O'Niel Caribbean Kitchen — Restaurant in San Nicolaas

THE SERVICE:

Friendly and hospitable staff providing Island time service. Although we were immediately seated, it took a noticeable amount of time to order and receive our beverages and food. This wasn’t problematic for us because we weren’t in a rush; I’m making note of this in the event someone is seeking a quick bite between excursions.

THE FOOD:

Restaurants rarely live up to their slogans, but everything we ordered was good to the last bite! The food was so good we rearranged our schedule for a return trip during our vacation.

For appetizers we had french fries, festival, jerk chicken wings, saltfish fritters, and sweet plantains. Everything came out hot and fresh. Best tasting festival I’ve ever had, and the jerk chicken was seasoned to the bone. The fritters fries, and plantains were prepared as expected and delivered on taste.

Dinner entrees were served with rice, mashed potatoes, plantains, and salad. We ordered the BBQ chicken, fried red snapper, curry shrimp, and jerk pork. I had the jerk pork which was well marinated delivering on taste with the desired smoky back notes- mild in spice. The jerk sauce was phenomenal and necessary because the meat was well done. The side dishes were very good, but the serving of mashed potatoes with rice was an interesting pairing- I missed the traditional steamed veggies.

My tablemates enjoyed their entrees commenting on the flavor profile. We all appreciated the freshness of the salad which was perfectly dressed.

THE VALUE:

Delicious food at an affordable price in a welcoming atmosphere. The 35-40 minute drive from our resort was...

This place was super hyped so we came here for our last day and it was actually the worst restaurant experience since we’ve been here, the food took over an hour to come. we got a little of everything to try but it was only two of us. we orders the ox tails, they were so fatty, with no meat and they were thin sliced. also there wasn’t much gravy (i would skip them). the curry goat was actually good had a great spice and lots of meat. we also got the browned chicken (he forgot the order, so we had to wait an extra 30 minutes, even though we ordered it all at the same time. since we waited so long we told them to just make it to go. didn’t get to try it yet. we also ordered grill shrimp with sides and it was pretty good. when we ordered drinks it took forever as well and we actually had to ask a different server to check for us. ordered another drink and never got it. We came on a friday at 6pm so it’s understandable but also a little ridiculous. we stayed there for just about three hours and we thought we were only going to be there for an hour or an hour and a half definitely not 3. if your on this side of the island i would check it out, but driving 30 minutes for terrible service and average food wasn’t worth the trip. our waiter only came to our table to order food and for our check, absolutely terrible service. food was about a 3/5 all around, prices were really good about $15 usd for most...

Updated 09/18/24⬇️ . This place is the bomb!! Must try when in Aruba if you are looking for authentic local cuisine.

Hubby and I first came to this joint on our last year’s trip to Aruba and we kept talking about how good the food was. The area might not be as desirable but the food is totally worth the drive/uber out here.

We just took another trip (with family this time) to Aruba couple weeks ago in Sept. We were staying up in Noord on resort strip but came out here to O’Neil 2 times during this trip!

I love the Oxtail Stoba, the Garlic Conch is very good as well. Everything we ordered/tried both times was absolutely delicious. Come try and see for yourself, you won’t regret it!!!

Posted Oct. 2023: . Since we have been to this island a few times over the years, hubby and I are on the hunt on local Aruban food this time around. O’Niel is definitely one of the local joint we would recommend and come back again. Simple decor, cozy and chill vibe inside. The staffs are nice and very friendly. And the food we had were amazing! I had a cool Crazy 4 year cocktail while we checked out their menu. The Oxtail Stew with Beans was delicious and Red Snapper Whole Fish although a bit dry but was really tasty. Both dishes come with rice & beans, and we both left with a...