Dining Guide for Barbados: Cheap Eats

Updated: March 22, 2022.

There’s a lot to love about Barbados: stunning white sand beaches with calm azure colored waters, consistent warm sunny days, and it’s relatively cleaner and safer than other Caribbean destinations. Since Barbados doesn’t have many all-inclusive resorts, you need to fend for yourself when it comes to food. Barbados calls itself “the culinary capital of the Caribbean” due to its diversity of food choices but in our opinion and experience, if there is one drawback to Barbados, it’s the food scene; it’s very expensive, somewhat generic, and a little pretentious. In this post, we’ve made a list of our favorite budget-friendly and splurge-worthy places to eat when we visit Barbados.

How to Use This Guide:

To make it easier, we have divided up the items in the list by region/parish and everything is in alphabetical order.

• Refer to the Google Map: We created a Google Map and pasted some of the information from the blog post into the pin on the map. See above for the map.
• Save pins to your Google Map: If you click on the link with the name of the restaurant, it will take you to a Google Map, where you can save the location to your own Google Map for future references.
• Pricing: We have also included the post recent prices we found online in both Barbadian Dollars (Bds) and United States Dollars (USD) because the Barbadian dollar is pegged to the USD; whatever is charged in Bds just half and it will give you the price in USD.
• The list itself: Everyone has different tastes and cravings when they travel and so this list is subjective. We also included a few places that are overrated in our opinion. We welcome feedback based on your experience so please leave comments!
• Beaches and Other Attractions: Our map also includes recommendations for beaches and other activities on the island.

Discount Program:

Unfortunately, the re-DISCOVER Barbados Restaurants discount program is temporarily unavailable due to COVID. Check their website to see when it will start up again. In the past, vouchers for a 10% discount for lunch at participating restaurants were available as well as 3 course dinners, including wine, tax and service charge for BDS$99 / US$50 per person. For more information: https://re-discover.com/

All Over the Island:

Chefette

One of the few chain restaurants on the island, Chefette is a locally owned and operates fast-food restaurants across the island. Maybe it’s our love of their cheap and filling rotis $6USD and their rum raisin ice cream, but we end up eating here a few times per week. We’ve tried most things on the menu, including their broasted chicken but the roti has become our favorite; at the cost of $5USD, you get an all chicken roti that tastes somewhat healthy. You can eat there or get take-out and if you get take-out, it’s easy to stop by a grocery store to pick up the items to make a salad to go with it. If you’re a vegetarian or vegan, you’ll appreciate the all potato and lentil rotis as well (I’m almost 100% sure they’re vegan!).

• Eat here for: snacks, dessert, lunch, and dinner *vegetarian and vegan options
• Offers: take-out or dine-in
• Good for: everyone, including families as they often have large outdoor playgrounds
• Payment methods: credit cards and cash
• Website: http://www.chefette.com/

Grocery Stores/Produce Stands/Fish Markets

There are many grocery stores in Barbados where you can buy local and imported products if you’re staying in a condo-style accommodation. Our favorite these days is the Cliffton Market near Worthing Beach and the Massey Store in Holetown. We have a full kitchen where we stay and usually leverage that to enjoy meals at our hotel as opposed to always going out. For us, we don’t like driving at night so we tend to go out for lunch and get take-out for dinner or make our own dinner. Since you can drink tap water in Barbados, you don’t have to worry about how to rinse lettuce and other greens. Since it is so warm in Barbados, they have a year-round growing season, and their locally grown cucumbers, tomatoes, and lettuce is great. We’ve also bought chicken which we’ve used to make things like fajitas and to top salads. If you’re up to it, you can even visit a local fish market to purchase fish to cook and we’ve also made our own fish tacos. Spices and condiments do get expensive in Barbados which is why we take some items with us and leave what we don’t use behind for other guests or in our storage bin that stays at the hotel. We’ve never been overly excited by the restaurants and food scene in Barbados so we don’t mind eating more basic meals while we’re here but we will share our favorite places to splurge at the end of this post.

• Eat here for: pick-up things to cook at your hotel/condo
• Offers: mostly products to make meals but most have delis and bakeries to buy pre-made items
• Good for: everyone
• Payment methods: credit cards and cash

St. Michael:

Cuz’s Fish Shack

Located on Brown’s Beach near Barbados Blue Watersports, Cuz’s Fish Shack is a small food stand that has been serving the famous Baja “fish cutter” for about 40 years to locals and tourists and some would argue it’s the place to go for the best fish cutter on the island. A fish cutter is a sandwich of fried fish (usually flying fish) in a salt bread bun with lettuce, tomato, with or without New Zealand white cheddar cheese and we recommend adding a bit of Bajan hot sauce for spice and extra flavor.

