Food, People, Culture: Antigua & Barbuda Restaurant Week 2023 🇦🇬

Grab ya friend, relative, or even coworker- it’s time for Antigua and Barbuda’s first restaurant week!! As a self-proclaimed foodie, I was so excited once the announcement dropped. Unfortunately, I’m not able to partake in the full schedule of events, but I’m here to share more information with you so that you’re able to.

What you need to know

Restaurant week is the first of its kind here in Antigua & Barbuda and is scheduled from Sunday 7th May to Sunday 21st May. Yes, it’s more than a week. Lucky you, more places to try. 🥳

There are 30+ restaurants participating with Prix Fixe menus at USD 25, USD 50 or USD 75. A restaurant can decide which option they would like to partake in. There’s also an Eat like a Local promo with local restaurants and food spots with items starting from US 10/ XCD 30.

As part of Antigua and Barbuda Restaurant Week, the Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority has this cool initiative ongoing where participating patrons are able to receive their own food passport. As the name suggests, it’s a mini booklet complete with additional info on the event, and you can get a stamp at each restaurant. You can also include pics, and notes of each experience and it’ll be a nice keepsake. For persons who eat at 7 or more restaurants between May 7th – 21st, you can use your passport for free entry into the ultimate Food & Art Experience at Historic Nelson’s Dockyard on May 21st, 2023.

Guess what? If you post videos and/or photos of your food, drink, and any dining experience during Restaurant Week you get the chance to win even more prizes!

Restaurants Reviews

Luckily, I got to visit three restaurants during the first week and family members would have visited others which I’d also include their mini reviews.

Gather Steakhouse

We visited here first as a family for our usual Sunday lunch/dinner. What we didn’t know when we arrived was that they were hosting the launch of restaurant week at the same time. I found this weird as it did impact the service and where we could be seated. It would have been better to know this beforehand and probably we would have chosen a different venue.

Nonetheless, we were there to eat. Gather had a Prix Fixe menu at USD $75 for three course (appetizer, main with one side, dessert) and a cocktail. I decided to have the Smoked Cheddar Tots, 6oz Filet Mignon with Mac & Cheese and a Brownie with Ice Cream for Dessert. I also went with the Passion Fruit Mojito as my cocktail of choice.

Overall the food was good but the smoked cheddar tots were the highlight for me. I believe I prefer the mac & cheese in the skillet pan as this one was a bit too cheesy for me. The brownie was also very sweet, even for a sweet tooth like me.

The Larder

A last minute date night option given the restaurant we wanted to visit was closed. It turned out to be a super chill night, however I didn’t particularly like the options on their Prix Fixe menus. There was an option for USD $25 and USD $50. My boyfriend went with the $50 option whereby he got an appetizer, main, dessert and cocktail. From his selections I sampled the appetizer which was Buffalo Chicken Wonton Tacos and it was alright. I opted for sushi which I was surprised didn’t make it into their menu selections as they’re kinda the go-to for most people.

Salt Plage Beach Bar & Restaurant

Another last minute outing but probably my best experience during this week was Salt Plage Beach Bar and Restaurant located on Dickenson Bay. They have a new-ish beach bar, Starfish beach bar which had a tapas selection for their US $25 Prix Fixe menu. You have the option of selecting two out of about six options. To my surprise, the portions were as large as their usual menu offerings. We weren’t prepared for this so we also ordered tacos from their beach bar menu. For our selection we had the fried calamari, coconut shrimp and fried wings. Everything was enjoyable and we definitely left satisfied!

Sheer Rocks

My sister and her friend went to Sheer Rocks for their sunset cocktails and tapas, which is the $25USD offer for restaurant week. From 4pm – 6pm, persons are able to receive a cocktail of their choice, truffle mac and cheese, crispy chicken thigh, corn ribs and a front-row seat of the sunset! There’s also a $50USD option and $75USD option as well available.

According to my sis, the wait time was a bit long (even though there wasn’t a crowd yet) and the workers on that day seemed clueless to what was happening and the exact offerings. While they explained it was their first day working during restaurant week, I feel like the restaurants could have briefed their staff better as to what was happening (this was the case at several restaurants). Nonetheless, the staff were very friendly and gave some good recs where cocktails were concerned. My sister would rate the food a solid 7, as there was no ‘wow’ factor with the meal.

Island Girls Grubbin’

Check out our foodiegram page at Island Girls Grubbing for all our foodies escapades and reviews.