Restaurants in the USVI

bella, are you on island? Will you be familiar with local restaurants if we name them? I think we have some fairly good fine dining choices on STX, even more on STT and STJ. But the more casual, moderately priced places are simply inconsistent. One day the burger is great, and the next day it's awful. One exception to that is Case Place on STX. The food is always outstanding. It is enclosed and air conditioned, which some people may prefer, but I would love to have an open-air Case Place. On STT, Delly Deck food is always good too, but they are only open for breakfast and lunch, no dinner. Also enclosed and a/c'd. They do have an open area too, but it's in the parking lot. So, I would vote for a casual, moderately priced, eclectic menu on the beach or boardwalk or in a marina, with consistently good food and good service and a good happy hour/bar scene, where "everybody knows your name". I really believe it doesn't matter as much the genre of restaurant as it does the quality and location to be successful.

Most people are going to say Thai. I've been hearing it for years. I like Thai, but I would rather have a good Chinese place on STX. We are definitely lacking.

I'm on STX. We desperately need an Indian Restaurant and a Thai Restaurant. I miss those two foods so much! We also could use a nice Mexican Restaurant. There are several restaurants here that serve 'Mexican' food, but non that are really good. I used to live in So. Cal and I've been to Mexico many times... we need some good Mexican Carnitas, chile rellenos, etc. Oh... a lunch/dinner restaurant with a salad bar... wow... that would be a treat.

We do not need Italian - got lots. We do not need Steak Houses, have a couple great ones already. We do not need more burgers, beach bars, sports bars, etc. We do not need Chinese, there are 4 or 5 already... (we just need them to improve their menus maybe). Dashi is our only real sushi restaurant and it is doing well but there are lots of people here who love Sushi ........so a nother Japanese/Sushi restaurant would be good.

We used to have a Lebanese restaurant that was good for something different and supposedly a Greek Restaurant will soon come, for true. Hope so. Love Ethnic food.

I'm for the well behaved, family friendly, consistent, but the most important is that the food be authentic. Bring in a Chef that knows the cuisine. I'm so tired of chefs that are jacks of all foods, masters of none.

My favorite restaurants on island - Christine's for lunch, Cultured Pelican for dinner. Yummmmmmmmm

Limetime2 and Juanita - I'd be very interested in what you do and don't like about the existing Chinese restaurants on STX. That's my favorite and you both brought it up as an area of improvement. I did note a recent review on this board of Golden Wok. What about the others?

A real NY style deli -- both sandwiches and entrees with a meat and cheese counter for sliced and prepared foods. On STT - Gourmet Gallery - Frenchtown Deli - Marina Mkt. all are good at times but not the style I am describing. Hey even a good hot dog joint would make it here. Ever since Kum Wah closed the chinese food is spotty at best. For sure stay casual no matter what cuisine. A restaurant that really catered to family dining would do fine too. We aren't particular about much but consistency and service----- and the combo is sometimes hard to find.

Hi sugarlander,
I only know of 4 Chinese restaurants on STX. I've only been on STX for a year and don't get out to F'sted very often, so I'm sure there are more.
Golden Wok - You read the reviews. Food mediocre, ambiance cold, service OK but blah, owner/manager not so much rude as indifferent. That may be a language barrier issue.
Beijing at Sion Farm- Food good, if you order wisely, ambiance stark, service OK, typical when the service doesn't speak the same language. (not complaining). I would do take-out.
(Name) at Orange Grove near Pueblo - I have only had take-out, and my husband picked it up, so I don't know about the ambiance, etc. The food SUCKED!
(Name) at Sunny Isle - It's walk up and place your order, like fast food. I don't care for that style, so we didn't stay.

Only my opinion. I worked in F&B for a long time, and I'm a little picky, but my husband is a teddy bear. He likes most everything, and he agrees with my reviews. I personally am looking for more than just edible food when I eat out. I want good food, good service, welcoming surroundings (which can be barefoot in the sand and ultra casual or a candlelit table with linens), and I don't mind paying for it, but I HATE paying big bucks for schlock, which happens way too often.

Vietnamese, Chinese, Thai or even a sit-down BBQ place on STT. IMO, Texas Pit BBQ's quality has slipped a bit in the last year or so.

Running a restaurant here is not easy. Your best plan is to come down and, for 6 months or so, work in restaurants and get a feel for the island before deciding if owning a restaurant here is for you. You can also do a search here - look for "full moon beach bar" "pickled greek" or "zizzlers" These are/were on STX, but you'll get the idea.

Juanita,

"(Name) at Sunny Isle - It's walk up and place your order, like fast food. I don't care for that style, so we didn't stay"

We thought the same as you did..........One day we sat down, instead of going to the counter, and a waitress came out and brought us a menu. We ordered the Chineses veges w/ steamed rice and the Beef (tenderloin) w/ broccoli and enjoyed it. The price was and is very good, service was nice and had enough to take home and make another meal. No ambiance but great for people watching.

They've seen us enough that they ask if we want the "usual"!