Fish cutters from Cuz’s are best enjoyed for an early lunch at the beach paired with a couple of cold Banks beers. On our last visit in February 2018, we ordered 8 cutters and 4 beers for 4 people and it cost us about$100Bds ($50USD), you can feed 4 people 1 beer each and 2 cutter’s each.

The tricky thing is to know when Cuz’s will be open because it varies and doesn’t always coincide with information online. While a lot of places say he opens at 09:00, it’s actually closer to 11:00. On some days, cruise ships bring busses full of people so the waits can be long but we’ve never waited longer than 10 minutes when we were there at opening.

• Eat here for: brunch, lunch, snack
• Offers: take-out only
• Good for: everyone
• Payment methods: cash

Leftie’s

Located at Needham’s Point just a few minutes’ walk from Cuz’s, Lefties is the place to go for a breakfast cutter if you’re staying in the area or visiting the beach in the morning. Leftie, also known as Andrew serves up a few different types of breakfast cutters: Fish and cheese, Fish, egg and cheese, Bacon and egg, Egg and cheese, etc. Prices range from $5Bds$ ($2.50USD) to $15Bds ($7.50USD) depending on what you’re getting. We are unsure when Leftie’s will re-open as it was closed during our visit in February 2022.

• Eat here for: casual breakfast, snack
• Offers: take-out only
• Good for: everyone
• Payment methods: cash

Sahara Arabic Grill and Falafel

Located in the Garrison area in St. Michael parish and close to Brownes Beach, Sahara offers Middle Eastern food for those wishing to dine in or takeout. Owned and operated by a Syrian family who has settled in Barbados, Sahara has become our favourite restaurant in Barbados due to how delicious, healthy, and affordable the food is. The menu features a variety of grilled meats and falafel served kebab style in wraps or in platters with sides like salads and hummus. We just found out they now serve breakfast and will be updating this post after our visit in February 2019 with more information.

Our go-to is the lamb plate with tabbouleh salad, pita, hummus, spicy and garlic sauce for $25Bds which is about $12.50USD. It might seem a little expensive for take-out or the basic no-frills dining room but it is definitely a good bargain based on the quantity to quality ratio because everything is made fresh to order.

If you are ordering take-out, we recommend us the online ordering system or if you are dining in, you can use their online table reservation system. If we don’t bring the food back to our hotel, we take it to the beach and eat a picnic table with a view of the ocean.

• Eat here for: lunch, dinner and now breakfast.
• Offers: take-out or dine-in and reservations are accepted
• Good for: everyone and family friendly
• Payment methods: cash
• Website: https://www.saharaorders.com/

Oistins:

Irie Foods

Located in the St Lawrence Gap, Irie Foods serves up Jamaican food in a friendly and clean setting. You can either dine-in or get take-out and order meals by the plate or by weight. Our usual mixed feast consists of jerk pork, jerk chicken, escoveitched fish, and rotis that we cut up to share and eat alongside a few salads for dinner at our hotel. Rotis are $15Bds ($7.50USD) and plate meals $25Bds-$30Bds ($12.50USD-$15USD). We visited in February 2022 and were impressed with their new outdoor patio to enjoy their food there!

• Eat here for: lunch and dinner
• Offers: take-out or dine-in
• Good for: everyone and family friendly
• Payment methods: cash or credit card
• Website: https://www.facebook.com/iriefoodsbarbados/

Lisa’s Doubles and Rotis:

This little tent may be unassuming but the food and service are incredible and a truly local experience. Lisa serves up rotis $9BD and doubles (snack-sized sandwich made of two flatbreads known as bara and filled with a curried chickpea filling) daily. As we were ordering our rotis, a route 1 bus driver stopped to order and roti, saying he’d pick it up in 10 minutes. Everyone seems to know and love Lisa and her food. We are so happy we decided to try her rotis and doubles. Tips: Ask for pepper as it is not too spicy but adds lots of flavour and be mindful that the rotis are large enough to share for a light meal (we shared a roti and a double and were stuffed). Lisa’s Doubles and Rotis is open 09:30-16:30 every day except Sunday.

• Eat here for: breakfast or lunch
• Offers: take-out
• Good for: everyone, including vegetarians
• Payment methods: cash
• Website: Eat here for: breakfast

Epic Surf Cafe

Epic Surf Cafe is a small cafe and surf lesson business. They have 2 picnic tables outside and a few tables inside. We love smoothie bowls and good string coffee and Epic Surf Cafe offers both! They also have good banana bread. It’s not the cheapest place to grab breakfast but the value is excellent. They have the best coffee on the island; the beans are roasted on the island and very flavorful. They are open from 07:00-14:00 and closed Sunday currently.

