StX Restaurant Ratings

Pastry Hut has good baked good. It's west of the western KMart on Centerline. I agree about Starfish by Plaza East. Gone three times to eat their baked good and sandwiches. Baked goods were over-baked every time, and overpriced. The baked goods at Schooner Market are good.

We ate again at Smuggler's last night and once again had a very nice meal. Friendly staff, reasonably priced. Owned by school teachers. Good pizza and sandwiches. Great french onion soup.

I agree about the slow service at Off the Wall.... depends on when you hit it, and I think they are a bit busy with Full Moon/Canebay out of commission. But the Calzones are excellent, and the view and atmosphere makes up for the slow service. Too bad Kenny isn't behind the bar anymore. He was a nice guy.

Only been to La Reine Chicken Shack once, but thought the chicken was rather tasteless and greasy.

My problem with places like Cheeseburgers and Pickled Greek is this: IF I'm going to pay over $25 a person for peasant food (burgers/gyros/chicken !), fries, and beer, at least give me ambience. Wobbly furniture, and sitting in a gravel parking lot is not my idea of eating out.

I was underwhelmed by the breakfast at Golden Rail and Cultured Pelican (partly because they were trumpeted as "best"). If you haven't been to the brunch at 19th Hole up at Carambola golf, -give it a try. Not cheap, but very good. It's owned by the same people who own Lori's Deli, and better than the food at Lori's Deli, IMO.

Marlene.... sorry you didn't like Brew Pub at night.... probably the people you were sitting next to 😉
We mostly go there for lunch. Nothin says "St Croix" like eating their hummus platter on the boardwalk.

One of the things I love most about STX is the incredible quality of food and creativity I see in the Chef's here. That said, one of the things that is a problem is consistency. I think a lot of it has to do with what ingredients are available at a given time. From a service standpoint it sometimes has to do with how sober the staff is that night 🙂 I've gone to places and had a great meal one time, only to go again and have a horrible experience. Because of this I have come to use the 3 strike rule down here. If I have a bad experience I wait a while and try again. After a second bad experience I wait even longer then try again. With a 3rd bad experience its proably safe to write the place off. For every good experience I take off a strike. This has led me to have many fantastic meals at a place I would've written off in the states where choices are more plentiful and consistency is expected.

Of course inconsistency makes it hard to get a good idea as to what reviews to listen to. If a place has a ton of bad reviews but they are all from the same "off" night you may not try an otherwise wonderful establishment. The thread on Galangahl from a few weeks ago brings this to mind...most here have had wonderful experiences so far at this very young restaurant but they had an off night on St. Patty's day. I'm not sure how you solve this dilemma, while I'd like to say restaurants should be more consistent here it just seems like they all have off nights, its just the nature of the smaller, non-corporate type establishments that we have on the island. I guess when enough reviews get going you can filter out the "good place that had a bad night" from the "terrible place."

One of my favorite things down here is that I can get a fantastic slice of NY pie at Napoleon's in the middle of the Caribbean. I can't say the same for Washington DC. I was born in NYC but moved to DC when very young and got to hear my parents complain about the lack of good NY pizza after the moved. My mother was just on island and we stopped into Napoleon's...said she hadn't had pie like that since she lived in the "old neighborhood." Quite a testament if you ask me!

Sean

Marlene the day you went to East End pizza...was it the day of the Chili-Cook Off?

my favorite pizza joint is vinnies up by the kmart in sunny isle.

I think that Turtles Deli is way over rated. Too long of wait and high priced.
Tutu Benne(sp?) is great as is Servants. Chenay Bay on Wednesday night has good cheese burgers,

Hi Yearasta. We went just the Sunday before Superbowl when the game for the final playoffs was on. We came in just after half time and left about half hour after the game ended. Not that we were there for the game but that was the timing that I remember.

$$$ - $$$$

Salud and Bacchus for the special dinner out, Galleon too.
South Shore Cafe is pretty good, too
Mermaid's at the Buckaneer for a splurge lunch and a hangout on the lounges under the palms

Not crazy about Savant just okay
Dashi - to me over rated and way overpriced (I guess I still remember the taste of superior sushi..)

$$ - $$$
Sunsets, in F'sted nothing like your feet in the sand and some great food a little pricey but the atmosphere is always layed back
Also like Sandcastle for late lunch or tropical drink
Elizabeth's Sunday brunch (wish I had two stomachs for the all you can eat!)

