10 Best Restaurants in Bonaire

The Wapana Hotel's culinary gem offers an intimate alfresco chef’s table experiences on only six tables at a time, three times a week, paired with fine wines by the glass. The grounds are lovely and the ambience enchanting, but it is the food---like the chicken ballotine stuffed with lemon mousse---that has locals and visitors alike scrambling to secure reservations. Thursday night is Italian Night, typically reserved only for hotel guests, but spots sometimes open to the public depending on capacity.

Chef Jeroen and his wife Tiffany have created a seaside dining oasis that offers a leisurely, relaxed experience and some of the island's most creative seafood, steak, and vegetarian dishes and utilizing both locally and globally sourced ingredients. Choose from enticing small plates like ceviche lionfish or truffle risotto, or opt for a multicourse feast with optional wine pairings. They also have a special three-course menus for kids and vegan tasting menus with advance notice.

Chogogo Beach Resort’s new signature restaurant is a cut above on every level, attracting local bon vivants and visiting foodies alike. Their small menu of international a la carte specialties---think steak, veal tartare, local vegetables with demi-glace---are reliably good, but it’s the choice of inspired chef’s table experiences, often paired with wines, that really attract gourmands here. Service is stellar and the ambience is alfresco seaside romantic.

Owners of the critically acclaimed De Librije restaurant in the Netherlands and longtime Bonaire visitors, Dutch master chef Jonnie Boer and his wife, Therese, operate this hip restaurant in Delfins Beach Resort. Enjoy some of the island's most exciting and creative fusion fare (miso-cured monkfish, sweetbreads with peanut, coconut, and pineapple)—prepared in an open kitchen—in a gorgeous seaside setting with glassed-in banquettes. This beachfront spot is also open for breakfast and lunch. Reserve the private palapa over the sea, called Table 14, for a special occasion.

This splendid, family-run Italian eatery offers casual à la carte dining on a terrace or meals in a more romantic setting in a tonier, air-conditioned dining room. Choose from 50 regular offerings—including thin-crust prosciutto pizzas, caprese salads, linguini with scallops, and red wine–braised lamb shank—or go for the five-course prix-fixe menu.

This aptly named, eclectic eatery serves everything from pasta and risotto to ribs and skewers to schnitzels and shareables in a labyrinth of dining nooks, decks, and gardens. At lunch, it attracts hungry crowds with inventive burgers and sandwiches; at night, two bars draw folks for cocktails and tapas, and the chef’s surprise dinners pack in those looking for a full meal. There's live music some weekend evenings.

Overlooking Lac Bay, the training ground for the famous Bonaire Windsurf Team, this breezy bar offers libations and tasty sandwiches, salads, and daily specials in a lively surfside setting until 6 pm most days, with the exception of Thursday, when there's a famous barbecue and live music well into the evening, and Sunday. Lounge beds, sofas in the sand, and lots of shady nooks make this a wonderful place to chill and party on the beach.

This urban-chic establishment housed in a century-old traditional home with a magical seafront setting provides impeccable service and a creative, diverse menu that emphasizes grilled local fish—the restaurant even has its own little seafood market just outside. Open for lunch weekdays with a diverse menu of Dutch-style sandwiches, wraps, burgers, and fish-and-chips, too, it's a wonderful downtown spot for watching the boats on the water. There's a great kids' menu, too.

Though the massive overwater palapa beside Karel’s Beach Bar is connected to it by a wooden boardwalk and so similar in design you would assume it is part of the same establishment, Pier Dos is worlds apart in vibe, ambience, and offerings. The atmosphere is upscale and avant garde with interesting foodie-forward specialties. The atmosphere at night is seriously romantic with mood lighting and soft music.

Reserve in advance for a sunset dining experience at this chic, romantic, waterfront spot (the special pier table, which seats up to 25 people, is one of Bonaire's most sought after). Chef Sebastian has created his own niche, with an eclectic menu of international dishes prepared with a Mediterranean flair.