Myself, my wife and two kids will be arriving in Bonaire this Friday night. From the small amount of investigating I have done, it looks like food prices are exhorbitant! We plan on sampling the local cuisine, but we're still on a budget. Can anyone suggest a restaurant(s) where a family of four could eat for less than $60?

Also, since we have a kitchen in our accomodations, I was planning on eating lunches and snacks there to save a little money (breakfast is included). How easy is it to hit the local supermarket for bread, milk, cereal, fresh fruit, fresh fish, etc.?

For starters, definitely go to BobbeJans BBQ - located across from Napa Auto Parts on the side street that runs down to the water just off the main road heading north from town. Open Fri, Sat & Sun.

Pasa Bon Pizza also north of town on the main road - open Wed to Sun.

Gibi's, The Grill Terrace, The Lost Penguin(but closes at 6)

I know I also just recently had an awesome burger at Lions den with beer for less than $15.

How old are your kids? It might make a difference as far as some of the other places go for example - at Casablanca they have a huge mixed grill for 2 (can't remember the exact price) but it would probably serve 2 adults & two younger children.

You will have no problem with groceries - Cultimara, More for Less, Tropical Flamingo and Bonaire Warehouse as well as a half dozen other small ones are easily accessible.

James, we have been coming to Bonaire for 10 years; every other year with kids and grandchildren. We too eat breakfast in our condo and have lunch by the pool or beach. If you avoid drinks and desserts you can easily eat dinner for under $60 for 4 people. Some places feature kids meals which are a great bargain. The adults have their drinks at the condo before dinner. Some restaurants will let you bring your own wine if you pay a small corkage fee.

James,
Peanut butter (pinderkast) and jelly sandwiches, juice (Sun-something or other concentrated juice reconstituted by you at home) and a few carrot sticks makes an excellent inexpensive lunch.
I also buy the frozen flavored vegetables to have alongside my leftovers from Casablanca. There is excellent moderately priced granola also at Cultimara for a tasty grown-up breakfast.


Mary W

James, I do not find the prices here any higher than in the states. I do not understand people who say the prices here are high. Makes me wonder where they eat. Soup kitchens maybe?

Ms. Wills is right. Last night my dive partner and I ordered the mixed grill at Casablanca. We have two boxes of meat left over (approximately 10"X10"X3". Planning on getting some fruit and bread and having a few more meals out of it.

We both ate for $27.00 at the Rib Factory on Monday night, that included two beers for my buddy and a couple of Smoothies for myself.

Tuesday night at Gibis my total was less than $20.00 for a fantastic meal.

Nuff said.

My impression on pricing is based on what we are paying for our breakfast package plus some comments by others on the chat page. I'm not cheap (okay, I am a little), but after certifying both my kids, purchasing gear, plane tickets, etc. I'm trying not to blow the rest of the wad on eating out. It's good to know that a great meal can be had for a reasonable amount. We'll definitely check some of these leads out. Thanks.

We have been planning our next trip. We have been torn between returning to Bonaire for our third visit or making our first trip to Turks. One factor that has us leaning toward Bonaire is how affordable the island is compared to the prices I have seen for Turks. This includes the price of diving and restaurants. IMHO, Bonaire is a real value on the cost of items once you get there.

I agree with Tom -- I do not find the prices to be super high. IMHO you can spend almost any amount you wish on food when in Bonaire. Perhaps I live in a high cost area of the US and the skews my perspective.

On Bonaire, very cheap would typically be grocery stores and the snack stands and places such as Julios. Only a tad bit more would be Subway, KFC and Cazzoli (or Bobbe Jeans or the place inside Cultimara or...).

As I am sure you have already discovered, there really are lots of choices where you can get a meal for $60 (especially if you don't drink alcohol). At that price, you could do Pasa Bon, Buddy's, etc.

In terms of groceries: What is cheap in the US might be expensive in Bonaire and vice versa. For example, a gallon of milk and a medium bag of tortilla chips will set you back $20 fl. Yes, importing regular milk from the US (heavy, perishable and in limited supply) is steep and the price reflects that (about $12fl per gallon).

On the other hand, Gouda might be less expensive than in the US. A friend of mine noticed that deviled ham (from Spain) was way cheaper than the same product (it may have even been the same brand) from the US. You can pick and choose cheaper products or you can go with the more familiar (and often more expensive US goods).

As another pointed out (Ann Phelan?), if you are willing to eat products targeted more to the locals (and shop more where they do), you can eat fairly inexpensively.

Please let us know how the trip goes!

Our package at the Sand Dollar included a rather extensive breakfast buffet. (Most resorts offer this.) So we only had to worry about lunch and dinner.

Our studio had a full kitchen, equipped with pots, pans, dishes, detergent, plus a selection of spices and olive oil so doing it ourselves saved some time and money over eating out at lunch, especially.

We found peanut butter at Cultimara, but had PB&J sandwiches for a couple lunches, and those puffy, waffle-like potato crisps are great. We bought pre-packaged tilapia fillets ($9 US)at Cultimara and got two meals (for two) out of them--one sauteed in olive oil with garlic, onion (and a touch of scotch bonnet pepper) along with fried plantains and frozen green beans. The remaining fillet made two sandwiches for lunch the next day. Baked goods at Cultimara and the little bakery by the movie theater are outstanding, but shop early for the best selection.