Antigua, located at the heart of the Caribbean, is one of the most sought-after holiday destinations in the world. The tropical island is not only endowed with 365 spectacular white sandy beaches but it also boasts of an engrossing culture, friendly people and world-class restaurants.
Sampling the locally-prepared foods is one of the few ways of enjoying the ultimate Caribbean experience. But with so many restaurants scattered across the island, it can be somewhat difficult to decide where to eat or dine.
This guide gives you a complete overview of the best restaurants in Antigua, based on location, ambiance and food specialties they have to offer:
1. Sheer Rocks
Located at Cocobay Resort in Ffreyes Beach, Sheer Rocks is a 
restaurant that offers exclusive dining to guests that hit the Antigua Island.
Just as its name suggests, the restaurant is perched on a cliff-side, with protruding rocks, overlooking the shimmering azure waters of Ffreyes Bay.
This provides a relaxed, elegant and romantic setting over which to enjoy lunch and dinner with family and/or friends.
Sheer Rocks’ menu largely features Mediterranean-inspired cuisines, with Tapas being the main highlight. Guests can order freshly prepared fish, chicken, 7-grain bread, bitter chocolate soufflé, ice creams, and sorbets, either paired with other foods or included in a 5-course meal or so course.
To spice up the dining experience, the restaurant serves a range of carefully selected wines and artistic cocktails, which you can enjoy before or after dining.
Tel: +1 268-464-5283
Website: www.sheer-rocks.com
2. Shirley Heights Lookout Restaurant & Bar
Shirley Heights Lookout restaurant is set atop a hill, where the ever charming Falmouth and English Harbors can be seen on the foreground.
The elegant Montserrat volcano can also be viewed from a distance. But what’s more stunning is the restaurant’s dining room that lies in the 18th century restored building. The ambiance here is not only enchanting but also comfortable.
Being the most popular place in Antigua, especially on Sundays, there are many activities in the lineup. Entertainment begins at 6 pm with casual BBQs paired with soul-soothing calypso music, which will usually continue for the better part of the night.
There are also plenty of opportunities to meet local artists and buy some of their handmade goods.
Tel: +1 268-728-0636
Website: www.shirleyheightslookout.com
3. Jacqui O’s Beach House
Located on a secluded beach in Crab Hill St Mary, overlooking the 
beautiful Caribbean Sea, Jacqui O’s Beach House is a restaurant that has won the hearts of many travelers for many reasons.
The restaurant’s interior is rustic and chic while the exterior is designed with comfortable tables and seating for al fresco dining.
There are also white day beds with throw pillows set on the outside, providing a perfect relaxing setting against the turquoise sea waters and the swaying coconut palms.
Jacqui O’s menu mainly features fresh, modern French cuisines with a Caribbean twist served alongside a variety of amazing cocktails. Some of the foods you can order on the restaurant include parrot fish, paella, open ravioli, lobster, fresh fish, burger, fries and more.
This can be a great place to stop by for lunch and dinner while on a cruising trip in Antigua Island.
Tel: +1 268-562-2218
4. Catherines Café
If you are craving for an open-air beach house dining experience in Antigua, then Catherine’s Café is the best place to visit.
Situated at Pigeon Point Beach near Carlisle Bay Resort, Catherine’s Cafe is well known for its classical French cuisine that has Province-style influences as well as the delicate wines it serves.
Here, you can enjoy a relaxing beachfront setting with breathtaking
harbor views as you go on with the dining.
Some of the main highlights on the restaurant’s menu include Lobster Risotto, steak tartare, clams, gazpacho, ice cream, mahi-mahi and more.
The Wednesday Jazz night further makes the experience in the restaurant as fun and relaxing as ever.
Tel: +1 268-460-5050
Wesite: www.catherines-cafe.com
5. Cecilia’s High Point Café
Situated in Texaco Dock Road, High Point, Antigua, Cecilia’s
High Point Café specializes in serving a range of international and Scandinavian cuisines as well as vegetarian-friendly dishes.
