Bahamas Family Restaurants

For more than 25 years, Angela's Starfish Restaurant has been a favorite spot for down-home cooking. Perched on a hill overlooking the water, you place your order inside, and then take dinner out to the garden, where lamps made from seashells rest on white tables. Their signature dish is conch salad, made with chunks of the shellfish, diced vegetables, tangy lime juice and hot peppers. Wash it down with sweet lemonade or a Kalik beer, and then try the guava duff. Rich dough is wrapped around guava paste, steamed and served with a sinful amount of rum, cream and egg sauce.

If you're in the Freeport area, grab a booth at Becky's for breakfast, and dine on pancakes, eggs and johnnycakes. Lunch features such Bahamian specialties as conch chowder and curried mutton.

Located in the Port Lucaya Marketplace, Giovanni's is known for its pasta dishes and seafood-based Italian dishes like pan-fried grouper and lobster doused in white wine.

Once the skies grow dark, folks head to Marina Village, an open-air mall that resembles the Bahamas of yore with its colorful clapboard-sided houses. Here's where you'll find Cafe Martinique, a newer version of the famous restaurant with Chef Jean-George Vongerichten now at the helm. The Cove houses the Caribbean outpost of Bobby Flay's popular Mesa Grill, while star chef Nobu Matsuhisa serves yellowtail sashimi and other Japanese favorites at his restaurant, Nobu.

One of two popular restaurants in the area, expect steamed fish or tender chicken. The more intrepid will want to try spicier local fare.

For the island's finest seafood, head to The Stoned Crab, overlooking Taino Beach. Start with the conch chowder, and wash it down with a "stoned crab," a tropical drink with various liqueurs, fruit juices and rum. Then, order one of the recently caught fish for a main entree.