Grand Bahama

Eating out in Grand Bahama

Seafood rules in Bahamian cuisine, with conch, crab, grouper, snapper, mahi mahi, and other fresh local catches fixed into tasty recipes from beachside stands to the most elegant of restaurants. Conch is a staple for many Bahamians, prepared as fritters or "cracked," coated in batter and fried, while conch salad is made from raw, shredded conch, onion, lime, lettuce and tomatoes. Local fruit trees bring sapodilla, mango, breadfruit, sugar apple, and pawpaw to your table. For favorite sweets, try soursop ice cream, coconut tarts, and sugar bananas, which have an apple flavor. Guava duff is a popular dessert, and tastes a bit like jam rolypoly pudding, topped with guava sauce flavored with rum. Whatever you choose, you're in for a treat because traditional island cuisine is undergoing a renaissance, with a new generation of Bahamian chefs reinterpreting traditional dishes!.

Gourmet

Ruby Swiss serves Freeport's finest gourmet Bahamian cuisine with a touch of Europe. Fresh ingredients, Bahamian delicacies, and top-notch service are complimented by an extensive wine list to reward every craving. Live entertainment adds a touch of fun to a flawless meal! West Sunrise Bay and Atlantic Way.

Highly Recommended

Pier One Seafood Restaurant is, without a doubt, the most popular seafood restaurant in town. It serves only the freshest food delivered daily, and has an incredible setting right in Freeport Harbour, with pilings suspending it out over the ocean. Not only do the hues of sunset reach your table, but Pier One adds a wildlife encounter to your evening by feeding sharks every night just a few feet from your outdoor table! Freeport Harbour.

Local Flair

Tony Macaroni, the famous conchmaster, prepares his secret recipes on Taino Beach. A favorite of the natives and a popular tourist stop, Tony prepares his roast conch and conch salad in an 8x8 hut right on the beach. As charismatic as he is talented, he has even been invited to put on his cooking show in the Smithsonian Folklore Festival of the Americas and throughout the Caribbean! Taino Beach, next to the Surfside Restaurant and Lounge.

Romantic

The Stoned Crab is a sophisticated restaurant set right on the ocean that has been so popular for over 20 years it can justly be called a landmark. It has a nautical decor of fish nets, buoys, and boating memorabilia, and tables are set both inside and out. Romance comes easily when you're sharing a delicious meal over fine wine, with trade winds ruffling the flowers and moonlight reflecting in your eyes. Taino Beach.

Going party in Grand Bahama

Freeport was developed for tourists seeking tropical fun, so nighttime entertainment naturally makes a big splash. A classy casino with a Las Vegas-style show, and an ample supply of nightclubs keep you entertained into the early morning hours. Kalik, the local beer brewed in Nassau, has won several international prizes. The local rum is Bacardi, around which popular drinks like Bahama Mammas, Yellowbirds, and Island Woman are created. And remember to bring your dancing shoes, because there's live music every night. You can always find local music, known as Goombay, at a lively club along with disco and jazz. Also, check out Port Lucaya's open-air Count Basie Square for live bands, fire-eaters and local entertainers. If you like your good times more laid back, head for one of the many beach bars and share a drink with new friends or slow dance on the sand with the moon in place of a disco ball.

Casinos

Are you a high roller, or are slot machines more your speed? Whatever you prefer, Grand Bahama Island's 2 world-class casinos, the Princess Casino and the Lucayan Beach Casino, have you covered. Games include slot machines, blackjack tables, roulette wheels, and dice tables. Also, you'll be entertained nightly, with Las Vegas-style shows and cabaret revues!.

Count Basie Square, Port Lucaya Marketplace

Live entertainment features local bands and dancing. Several nights each week, there are limbo shows involving the audience! There are many varied restaurants and bars in the marketplace, making it one of the more popular places to bar hop and party the night away.

Club WRLX

The "Calypso Rose Revue Variety Show" is always a hit with its talented company performing crowd-thrilling fire dances, gravity-defying limbo, a comedy female impersonations, steel drum music, and singing.

Potpourri of Nightclubs

Many clubs feature varied entertainment throughout the week, including disco night, live bands, and vibrant Native shows with flamboyant island costumes and festive calypso dance and music, with a Bahamian buffet and audience participation limbo. Some favorites are Club Tropicana, Le Utopia, Princess Country Club, Jokers Wild, Safari Lounge and Studio 69.

Common events in Grand Bahama

Expo Bahamas Songest

A swinging, open air concert billing some of the most talented Bahamian performing artists including soloists, live bands, gospel chorales, and rake and scrape ensembles. January.

Pro-Am Golf Tournament

One of the most prestigious golf tournaments in the Caribbean, drawing scores of international professional and amateur players to the courses at Bahamia, the Ruby and the Emerald, and the Lucayana Country Club. January.

Garden of the Groves Art Festival

A full day of fun family activities, with Bahamian arts and crafts, music, food, pony rides and more including a sky diving exhibition! March.

Sailing Regatta

Sailing sloops from throughout The Islands of The Bahamas converge in the waters off Grand Bahama Island in a challenging showdown for the "Championship of the Seas." June.

Bahamas Fling Flotilla

A must for boating enthusiasts and yachtsmen cruising to the Bahamas for the first time. Make the five-day crossing from Florida to the Bahamas in the company of a flotilla of boats! June.

International Independence Celebration

Parrot Jungle's Garden of the Groves celebrates American and Bahamian Independence with cultural displays of dance, food and music from both cultures, as well as kids activities and a fireworks grand finale. July.

Emancipation Day

This public holiday commemorates the emancipation of slavery in 1834. A highlight is an early morning "Junkanoo Rush-Out" followed by an afternoon of cookouts, cultural events such as "climbing the greasy pole," and the plaiting of the maypole. August.

Junkanoo Carnival

An exciting weekend of cultural festivities, with a spectacular parade blending Bahamian Junkanoo and Trinidadian influences. There is also an open-air concert featuring the hottest local bands and performing artists, and a gospel concert. September.

Kalik Junkanoo Rush-Out

A colorful Junkanoo "Rush out " and parade in which the major Junkanoo groups on Grand Bahama compete for bragging rights to the Best Music title. October.

McLean's Town Conch Cracking Contest

In a lively count down, contestants compete to extract the highest number of conchs from shells in the shortest time limit. This full day with many other fun events takes place in the quaint fishing village of McClean's Town. October.

Lucaya Golf and Country Club Pro-Am Golf Tournament Over 200 international professional and amateur golfers converge on Freeport/Lucaya in a week of challenging meets. December.

Festivale Noelle

This popular annual event at one of the island's premier nature retreats includes wine tasting, arts and crafts, live music, and much more! December.

Wahoo Championships

Anglers take up the tough challenge of baiting one of the fastest fish in the ocean that can reach speeds up to 70mph. December.