8 Best Restaurants in The Abacos, Bahamas

Abaco Inn Restaurant

$$$$ | Hope Town Fodor's choice

Set in the country-club-style main lodge splashed with lively Bahamian colors and boasting floor-to-ceiling windows that provide an incredible view of the ocean, the restaurant serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner to guests and visitors in classic island style. Fresh-baked bread, fruit, and lobster or Mexican-style Benedict are breakfast highlights. At lunch, sample the sesame seared tuna or the cheeseburger wrap. For dinner, grilled grouper can be prepared to your liking, but their piccata is a favorite. There's also crawfish in season—blackened, grilled, fried, or coconut-fried—as well as escargot. 

Café La Florence

$ Fodor's choice

Stop off at this bakery–café in the Treasure Cay shopping strip for just-made muffins and some of the best cinnamon rolls you'll ever try. You'll know you've found it by the smell of those fresh-baked treats and the line of people waiting to indulge. They serve American and Bahamian cooked breakfast as well. Lunch is cheeseburgers, grouper fingers, lobster, and conch snacks, as well as a variety of sandwiches. Anglers can order picnic lunches to go. You can also arrange for the chef to cater private dinners of lobster, steak, and more in your rented condo or cottage. 

Bridget's Rum Bar

$$$$ | Hope Town

Catch the Hope Town Inn & Marina's free boat shuttle from any of the docks across the harbor in Hope Town and pull up a chair under the open octagonal restaurant or hop in and place your order at the swim-up bar. The Caribbean-inspired menu features lots of seafood for lunch and dinner. The chili lime mussels drowned in local beer and the crunchy parmesan lobster tail are crowd favorites.

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Jamie's Place

$

There's nothing fancy about this clean, bright, diner-style eatery, but the welcome is warm, the Bahamian dishes are well executed, and the prices are right, with most meals clocking in under $15. Choose cracked conch or lobster, or fresh-caught dolphin (also called mahimahi), with your choice of hearty Bahamian sides. Jamie's is also an ice-cream parlor, with a wide selection of flavors. Locals love this place, and it has stayed one of Great Abaco Island's best-kept secrets.

Marsh Harbour, Great Abaco Island, Bahamas
242-367–2880
Known For
  • <PRO>simple but hearty meals</PRO>
  • <PRO>friendly service</PRO>
  • <PRO>bustling takeout business</PRO>
Restaurants Details
Rate Includes: No credit cards

Mackey's Takeout

$$

Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are simple Bahamian and American fare similar to what's on offer at other spots on the island. And while the delicious Bahamian food menu is worth a stop, it's the ice cream that draws the crowd to this whimsical little takeout restaurant in the middle of the island. There's even a coffee bar for that caffeine fix, served up iced or piping hot. There are a few chairs and tables on the outdoor porch, but most folks carry their food with them.

Elbow Cay, Great Abaco Island, Bahamas
366-0396
Known For
  • delicious cinnamon rolls, banana bread, and other baked goods
  • excellent breakfast sandwiches and burritos
  • warm, friendly owner
Restaurants Details
Rate Includes: Sun. mornings

McIntosh Restaurant & Bakery

$$

This simple diner-style restaurant serves up excellent renditions of local favorites, such as fried grouper and cracked conch, and sandwiches made with thick slices of a slightly sweet Bahamian bun for lunch. At dinner, large portions of pork chops, lobster, fish, and shrimp are served with rib-sticking sides like baked macaroni and cheese, peas and rice, and coleslaw. Save room for a piece of rum cake or Key lime pie with gravity-defying meringue piled on top, baked fresh daily and displayed in the glass case up front. 

Meke's Snack Shack

$
If you're looking for a simple but tasty lunch at a great price, check out this octagonal wooden takeout-only restaurant on the western end of Bay Street. The burgers are hand-formed and served up on homemade buns—the spicy bacon cheeseburger is a local favorite. Grab a box of their fried chicken if you're headed out in the boat for a day of exploring, and on a hot day, their homemade ice cream in an array of tropical flavors including coconut, guava, pineapple, and mango is delicious and refreshing. The only seating is on a handful of park benches nearby.
Bay St., Marsh Harbour, Great Abaco Island, Bahamas
242-367–4005
Known For
  • <PRO>delicious burgers</PRO>
  • <PRO>cheap eats</PRO>
  • <PRO>ice cream on a hot day</PRO>
Restaurants Details
Rate Includes: Closed Sun., Reservations not accepted

Turtle Crawl Cafe

$

This tiny ice-cream parlor and coffee shop boasts 30 flavors. Located inside a painstakingly renovated island home, there's limited space and seating inside, but across the narrow road are a few picnic benches under the shade of huge trees. Strangely, this spot isn't open until early evening.

Queen St., Green Turtle Cay, Great Abaco Island, Bahamas
242-727-4129
Known For
  • local homemade ice cream in interesting flavors like honey avocado
  • grab-and-go lunches
  • warm and friendly owners
Restaurants Details
Rate Includes: Closed during the day and Mon. and Tues. evenings