Buena Vista Restaurant

Smallish place with a great view of the water, very elegant design and color scheme. I gave gone twice for lunch and found it not crowded at all. Fish tacos are good and the menu is varied. Laid back vibe, waitstaff don’t mind if you stay for a long time, there are deck chairs if you want to hang out close to the water. Unlike some other spots, the water taxis aren’t buzzing past—or if they are present, it’s at some distance, or they’ve cut the engine to dock somewhere. So it’s a quiet place to enjoy a marvelous view.

Never have I seen employees work in such rhythm and togetherness - no long waits for service either. Food was delicious and they offered a diverse selection. Ate breakfast here every day while visiting Bocas del Toro. My husband and I enjoyed both lunch and dinner here as well.

I had this place on my list of restaurants to visit, but it was not what I expected. The ambience is great! Looks newly renovated, or well maintained, and has great over the water and indoor spaces. The food, on the other hand, was just OK. We started with an appetizer, Chicken Satay. The sauce was not like a traditional Thai peanut sauce that I've had many times before. This one had the consistency and taste of just straight creamy peanut butter. For our mains we had two dishes in a Caribbean Coconut Curry Sauce, a Fresh Fish Filet and Shrimp. While both dishes were ordered with the same sauce, the one on the shrimp was more watered down than the one on the fish. In either case, though, we were not hit with any depth of flavor you would expect from a coconut curry sauce. Just a mild, there I say, bland taste. Due to the experience so far, we decided against any desserts. I also want to add, the initial waitress that waited on us seemed very disinterested, almost annoyed that we were even ordering. When we were ready for the check, I caught her gaze at the bar and signaled for the check. She didn't acknowledge me at all even though I know she looked straight at me, very dismissive! What she did instead was have a 10 minute conversation with a waitress that had just started her shift and that waitress came over with the check so she obviously knew I wanted the check. I don't mind someone else waiting on us that wasn't our original server, but it was just her entire attitude towards us throughout our meal that didn't sit well with me. I will say, though, the owner was friendly and very approachable!

Wonderful breakfast and super nice staff! We got breakfast vouchers through our hotel for the Buena Vista. We weren't sure what to expect and were extremely pleased with our experience. I had the veggie scramble. Not only was it loaded with veggies and cheese, the toast came with my favorite... guava marmalade 😊 My husband had the johnny cakes with banana rum sauce. Both dishes were absolutely delightful! Our server was very sweet, friendly and efficient. We were looking forward to a do over on our second morning but had to catch the early ferry so we missed out. 10/10 we'd go back!

One of my favorite places in Bocas Town, if not my favorite. The space is low key cool and comfortable. The staff is friendly and accomodating. It feels like comfort here, because it is. Near the bottom of 3rd Av, but in the heart of Bocas, it serves some the freshest and tastiest foods. The menu is everything you know with a seafood / caribbean bent, plus classic gastro pub eats. Great waterviews, as its open air. Watch the water taxis come and go as you enjoy a meal, a drink, and the company of your choice. If your staying on the outer islands, you can have your water taxi pull right up dockside. Its a great place to be and be lost in Bocas. And yes, the food is very, very good btw.

First, the atmosphere is excellent. Beautiful interior; we arrived by boat, and it was easy to access the restaurant. I will detail the food a bit later but wanted to start with the drinks which were terrible and the reason for this bad review. My margarita was white. There was no fresh-squeezed lime or lime at all. It tasted like triple sec (or some sort of other syrup) and some sort of lime syrup. It was really just syrupy and liquor. We also had a rum punch which was basically rum (and a lot of it, it was strong) and pineapple. It was bright yellow. So I took some of my son’s smoothie and improved the flavor. A true rum punch is not just Pineapple and rum. For the prices, all the drinks were very disappointing. The food was good. Some dishes were better than others. I had the special fish and it was amazing and served on some puréed beets. My daughter had the Montadito de patacon, another Bocas specialty with shrimp, and she said it was excellent! The nachos we shared for the table were OK. Nothing special. My husband had a hamburger and he said it was just OK. I read another review that the server did not seem particularly interested in serving, and we found that to be the case here as well. We definitely had to track her down when we wanted dessert and I wanted to try a margarita to see if the restaurant could redeem itself from the rum punch (it didn’t). With so many wonderful restaurants in the area, I may try this again to see if they were experiencing an off-day or I may not. They were only two people in the restaurant, so I assumed our server was also the bartender, which may have been why the drinks were so poor. The atmosphere is five stars though. And the brownie with ice cream was very good. An off-day? I hope.

Great service, great breakfast and beautiful view. Very well priced! Going back for dinner tonight. Update from dinner - drinks good, nachos good, dinner good, staff good, vibe good. This place is a must stop for travelers. Met the owner and she was awesome. Thank you Buena Vista staff, you f'ing rock.

Excellent! Really classic space with warm and friendly staff. Vegan options are good!