Gladys' Café

Gladys’ is our go-to breakfast spot whenever we’re in the VI! Unfortunately, we missed breakfast this time (island time got us 😅), but the food was still absolutely delicious. The only small letdown was the “spicy wings” — they were well-seasoned but definitely milder than expected. I was hoping for a real kick, but they seemed more tailored to the American palate. That said, everything else we ordered was fantastic. It always feels like an adventure heading into Gladys — the walkway lined with lush plants is just beautiful and sets the perfect island vibe. Still one of our favorite spots on the island!

Gladys’ Cafe is a cozy, family-owned spot tucked off Main Street. We stopped in for a quick breakfast while waiting for nearby stores to open. I had the 2-egg breakfast plate along with a Bahama Mama—simple, tasty, and reasonably priced. The next day, we originally planned to try a different restaurant, but it was closed—so back to Gladys’ we went. This time, I ordered the Oxtail Special. It was definitely good, but at $36 (as you’ll see in the photo below), it felt a bit overpriced. Overall, the food and atmosphere were enjoyable. It’s a great local option in a central location. Will I be back? Yes good food, solid vibes.

Needed a place to go for breakfast. So I found this on my search. Gosh, am I glad, what a cute little place. Everything's made from scratch. You can tell the flavors, and the ingredients are legit. Everything is made to order, my friend said it tastele just like you made it from home, food is amazing. The service, even better, great, big smiles, wonderful help, suggestions, and other things, really appreciated the morning, it was a great time. The hot sauce is really, really great too! We're going to go back

The food was not worth it. Minimal seasoning and taste. I’ve had better curry and oxtails in the states. They closed at 3:30pm and we were waiting on our ride which came at 3:32 and they kicked us out and the lady was very mean and nonchalant about it. I would not recommend this place and for $36 I’m extremely disappointed in the oxtails. The curry goat did not taste authentic… everything was an extreme disappointment.

Getting to this restaurant down an alley was a little sketchy but kind of fun, once you get inside you’ll be pleasantly surprised. Food was great, service was even better. Ms. Pauline was the sweetest, I would definitely recommend this gem.

Location and atmosphere are island in this cool, brick building. We had conch fritters, jerked chicken wings, stewed chicken, curry chicken, oxtail special, plantains, mahi mahi sandwich. We also sampled a few cocktails that were ok: pina colada, painkiller, and banana bailey coconut.

The location is excellent; however, the shrimp omelette appeared to contain pre-packaged shrimp. It lacked seasoning and was thoroughly overcooked. As a chef, I can attest to this. Additionally, the bottled water served is Kirkland brand, which retails for 50 cents but is priced at three dollars here—an acceptable markup, I suppose, as that’s part of their business model. The grits were satisfactory, and the home fries were decent as well.

Service is about typical for the downtown area. The place was loud, voices echo in here. But damn that chicken curry was so good. Fall off the bone meat, clearly had been slow cooked. Delicious and worth a try.

One of my favorite things to do is to enjoy local cuisine when I travel. While researching St Thomas I had my eye on Gladys Cafe. The recommendation from my cabbie sealed the deal. Hubby had the lunch special, curry chicken with peas and rice (rice and beans) and veggies of cabbage, zucchini and carrots. I opted for the oxtails in gravy with peas and rice. Our server was absolutely wonderful and the food was excellent. My oxtails were tender, so tender they could be eaten with a fork. And very flavorful without being overdone or salty. Be sure to ask for their house made hot sauce. If you are completely confined to a wheelchair, you may not be able to navigate the one step to get in.

We came here for one reason and one reason only. The conch fritters, and I must say that they were worth coming here for. 10/10 This is a super cute cafe and the staff were friendly and welcoming. You won't be disappointed with anything you get here as I saw dish after dish coming out and everything looked incredible Enjoy!

Oxtail stew was amazing but pricey for $35 for the entree. They were so tender falling off the bones. My husband enjoyed the curry chicken stew. The fritters were good too! Service was great!

