Restaurants are about more than just food. 

When we go out to eat, we aren’t doing so because we have to — we do it because we want to. 

Because restaurants make our lives more interesting. They break up the monotony, they teach us, they bring us together — and they make us happy. 

And for those who didn’t realize it before, this past year has reminded us of just how integral a role the restaurant and hospitality industry plays for us, how much we need it. 

That’s particularly true when traveling. 

Visiting a place and eating in its restaurants teaches us so much about its culture, its people and the things people care about. 

The massive disruption to the global travel industry did not spare the Caribbean, and it forced the region’s restaurants to immediately adapt to new realities. 

Happily, they’ve done that — and, all across the Caribbean, travelers can dine safely, securely and comfortably. 

This is the eighth annual edition of what began in 2013 as a landmark list of the 50 best restaurants in the Caribbean and remains the leading annual celebration of restaurants region-wide. 

While we’ve focused this year on destinations that are open to visitors (and with restaurant sectors that are open), our evaluating criteria remain the same: we focus on the three pillars that define the restaurant experience: food, service and ambience. 

And this year we’ve added a fourth — every restaurant on the list must at least give diners the option of eating outdoors or in an open-air space. 

Let’s not forget that this industry only exists because of the risk-takers, entrepreneurs and adventurers who choose to open restaurants – and serve the food, drink and hospitality that helps enrich our daily lives. 

So let’s celebrate them and our favorite places to eat. And when you next come back to the Caribbean, make sure you pay them a visit. 

Here are the best restaurants in the Caribbean for 2021. 

Brass Boer, Bonaire The husband-and-wife team of Jonnie and Therese Boer have been behind the three-Michelin-star De Librije restaurant in Holland for nearly three decades, and Brass Boer, their first Caribbean endeavor, is a masterwork, with inspired, out-of-this-world gastronomic creations both continental and Caribbean and everywhere in between. It’s yet another sign of Bonaire’s growing stature as a regional culinary powerhouse.