Eat Local – The Best Food in Placencia – and Affordable!

We love supporting the local businesses as much as we can and we’re also on a budget, so we’re always looking for ways to save money on food without comprising taste.

There is no shortage of locally-owned restaurants, street food booths and mobile vendors to choose from, all offering their own unique style of food and drinks – all delicious and incredibly affordable. Here’s the ones we’ve tried so far.

Mim’s Kitchen

Mim’s is dangerously close to where we live, which makes it easy for us to nip down there for lunch (or breakfast).

It’s in the most basic of wooden structures where they cook a handful of delicious dishes, and not necessarily the same thing every day.

They only cook a certain amount, and when it’s finished, they cross it off the board. It’s so popular that if you don’t get there by about 11:30 am, you’re probably out of luck. Everything that doesn’t have a price posted is $10 Bzd ($5:00 US) and there’s enough to have leftovers for lunch the next day. All the meat dishes come with a generous helping of rice and beans and coleslaw.

They also serve Johnny Cakes for breakfast with various fillings like egg and ham, chicken and beans, beans and cheese, ham and cheese etc. Johnny cakes are are to Belizeans what baguettes are for the French and  pancakes for the Americans. Really good.

Belize Mexican Tacos

This little gem is just a tiny shack on the way to Placencia village. Very convenient for stopping in before or after buying our fresh produce from the fruit and vegetable stand.

We can’t resist stopping here every time we to to the village – which is a few times a week. So far, we’ve had the tamales, tacos, burritoes and breakfast burritoes.

I’m told the hot dogs are to die for – maybe tomorrow.

The Tipsy Tuna

We love the Tipsy Tuna. It’s right on the beach which means there’s a constant cool breeze blowing through. It’s been in business for 20 years and is one of our favourite places to go.

Their food and drinks are tasty, filling and reasonably priced

And there’s live music

The Barefoot Bar & Grill

The Barefoot Bar & Grill is another one of our favourites and it’s right next door to the Tipsy Tuna. The staff are friendly, helpful and very entertaining. They treat us like family.

If you’re walking down Placencia Road on your way to the village, you’re likely to spot this sign

and if you turn left there, you’ll find yourself at the Barefoot bar. You can also get there by walking down the famous Placencia Sidewalk.

The drinks are indeed stiff and reasonably priced

and the food is delicious

As it’s also right on the beach, there’s a constant cool breeze. A very pleasant way to spend an afternoon or evening.

The Point

We stumbled across this bar and grill on our way to the art gallery, and were lured in by the wonderful bartender with promises of a cucumber-mint mojito and cold beer. Who can say no?

The mojito was so good, I ordered another two.

The decor is very inviting with seating under a covered patio

or a very inviting-looking garden area

The owner and the staff were interesting to talk to and very entertaining

We didn’t eat there, but I’m told that the food is really good.

The Donut & Banana Bread Lady

I can’t end this post without mention of this lovely lady – we call her Granny.

Granny walks the village with a tub on her head filled with donuts and banana bread. I’ve never had her donuts because they’re always gone by the time we meet her. Today, they were gone by 9 am! But her banana bread is to die for and we buy some every time we see her.

There are so many more incredible places, but that’s for another post.