6 Best Restaurants in The Deep South, Belize

Count your lucky stars if you find Gomier’s open—these folks don't always follow posted hours—and enjoy an excellent vegetarian or vegan meal from organic ingredients grown locally, along with some seafood. Go with the vegetarian dish of the day, which could be stir-fried tofu or vegan spaghetti. Fresh seafood dishes, such as shrimp curry, sometimes are available. Garifuna hudut (green and ripe mashed plantains with fish and coconut stew) lunches are on Friday, and there's live music or documentary movies some nights. Prices are reasonable.

An established spot, Grace's has genuine value, a down-home feel, and hearty plates of beans and rice and other Belizean staples on the menu. Get a seat near the entrance and eye the town's street life. This is a good place for a full breakfast of eggs, bacon, fry jacks (a Belizean version of a Mexican sopapilla), and, of course, beans. For lunch and dinner you can always get chicken, but you can usually get fresh fish, too, plus pizza, chow mein, hamburgers, and several dozen other dishes.

No pretense here—instead, you're seated on the second-floor veranda of the chef--owner's house across the street from the water in Cattle Landing village just northeast of Punta Gorda. You'll find different dishes every evening but usually with a choice of seafood (snapper, snook, or shrimp) or a hearty dish like a thick pork chop or lasagna. It's all delicious and inexpensive, and it's BYOB so bring your own beer or rum. Because it's a little away from the main downtown area, most guests are local residents or expats, not tourists.

This longtime local favorite serves simple but tasty Belizean dishes such as stew chicken or pork with beans and rice. Sit at tables with oilcloth tablecloths under a covered patio, open to the breezes, and enjoy genuine Belizean hospitality at lunch and dinner. Some days there's a buffet of Belizean foods at lunch.

Burritos are the thing here, and in fact usually just about the only thing, except for smoothies, shakes, coffee, and the occasional daily special. You get a selection of fillings and type of flour tortilla. The huge breakfast burrito easily serves two. This is primarily a take-out spot. You'll find a few tables on the patio for open-air dining, but the view is only of a neighboring parking lot.