Eat here for: breakfast
Offers: take-out or dine-in
Good for: everyone and pet friendly if you sit outside
Payment methods: cash and credit
Website: https://epic-surf-cafe.business.site/

Surfer’s Cafe

Located on Welches Beach in the Oistins area, Surfer’s Café is a full-service all-day dining restaurant with lovely views of the ocean in a laid-back casual atmosphere. While they’re more Tex-Mex than Mexican, the fish tacos at Surfer’s Cafe use local fish to create delicious and healthy tacos that taste very fresh because they’re made to order; two soft flour tortillas filled with fried or grilled flying fish, cabbage tossed in cilantro, diced tomatoes, guacamole topped with Greek yogurt. The tacos cost $26Bds ($13USD) and other lunch/dinner menu items range from $22Bds-$55Bds.  You may also want to try the ceviche or buljol (like ceviche but with salted cod) as well. Our usual meal for 4 people which includes 4 orders of tacos and 2 Banks beers per person costs $200Bds ($100Bds) with tax and tip. Most things here are made to order and service can be a little spotty so plan for a leisurely brunch, lunch or dinner.

If there is one thing that can be annoying here, it’s that one person sitting at the premium table on the balcony drinking a coffee and spending hours on their laptop. If you would like a specific table, we recommend calling and making a reservation in advance as it can get busy. Surfer’s Café is suitable for all ages, including children.

• Eat here for: breakfast, lunch and dinner
• Offers: dine-in
• Good for: everyone and family friendly
• Payment methods: cash and credit card
• Website: http://surferscafebarbados.com/

Oistins Fish Fry

Located in Oistins between Welches Beach and Rockley Beach, Oistins Fish Fry showcases the daily catch and Bajan culinary delicacies in a lively setting, especially on Friday nights. In the past, Oistins Fish Market was just that, a fish market where Bajans came to buy fish and then someone had the idea of opening a food stall to sell fried fish and it has since grown to become a Caribbean party where Bajans and tourists eat, drink and act merry on weekend nights. At the Oistins Fish Fry, the food and drinks are sold and served by individual food stalls but you can pretty much sit anywhere to eat and drink. Plan to arrive around 18:30-19:00 and a plate of grilled/bbq’d seafood (lobster, marlin, dolphin, king fish, flying fish, etc.) with sides (macaroni pie, peas and rice, fries, potato salad, etc.) ranges from $20Bds-$50Bds ($10USD-$25USD).

Source: Barbados Barbados

• Eat here for: dinner
• Offers: dine-in
• Good for: everyone and family friendly
• Payment methods: cash

Bliss Cafe

Located in the St. Lawrence Gap area near Dover Beach, Bliss Cafe is a family run cafe that serves breakfast and lunch in addition to a wide range of healthy and indulgent drinks. We went for banana bread, Americanos, and their fresh juice of the day which was lemon and ginger. Espresso beverages for 4 people, 1 juice of the day, and 2 banana breads cost $56Bds which was a good deal overall considering how excellent everything was. We were interested in trying their jerk chicken flatbread but never had the chance to go back. There is indoor and outdoor seating and the space is modern and airy overall which is a nice change from the Italian restaurant that used to be here. They offer table service and it can be quite slow even if you are not getting full meals. They accept credit card here too, which is convenient.

• Eat here for: breakfast, light snacks, or lunch
• Offers: dine-in
• Good for: everyone and family friendly
• Payment methods: cash and credit
• Website: https://www.facebook.com/BlissCafeBarbados

Christ Church/Enterprise Beach Area:

Dreadhop Brewing

Dreadhop Brewing is a short drive away from Enterprise Beach and is Barbados’ first and only craft beer brewery! Formerly known as Brewhouse, Dreadhop has expanded from limited to-go bottle sales to a full-fledge craft beer tasting room like the ones we enjoy in Canada and the USA. Dreadhop is also a community hub with numerous pop-ups from local businesses, trivia nights, and a good place to meet others (some of the regulars even have personalized mugs!). They offer specials, like a daily happy hour and the famous Thursday night burger and beer combo.

