TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Real, authentic (not touristy) St. Martin

Suggestions for restaurants, shops, places to visit or see that represent "The Real St. Martin ™" that locals frequent...

IMHO, there is no longer much of an ‘authentic’ SXM specific area although interspersed everywhere are bits of the old island as we first came to know it in the early 70’s.
We were chatting yesterday about how very many restaurants we knew back then are no more in existence starting with all the great places that used to be at the original Mullet Bay Resort and the list goes on across both sides of the island. Some we miss are:
Le Pavillion
Zachary’s
LaGuna
Turtle Pier
DaLivios
Antoine’s
Paradise Cafe
Claude’s Mini Club
Maison Sur La Porte
La Vie en Rose
L’Escargot
and these are but a few. The list goes on and on and on but these were special in our memories…………

This is one island where locals and tourists really do intermingle although in the more residential areas you will find the occasional island hot spot. 🙂🙂

Restaurants that I consider "local" (based on our being the only, or few, diners speaking English there) are Le Cool Heure, Fleur de Sel, Le Taitu, and Hercules. Also, Yvettes, but everyone speaks English there.

Pat is L'Escargot open again? When we were there in March they were working on the roof.

I guess the Lolo's would be considered local but also touristy.

Not to the best of my knowledge but I will post on Wednesday evening if it is.

Pinel Island
Chesterfields

Mark's Place.

Vesna Taverna.

Lee's

We
When we've had lunch at Chesterfields it seemed as if most of the clientele were local workers from the businesses in the area. Evening crowd seems a mix of locals and tourists, but always fun to see families and friends from the island getting together there.

Great suggestions, everyone! If possible, I like to avoid places that cater *specifically* to tourists, because they usually result in something that I can easily get back home. I like to keep it as real and local as I can.

For local places....Mark's Place. LaGoonies. Le String, especially on weekends. Chesterfields.

Lal's Curry in a Hurry seems like mostly locals and very regular visitors, and have run in to island politicians and other noteworthy chefs from the island as well there. Gutside on the French Side, Friars Bay Beach Club has a very heavy local island crowd for lunch and one of our favorite places to spend a day on the beach.

I agree with these as well. How about also the Ital Shack?

Yvette's in Quartier D'Orleans has been there at least 30 years. Hate to admit it but we have never tried it. Love to hear from others who have.

Wahnfried, Anthony Bourdain's video is worth a watch in case you have not seen it. Most of the places are gone but it's entertaining. I'm sure all of the SXM veterans have seen it. Johnny B is still in the LoLo's next to the Simpson Bay Drawbridge. Gus's place on Baie Rouge is gone but Gus frequents the Perch on Orient once in a while.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9SoWhmsSR4

Here is another fun video on SXM establishments.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oa-yqJ5iOKM

Gutside is as local as you can get for Caribbean food. We love Richard's food and Lourdes is a wonderful host. Yvette's is a great local restaurant. We have eaten there 30+ times over the years.

No. The local family who owns the building for many years is refurbishing the building. They say it will not become a restaurant.

I'm writing all of these down!

I was told yesterday L’Escargot is definitely closed and not reopening as same but no clue what it will become.

Elaine--sorry, which place are you talking about?

Her response is to Whale Tail's question regarding L'Escargot.

Escargot building

OK, thanks.

We started coming down in the 90's, just before Louis hit the island. Our favorites were La Vie en Rose in Marigot for lunch, and Da Livios and Antoines for dinner -- miss them!

And next to La Vie en Rose was La Messina , great too but cheaper than La Vie en Rose

What about O Plongeoir in Oyster Pond? Don’t know if that’s still there but it had a lovely Creole ambience.

O Plongeoir is in Marigot facing Marina as I remember. 2 years ago it was still there.

It was very busy as we passed by lunch time on Thursday, so yes it is still there.

Mostly French at O'Plongeoir, their wine list is on a giant magnum bottle of wine, pretty funny.

One of our favorite places in Marigot was Bar De La Mar!!! I notice that no one mentioned Danny's in Cupecoy !!

I'm digging this list!

Just to add, St. Martin's ribs should be on the list. WE have our rib culture stateside, but SXM's ribs are typically dry rub and on point. I'm still torn as to whether Rosie's ribs are better than Captain D's. And next visit, we have to assess Mark's Place ribs as well.

So like others, I never made it to Yvette/s b/c I couldn't find it. I'm hoping to hit it this time.
Gutside was good creole food worth trying but coming from a carribean upbringing, it wasn't our #1.

Resto Hercule was fantastic and it was specifically Haitian Creole food, which I love. This is the one that our entire clan can't wait to get back to.


One last place, not touristy but I'd say authentic as in one of a kind, is Little Jerusalem's Shwarma.

captain--If you haven't been to Mark's Place, you should go. Regardless of whether you get ribs or whatever, it's all good!!

Mark’s is usually our first night meal since we stay very close to there. I keep saying that I’m going to try something different but I keep reverting back to the ribs!

Hard to go wrong with anything from Mark's Place.

If you can manage to order something other than the ribs, do try their mussels - out of this world and reasonably priced for a huge pot. I think they get them fresh on Fridays (or not?) but we always check before venturing out.

Speaking of Yvettes, we contacted (through Facebook) them and they said they would be open for Valentines Day dinner! I thought they did not open to public as they wanted to reserve their restaurant for family and friends! When we tried to make a reservation for Feb 14, I have not heard back from them. Does anyone know why? Did they make a mistake in saying restaurant is open to public? We will probably reserve at another restaurant if we don't hear back soon. Thank you!!

Thanks, it's been a while since we did Mark's Place but we will give it another go!

Ribs are usually outstanding but the last time mine were dry and tough. Can't go wrong on the Mussels. I always sub the fries for pasta.

Are the mussels in a wine broth?

More of a cream broth from what I recall. They are good and lots of them.