. The drinks are strong no matter what time of day you order them. Foxy's is one of the most reliable eating establishments on Jost. You're unlikely to find Foxy performing at night, but he takes the mike many afternoons and makes time to mingle with guests—this a popular happy-hour pit stop. The all-night "Old Years" party here is the biggest New Years Eve celebration in the Caribbean.

A casual bar and West Indian restaurant right on White Bay Beach, Gertrude's makes guests feel at home with burgers, conch fritters, and rotis. Ask the bartender to mix you a drink, or you can pour your own. The lime-green eatery has a giant Adirondack chair out front that's a popular spot for Instagram snaps.

Owner Cynthia Harris is as famous for her friendliness as she is for her food. Lobster in a garlic butter sauce, and other freshly caught seafood, as well as pork, chicken, and ribs, are on the menu. House-made key lime pie and expertly blended Bushwackers are "to live for," as Cynthia would say, but diners also praise the fresh fish and lobster. Call for the schedule of live music, which varies from season to season. Breakfast and lunch are served on her big waterfront deck, too. Call ahead for reservations.