• Eat here for: dinner and snacks
• Offers: dine-in and take out
• Good for: everyone and bonus points fo being pet friendly
• Payment methods: cash or card but some of the pop-ups only accept cash.
• Website: https://www.dreadhop.com/

Chicken Rita’s

Located just past Enterprise Beach near Silver Sands, Chicken Rita’s is a beloved institution serving up fried chicken and sometimes fried fish with chips, salad and macaroni pie. Part rum shop and part restaurant, Chicken Rita’s offers some of the best friend chicken we’ve ever had in a casual setting where you can have a few drinks and immerse yourself in Bajan culture. If Anthony Bourdain would have visited Barbados, this is a place he would have come to. If you’re more into formal and established things, you might find it a little intimidating to feel like you’re walking into someone’s house to order chicken and chips, then to grab a table and chairs and place it in the yard to eat and drink, but that’s how it goes here. Since this a family thing, the published hours are 17:30-23:00 but don’t be surprised if they’re not open. You can dine there or get take-out but it is best enjoyed there while it’s fresh and hot but be prepared to be harassed by stray cats. Plates range from $20Bds-$24Bds and it is cash only. Service is very slow so be prepared to wait: we called in out order at 17:30 and told to pick-it up at 18:30 but it wasn’t ready until 19:15.

• Eat here for: dinner
• Offers: dine-in and take out
• Good for: everyone and family friendly but it is very rustic and no frills so best for the adventurous
• Payment methods: cash
• Website: https://www.bajanthings.com/chicken-rita-where-bajans-go-for-seasoned-fried-chicken/

Kermitt’s Bar

Located in Christ Church is Kermitt’s bar, a typical “rum shop” in Barbados that serves food and drinks. Specializing in plate lunches, Kermitt’s is known for its rotisserie chicken. A popular plate is grilled chicken with salad and macaroni pie or fries and we recommend you check their Instagram daily to see what the menu is. You can eat at Kermitt’s and get takeout. Since there is no air conditioning and little shade at the picnic tables, you can stay for a beer or two and take the food to go.

• Eat here for: lunch
• Offers: take-out or dine-in
• Good for: everyone and family friendly
• Payment methods: cash
• Website: https://www.instagram.com/explore/locations/24132291/kermitts-bar/

Brighton:

Brighton Market

Located in Brighton, Brighton Market is a Saturday morning activity to enjoy a farmer’s market experience with fresh produce, prepared foods, art, souvenirs, and other delights. If you’re in luck, Cutter’s will be there and you can buy a bottle of their famous rum punch, which is the best in Barbados.  It is only open from 06:00-10:00 on Saturday mornings so you really need to get there early to enjoy it.

We’ve been coming here for years and it’s a family tradition to visit and have some fish cutters, buy banana bread, have a Pilebucks coffee, and get some bananas and fruit juices. This year, we tried a new vendor that was grilling up some chorizo sausages and serving them on a bun with chimichurri. Sadly, we usually arrive in Barbados on Saturday and leave Saturday so we can’t stock up on produce for the week we’re there.

• Eat here for: breakfast, snacks, and buy produce
• Offers: not applicable
• Good for: everyone and family friendly
• Payment methods: cash
• Website: https://www.facebook.com/brightonfarmersmarket/

Paynes Bay:

The Roti Den

Located near Paynes Bay on the West Coast, The Roti Den serves up homemade rotis for those who want to eat in or for takeout. We usually visit when we’re going to the west coast to hang out on the beach. The Roti Den has vegetarian rotis and meat rotis that range from $13Bds-$22Bds ($6.50Bds-$11Bds).

• Eat here for: lunch and dinner
• Offers: take-out or dine-in
• Good for: everyone and family friendly
• Payment methods: cash

Worth the Splurge:

So now that we’ve shared all our favorite places to eat that are very budget-friendly, we’ll share two places that are a lot more expensive but worth considering for a special meal/event.

La Cabane:

La Cabane feels a little like a beach club but without the really loud and obnoxious music. It is the place to enjoy a delicious meal with a view of the water with your toes in the sand. We had lunch here twice and enjoyed both experiences very much.

• Eat here for: lunch
• Offers: dine-in by reservation
• Good for: everyone and larger groups
• Payment methods: cash or credit cards
• Website: https://www.lacabanebarbados.com/

Dis Ole House:

Dis Ole House is the dining experience we have been craving and seeking out in Barbados for years! Just a short drive from The Crane, you can have a nice meal in the garden and enjoy the interior of the house too. The menu is Bajan inspired food and ingredients, like fish tacos with cassava tortillas, grilled sea cat with a sweet corn bake, molasses glazed ribs with macaroni pie, their amazing salt cod fish cakes…and more. New favorite in Barbados for sure! Make a reservation as they get booked up fast.

