ok, i have some time right now so i'll do our dining report.

Since we're there for a long time we don't eat out as often as we did during our one and two week vacations. we spent more time grilling steaks and fish than we did eating out but we still managed to hit a number of restaurants...some old favorites and some new ones. virtually none disappointed us.

Pasa Bon Pizza: since we didn't get to have pizza on the night we arrived we went there the next night. Pasa Bon is always a favorite. we usually get the pepperoni and sausage pizza but also tried the lasagna this time too...very good. we ate there three times.

Cactus Blue: a new favorite. we hadn't had a chance to eat there last year but this year we ended up eating there three times and stopping in once just for drinks. the fish was great and i also had the chicken curry. my favorite is the jamabalaya pasta...it had shrimp, chicken, and sausage. corrinne and hagen are great hosts...they even stopped by and talked with us one day as we were getting out of the water at invisibles. they installed a pizza oven this year. we had dinner there with denny and teresa hemphill and had three different pizzas (seafood, jerked chicken, and jambalaya). all were great. it won't replace pasa bon as my favorite pizza place but we'll definitely go back. the key lime pie is incredible so save room for dessert.

Mi Banana: we went there near the end of our trip. good food, very friendly service, very reasonable prices. worth going back to.

Donna y Giorgio's: it was as good as always. we do like the waterfront location better than the roadside location near NAPA. it can still be a little noisy at times but we like it.

Wil's Tropical Grill: We had one meal there and it was good. our waitress was really nice and friendly. service was good...dinners were good...dessert was good...what more can you ask for?

Old Inn: we hadn't been there in a few years but had a good meal there. i had some fish and i think mary did too. others had the schnitzel and said it was good.

Ribs Factory: Great burgers and ribs.

City Cafe: an old standby. i wish they still had the crepes for dessert.

Mona Lisa: we ate in the bar with some of our neighbors. always good food. i guess the prices in the restaurant area are a little higher than in the bar but it's worth it.

Lion's Den: Best burger i had on the island and the view is great.

Bobbejans: hey, good ribs and good service and low prices. how great is that?

the chicken lady (carniceria latino). for 12.75Nafl we got enough chicken for a meal for the two of us. get there early on saturday (before 11AM) so you can get some before they sell out.

Kon Tiki: a little out of the way from town but still good food. we've never seen it too crowded.

Papaya Moon: the only restaurant that came close to disappointing us. i ordered chicken enchilladas and they just seemed bland. for a tex-mex place i was hoping for something a little spicier. still, we'll try it again next year...i try never to judge a restaurant after just one meal. so it wasn't my favorite this time, i'll try it again and see if maybe they were just having an off night.

we make reservations at almost every restaurant we go to..even Kon Tiki. the night we ate there we had been working in our place most of the day and were pretty tired. mary said to make reservations so we could eat early and get home. i made reservations for 630PM and we were the only people there. still, if you are hungry and don't want to wait it's best to make reservations everywhere. the only times we didn't was when we didn't care where we ate and were in town. that way we would go to one restaurant and if it was busy we'd just keep walking till we found one that wasn't crowded.

we were disappointed to see that mezani had closed. danielle is really nice and we hoped she'd be successful there but the restaurant business on bonaire is very competitive and it's a tough way to make a living. since we've been going there that location has been rendez-vous, stifflers, mezani, and now mambo jambo.

the only restaurants that we wanted to go to but didn't were it rains fishes, rumrunners, and maybe richards. there's always next time.

i guess the next part of the report will be miscellaneous...i'll try to remember the rest of the trip and post it all at once.

Great rept Pat..We also tried Mi Banana first time last Feb & it was good. My favorite for lunch though was Antriol catering. Had a tasty lunch there & highly recommend same! Great value for the dollar!
Also I quite agree on the Carniceria chicken but frankly was disappointed in their ribs this year.