All products featured on Condé Nast Traveler are independently selected by our editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission.
The best restaurants in Antigua rival the best of its idyllic beaches, and if you can pull yourself away from the white sugar shores, you’ll be rewarded with a restaurant scene that reflects the island’s deep diversity. Powered by chef-curated resort restaurants and locally-owned spots, Antigua has an established (and underrated) food scene where you can find nearly any flavor. Some of the best dishes across the island include golden fried conch fritters, curried beef stuffed roti, buttery escargot, and spicy prawn soup. Antigua also has a good mix of restaurant experiences. You can indulge in a three-course French meal under the stars or crack open a buttery lobster and wash it down with a rum punch right on the beach. From fine dining to beachside barbecue, the following list celebrates the best restaurants in Antigua.
Catherine’s Cafe
Catherine’s Cafe is from the same group behind Sheer Rocks, and the beachfront French cafe is tucked into the southern part of Pigeon Point Beach. The restaurant has a St. Tropez-esque beach club vibe with daybeds, live music, and wicker tables and chairs shaded by neem trees. The restaurant has an all-day menu, but most diners head here for lunch to enjoy the sumptuous seafood in an elevated beachfront setting. There are wines a plenty, and chilled champagnes and prosecco to pair with the tuna tartar, crispy fish cakes, and handmade seafood taglioni. If you still have room, build your own sundae with house-made ice cream and sorbets, or savor a rich coffee crème brûlée.
Hemingways
In St. John, Antigua’s capital, Hemingways is on a second-story dining patio that overlooks the busy St. Mary’s street. The restaurant is housed in a green and white wooden structure that dates back to the 1800s, formerly a hotel called Jardines. The writer Ernest Hemingway was rumored to have hung out in the building, which has been transformed into an unpretentious, family-run diner for the past three decades. The setting invites you to linger while indulging in traditional Antiguan food: conch fritters, Caribbean seafood chowder, and grilled Antiguan lobster. Save room for the bread pudding infused with local Cavalier rum.
Papa Zouk
In Dickenson Bay, Papa Zouk’s is a rum bar that happens to offer excellent seafood dishes. Owned by German transplant Bert Kirchner, the bar is named after a man in Dominica who fascinated Kirchner with his ability to dance to Zouk music despite being deaf and mute. The dinner-only bar has a signature dish, red snapper, though the butternut fish and grouper in garlic sauce are superb. The rum list is extensive (over 250 types of rum from all over the Caribbean and the world), and a few sips might have you dancing, too.
Sheer Rocks
There’s something about a meal served in a scenic environment; our senses are heightened, rendering the dining experience even more memorable. Such is the case at Sheer Rocks, a stunning cliffside restaurant at adults-only CocoBay Resort on Antigua’s west coast. The menu is a delightful fusion of international flavors: spiced lamb meatballs, beer-battered lobster, pumpkin gnocchi, and miso-baked aubergine. The food is incredibly fresh, sourced directly from local farmers and fishermen, and the bread and desserts are all made in-house. Most diners are quiet couples, but you don’t need a special occasion to dine in this gorgeous setting.
Roti King
Roti King is laser-focused on one thing: curry stuffed roti. The Indian staple consists of a whole wheat flatbread stuffed with a seasoned filling, and you choose pork, beef, chicken, conch and fish, tofu, or potatoes. Though there are burgers and a lunch special alternating between stewed and baked chicken, the roti is the star of the show. The restaurant is in the heart of St. John and inside the green and yellow cupboard house, there are a few plastic tables and chairs, usually occupied by locals on their lunch break. The generous portions and friendly service have made it a beloved fixture.
BOOM Restaurant and Pool
The restaurant's name is a nod to its location in Nelson’s Dockyard, an 18th-century British naval hub, now a UNESCO Heritage site. BOOM is part of The Admiral's Inn a boutique hotel spread across four historic buildings. What makes this place so great? We’ll start with the infinity pool and cinematic views of English Harbour. The food here is mostly seafood, and crowd favorites are the Thai shrimp cake salad and Alaska seafood salad, although the truffle aioli steak sandwich is great, too. The lunchtime restaurant is quite popular, so reservations are necessary, especially during summer. While you’re here, you can hang out at the pool and sun beds, so go ahead and order a few mango mojitos and stay a while.
Le Bistro
Founded by two French expatriates in the early 1980s, Le Bistro expertly fuses French and Caribbean cuisine. The restaurant is the island’s first French restaurant and has a romantic and airy setting, with staff who have been there for years. Helmed by Chef Patrick Gauducheau for the past 20 years, the restaurant has cemented its reputation as one of the island’s best restaurants with its buttery escargot, homemade mushroom ravioli, and lobster medallions. The New York strip steaks and grilled duck breast are not to miss, and there are a few dozen wines to choose from.
Lemongrass Thai Kitchen and Lounge
Lemongrass Thai Kitchen and Lounge is a relative newcomer, opening earlier this year, but has already attracted a following. Located off Dockyard Drive in English Harbour, the restaurant's menu features well-known Thai dishes like prawn spring rolls, Thai coconut soup, and chicken pad Thai. Served under string lights and decorative umbrellas, each dish is prepared and artfully plated by Thai chefs. The Khao Phad Sapparod (pineapple fried rice with prawns, raisins, and cashew nuts) is served in a hollowed-out pineapple, and the cerulean-hued lychee cocktail begs you to whip out your phone before taking a sip. Order a few dishes to share with friends and make good use of the two-for-one cocktails during happy hour every day.
Darkwood Beach Bar and Restaurant
Antiguan locals Cylde and Coralita George have been serving beachgoers since 1981, and the restaurant has an enviable setting on Darkwood Beach, one of the island’s top beaches. It’s only open for breakfast and lunch and closes at sunset, and if you order one thing, get the lobster, served with a buttery garlic sauce with a side of plantains and roasted potatoes. Expect to be on island time at the restaurant, so sit back and watch the waves or go for a dip until your food arrives. The restaurant also offers beach and umbrella rentals so you can stay until the sun goes down.