Restaurant was spacious and clean and a nice setting. Service was very kind and sweet. Food was good. A handful of our group of 19 felt kind of off or sick afterwards but couldn't understand why. But overall a nice place off the strip to go eat

We came here when we were exploring the downtown Charlotte Amalie area, and this was one of my favorite local restaurants. We sat at the bar and Pamela was so amazing. We wanted to try some local cuisine so we got the conch fritters, kalaloo soup, and fungi in creole sauce. The conch fritters were super light and crispy, not really very "seafoody", the kalaloo soup was like a collard greens soup with some ham in it, and the fungi I really don't know how to explain except it was kind of similar texture to a tamale and had the maíz flavor. Pamela recommended the curry for something local but we were full after trying what we did. We also ordered a Bushwacker and rum pump and they were heavy pours and delicious. Pamela really made this visit amazing and was so friendly and accommodating. Definitely come here if you're in the area.

We came late in the afternoon for a quick bite a d ended up sharing 2 appetizer with the conch fritters and wings. The had a special i was interested in with oxtail but had sold out. You're able to get local cuisine like fungi and kalaloo soup. Plenty of seating and and overall cool restaurant.

Gladys' is a cozy Cafe, nestled in the heart of downtown Charlotte Amelie across from the gorgeous waterfront. But if it's your 1st time here, be prepared to go on a hunt to find this place. It's located in an alleyway like many of the other restaurants and businesses in this area.. and there are MANY alleyways lol..every local that I asked for directions sent me up the wrong alley..tried calling Gladys' several times for directions after going up 2 wrong alleys, but got NO answer.. Anyhow, after finally finding it and arriving to pick up my food, there was no hostess at the booth. One of the female bartenders at the bar asked how she can be of assistance only after making eye contact with me 3x's, minutes after I arrived, I told her I was picking up..she then disappeared in the back and reappeared a few minutes later without communicating anything to me..I had to trek to the bar to inquire on what was going on.. These employees need to communicate better with customers. Anywho, they serve up some extremely delicious carribean style food. Got the jerk chicken breast and stew chicken meal..no disappointment there! The food was good!! Prices are a bit steep though, but it is Downtown Charlotte Amelie, across from the waterfront so I guess that's expected..this is a high traffic tourist area! I'd return here on my next visit to USVI but will opt for dine in instead.

Stewed oxtail very tender and beefy. The grouper was perfectly cooked and deboned. Ox is one of my favorites. Like mom used to make.

One of the best foods we had on the island. We tried oxtail stew and curry chicken. Both were great. Even tough the stew seemed expensive, it was definitely worth it. The service was fast. Nice enviroment to spend some time while visiting.

The Service was great! Food was good! It is tucked in an alleyway and is so cute inside.

My wife and I went to Glades Cafe for lunch while exploring Charolette Amelie, during our cruise stopover in St Thomas. Gladys came recommended from an acquaintance who grew up on the island from back home. It was the perfect stop for some delicious and authentic Caribbean cuisine. We ordered authentic dishes, including the fish and goat curry, authentic callaloo soup, and a delicious Sorrel drink. After our lunch, we felt refreshed and energized to explore all that Charolette Amelie had to offer. We highly recommend this cafe for anyone who is seeking authentic Caribbean cuisine with amazing customer service while exploring Charolette Amelie.

Found this place on here and on Google and so happy that we did. Located in this historic alleyway that dates back to the 1600s this place was amazing in every way The service from the get-go was phenomenal. Everyone was so welcoming and ear to assist and help out. The restaurant itself was clean and modern, but still nostalgic. I had the best banana daiquiri I've had in my entire life. So good that I had to have three and still come back for more. Had the fried fish and the grits and it was amazing. They have a lot of local favorites which unfortunately we didn't get to try. But for sure we highly recommend giving this place a try on your trip to Saint Thomas.

We were walking around looking for somewhere to eat. A guy on the street told us to go to Gladys'. From where we were, it said go to the 3rd alley down and so we did. We walked in and were greeted. Our waitress was amazing. She was new to the restaurant. We had ordered our drinks and were told that the food is cooked fresh to order. My brother and I ordered the curried goat. My SIL ordered a jerk chicken sandwich. The food was delicious, the atmosphere was very welcoming, the staff was very nice, and the look of the restaurant was very neat. We had an amazing time at Gladys' and told everyone that we knew about it. We left with our bellies full and smiles on our faces.

