6 Best Restaurants in Greater Lucaya, Grand Bahama Island

Directly on Fortune Beach, Banana Bay is a great place for lunch or daytime cocktails, whether you sit on the restaurant's shaded deck or on a lounger in the sand. In addition to daily fresh fish specials, the kitchen serves up homemade warm loaves of banana bread along with salads, sandwiches, wraps, and seafood appetizers like conch fritters and crab cakes. On windy days, you will have a front-row seat to kite surfers in action. A few times a week, cruise ships drop off tourists en masse, so you can expect service to get a little slow—but that just gives you more time to enjoy your Bahama Mama. As the tide rolls out, the beach grows, creating a wonderful shallow lagoon and sandbar, perfect for wading and for frolicking kids. 

Each seat in this small but sophisticated old Bahamian manor home-styled dining room has a view into the open kitchen. With just 30 diners at a time, it's like the chef and his team are cooking dinner for an intimate group of friends as they watch. The menu is small, but you'll have a hard time choosing as it hits all the right notes. On the menu are steaks, chops, and seafood, as well as seasonal specialties like lobster. Reservations are essential as they only prep for as many as they know are coming. 

At this cozy, toes-in-the-sand bar, the bartender treats you like an old friend. Party photos adorn the walls along with velvet paintings of Elvis. Menu favorites include fish-and-chips, conch burgers and fries, Greek salads, and Philly cheesesteaks, among other Bahamian and American comfort foods. It's the place to be for Sunday football games (especially Miami Dolphins fans).

For the most authentic Bahamian food, head to Smith's Point for the famous weekly fish fry. Every Wednesday night, this little settlement by Taino Beach comes to life when the open-air beach shacks along the street serve fried fish (with the head and tail still on), cracked conch (pounded and fried), lobster tail, fried grouper, and barbecue chicken down-home style. Outriggers Beach Club is the generational property of an old island family, and the most popular, but you'll often find long lines. Try any of the other stands, including Da Bus Stop, Gully Wash Beach Bar, Snapper Shoal, and Penny's Fish Fry for similar menus. Restaurants start serving around 6 pm. Come early for the food; stay late for the party. Occasional beach bonfires add to the fun and festive atmosphere.

The Stoned Crab is a place to see and be seen. Open glass walls all around provide every seat with a view of the ocean off Taino Beach, and vaulted white wooden ceilings that rise into the spectacular dual triangular peaked roof make it feel larger than it is. They serve delicious options for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The menu is an eclectic mix with culinary hints from around the world. Nutella crepes, a full English breakfast, or Mississippi-style shrimp-and-grits get the day started, and later you can nosh on Thai chicken curry, rack of lamb, or stone crab legs (in season). At lunch, you can dine inside or grab one of the luxurious lounge chairs on the beach and have your food and drinks served right there.

For a taste of the local beach scene, follow the music to this weathered, thatch-roof shack at Taino Beach and get your fill of mouthwatering roast conch, the specialty of the "house." Operated by local personality Anthony "Tony Macaroni" Hanna, the popular eatery also sells conch salad, roast lobster and shrimp, and Gully Wash cocktails (fresh coconut water, sweetened condensed milk, a healthy dose of gin, and a sprinkle of nutmeg) for noshing alfresco on a stilted deck overlooking pristine sands and sea.