Grenada Food Guide
Breakfast Bites
Breakfast Bites is a local breakfast shop near downtown St. George serving cafeteria style breakfast. They offer breakfast combos, beverages, and sides. It’s a classic Caribbean style breakfast, so I was very familiar with the choices but to Michael it was exciting. Everything is served in a take out container making it perfect to have on the go. I ordered their 2 bakes and 3 sides combo.
We tried a coconut bake, fried bake, saltfish souse, fried plantains, and sausages. Breakfast Bites has so many options to choose from including fried fish and chicken which is a little bit extra. A lot of Caribbean breakfasts have these staples, as I ate the same thing growing up in a Caribbean household. I enjoyed the meal since it reminded me of my breakfasts as a child. However, it wasn’t the absolute best food we had, but still worth a stop.
Friday Restaurant & Bar
Friday Restaurant & Bar is located on a hill near the airport. On Saturday mornings they open early and offer Grenadian breakfast. This is a popular spot for locals and tourists alike so we headed there first thing in the morning. The restaurant is open air, offering a great view of the airport runway and the sea. We were lucky to watch a plane take off while we were eating. They have many things on their breakfast menu that we could choose from, but we decided to have a little bit of everything.
Before having breakfast, the bartender gave us a shot of sanitizer, which is local rum with herbs, spices, and what he called a “friend”. Inside the jar was a huge millipede. It was a first to have a shot of rum for breakfast and a drink preserved with millipedes, but honestly not bad. For breakfast we had coconut bake, fried bake, plantains, red beans, mashed potatoes, salad, stew chicken, sausage, and saltfish souse. Of course, we had to have some cocoa tea to have with our breakfast. This was one of our favorite breakfasts we’ve ever had as it was homestyle cooking and everything tasted nice and fresh. Friday Restaurant & Bar is definitely the best place to have a local breakfast in our opinion.
Patrick’s Local Home Style Restaurant
Patrick’s Local Home Style Restaurant is located in St. Georges, serving local dishes and Caribbean favorites. We came to try Grenada’s national dish oil down. A lot of Caribbean countries have their own style of oil down which I’ve tried but here it’s different. Oil down in Grenada uses breadfruit as the main ingredient, and it’s a bit thicker than Trinidad. It also consists of pigtail, chicken, pumpkin, dumplings, and coconut milk.
Patrick’s has a pretty decent oil down, with a large portion filled with lots of ingredients to stuff you full. The best part for me was the Caribbean style dumplings. We also ordered jerk chicken which is a Jamaican dish, but with a Grenadian twist. The chicken was very juicy with a crispy seasoned skin. It was served with green beans, rice, salad, and plantains. Since we’ve lived in Asia we rarely experience Western styled portions and we were stuffed. Patrick’s definitely earned its spot on our Grenada food guide.
BB’s Crabback Restaurant
BB’s Crabback Restaurant is on the waterfront in downtown St. George. They are famous for their take on the Caribbean dish crabback. We aren’t usually the biggest fan of eating crab as it is tedious, but this version is something we wanted to try. Crabback is crab meat that is mixed spices and various ingredients and stuffed back in the crab shell. It is actually listed as an appetizer rather than a meal since it’s small, but it’s still their signature dish. The crabback has a creamy texture and is served with a fried bake that you can stuff the filling into. It was so delicious and rich, I can see why it’s very popular here. Honestly, I would order one per person.
For our meal we got their curry goat which comes with rice and beans and some sauces with roti on the side. Their roti is okay, but it’s not as soft as others I’ve had before. The curry goat was exactly Michael’s taste as it had a great meaty flavor and texture. It was topped with coconut and had nutmeg as well, because of course we are in the spice island. The food quality at BB’s Crabback is incredible, although a little on the expensive side as it’s popular for tourists.
Someplace Catering
Someplace Catering is a catering company located in a kitchen in someones backyard on Paddock road. They regularly update the menu on their Instagram and what time they are serving. This restaurant is takeaway only, and orders need to be made in advance. We went for their Sunday lunch, a homestyle cooking that is usually eaten after church in the Caribbean. On Sunday, main attractions, restaurants, and stores are shut down on the island, making this a great option. For Sunday lunch, they had chicken, macaroni pie, coleslaw, and rice.
When we received our dish it was piping hot and looked so beautiful with the different colors. The chicken was the best part with tangy barbecue sauce, and who doesn’t love a classic macaroni pie. I really love homestyle cooking with a slight restaurant-like flare. Somehow, this little kitchen in a hidden backyard ended up being one of our favorite local meals in Grenada.
Antonio’s Restaurant & Pizzeria
Antonio’s Restaurant & Pizzeria is not necessarily Grenadian food, but it’s a popular Western spot on the island. I heard from tourists and locals, it’s the best spot to get a slice of pizza. Since it’s a popular place near the resorts, we reserved a table in advance. It’s located on an open air patio, with a low light dining atmosphere in the glow of the brick oven.