Cool and quaint. Spicy jerk wings and smooth iced tea. Oxtail looked delicious. A bit tricky to find since it is down a pedestrian alley but a fun adventure to find.

Gladys Cafe is full of history and culture. Our tour guide (local born and raised in St Thomas) Heartbeat took us to one of his favorite places. We are so grateful he did. Customer Service was excellent the staff was attentive an informative. I highly recommend

Food was very good. We had the grits, scrambled eggs with cheese, French toast. Mmmmm. The homemade passionfruit juice was really really good. Also the homemade fruit Punch juice was very good definitely gonna have to try them. The decor is really nice. And our waitress was very very friendly and good.

The stewed oxtails were amazing! Our server was a senior lady from the island by the self-proclaimed name "mama" excellent service!

We came for lunch. I had jerk mahi mahi and my husband had the oxtail stew. We finished our meal with coconut rum cake. Everything was great and so was the service! Definitely recommend!

Love love love this place. Have to visit Gladys' every time I visit St. Thomas after a day of shopping. The food is always amazing. Had the red snapper, and campion had the curry goat. Both meals were amazing but have to say if ever the curried goat is on the menu GET IT!!!

Waited for 15 minutes, no one attended to us. Some of the servers walked right past us without acknowledging us. 12/27/2024

Another restaurant I.visited during my St. Thomas visit. I wanted some local island cuisine. My wife and went here for lunch. The restaurant was spacious and nice. I typically don't review the restaurant but for St. Thomas I feel I have to. I ordered the very safe Curry Chicken. Your typical Caribbean style bone-in chicken with rice and beans. Nothing special. I've honestly had better Caribbean Curry Chicken in NJ. The spicy wings were good. Not spicy at all. Again nothing special. Food: 3 but the restaurant was nice so I gave a 4 Good waitress also.

Excellent local eatery, many locals eat here and not just cruise ship passengers. Spacious and relatively quiet for a relaxing lunch. The jerked chicken we had was scrumptious.

These stewed oxtails were so good! On our last day in St Thomas, we stopped by an alleyway cafe for a quick lunch. The stewed oxtails & homemade chicken soup (not pictured) served as the perfect comfort food & cement this location as a must-visit for anyone visiting St Thomas! Come early & hungry, as the place fills up for lunch with tourists & locals alike & the portions are no joke. Food: A- Drinks: N/A Atmosphere: B Service: B

It was fine. Nothing spectacular in my opinion. Service was friendly and the food did come out on time. Pretty place. We were not sure what to expect when we stopped in. Yes I would eat here again. Was it one of my favorites? No. Good food, fair price, friendly service.

The food and service was great. The waiter even gave insight on the city and places to visit.

This place is a treasure. Located down a cozy alleyway in the center of Charlotte Amalie shopping, I had my doubts that this could be a tourist trap. As soon as you walk in, you take in the amazing smells and ambiance. Plan for your meal to take some time but it will be so worth it. Everything we got was incredible; oxtail stew, jerk pork chops and a grouper sandwich. Highly recommend!

Service was amazing, ambiance was perfect food was great. We had breakfast at the recommendation of a local. I had the fruit bowl and my husband had eggs and sausage. The coffee was strong!

So good... a local steered us here & the food was fantastic! 3 of got the oxtail, and we probably could have split one order... I was sitting there, wishing that I had some hot sauce & just like that, a woman came out of the kitchen saying " every one needs some hot sauce for their oxtails!" It's down an alley, in a historic building, but it is worth looking for!

I was specifically looking for local island cusine and a culinary experience. I found it at Gladys' Cafe. I arrived before the lunch hour crowd, so it was quiet, and I had an opportunity to walk around and take some pictures. The ambiance was welcoming and fresh, and the staff was attentive. I had the chowder which was amazing and the goat curry. Highly recommend.

