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No matter where we go, there is one question we are always asked: How was the food? Aruba restaurants are not cheap! Aruba is a desert island, and other than fresh seafood, most of the food has to be imported. There are also some real word class restaurants here, but that is not The Common Traveler’s way. We want to balance the fabulous with the great and affordable! Here are some of our experiences in Aruba restaurants and suggestions on where to eat in Aruba. All prices in this blog are in U.S. dollars unless indicated otherwise.
THE MARKET GRILL
The Market Grill isn’t really a restaurant – it is a small grill inside a store in the little mall next to the Alhambra Casino on Eagle Beach. Hands down our favorite place to eat – Jeff, the cook, even came to know our order! You can catch a glimpse of him at the beginning of this YouTube video by hellthyjunkfood.com. The chicken quesadilla was healthy, only $6, and out of this world delicious! The fries were crispy. Allan said his hamburger was perfectly cooked. And we were able to try a local treat, a pastechi ($2). This is close to an empanada and ours was filled with chicken and potatoes (at Jeff’s suggestion!). We ate lunch here almost every day, which helped with our food budget!
PIZZA BOB’S
Less than a block away from the Manchebo Beach Resort was a popular pizza place. We went there one night to enjoy a lighter dinner than usual. We ordered some rather large beers and split a large pepperoni pizza. The pizza crust was thin and hard – like a flatbread – but the toppings were really good – something I didn’t expect at a little place like this. Considering that all around were fancy restaurants with fine dining, this was a welcome way to bring it back to normal. The seating is outdoor, so it must get hot during the day. They offer a happy hour from 5-7pm which features 2 for 1 drinks and they’ll upsize a medium pizza to a large.
IKE’S BISTRO
Located at the Manchebo Beach Resort, this was the open air restaurant featuring the hotel’s nightly specials. We ate twice here, once on Aruba night and once on lobster night. At first thought this place was expensive, but once we saw what the meals cost at other restaurants, this was actually affordable. It is all about perspective! Our favorite item here was a roasted poblano soup ($8) that had just a bit of spice to it. This place is worth trying on Aruba night. Expect to pay about $35 for the special of the day meal. A four course chef’s meal is available for $60. For comparison purposes, an 8 oz filet mignon with chimichurri sauce was $30.
THE CHOPHOUSE
We only went once to this traditional steakhouse restaurant at our hotel. Unfortunately for us, we had terrible service – I think our waiter forgot about our table. While we were sat incredibly fast for a couple with no reservations, it all went downhill after that. No one took our drink orders for the longest time. We know this was not typical because we saw several tables both in other areas and even in our own waiter’s area, that were served before us and turned over. While the steak with chimichurri was delicious – the overall terrible experience just made us not appreciate this place too much. I tried a delicious Authentic Aruban Keshi Yena (baked stuff cheese with chicken and fried polenta) as an appetizer ($10). For comparison purposes, the 8 oz filet mignon was $30 and the 12 oz churrasco steak with chimichurri was $36.
PEGA PEGA BEACH BAR & GRILL
This restaurant at our hotel served breakfast and lunch. A quesadilla here cost $13. So while more affordable than other places, it was still pricier than the Market Grill across the street with its $6 chicken quesadilla. One day I ate a fairly large Cobb Salad with Shrimp for $17. While the food was okay, and convenient, it wasn’t anything to write home about.
TWIST OF FLAVORS
TOF (Twist of Flavors) was located in a little mall across the street from our hotel, across the way from the Market Grill. Their menu offered lots of different items. When we visited, a nightly special for $27 featured a three course menu, each course having three choices. Although we only went on our first night, this place was a good deal and the food was decent. For comparison purposes, the TOF Burger was $12, a 9 oz tenderloin was $26, and a 12 oz rib eye sold for $32. Those who had hamburgers said that the burgers were rather large, which explained the table of young men next to us! Consider adding this to your list of Aruba restaurants.
BLUE
This Aruba restaurant is located in the Renaissance Aruba Marina Hotel. This is the lobby bar which offered a rather large menu. We enjoyed typical bar fare – wings, fries and fried shrimp. The food was served quickly and everything was made perfectly. There’s always a danger that fried shrimp will be dry but they were perfect! And we got a free dessert since it was Allan’s birthday! Priced at $15 for a dozen wings, a grilled chicken quesadilla for $12, the prices were more than accommodating. We sprang for a bottle of the house sparkling wine – Freixnet Blanc des Blancs – for $28, which I found very affordable.
