Anguilla has an unusual reputation for its size: an island of fifteen thousand people supports something close to a hundred restaurants, several of them serious by any standard. The reason is structural. Anguilla banned cruise ships and casinos, and its hotels are not all-inclusive — so guests eat out every night, and the restaurants that resulted are independent rather than hotel-owned.
The established names
Blanchards on Meads Bay has been running since 1994 and is the restaurant most associated with the island's food reputation; its casual offshoot, Blanchards Beach Shack, sells much the same quality on paper plates. Straw Hat sits over the water at Frangipani on Meads Bay. Veya in Sandy Ground cooks Caribbean ingredients with West African and Asian technique in a treehouse-like dining room. Hibernia in Island Harbour paired French method with south-east Asian flavours for decades and shaped how the island cooks.
Beach shacks and grills
The other half of eating in Anguilla costs a tenth as much. Ken's BBQ in The Valley on a Friday night, the shacks at Shoal Bay, Tasty's near South Hill, and the roadside stands during festival serve the food Anguillians actually eat: ribs, jerk chicken, stewed goat, rice and peas.
Practical advice
- Book the well-known restaurants in high season — several days ahead for Blanchards or Veya.
- Many close entirely in September and October.
- Service charge is usually added; check the bill before tipping again.
- Prices are quoted in US dollars almost everywhere, though the currency is the East Caribbean dollar.
- Bring a light layer — the wind on an open terrace at night is stronger than you expect.
Eating with a view
Almost every notable restaurant is either on the sand or above it. Meads Bay and Sandy Ground hold the greatest concentration; Island Harbour and Shoal Bay have the informal end. Sunset dinners face west across the channel toward Saint-Martin, and tables at that hour are the ones that book out first.
What has changed since 2017
Hurricane Irma closed most of the island's restaurants and several never reopened, while others rebuilt from the ground and are effectively new. Any list more than a few years old will be wrong in places, so check current opening before planning an evening around one address — a call is more reliable than a website here.