Grand Cayman Restaurants

Since I couldn’t fit everything in my huge vacation post, today I will give you a list of the places where we dined in Grand Cayman.

Unfortunately, on the first two nights of our vacation we ended up getting take-out because my son had a fever!  Can you believe the poor kid kicked off the trip with a sickness?  Luckily, we know the restaurants pretty well so we picked up dinner from Ragazzi (a great Italian place with a nice collection of wines) and Legendz which has a huge variety of food ranging from casual salads and burgers to delicious stir fries and grilled fish!

We were able to attempt eating lunch out during the few hours that the Advil kicked in.  My family’s first choice was Coconut Joe‘s.  Dining at Coconut Joe’s is one of our silly Grand Cayman rituals.  The kids always beg to go there and I always make a big deal out of hating the place so they can make fun of me.

Actually, I don’t hate the place at all.  In fact, their food is quite good.  I used to kind of hate the place because several years ago, they allowed chickens to run freely around the outside eating area of the restaurant.  This used to drive me insane because the chickens would be scurrying around the tables, touching my feet and legs…ick!  Then to make it worse, the kids would throw food down at them and they would swarm us like a scene in an Alfred Hitchcock movie.  It was a pure nightmare for me!

Now every time we go back, the kids search for the chickens but luckily they are now kept out back.  We asked the waitress about them this time and apparently Coconut Joe’s had too many complaints over the years!  Yay for me!   I think the kids were disappointed but my husband cheered them up with new Coconut Joe’s t-shirts!  Needless, to say, I didn’t buy one.  No, but really, the food there is good, casual bar food.  Great for lunch!

Once my son felt better, we began going out to dinner each night.

We always dine one night at The Wharf.  The food is consistently good and we love the ocean front setting.  The kids love the tarpon feedings and spend most of their time watching the fish swim up!

The restaurant rings the bell during the fish feedings.

Another favorite is The Royal Palms, where we like to sit upstairs in the open air patio.

The food is always wonderful and my husband swears the best tuna he ever had was at the Royal Palms.

That night we headed to Haagen Dazs for dessert instead of trying the dessert menu at the restaurant.

I needed my fix of Chocolate Chocolate Chip.

In the “old days’, Haagen Dazs was located in the same complex of Foster’s Food Fair but has since moved to a shopping complex called Camana Bay.

As always, we spent plenty of time at the food store!  Always a necessity when you rent a condo!

Speaking of necessities, I will never leave Grand Cayman without a dinner at my favorite restaurant…

Now, I don’t just love it for the name, but I adore everything about the Calypso Grill!

The restaurant is located on Morgan’s Harbor in West Bay, (about 10 or 15 minutes from the condo) so we get to drive down some funny named winding roads with goats and chickens scampering around.  We enjoy eating on the outside patio, but the interior of the restaurant is just as pretty with all the vibrant tropical colors!  I love the energy of the place and the way it’s always bustling with happy vacationers.  Each time I order the delicious mango martini to start.  I have never been disappointed with a meal and usually choose one of the fresh fish specials for my entree.  The amazing “Sticky Toffee Pudding” is a must-have dessert and a perfect way to end the evening.  In fact, the first time we dined there years ago, the waiter insisted that even if we were too full to eat the Sticky Toffee Pudding, we still had to order it and take it home!  Yes, it’s that good!

Normally, I have all my reservations set early in the week but when my son got sick, I waited to call the restaurants.  When I finally made the reservation for the Calypso Grill, all they had was 9:15 pm – for the rest of the week!  Not exactly the best time to take two tired kids (and tired Mommy) to dinner!  Anyway, I called back around noon that day and they still didn’t have any cancellations.  Then I took at chance and called at 5:00 pm and they were able to seat us at 6:30!  What a relief!

I would have hated to miss out on my favorite place!

For lunch one day, we tried Michael’s Genuine Food in the Camana Bay section of Grand Cayman.

They had a delicious lunch menu made with fresh local ingredients and I loved how they brought me a whole carafe of iced tea!

My kids loved it because of the nearby fountains which they ran through while we waited for our meal.

They may have been a little wet for lunch, but they were happy!

The Lone Star is another lunch spot which features a Southwestern menu… Lots of nachos and burritos that day!

We always enjoy Deckers – a fun indoor/outdoor grill which is known for its lobster and live music.  They also have some wonderful salads and excellent seafood dishes.  I do think it is odd that they don’t offer any after dinner tea though!

On our last night, we had dinner at Hemingway’s at the Grand Cayman Beach Suites. (formerly the Hyatt)

They have a beautiful indoor dining room.  (Don’t you love the ceiling?!)  But we sat outside.

After all, it was our last night on the island and we needed to see the sun set over the ocean one more time!

Our food was good but we didn’t enjoy it as we had in the past.  Plus when we arrived, they couldn’t find our reservation and they acted like it might be a problem seating us.  As you can see, many of the tables were empty so I don’t understand what the issue was!  But they were friendly after that and overall it was a nice dining experience.

I could definitely get used to eating out every night!

And since this post ended up being too long, my next post will highlight places to shop!

Do you have any great Caribbean restaurants to recommend?

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One Comment

  1. Wow, this sounds like an outstanding vacation, Shelley! So glad your son's "sickies" were short-lived!Carol

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