For our pasta we got a classic Alfredo, and they let us choose the type of noodles. Their pizza menu has so many options making it so difficult to choose. After some careful thinking, we decided on the capricciosa pizza which is a red sauce base. It had smoked ham, mushrooms, olives, artichokes, and basil. The brick oven made the bottom nice and crispy, exactly how we like it. The best pizza we’ve ever had is still from Pizza Hills in Malaysia, but this was a really great slice!
Souse Boss
Souse is a popular Caribbean dish made with boiled meats served in a cold, pickle brine. We went to Souse Boss to try some highly recommended local souse. He usually sets up in the afternoons near Hubbard’s Motor Department on Grenville Road in Mt. Gay. When we got to the stand, he had buckets filled with different kinds of souse like crab, lambie, and pigtail. Michael tried the lambie souse, and I got pigtail.
I instantly fell in love with it because I love anything with pigtail. The souse was really savory, and each one had its own uniquely flavored water. Lambie is the meat from a conch, so Michael’s had a nice seafood twist. Some were saltier, some more vinegary, but all of them were well balanced. The meat was nicely seasoned without being too spicy, and everything came together really well. Honestly, it might not sound appetizing, but souse is absolutely a local dish you must try.
House of Chocolate
House of Chocolate is a chocolate store in downtown St. George that sells souvenirs, chocolates, and desserts. They offer a small free demonstration talking about the history of chocolate in Grenada and how cacao is beneficial in many ways. Here, they carry every chocolate brand made on the island. There is even a huge gift shop with all of the popular souvenirs, including a load of non-edible cacao products like scents and skincare.
In the shop, they have an ice cream bar that is very popular and serves some of the best ice cream in Grenada. Since Grenada is the spice island, we wanted to try nutmeg, but sadly they were out so we got cinnamon instead. I was nervous because I don’t usually eat solely cinnamon flavored things. After having one bite of the ice cream, I was sold as it was rich and creamy like butter. I have never had ice cream like that before in my life. There wasn’t a fancy presentation or style, it was just pure homemade ice cream with rich flavors.
Sugar & Spice
Since we couldn’t get nutmeg ice cream at House of Chocolate, we stopped by Sugar & Spice. This is an ice cream shop located in Spiceland Mall near Grand Anse Beach. This shop is low priced with huge scoops. We finally got our nutmeg ice cream and it tasted like Christmas in a cup since in the U.S.A, we use nutmeg for a lot of our holiday dishes. The nutmeg wasn’t overpowering and had a nice rich taste. Compared to House of Chocolate, this was much more normal and not overly decadent, but still a great scoop on a hot day.
One Love Restaurant
One Love Restaurant is a family owned restaurant in Prickly Bay. This is the area where all the catamarans and sailboats are moored, so it’s a bit more uppity than the rest of the island. They have a wide menu that we’ve heard good things about, but we originally chose this place because we heard they had great homemade gelato. It made sense to get tropical flavors, so we got a scoop of lemon and a scoop of mango. The mango gelato was thick and creamy whereas the lemon gelato was sour and icy. It wasn’t the best gelato we ever had but it was nice as we were seated in the restaurant overlooking the pier. I can imagine during sailing season this is place is absolutely popping.
Spice Island Coffee
In every country we go to, we try to get specialty coffee. This is challenging in the Caribbean, as high quality coffee is very rare. When I found Spice Island Coffee, I was pretty surprised to see that they roast themselves. We showed up to their warehouse, where you can see them roasting and huge bags of beans. Here, the menu is pretty limited with only a few espresso drinks, however the roaster told me they have a cafe location in the Galleria Mall on Grand Anse Beach. Michael got a latte, and it was pretty good! Definitely not the best coffee ever, but better than anything else we had in Grenada by a long shot.
Mark’s Sports Bar
One of the most famous drinks to have in the Caribbean is rum punch, so we decided to try it at Mark’s Sports Bar near Annadale Falls. It’s a small outdoor bar with plenty of snacks, drinks, and a wide selection of local rums. If you love rum and sweet drinks, this is definitely one to try. There are hundreds of bars all over the island, but many people specifically recommend Mark’s for their spice mix. Rum punch is made from nutmeg and Angostura bitters, and here it tasted like they add cinnamon as well. It had a sweet, fruity flavor blended perfectly with the rum, definitely something to pick up if you’re in the area.
Pandy Beach House
Pandy Beach House only serves alcohol and no food, but that might be exactly what you’re looking for. We went there to try their 12 Shots of Paradise, a tasting experience featuring different local rums from around the island, each with its own flavor, alcohol percentage, and style. The outdoor bar has a chill, laid back vibe, and during the daytime you get a beautiful view of the ocean. It also comes with ice so you can try the rums neat or chilled. The menu matched the tasting board, which made it easy to follow along with the tasting notes and learn more about each type of rum. My favorites were the soursop and sea moss rums because of their sweet flavors, and I’m usually on board with anything soursop.
Final Thoughts
Trying both local spots and more tourist friendly restaurants gave us a chance to experience different sides of the island’s food scene. Whether it was having oil down for the first time, sipping cocoa tea with breakfast, eating crabback by the waterfront, or tasting nutmeg ice cream, every place offered something memorable. Grenada may be a small island, but its food scene has so much personality and flavor.
