Boutique hotels in Barbados
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Lone Star Restaurant & Hotel
- Style
- Beach shack retro retreat
- Setting
- Dozing on dazzling sands
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Little Good Harbour
- Style
- Old-style Bajan beach houses
- Setting
- Palm-fringed fishing village
Barbados
Eating, drinking and dancing
We've tracked down the best cafés for people-watching, the bars with the coolest cocktails, the most accomplished restaurants and the liveliest local nightlife in Barbados.
Restaurants
+1 246 432 1122
The Mews
This fashionable little place does Asian and Mediterranean dishes, as well as the obvious great seafood. You can slip into intimate verandas and alcoves, and there’s a cocktail scene that spills onto the street later on. Dinner only, closed Sunday.
2nd Street, Holetown, St James
+1 246 432 2112
Olives Bar & Bistro
A long-established 2nd Street hang-out with a Caribbean/Mediterranean menu, a leafy courtyard, and a first-floor veranda that’s quite perfect for watching parades go back during festival season, and lovely for drinks any time.
2nd Street, Holetown, St James
+1 246 432 8356
The Tides
Not only does this top-class restaurant have seemingly endless lovely places to sit, including tables at the water’s edge and its own courtyard art gallery, but it’s also among the best places for a vegetarian gastronomic experience on the island.
Balmore House, Holetown, St. James
+1 246 432 1922
The Cliff
Among the world’s most romantic dining experiences. Book ahead, arrive early (there are steps up from the sea if you arrive by yacht) and have an aperitif in the upstairs cocktail bar, then saunter down the steps overlooking a flame-lit cove on the water’s edge to eat Asian and Caribbean food. Every table has a sea view.
Derricks, St James
+1 246 419 0599
Lone Star Restaurant
This celebrated restaurant with rooms is another Bajan highlight, with tables on a wooden deck next to the waves. It’s sexily lit, and the fantastic food is all about fresh fish, seafood and a surprisingly terrific shepherd’s pie.
Mount Standfast, St James
+1 246 439 3000
The Fish Pot
One of our favourite lunch places on the island, set away from the more touristy spots near the local fish market. Ask for a table on the water, and get stuck into their fish of the day and fantastic wine list.
Little Good Harbour, St Peter
+1 246 826 5222
Wispers on the Bay
With a Miami Beach feel and a sophisticated clientele, this is among the most stylish restaurant/bars in Barbados, open for lunch as well as low-lit dinner. It’s right next to the Boatyard if you fancy listening to some live bands once you’ve worked your way through the French/international menu.
Bay Street, Bridgetown, St Michael
+1 246 420 2995
Aqua
A minimally stylish gem in the south, right on the water, where a Swedish-Bajan duo serve up the best fish and seafood.
Hastings Main Road, Christ Church
Cafés
+1 246 432 2626
Patisserie Bistro Flindt
Terrific patisserie and sandwiches are the mainstay of this favourite breakfast/lunch spot. They also do a full English, and open for dinner Monday to Friday.
1st, Street Holetown, St. James
Bars and clubs
+1 246 432 1295
Ragamuffins
This place puts on a very fun drag shows on Sundays, and the locals get very excited by the karaoke. This is not Torremolinos-type going out – here, it’s more part of the local culture. It gets quite lively with dancing and lots of Banks-glugging in the streets. Bar food, great rum punch.
1st Street, Holetown
+1 246 436 2622
The Boatyard
A beach club by day, and popular Bridgetown party place by night, the Boatyard is half eaterie – the South Deck Grill, for burgers or grilled fish – and half Sharkey’s Bar, with indoor and outdoor spaces, DJs and freshwater showers.
Bay Street, St Michael, Bridgetown
+1 246 436 7225
Harbour Lights
Another open-air beach club, perhaps not done out in the most refined style, but who cares, when it’s this much fun. If you go on a Monday you’ll find yourself in the middle of a beach party; Friday nights are recommended, too.
Marina Villa, Bay Street, St Michael, Bridgetown
