10 Best Local Restaurants in St Lucia

Flavors of the Broil has long enjoyed a reputation as one of the best restaurants in Gros Islet serving St Lucian soul food. The dishes created by its owner and chef are as mouthwatering as they are beautifully presented.

On Fridays, barbecued meat takes center stage. You can feast on steak, chicken and smoky ribs accompanied by breadfruit, mac and cheese, corn on the cob, plantain or rice and peas. King crab legs, garlic octopus, juicy shrimp, broiled snapper, and Lambi (conch) feature on seafood Saturdays.

Hardest Hard Restaurant & Bar is a no-frills roadside joint that’s all about good food and friendly service. Trees shade its rustic indoor/outdoor terrace and cool breezes waft in from the ocean.

The menu is written on a whiteboard and changes regularly. Find St Lucian favorites such as salted pig snout or lamb neck bouyon alongside stewed turkey or broiled pork chops. Wash down your meal with refreshing coconut water or a chilled glass of passion fruit juice.

Martha’s Tables is a family-run restaurant close to Malgretoute Beach in Soufriere Bay. It’s casual – the roof is tin, the floor’s concrete and the chairs are plastic – but, from its terrace, there’s a clear view of the famous Pitons.

The food here is Creole-style, served in generous portions – don’t come on a full stomach. The menu includes freshly caught seafood and broiled chicken with typical accompaniments like macaroni, rice and beans or plantains. Try the green figs and saltfish, which is a house special at Martha’s Tables.

Gros Islet Jump Up is a popular Friday night tradition in St Lucia that goes back 5 decades and shows no sign of dying out. As the sun sets, the broils come out and the streets are filled with the aroma of barbecued chicken, pork and seafood.

This is the ideal place to sample St Lucian Lambi. Grab a chilled Piton beer to complement the spicy sauce and, as the DJ cranks up the volume, dance on the street until the small hours.

Castries Central Market, right at the heart of the St Lucian capital, is packed with produce including fruit, vegetables, spices, meat and fish. It’s where you can wander around at an unhurried pace and chat to stallholders for a lesson in Caribbean food.

Just to the north of the market, you’ll find Mokocho Veg Cuisine – a basic place specializing in tasty Ital food true to its Rastafarian roots. Vegetarians and vegans welcome its breakfast and lunch menu, which features everything from Jamaican ackee to flavoursome vegetable stews.

Liz Roti is a Rodney Bay institution that’s long been a fixture on Reduit Beach, serving signature roti flatbreads. Its namesake Guyanan chef-owner brought her love of cooking to this part of the Caribbean in 2003. And locals and hotel guests have been dropping by for her signature servings crammed with beef, seafood, chicken or vegetables ever since. People also often come just for the fresh fruit juices.

Liz also hosts groups of diners at her home nearby, cooking up a feast featuring dishes such as lamb curry, baked pork chops, and fish in cucumber gravy.

Fedo’s is a popular local restaurant in St Lucia that specializes in Creole cuisine. It delights diners with unpretentious fare served in big portions. In this rustic setting, traditional dishes such as fried fish, roti, Creole-style chicken and curries share the menu with steak and burgers.

If you’re traveling to St Lucia on a budget and looking for local flavors, Fedo’s is a great spot to hit if you want to fill up without having to break the bank. It’s a 15-minute walk from the beach in Soufriere but worth seeking out.

Mama Tilly’s is a local St Lucian spot for seafood broils where tables often fill up fast. You can either get here early or call ahead to secure your seat. Dine on chicken, pork chops, locally caught fish or lobster, all cooked to perfection and served with whatever sides are on the day’s menu – plantain, rice, potatos or salad.

Like Laborie itself, this place is low key and welcoming. The unfussy decor enables the food to shine. Staff members are chatty and down to earth, so order a rum punch and wait for the conversation to flow.

Marie’s Local Cuisine is handily located beside the Diamond Botanical Gardens in Soufriere, making its lunch offering especially convenient after a visit to the scenic park. Food is served buffet-style, meaning you can heap your plate with a wide variety of local dishes.

Accompanying the meat and fish are side dishes such as rice and beans, Accra and also taro, known locally as dasheen. Save room for the chocolate cake and banana-flavoured ice cream. If there’s a large enough group, Marie sometimes opens for dinner services, too.

Jambe de Bois is a beachside café inside Pigeon Island National Park that offers a simple, rustic setting and a crowd-pleasing menu. There’s a decent selection of salads, sandwiches, and other snacks such as dips and chips, rotis and fried calamari.

One of the most authentic Caribbean dishes that you’ll find here is callaloo soup. Enslaved Africans brought this dish to the region. It uses the leaves of the callaloo plant (sometimes substituted with taro) as its anchor ingredient. Here, it’s served with homemade soda bread. It’s a great lunch stop after a visit to Fort Rodney to its west.