KAMINI’S KITCHEN
In the town of St. Nicholas, this restaurant is located at the top of a hill on the way to Baby Beach. I had seen several reviews of this place on TripAdvisor and it came highly recommended. We were served quickly and with a smile – but you better like curries! What I really enjoyed was this was the only place where we didn’t have to kid around about the heat of the dishes – hot means hot! Enjoy! Both Allan and I had curried Roti – mine shrimp and his goat for AWG $26.
SEA SALT GRILL, Renaissance Marketplace
This restaurant was just a quick walk from the Renaissance Marina Hotel. We weren’t sure what to expect since we were eating at off hours so it was hard to gauge based on how many diners were present. The food tasted fresh and we were served with a smile. For an appetizer, we tried the local funchi, toasted polenta bread covered with some cheese. For lunch I ordered a grilled shrimp plate which came with rice. The food was good and items were between $10 and $20.
If you like fancy food, there is plenty of that available in Aruba. Of course, there are also the usual places like Wendy’s, KFC and Pizza Hut. I’m just not a fan of going to chain restaurants I can find around the corner from my house. Budget accordingly and enjoy a break from the ordinary.
Interested in more information about Aruba? Check out our other blogs on traveling to Aruba, the beautiful beaches, staying at the Manchebo Beach Resort and the Renaissance Aruba Hotel and what to do.
Happy travels!
Annick, The Common Traveler
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Raised as a third culture kid living in South America and Europe, Annick caught the travel bug early. As an empty-nester, Annick enjoys sharing her tips for traveling for those with champagne taste and beer budgets.
Hello
I’m not surprised at all to read that food’s expensive in Aruba. Most Caribbean islands tend to be higher than other destinations. I’m European, so probably would avoid The Belgian place! However, I love quesadillas,
I’m not surprised at all to read that food’s expensive in Aruba. Most Caribbean islands tend to be higher than other destinations. I’m European, so probably would avoid The Belgian place! However, I love quesadillas, and so would probably be a frequent visitor at The Market Grill. The seafood looks good too at Ike’s Bistro!
Good point about island food being expensive!
You just made me so hungry! I am definitely going to keep this list in my favorites and use it when I come there. Great list! Thank you so much for sharing this.
Aruba is on my bucket list but I didn’t realize food was pricey! The Sea Salt sounds divine. And I’m not normally a hotel restaurant fan, but BLUE looks like a fun place!
Yep! It does look expensive. I think I will spend a lot of time eating at the Market Grill. Their chicken quesadilla sounds yummy. I will stop at Ike’s Grill, too, for their roasted poblano soup. It sounds tasty!
It’s always one of my questions too when considering where to travel to — how was the food? Looks like you had some great food in Aruba. I love the look of several of these places, The Market Grill’s quesadilla, Ike’s lobster tail, that lovely Avocado bruschetta.
I want to dine in to Pega Pega Bar and Grill and Blue! Will check our Aruba soon, seems like a nice place for holidays and for eating our way too!
I just ate dinner but gosh id eat that chicken quesadilla!!!
I’m so hungry now after reading this! I’m not surprised at all to read that food’s expensive in Aruba. Most Caribbean islands tend to be higher than other destinations. I’m European, so probably would avoid The Belgian place! However, I love quesadillas, and so would probably be a frequent visitor at The Market Grill. The seafood looks good too at Ike’s Bistro!
So expensive but generally good.
Going to Aruba is high on my list to visit places but this post surely helps with some tis and how to budget for it from a food aspect. Qute rightly as you say the reason why the food is possibly expensive is because Aruba is a desert island, and other than seafood, most of the food has to be imported. The Chophouse surely is an interesting for me. Thanks for sharing some great places to eat on this post
You’re welcome!
Perhaps it was a bad idea to open this post late in the night when I’m too lazy to cook and nothing is open. I’m starving after taking a look at those pictures. I never knew Aruba had so many different (and delicious) options when it comes to restaurants. Thanks for sharing!