Cheezeburger - Hate it

$-$$
Breakfast - Paradise (did not like Golden Rail at all)
Rumrunners for early Friday dinner - good pub food
Lunch - Kim's is great but home cooking takes time! Zeni's for a cheap good plate of food. Twin Cities for a nice salad..Bombay Club is a good choice, too
The BBQ van at the police triangle in C'sted has great cheap food.
West End Grill in F'sted great Cruzan food

Luncheria - terrible!

The one place we decided we were quitting today is Brew Pub - the food used to be pretty good, then inconsistent, and now just terrible. It's like they're not even trying anymore. Got the nachos that were supposed to come with beans. Ask for beans and the waitress came out with a bowl that were literally just poured out of the can!

We had a great dinner at the Pickled Greek last night. The Spanokopita had just the right amount of Feta and Spinach so that it was tasty but not bitter as can be the case with Spinach dishes. The Pita Pizza's were very filling and our whole meal was $40 (my wife is pregnant so drinks consisted of 1 beer for me). Very good last night.

Last Tuesday we had dinner at Bombay. My wife had the Lobster cakes as an entree which was presented as nicely as any dish I've seen anywhere. I had the Pork in a Sherry sauce special and both were phenomenal, with big score for presentation. Of course we were the only table in the back so maybe the chef was just bored 🙂 This was one of those meals that was pleasantly surprising, we go to Bombay maybe once a month or so and the experience varies, but this was one of those times where we were blown away...makes up for the one or two times we were disappointed.

Sean

I take it back about Elizabeth's brunch! Went this afternoon and was sorely disappointed it has really gone down hill in the last few months.

Is it me or a lot or are places fed up with the poor turnout of tourists and now have a "I don't give a fig" attitude towards the regulars?

What do you all think?

We went to Rowdy Joe's last night - no credit card machine yet. It was such a good, reasonably priced meal! And a lovely location - we ate on the porch, looking out at the fields and even a slice of water view. I highly recommend it!

I went to Rowdy Joe's yesterday as well to see some friends. Dennis behind the bar had a great white sangria w all sorts of fruit floating in it. Scotty's menu is very creative and he's a great chef!

It's clean, tidy, and feels like hanging out in someone's house. The TV lounge area was great with side by side recliners with drink holders. I pictured myself spending the whole day there...but then my shopping duties at K-Mart called.
If you're looking for something new on North Shore I'd recommend it!

Ace - I'm a chef (if you couldn't tell by my handle) and the low turnout is definitely discouraging for restaurants who are pumped up to be busy. All we can do is react accordingly. I order less, prep less, and run out of menu items if I have to. But, quality shouldn't dip because it's slow. For any restaurant hoping to survive the summer, it's important to keep the regulars happy all year round so they do come back when the tourists are gone. Consistency is the only way to do that! It's a tough time for small businesses!

Noah

Did anyone mention Harvey's? Lunch there is really good. We're coming down in 19 more days and will be supporting the restaurant people. Chefnoah, you are on my list. See you soon.

I like Harvey's a lot...some of the best local food you will find on the island

Hey Bassman I got your card last time you came through. Look forward to having you!

I love the burger @ Case Place. Gotta love the Chicken Shack. Cultured Pelican was not my favorite along with Chicken Charlies. The pzza @ Smugglers Cove is my fav.

