2 Best Restaurants in Fort George, Belize City

One of the city’s best vegan/vegetarian restaurants holds court in an early-20th-century colonial waterfront building with great views of the harbor. Begin your day with a fruit bowl, accompanied by avocado toast or a spinach and cheddar quiche. Lunch and dinner might give way to an Open Face No Tuna—really curried chickpeas with a balsamic guava vinaigrette or a Buddha Bowl, homemade hummus with veggies and brown rice. The entire production comes courtesy of the relaxing, slightly trendy Harbour View Cottages across the street. Two notes: it’s a climb of several steps to get up to the second-floor restaurant; and shoes are left at the door if you dine inside, but not if you eat out on the wraparound veranda.

The large dining courtyard here is shaded by breadfruit, mango, and sapodilla trees—you’ll see the staff cutting down those fruits to put in your dish—and big turquoise umbrellas. The solid Belizean menu contains dishes with whimsical names like “Not your mamma’s waffles, unless she’s vegan,” which designates plantain waffles with scrambled tofu. Service is attentive: 501 doubles as a training facility for workers in the hospitality industry. The proceedings all take place on the ground floor of The Great House hotel, although it’s a separate business. (Belize’s international telephone code is 501, hence the name.)