• Eat here for: breakfast, lunch ordinner
• Offers: dine-in by reservation
• Good for: everyone but more adult-oriented
• Payment methods: cash or credit cards
• Website: https://disolehouse.com/

Local and Co.:

Local and Co is a welcome addition to Speighstown. Part marketplace and restaurant, they try to use local products and flavors for casual but elevated cuisine. We found the deck seating to be a little cramped and crowded; the tables were too close together and you heard everyone else’s conversation. The inside is nice but a little dark and very cold due to the air conditioning. We recommend making a reservation for a table on the beach for a quieter and more private experience. We really enjoyed the ceviche and tuna tartare and the side of slaw for a light and healthy meal. As delicious as it was, we did find it a little expensive for the portion size and the ambiance didn’t justify it for us.

• Eat here for: lunch or dinner
• Offers: dine-in, by reservation
• Good for: everyone but more adult-oriented
• Payment methods: cash or credit cards
• Website: https://thelocalbarbados.com/

Apsara Samudra

Located in the St Lawrence Gap, Apsara Samudra offers ocean-side dining with a Thai and Indian menu.  It is a really popular place so you will need to make a reservation. The restaurant offers a very romantic candlelight setting under a large tree as you hear the waves rolling in.  While we have seen children here, it is definitely more suited to adults.

We were not aware of this but Apsara Samudra offers takeout but it is really hard to pass up the experience of dining there due to how attentive and great the service is. We usually order one starter, one curry, and naan for our meal and stick to the Indian offerings.  Our favorite appetizer, the grilled baby octopus is $26Bds($13USD), a lamb curry is $65Bds($32.50USD) and naan $15Bds*$12.50USD). Are you can see, a dinner for two with a couple of beers, tax and tip will cost about $200Bds($100USD) very quickly.

• Eat here for: dinner
• Offers: take-out or dine-in
• Good for: everyone but more adult-oriented
• Payment methods: cash or credit cards
• Website: http://www.apsara-samudra.com/

Orange Street Grocer

If you’re touring the island and in the northwest corner, Orange Street Grocer might be worth the detour to Speighstown to enjoy lunch by the sea. Orange Street Grocer has a farm-to-table meal and they try really hard to use local produce and ingredients for their bistro-style menu of salads, pizzas, sandwiches, and desserts. Pizzas cost between $25Bds-$50Bds ($12.50USD-$25USD), salads are about $40Bds-$60Bds ($20USD-$30USD). We’ve been coming here for years so make sure to tell George that you find out about them from our blog. We did not eat here during our trip in February 2022.

• Eat here for: lunch
• Offers: dine-in
• Good for: everyone and family friendly
• Payment methods: cash
• Website: http://www.theorangestreetgrocer.com/

The Overhyped List:

• Cutter’s: Any travel guide for Barbados will list Cutter’s as a must visit. It is a charming place and the rum punch is good but we have always found their Cutter’s to be overpriced and bland even if we are big fans of their hot sauce.
• Lemongrass Express: This food truck setup with a casual outdoor seating area tempted us but the price and the quality of the food disapointed us and we never went back. The food was quite bland, the portions very small, and the price tag pretty hefty; noodle dishes range from $26Bds-$44Bds.
• BBQ Barn: Their rotisserie chickens are almost double what they charge at the supermarket and not worth the price.
• Tapas: Tapas has a lovely setting by the sea and we’ve had lunch here before. We did enjoy the meal but found the portions very small and expensive.
• Seafood Buffet Night at the Hilton Barbados: People rave about this buffet and it is quite expensive for the quality of the food; you’re better off to pay for a nice main somewhere than this.
• Zen Restaurant: Zen Restaurant offers up Japanese and Thai food at The Crane Resort in St. Philip. It is known as the best sushi on the island but you will also pay for it and we have found the quality to vary year-to-year and they add too much mayo. We are very spoiled by high quality sushi in Vancouver at reasonable prices so spending $25USD + tax, service, and tip for California rolls is not something that we feel the need to do.
• Animal Flower Cave Restaurant: The Animal Flower Cave Restaurant setting is spectacular as you get to watch the Atlantic surf wash up on limestone cliffs. We decided to try it last year because they had sea cat (octopus) on the menu and other seafood dishes. We enjoyed the meal and the food but the execution on some of the dishes was lacking and the prices were high. We do recommend trying it at least once though.

Caveat: We hope you found this list helpful and as we continue to visit Barbados, we will keep updating it with new places and better photos as we do realize some of the photos aren’t as polished as we would like.

Related Posts:

• Review: The Crane Resort in Barbados
• Visiting Barbados: Pros and Cons
• Sargassum Seaweed in the Caribbean: Will it ruin my beach vacation?
• Our Top 10 Pools: Enhance Your Hotel Stay – The Crane Resort

Are you interested in any of the places we listed in this guide? Did we miss any of your favorites? Do you prefer to splurge or be thrifty when you’re traveling?