Is Case Place still as smoky as it used to be? I have been there twice and smelled like an ashtray after leaving both times.
Food was good, but can't stand the smoke.

case place still is really smoke filled. went there the other day for lunch. food was good though. i had not been in there in quite awhile and was amazed at the smoke smell. i didnt remember it being so smoke filled.
went to christines yesterday, had quiche and it was wonderful. and we had the pie too. her pie crust is the best. food was wonderful too.

It's funny. I am not a smoker and my husband not only is not a smoker, he can't STAND it! He has never had much sense of smell. Our boat was actually about to catch on fire once, and he never smelled the burning, but he swears he can smell a cigarette in a car with the windows up. I challenge him on that all the time, but who knows....My point is we go to Case Place fairly often, and the smoke/smell has never once bothered us. Go figure!

as far as case place, all it takes is one smoker at the bar, and the place is pretty bad smoke wise. sat right by the door because of the smoke, but still bothered me. also the drinking water was not drinkable. i guess you have to buy the bottled stuff. would be nice if they put a little filter on their tap water.

It can definitely be smokey but so can most of the restaurants on stx. What I like about case place is they always have a salad special. Its really hard to find good salads on this island. They have good ones on their menus and always a "special" one. Just want to add that they usually have about 4 or 5 specials a day on top of that.

I'm really surprised nobody's mentioned rumrunners yet. This is the place I know I can send people to and 9 times out of 10 they will get good service, good food, at a reasonable rate. And on top of that its cute and has a great view. Its not fine dining but its good food. I rarely eat there unless I have company because I work downtown and I tend to get sick of stuff for a while.

Another great place is Bombay, that I haven't heard mentioned. Its always nice to have an air conditioned choice Same cooks have been there forever. The orginal owners took it back over about a year ago and its really reflected in the service to me.

There are few places I can't stand on this island. What I hate the most are the ones that are overpriced for the food and service. The worst offender to me is Duggens Reef. The food is so average to poor. Most of their sauces taste like they came from a tin and the service is horrible. I'm sorry but the other one I can't stand is Salud. Been there about four times now, and we always get rude to indifferent service. Last time the food was just horrible, had to send back the soup (it tasted more like oil then soup) and I thought I would be safe after that and order a salad, but even that was bad, so I've given up on them. Don't want to pay for any more expensive bad meals.

Places like Cheesburgers and Charlies chicken shack are not gourmet and the serice may be hit and miss but the prices reflect that. And these are both family friendly places which really can be hard to find.

Have to agree with you about Duggan's, Betty.
Too pricey for what you get, but the view is great.

Rum Runner's has decent food and a great view, but not as 'relaxed' as say, Brew Pub or Nates on the boardwalk, and can tend to be overrun by tourists.

Nobody's mentioned Parrot's Cove ('above' and behind overlooking the boardwalk). I've been twice, both times because others recommended it, and both times the kitchen was slow and the food was mediocre.

Don't shoot, but I think the best INexpensive, consistent, quick pick-up lunch on the island is Subway.

"Don't shoot, but I think the best INexpensive, consistent, quick pick-up lunch on the island is Subway."

or the hospital!

i've heard that the hospital has great food...i just can't see myself going there if i don't have an emergency, lol

Parrots cove food is extremely mediocre but 6 little burgers for $6 with fries is a good price. My husband loves it, so we go. The service use to be beyond bad, especially if they had more then 2 tables, they've now got one blonde waitress that's good and friendly, can't vouched for the rest.

I feel the same way about the hospital, don't want to go, especially this hospital. Don't care how good the food or the deal is.

I like subway for what it is but there are none on my side of the island anymore, so I don't eat them much anymore. Its sad when you think subway is a good deal (talking about myself) because when you go to the store to buy all the vegetables to put on a sandwich it would cost more like $15 instead of $5.

But what I am looking forward to is Taste St Croix. Its always my favorite event. For the first time I went and "stood" in line with my husband. I say "stood" because everyone had their own chairs and it was like a big party, just catching up with people you know. It was actually nice to stand in line for once.

i really wish they would sell more tickets or not have them all sold out in 15 minutes. i've never been b/c i can't get a ticket!