USVI-On-Line

So, I have read many post about restaurants and, as one would expect, a lot comes down to personal preferance.I’ll be visiting STJ (Hart Bay area) for the first time in 2 weeks and I would like to get some food choices planned and review menus (if possible) in advance so I can avoid wasting time driving around while on island. When we visit the Turks and Caicos, there is a Dining Guide available at the airport and the Dining Guide provided a map with restaurant locations located on the map and a corresponding menu for each restaurant.

-Does any similar restaurant guide with a map of restaurant locations exist?

-Breakfast: We’ll get a power breakfast on 2-3 days and would appreciate any choices for good, hearty food with ease of access (sounds like fighting traffic and dealing with the parking situation in Cruz bay would cause us to avoid places in Cruz bay). Needs to be a place where we can be casually dressed ready to go to beach.

-Lunch: Looking for basic hot US fare (not a deli with a focus on sandwiches) and we would like to be able to throw a pair of shorts over the bathing suit and go directly from the beach.

-Dinner: Need a couple suggestions for great views and good to very good food. Also interested in moderately priced, casual places where I can get good food without having to put on long pants and dress shoes.Lastly, suggestions for Christmas dinner? ZoZo's was booked and I'm afraid the wife an I will be eating Christmas dinner in our villa if we don't get a reservation soon. Need good views and good food-something special.

where are you getting your power boat? won't that be in cruz bay? try JJ's right across from the ferry dock (people ferry).

for lunch we like Sun Dog in Mongoose junction. Ocean Grill is also there. We liked this less.

About dinner .. will you be eating at a time that you can see the views? If not do you really need to limit yourself? We love La Tapa (no views) and La Plancha is getting raves. http://laplanchadelmar.com/
La Tapa's menu is always changing so check it out when you get there - it's just up the block from Woody's.

Many villas have menus in a binder.

If you REALLY want a view see if there's a night you can reserve 2 spots at the bar At Zozo's. Really nice for sunset.

When we go on vacation, we tend to NOT keep a schedule. Some nights, we will go for a 5:00 seating, have drinks and then dinner. Other days, if the snorkeling and beach are really good, we will stop at a casual place around 3:00 and have dinner/lunch at that time and just snack in the villa late night.

Primarily looking to stack up some options and then play it by ear based on how the days activities go and where we find our day has taken us. If we are up in Coral Bay for istance, it would be great to know of some options for grabbing a bite in that area.

casco wrote:When we go on vacation, we tend to NOT keep a schedule. Some nights, we will go for a 5:00 seating, have drinks and then dinner. Other days, if the snorkeling and beach are really good, we will stop at a casual place around 3:00 and have dinner/lunch at that time and just snack in the villa late night.

Primarily looking to stack up some options and then play it by ear based on how the days activities go and where we find our day has taken us. If we are up in Coral Bay for istance, it would be great to know of some options for grabbing a bite in that area.

Skinny Legs for burgers
Shipwreck Landing lunch/dinner
Aqua Bistro
Sweet Plantains
http://www.sweetplantains-stjohn.com/dinner.htm

Also there is the Tourist Trap on the way out to Salt Pond. A real fun roadside stand type experience with really great good.

I really have never had a bad meal on island. We haven't returned to some places but more for the fact that we've just like other places better. If that makes sense.

BTW you don't need long pants anywhere. My husband insists on packing one pair each trip and he ALWAYS takes them home clean.

here are the bookmarks I keep:

http://www.digitaldudes.com/caferomamenu.htm

http://donkeydiner.com/index.html

http://www.thefishtrap.com/

http://www.latapastjohn.com/rest.html

http://limeinn.com/

http://www.morgansmango.com/home.php

http://www.rhumblinesstjohn.com/

http://thebananadeck.com/index.html

http://www.thewaterfrontbistro.com/Home%20.html

http://www.zozos.net/

a few more Coral Bay links and places...