The interior of the restaurant features an open-layout with dining tables spaced perfectly and seamlessly connecting to the exterior dining area.
The elegant-looking coconut palms, the overlooking aquamarine waters plus the soothing breeze that blows from the sea make the dining affair here engrossing.
When it comes to the menu, the choices are endless. You can order
vegetables, mushroom ravioli, clams, Swedish hash, chicken and gravlax. Other foods found on the restaurant’s menu include snapper, curry, bread and fresh fish plus a number of specialties for kids and vegans.
Tel: +1 268-562-7070
Website: www.highpointantigua.com
6. SUN RA
SUN RA is a wooden restaurant that’s set in the middle of a garden in Dockyard Drive, Falmouth Harbor.
The most defining feature of the restaurant is the creative dancing lights in the trees and other parts, which no doubt create a warm and calming effect to diners.
The breathtaking views of the harbor and surrounding areas also form part of the experience in the restaurant. Furthermore, the jazz and modern music played therein does much in creating a cool and chilled out backdrop for an evening dining with a loved one.
SUN RA’s menu has lots of foods that have Mediterranean influence. Some of these foods include ragu, tuna carpaccio, prawns, mahi-mahi, ice cream, and lobster salad, all of which are made from scratch.
As a diner, you are free to pair any of the foods with your favorite wine as provided on the menu. This is definitely a spot you would want to include on your bucket list while on a visit to Antigua.
Tel: +1 268-720-3826
7. Cloggy’s
This ever bustling café is conveniently located on the second floor of 
the Antigua Yacht Club Marina building in English Harbor.
Its strategic location allows guests to enjoy stunning views of the Falmouth Harbor and the multiple super luxury yachts that sail into and out of the harbor on a daily basis.
Inside the restaurant is a full bar and table seating area as well as a lounge section furnished with sofas and chairs. The cooling sea breeze blowing from the sea is particularly something you’ll appreciate as a guest on the restaurant.
Just as its amazing ambiance, Cloggy’s menu doesn’t disappoint. The dishes served here are mainly Caribbean-inspired and contemporary The main menu highlights include salads, prawns, chicken shawarma, fresh fish, wahoo, steak, tuna and more. Cloggy also serves a variety of drinks like wines, beers, and cocktails, which are usually available from 10 am.
Tel: +1 268-460-6910
Website: www.antiguanice.com
8. The Cove Restaurant at the Blue Waters Resort
If you’re looking for a totally charming al fresco dining setting in Antigua, then The Cove Restaurant could be a great place to stop by.
Situated on top of a cliff in Soldier’s Bay, St. Johns, Antigua, the restaurant is famed for its finger-licking Caribbean and French cuisine. Flaming torches welcome guests into the restaurant through a dramatic entrance that seamlessly leads onto a candlelit hall.
From where the restaurant sits, the views of the overlooking sea are nothing but breathtaking. In terms of menu, there’s a lot of guests can explore. Lobster thermidor, beef wellington and crab cakes feature on top of the list of foods ordered here while there are lots of delectable entrees and fine wines to indulge in too.
Tel: +1 268-462-0290
9. Incanto Restaurant & Lounge Bar
Sitting right beside the waters of Antigua Slipway in English Bar,
Incanto is the best Italian restaurant in Antigua, based on guest reviews.
The ambiance at the restaurant is as soothing as ever with amazing views of the expansive sea and perfect sea breeze.
Aside from the dining space on the outside, there is a lounging section equipped with well-cushioned seating and facing the waters.
At Incanto restaurant & Lounge Bar, you can enjoy pesto gnocchi, charcuterie board, shrimps & lobster spaghetti and more. Also with lots of wine, beer and cocktail varieties in the bar, you can never experience a dull moment on this side of the island.