Was looking for a breakfast place but was too late. Even coffee had to be brewed again for me. But wasn't told that. Food was good. The restaurant was nice and clean.

First time here the oxtails were delicious and my husband loved his curried goat. It was the best food we had on during our vacation.

Visited during a Holland America cruise. It was busy at the time but service seemed kinda slow. The appetizers were really good. We had the Conk Fritters and the Jerk Chicken wings. The wings were really good and the sauce was sweet and savory with some spicy kick. I had the grilled Mahi sandwich and my wife had the avocado and lobster salad.

Came it 6 other people on a recommendation. Wow, this is great food, service, and great drinks.. highly suggest when in St. Thomas

4.5 if I could! Food was delicious, I got the Caesar salad with jerk mahi and I highly recommend. The dressing was delicious and mahi was perfect. My fiancé got the jerk chicken sandwich and thought it was just okay because the chicken was very thin and fries were just okay. Service was okay but food does take a little while to come out everywhere on island time! Ambiance was nothing to write home about and definitely knocked down to the 4.5 because the bathroom felt a little dirty. Overall we came here for lunch our first day and would return!

Quaint little restaurant located in St. Thomas. A little tricky to find. We had the conch fritters, jerk seasoned mahi sandwich and club sandwich, BUT, the star of the whole meal? Passion fruit cheesecake!!!! Wowza! It was delectable! Fritters were tasty. Mahi was a little spicy for me but I did get jerk seasoned. The filet was beautiful, thick, fresh & meaty. Served on a lovely brioche bun. Hubby said club sandwich was good. Fairly pricey lunch. $80 with tip. We did both have a Diet Coke as well. I would go back for the cheesecake!

Went to the cafe during a cruise with my girlfriend's family. I ordered a grouper sandwich but it contained no savory sauce. All I was given was tartar sauce packets. The staff did not seem very friendly. When my girlfriend had her oxtail ordered it did not come with the carrots or the potatoes that the menu said it would have. When we left the tip, the staff were really rude that we didn't tip them enough even though the service was substandard. They even followed us after we left the restaurant and demanded we keep our tip. That was what did me over was their audacity to chase us down and be so ungrateful over getting a tip when it's our right to tip based on how good the service was. It seemed really obvious they think can get away with poor service and not have to rely on returning customers since most of their customer base is tourists.

Visiting saint Thomas on our 1st day we went downtown and we were at a jewelry store and asked them where they suggested to eat. they suggested this cafe and so we said let's try it. the service was great the food was amazing and our overall experience was one that we would go back and eat again at.

We are Jamaican and live in the US. Service was great but food was not consistently great. Here's what we ordered and our thoughts. We had a party of 8 so we tried many different options. -conch fritters- ok but very bready. Not much conch in it. -conch soup- good flavor but not enough conch in it. We ordered both the cup and the bowl and it was hard to find big chunks of conch in it -wings- standard bar wings. Eeh -jerk chicken- save your money. This is a thin grilled chicken breast with jerk sauce on it. -jerk pork- tough. Decent flavor -fish (steamed ole wife and fried snapper)- snapper was ok. 3 out of 5. Needed more spice and we would have liked it to be fried drier. We had to add salt. Ole wife was very good. No complaints there. -curry goat- ok flavor but the goat should have been softer. Had to cut it with the knife and it wasn't fall off the bone. -drinks- fire!!! All very good. Some we had to add more LQ bc we couldn't taste it, but the drinks were exceptional. -rice and peas- we call this "pot bottom rice" in Jamaica. Hard and less flavorful than the rest of the rice in the pot. -scotch bonnet pepper sauce- very good. Overall, food not great but edible. Service and ambiance great.

Left our resort to do a bit of souvenir shopping before heading to the airport. We got hungry and stumbled upon the sign for this place. My friend wanted a smoothie and the sign stated fresh fruit drink. So we walked down an empty walk/alleyway where we found this gem. I ordered jerk wings with a side of rice. I was able to get my hands on some actual spicy jerk anything on the island, and I forget to take a picture until I was half way through. As for the smoothie I would say it was more of a Mocktail. But she said it was still good. Good service and ambiance, I definitely recommend.