Big Belly Deli and Aqua Bistro in Cocolobo Shops

Sputnik's (beside Donkey Diner)

Chateau Bordeaux on Bordeaux Mountain - Rte 10 (just reopened)
"Chateau Bordeaux will also be opening at the very beginning of November, for lunch and dinner, five days a week (tentatively Wed-Sun, but call for details. 340-776-6611)."
http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... hp?t=14670


http://wedontneednostinkingwebsite.com/ ... lcome.html

http://www.island-blues.com/

http://www.skinnylegs.com/

http://www.shipwrecklandingstjohn.com/


and on toward the East End...

Vie's Snack Shack
Location East End Rd., Rte. 10 (13 miles east of Cruz Bay)
Phone 340/693-5033
Cuisine Caribbean
Price Main courses $7-$12

Wow, thanks for all the suggestions.

Glad to hear dress pants are not the norm but I guess I'll take 1 pair as it looks like places like Zozos or Turtle Bay Estate prefer men in pants and not shorts. Related to that, I'm trying to pack really light and plan to leave the dress shoes at home and wear boat shoes to even the dressiest places unless advised otherwise.

Turtle Bay you need pants for sure. Zozo's not necessary.

have a really great time!

As you said, there will be many different suggestions...

Our favorites have been La Tapa and La Plancha del Mar in Cruz Bay and The Tourist Trap and Miss Lucy's in Coral Bay.

Where to eat on St. John is a great dilemma to have in December! Zozo's is still my all time favorite. But we tried a couple new places this year (4th trip) and were quite happy. The Equator at Caneel has a terrific view of St. Thomas at night and is quaint in an old sugar mill. We assumed it would be typical resort fair but were very happy with both meals (turf for me, surf for my husband). Another nice surprise was the Banana Deck. I'm not sure why we hadn't stopped in before, but it's a great casual atmosphere outside on (of course) the deck. And the food was quite good. Another good option is the Waterfront Bistro. We love looking out at St. Thomas after dark, and Waterfront has a nice bar and lots of tables with a view out onto Cruz Bay and beyond. Again, include a night at Zozo's if you can. Book seats at the bar. You won't regret it. For lunch, we love Skinny Legs for burgers! And breakfast at Deli Grotto is also good.

We enjoyed Mojo Cafe for breakfast; it's a little place in Wharfside.

The Beach Bar is a good spot for lunch, as well.

We tried Zozo's and LaTapa for the first time this last trip; both were very good.

Have a great trip.

The restaurants on STJ are basically concentrated in two areas, Cruz Bay and Coral Bay so as long as you pick which town you want to eat in you won't end up driving all over creation.

There is a cartoony looking map of Cruz Bay available that you should be able to find around town. It has restaurants on it.

There are a few places we absolutely won't miss while we're on STJ: Cafe Roma (huge portions of awesome Italian food), Lime Inn, Rhumb Lines, Banana Deck (the garlic ribeye is AMAZING), all are in Cruz Bay. In the past we have stayed on the Cruz Bay side of the island but this year we stayed in Coral Bay twice but we still went to Cruz Bay for dinner at those restaurants.

So all the good restaurant tips for Cruz bay has me thinking of the parking issues I read so much about. I rented a jeep on STT so can not use any of the rental companies' lots in Cruz Bay. Do the Cruz Bay restaurants provide parking or am I stuck paying to park in a general parking lot?

Hi Casco, in general the restaurants don't provide parking. If you eat at one of the places in Mongoose Junction, parking is available. Those options are Ocean Grill, Paradiso (if it's open, not sure on that), Deli Grotto (breakfast and lunch), Sun Dog Cafe, and the St. John Tap Room (drinks only for now, I am pretty sure).

Also, if you eat at Zozo's, they will valet your car for you. It's complimentary.

I've never paid more than $10 to park in one of the pay lots while eating dinner.

liamsaunt wrote: Also, if you eat at Zozo's, they will valet your car for you. It's complimentary.

this was a great feature last time we ate there. was that always offered? I never recall seeing that valet sign before.