Tel: +1 268-562-9130
Website: www.incantoantigua.com
10. Pillars Restaurant
To round up this gorgeous list of restaurants is the Pillars a restaurant that’s set within Nelson Dockyard’s 18th-century walls at the well restored Admiral’s Inn.
The weathered bricks on the building and pillars combine with luxuriant gardens surrounding the al fresco plus the amazing views of the elegantly anchored yachts to create an ambiance like no other.
The freshly prepared delectable dishes in the restaurant will
never go unnoticed by the guests visiting English Harbor. Some seafood
specialties that are worth tasting include Tuna Tartare, Pan-seared Wahoo and Grilled Lobster. There are also other tasty foods like beef, club sandwich, roasted tenderloin, noodles and salads to order.
Tel: +1 268-460-1027
Website: www.admiralsantigua.com
Conclusion
From the review above, it is clear that the dining experience in Antigua Island can never get boring. The good thing with most of these restaurants is that they serve a variety of foods that can savor all tastes and match different budgets too.
So if you’re planning to sail the island of Antigua soon, you might need to mark one or two restaurants from the above list for the unforgettable Caribbean and contemporary dining experience as you cruise along.
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Do you know other great restaurants in Antigua? If so, feel free to share them in the comments below.
Daniella has been passionate about travel, the sea, and nature for many years. As a child, she frequently traveled throughout the Mediterranean and continued with her journeys throughout her adult life.
Her experiences have created the desire within her to share her love for traveling with other passionate and adventurers who want to discover beautiful horizons and new cultures.
I have never been to Antigua, but it sure looks absolutely stunning. The restaurant selection is phenomenal! There’s nothing worse that going on vacation and being stuck with sub par food.
How are the prices of the restaurants/food in Antigua? Is this the kind of vacation where it’s worth it to save and splurge, or can it still be enjoyed on a budget? Thanks!
Hi Holly,
I agree with you; it’s not pleasant to eat sub-par food when you are on vacation. I always want the best:) Since most products are imported in the Caribbean and Antigua, prices are usually higher than in the US. But you can still find affordable eateries. You sure can enjoy on a budget. There are small hotels that start at $16 per night and rise according to your requirements.
It’s all a question of how you manage:)
I hope it helped! Let me know if you need more info. I am always happy to assist!
Thank you for the comment and wish you all the best.
So lovely reading this article as I have been looking for vacation spots and by the deep blue sea is always my first choice. What a beautiful place! And of course trying food while traveling is a must as well and your guide is fantastic for an indecisive person like me. Wow, so many restaurants, they seem equally amazing with each one offering something a little different. Are these restaurants and food ran and prepared by locals? I would love to experience all of them especially with the views!
Hi Alisha,
Thanks for stopping by!
Indeed, Antigua is beautiful, and the restaurants are fantastic! Most of them are ran by locals.
I hope it helped!
Thank you for the comment and wish you a fantastic day!
Looks absolutely amazing, with such high quality and variety of restaurants to choose from!
Thanks for sharing what meals you can find at each, what you recommend and giving a clear description of the restaurants to make sure one will certainly get the best dining experience on this trip. Which restaurant would you recommend as the most affordable for breakfast or a lunch?
Hi Cheriri
Yes, those restaurants prepare awesome cuisine. I think that food has no price if it’s delicious:) What matters the most for me is to enjoy and the rest doesn’t really matter:)
However, I think the Cloggy’s and Catherines Café are the more affordable places to eat.
I hope it helped!
Thank you for the comment and wish you a great day.
Wow! You will certainly not starve in Antigua – either from a lack of food or a lack of scenery!
I’ve been to the Bahamas and the waters in the Caribbean are nothing short of breath-taking.
Your descriptions of the restaurants are unbelievable and now I want to visit each one. Great descriptions!
Thanks,
Ellen
Hi Ellen,
Yes, you are right, the Bahamas is stunning and you will surely not starve for food there:)
Thank you for the comment and wish you a lovely day!