Bahamas Bites: The Best 10 Restaurants In Nassau, Bahamas

If you’ve come to Nassau, then you’ve come for an authentic Bahamian dining experience. Luckily, you’ll never have to look far for a classic local-style meal and fresh seafood at the nation’s capital. Here’s our list of the best 10 restaurants in Nassau and where to look for them:

Italian, Bahamian, Seafood, Vegetarian-Friendly

Address: Bank Lane, Nassau, New Providence Island

Named after the venerated French painter, Café Matisse is a Bahamian-style classic Italian restaurant that serves fresh-caught seafood with a side of history. Located inside a 19th-century colonial mansion behind Parliament Square, the restaurant features a dining hall with French interior and walls decorated with the artist’s prints.

Browse through its modern menu that includes veal Calamarata pasta with ricotta, rack of lamb with mint crust and potato gratin, or mahi-mahi with heirloom vegetables. Café Matisse changes its menu every six months, so diners can always look forward to something new on repeat visits.

Bahamian, Caribbean, European, Seafood, Vegetarian-Friendly

Address: West Bay Street, Half Mile East of Caves Point, Nassau, New Providence Island

With a fine-dining menu that elevates classic island-style fare, Sapodilla’s contemporary offerings perfectly complement its stately continental dining room. Expect an evening of Bahamian cuisine with an international spin.

Start with a Snug Corner Conch paired with your choice and wine before moving on to house specials like Chateaubriand steak and Sole Meunière. Finish the meal with drinks and hors-d’oeuvres at the Kamalame Bar, and let the night fade away with live music and drum performances.

Italian, Bahamian, International, Seafood, Vegetarian-Friendly

Address: East Bay Street, Nassau, New Providence Island

A harbourfront staple where diners are guaranteed the best view in town, Luciano’s has a front-row seat view of Atlantis and Nassau’s radiant waterfront.

Luciano’s venue, located  within a Caribbean mansion with a continental-style dining room, hints at a restaurant capable of juggling both European and Bahamian cuisines. With rustic pasta dishes and original house specials like veal masala, osso bucco, and conch cakes with rosa aioli, the restaurant comfortably secures its place as a locals’ favourite.

European, Bahamian, International, Contemporary

Address: West Hill Street, Nassau, New Providence Island

As the main restaurant of the nostalgic Graycliff Hotel, this dining venue is a slice of authentic Nassau wrapped in warm, vintage, Bahamian décor. With white-jacket staff serving up timeless European classics like guava soufflé and coeur de filet quatre poivres, Graycliff caters to those hoping for a more refined dining experience in a resort city. Wine connoisseurs will also be delighted by the restaurant’s impressive wine menu that features well over 250,000 wines in its cellar.

Bahamian, American, Caribbean, Seafood

Address: East Bay Street, Nassau, New Providence Island

Don’t let the unappetizing name throw you off, The Poop Deck is where you’ll find some of the best Bahamian seafood platters on the island. Located by the Yacht Haven Marina, a table at The Poop Deck comes with a sweeping view of Paradise Island and Nassau’s tranquil harbourfront.

Although it might be difficult for newcomers to decide what to order from the restaurant’s diverse seafood selection, regulars know you can’t go wrong with a fisherman’s platter. It comes with lobster tails, jumbo shrimps, and mahi-mahi filets. But true insiders know to stick to Becky’s Grilled Conch — The Poop Deck’s unique take on a Bahamian classic that excites the tastebuds with savoury house spices.

Bahamian, Caribbean, Seafood

Address: Arawak Cay, Nassau, New Providence Island

An Arawak Cay landmark, Goldie’s is a hard to miss eatery on the “Fish Fry”– an outcrop island in downtown Nassau famous for its cluster of authentic Bahamian restaurants. This hard-to-miss shack painted in bright pastel pink, green, and yellow first sold its trademark fried snappers, conch fritters, and Sky Juice coconut water cocktail in the 1980s.

As a testament to how much Queen Conch is used at Goldie’s every day, you’ll find a small bank beside the shack made from stacked conch shells, along with a constant flow of diners pulling up a stool for a serving of its famous cracked conch.

Bahamian, Caribbean, Seafood, Vegetarian-Friendly

Address: Trinity Place, Downtown opposite of The Central Bank of the Bahamas, Nassau, New Providence Island

Located in the heart of downtown Nassau, this quaint hole-in-the-wall is Bahamas’ oldest family-owned restaurant. With a small dining room frequented by locals, this Bahamian kitchen offers original homestyle recipes, including conch fritters, cracked conch, fish fry, and pea soup with dumplings. Whether you choose to dine-in or grab-and-go, the restaurant’s straightforward menu is where you’ll find everyday local-style fare made according to tradition.

Bahamian, Caribbean, Seafood

Address: 22 Arawak Cay, West Bay Road, Nassau, New Providence Island

Hyper-local, this roadside eatery at Arawak Cay is the place to try authentic Bahamian family recipes. From fried snappers, conch salad, grilled spiny lobster, grouper fingers to conch burgers, Fish Central is where you’ll find unpretentious Nassau favourites.

Those hoping for fresh seafood and value won’t have to look far with Fish Central’s fish and shrimp platter served with a side of fried plantain. Diners can also catch a demonstration of conch cleaning in the dining room.

Bahamian, Caribbean, Seafood

Address: Potters Cay Dock Road/East Bay St. Stall #2, Nassau, New Providence Island

A pink roadside shack by the bridge of Paradise Island, McKenzie’s holds very little mystery to regulars who pinned down its famous conch salad, fresh seafood platter, and daiquiris more than a decade ago. While unadventurous diners missed out on this gem and opted to shell out the big bucks at the resort buffets over the bridge, locals and educated diners come here for authentic Bahamian meals with a side of fresh-made cocktails.

With a modest, open-air dining room, McKenzie’s offers diners a chance to fully immerse themselves in Nassau’s laidback atmosphere, and catch the best sunset in town by the peaceful waterfront.

Bahamian, Caribbean, Seafood, Bar, Street food

Address: Junkanoo Beach, Nassau, New Providence Island

A small shack on Junkanoo Beach, Crabs and Ting serves up true beach eats with Bahamian beer and coconut water right from the shell. Grab both Caribbean and Bahamian tried-and-true dishes like conch salad, fish fry with plantains, and conch fritters by its beachfront picnic tables. Relax with a few bottles of Sands, and you are all set for a bonafide Bahamian dining experience.

Ready to eat across Nassau? Get in touch with our Expert Travellers today at 1-877-967-5302 and ask about Better Beach Bahamas, or visit us in-store for more!