Paradiso Cafe — Restaurant in South Caye Caulker

On the Thursday of my recent stay on Caye Caulker, I dined at Paradiso Restaurant.

I arrived shortly after noon.

I was greeted, seated promptly, and given a menu. A moment later, my server came to take my drink order. My choice was a Panty Ripper and Iced Tea. My drinks were brought quickly.

I ordered Shrimp Ceviche with Tortilla Chips as my appetizer. For my entree, I ordered Coconut Curry with Shrimp, Coconut Rice, and a Garden Salad.

My appetizer arrived shortly after. I dove in as I wished to avail myself to the fresh seafood that was available to me. The flavor was excellent. Nice and chunky and nicely seasoned. The Tortilla Chips were thick and nicely salted.

I was still enjoying the ceviche when my entree arrived.

The Coconut Curry with Shrimp lived up to its moniker, the flavors of coconut and a preponderance of shrimp in it. And though it can be messy, I appreciated that there was plenty of “gravy” in the curry. I like to take spoonfuls of rice and put it Into the gravy then eat it.

So yes, it can be messy. But it was delicious.

The Coconut Rice was flavorful and went well with the curry.

The Garden Salad was good but nothing special.

My iced tea was refilled a couple of times without prompting.

I enjoyed lunch here and recommend...

I hate to leave a bad review, but after this experience I feel I have no option. They took our order quickly, and the guy serving us was nice enough. But I don't think I have anything else good to say about this place.

Our drinks came out in a respectable time, but for our food I believe we waited over an hour. We were sitting outside so couldn't see how busy it was. We presumed it was busy considering how long it was taking. But when I went to ask when the food was coming I found the place was empty!

When the food finally arrived my order was wrong! The Chicken Bacon Avocado sandwich had no Avocado and the "home cooked sweet potato chips" were about 8 measly french fries. Only for we waited so long and we're absolutely starved, I would have sent it back. Again, how hungry we were was the only reason we ate the food because it was bang average at best.

When I went to pay the waiter asked how it was, I told him the issues and then he still had the audacity to ask if I wanted change when I paid for the food!

Literally go anywhere else...

Good breakfast but terrible service. We should've known from the moment we walked in that the service was going to be awful. When we walked into the restaurant, we were full on ignored by both the bartender & the waitress. And it wasn't the least but busy. No hello, no how can I help you, no do you want a table, no nothing. I asked the bartender if we could just grab a table outside to which the bartender discouraged us from doing, saying service would be better inside. We should have left at that point. We remained standing up & asked the waitress if we could order, to which the waitress begrudgingly agreed. We went outside to sit & despite the bartenders warning about service outside, the food came out pretty quickly and was tasty. As a former hospitality worker, I rarely, if ever, not tip. Those two were way too rude for even a small tip. No chance we will ever return with that kind of rude service. No way. Skip this place. There are too many other spots with good food and...