Please call the restaurant B4 going. this place was highly recommended for the Lobster omelette get there out of Lobster tails ended up with the shrimp omelette it was okay. Not what I really wanted I'm on vacation from California I could have made my own omelette the service was too slow because they was focus on the parties of 14 and 12 not table of 4

Hidden gem in an alleyway with beautiful scenery. Good food. Service was great. Simple breakfast coffee was delicious

Good food. Good service. We went with a food tour, but then returned on our own to continue to enjoy what they have to offer. I have to say they do have the best conch fritters I had in the island. I actually saw pieces of conch in the fritters. They make and sell their own salsa. We bought the passion fruit and mango salsa to go. The salsa is spicy. I had the fresh mango colada while there. It was refreshing. I especially liked that it wasn't sweet. They use fresh ingredients to make their drinks. This place is located in a cute alley in the middle of all the shops. Parking is not available on site. You can park at fort Christian parking lot for a minimal fee.

Great service I honestly could not say more great things about this place. The food was amazing the prices were average from what we have seen on the island. Overall it was a 5/5 for me.

Service was quick & efficient. I had a Bahama Mama. Drink was made like a drink in Las Vegas.. didn't have to taste the alcohol to feel the effects- the way a great drink should be. I had the conch fritters, which are one of my faves to get when in St Thomas. They didn't disappoint. The place is air conditioned, which isn't always easy to find.

Service of quick. Food comes out fast. Conch chowder could use a little more flavor. But the mahi mahi sandwich was perfect along with the mango drink. Air conditioned and spacious.

A local restaurant with amazing food and a great blend of items on the menu between stuff you may find familiar and local dishes if you're feeling more adventurous. Regardless everything is delicious!! It's also centrally located and easily walkable to a lot of places if you park by it, also easily walkable if you park by the lot next to Fort Christian.

Good little place for classic breakfast foods. Our options were significantly limited because the day we arrived, the power was out, so any dishes that required electricity, Glady's could not make or offer. Glady's was also unable to take credit cards, cash only--for when we went. The foods that were available for us to order were really just the classic breakfast food options, omelets and eggs and toast. Standard American breakfast fare right? What, perhaps to me, was unique was that you could order your eggs and toast with a side of grits. And that's what we ended up doing, 1x veggie omelet with whole wheat toast, 1x mushroom and swiss omelet with white toast, 1x two eggs over easy with whole wheat toast and grits with cheddar, and 1x two eggs over easy with rye toast and grits with swiss. It's not that we just all love the same dishes, our options were pretty limited. With that, the food was fairly excellent and the service was pretty good. I also would like to mention that the restaurant sits in this old brick building that was most likely present during the old pirate days. Featuring beautiful brick over brick construction and exposed wiring, this building was a sight to admire for the historical significance. I couldn't help but wonder what kind of pirate meetings or gatherings took place at this location hundreds of years ago. Or how this building was used during those days of lawlessness. I would come back to try other foods, but honestly, I'm not sure when I'd be able to visit the Virgin Islands again being from California and all, it's quiet a ways to travel.

The location was recommended by our hotel. When we arrived, we were immediately seated. The restaurant has a very laid back atmosphere. Rae, the waitress, was knowledgeable and courteous. I had the Kalaloo soup and curry chicken with rice and vegetables. I enjoyed the meal and was tempted to get an order of Kalaloo soup to go. Will look forward to returning on another visit to St. Thomas.

Wonderful meal, again! Each time we come to the island we ask someone who's lived there a long time what a great place to get authentic food is and Glady's always comes up as the place to go. We came in right before closing but they sat us down and the service was great. I wanted to try several of the dishes so got the Kalaloo Soup, Fungi, and the Goat Curry Meal - husband had the Mahi (I think) and was super impressed. I would totally recommend going and trying the different dishes, maybe get one so each person can try it if you are a big fan of new dishes. The callaloo reminds me of collard greens and the goat curry was not spicy. The fungi was grits/corn meal mush with a little bit of okra in them and then a tomato sauce with some peppers on it again not too spicy.