Tin Box Vieques Restaurant and Bar

Tin Box Treehouse – Dinner Review Perched among the palms just outside Esperanza, Tin Box pulls off the rare trifecta of killer food, laid-back vibes, and service that feels like old friends catching up. Here’s the breakdown of our night: ⸻ Highlights • Service (11/10) Our server, Samantha, deserves her own line on the menu. She greeted us with a grin, answered every “What’s this sauce?” question, and somehow slipped island history into drink recommendations. When my toddler’s fork took a header off the deck, she reappeared with a fresh one before I could blink. Absolute heart of gold. • Ambiance (10/10) Imagine an oversized treehouse strung with Edison bulbs, a gentle trade-wind breeze, and swing seats at the sushi bar. Horses clopped by underneath while a local guitarist played Jack Johnson covers. If you’re looking for a “this is the Vieques I came for” setting, this is it. • Must-order plates • Badass Bacon – Candied, house-cured strips served in a mason jar. Sweet-smoky perfection and the fastest way to shut down table chatter. • BBQ Trio Platter – Ribs that slide off the bone, juicy pulled pork, and smoky chicken—with sweet-potato fries that disappeared faster than the meat. Perfect split for two. • Catfish Tacos – Crispy, flaky fillets, bright cilantro crema, and just enough jalapeño heat. A surprise standout. • Hush-Puppies – Listed as a side, but trust me: they’re dessert. Drizzled with local honey, light as beignets. • Drinks Frozen margaritas here are dangerously smooth—classic lime for me, passion-fruit for my wife. Samantha steered us toward a virgin mango colada for the kiddo, and we all left sipping happy. ⸻ Tiny Quibbles • The Sesame Ahi Tuna looked beautiful but ran a touch salty for our taste—still good, just overshadowed by that bacon. • Island pacing is real: entrées hit the table 25 minutes after apps. Nothing outrageous, but worth noting if you’ve got an overtired toddler. ⸻ Bottom Line Tin Box isn’t just a meal; it’s a tree-top evening you’ll brag about when you get home. Between Samantha’s five-star hospitality, plates that nail sweet–savory balance, and a setting straight out of a surf-lifestyle magazine, this spot earns a solid 5 / 5 from our crew. Go hungry, order the bacon first, and save room for those honey-kissed hush-puppies.

This restaurant was recommended and it did not disappoint. The service and food were great. Open air seating, but it was very breezy and comfortable. We enjoy the experience.

Such a fun place. The service was quick and knowledgeable about the menu. We had sushi lasagna and BBQ trio. Both were fantastic. Fresh, local juices in the drinks

*Call ahead to make reservations* We were lucky to get a seat! Unbelievable food, experience, and atmosphere! This may be the best restaurant I've ever been to. Sushi, BBQ – everything was fantastic. All 7 of us (parents and kids) enjoyed every bite; our kids all agreed this is our favorite restaurant on and off the island. Samantha, our server, was incredibly knowledgeable and helpful. Highly recommend!

Very unusual place both with menu selection as combination of BBQ and sushi. The baked beans side was amazingly different with heavy cilantro and other Caribbean flavors, and ribs and chicken great too. The multi level seating gives terrific views of the jungle backyard with several varieties of birds. However the choice of background music (80s disco and similar) really negated the ambiance, especially at a loud enough level to make talking difficult. It might be more supportive of the ambiance created by location to instead have microphones amplifying the natural sounds of the jungle for diners to enjoy. That might complement the food, or at least have music like new age instrumental that might lean toward sounds of running water and chines to better complement the sushi theme. The experience while tasty was discordant, creating uneasiness versus pleasure. There’s a lot of potential here to be better by focusing more consistently on what the intented essence is and do that very well. Also while BBQ had so many positives (although not he pulled pork wasn’t anything special), the calamari was way over cooked and tasteless.

This is the first time I've been to a restaurant that had sushi and something else and it's was good. The sushi on its own is great. The smoked ribs were perfection. Jalapeño watermelon margaritas were super tasty.

Excellent experience for us while in Vieques. The place is very nice, with nice atmosphere and music. Our server prompt, kind and laid out good options in the menu. Our food was great too! We enjoyed the Tuna/Seaweed salad, our Sushi rolls and our Smoke Sampler. Highly recommend. To be fair on good and bad: the Mac and Cheese was lacking (specially compared to the roasted batata and sweet potato fries).

Cool all-outdoor restaurant with very interesting and unique flavor pairings, fresh ingredients, and well presented dishes. Only frustration was that my initial draft beer request took a very long time to fulfill, but food came quickly after. This place has lots of seating including booths for larger parties.