Good Mexican, Chinese, and Middle Eastern(I think someone should combine the best of Lebanese, Indian, Persian, Greek etc, couple of dishes from each). Anyone of those would be fantastic. But I have to second what Linda J said about running a restaurant here. I'd wish you luck in your dream but I'd feel like I was cursing you. Be careful what you wish for and all that. Live and work in a restaurant here first and get a good feel for the constant problems owners run up against. Similar challenges to stateside only worse.

Please come down and open a Thai or Indian restaurant on STT! I promised that I'll eat there at least 2 times/week.

Limetime2, have you been to Savant on STX? That is supposed to be the best Thai food. Haven't been there but people say it is a good restaurant.

In STT i recommend for a cheap and good lunch deli deck in havensight i also recommend the steak form Caribbean saloon in Red hook. Al the restaurants at the ritz carlton are great as well as wikked and Grand crew in Yacht Haven. I don't know the name but there are some good restaurants in Frenchtown. I am still getting to know more restaurants as per all i know is from my previous visits and now i am here more i will probably extend my list.

Dan, Thanks for the info on the Sunny Isle place. Maybe we will give it another go.

bella, what did I tell you? Thai, right?

I just think the thing about Thai (or any other very specialized cuisine) is you'll do it once in a while (once a month?), and that won't sustain a new business, at least on STX, with a small tourist base. A hugh problem is a lot of new restaurants don't get established before they run out of start-up money or fortitude. There used to be an old rule of thumb, something like the third owner of a hotel or restaurant finally made some money.

puddlejumper, if you're out there, how's the NC BBQ business going? Now that's one I would do at least once a week, if it were on STX.

Marlene, I've been to Savant many times and consider it one of my favorites. However, I do not consider them a Thai restaurant. They have a couple of thai inspired menu items and sometimes have thai inspired specials but they also have mexican, seafood, and other cuisines. When I think about a Thai restaurant I think of a restaurant that specializes in real Thai food and Thai food only. (For people interested in Thai, Angry Nates also has a Thai item or two, Aquawest (same owners) has Thai items on their menu, etc.) BUT... non of these specialize in Thai and I usually don't order the Thai items as I usually am dissappointed.

Sugarlander, I think the biggest downside for the Orange Grove Chinese Restaurant is ambiance. It is mostly a take out place. There are a few items on the menu there that I really like tho... especially their Egg Foo Yung. Same for Sion Farm. The Sunnyisle one is OK but reminds me of something you'd find in a mall's food court. I personally like the new Golden Wok restaurant. I like the environment, (clean, big, minimalistic) and I have found the service to be good and the food OK. I've had good meals and bad, but like most retaurants here you tend to find one or two items you like and stick with them.

Juanita, although I understand your thinking about specialized cuisine and the risks... I think our STX market is different.. Our restaurants don't rely on tourism as much as they do on full time residents. Many people will think that SUSHI is specialized but Dashi has done nothing but grow grow grow. Their customers are mostly local residents. You can't get in there on a Friday night if you don't have a reservation. Many of our residents eat out on a regular (weekly) basis and look for restaurants that are not so pricy and/or offer food you can not easily prepare at home. I think it would be better to open something new, different and specialized than to open up yet another chinese, hamburger, italian, or high-end place. I think keeping it small at first is prudent and less risky.

I'd be happy with anything new... taco stand, salad bar, southern bbq (Corky's), Indian ***, Thai, Pancake House, etc. 🙂 But... saying all this, I have no idea what it costs to run a restaurant business or what kind of numbers would be needed to 'make it'. I wish anyone starting out good luck. And... by the way... I think Cane Bay's new owners are doing a fantastic job advertising and coming up with creative ways to draw a crowd! I hope they do well, they are obviously working hard at it!

I wonder if anyone has noticed menu prices creeping up or are restaurants holding the line on price increases? Prices are already higher on the islands but food costs are rising. It would seem that consumers would cut back on eating out as a response. Or perhaps there is a shift from mid-scale restaurants to the budget restaurants.

I give you folks a lot of credit for dealing with the high cost of eating out. My wife complained to me yesterday that her fish sandwich at McDonalds in C'sted was almost twice as much as in the mainland. (we do like to go to nice places too)

sugarlander,
Not exactly fine dining, but the pizza "counter" in Plaza (Perky's) used to have terrific pizza. A 16 inch veggie was $8.99, and really, really good. Over the last month or so, it has jumped to $14.99, and it isn't nearly as good. Not as much stuff on it, and they don't cook it long enough for my taste. Seems a little dough-y. The funny thing is if it were still as good, I would still buy it at the new price, but not too smart to almost double the price at the same time as lowering the quality. I will keep checking on it and buy a slice every once in a while to see if it comes back up to standard.

Sugarland prices have creep up at several places. If you ask the owners you will find it is mostly a reflection of the WAPA increase. Especially if the restaurant you're in is air conditioned.

Shipping prices have certainly risen & since most everything is imported, menu prices have to rise especially factoring in outrageous WAPA costs.