Lovango Rum Bar — Restaurant in Saint John

We ate there twice last week. It was so good, we went back. This place just might have the best Neopolitan style pizza in the eastern Caribbean.

For food the margherita pizzas, the maho pizza (jerk chicken, plantain, pineapple, and more), and burrata were the group favorites. 3 out of 4 in our group loved the Cruz Bay-sil cocktail enough to keep ordering them all night, both nights. I preferred the Category Five. I found the Skull Fracture a bit sweet.

The second night we were served by Jessie, our bartender the first night. On the first night, one of the rounds of Cruz Bay-sil was just wrong and sent back to the bar. Jessie came out a minute later, apologizing profusely. He said he tried the drinks we sent back and he knew right away that he forgot the agave. He remade them, of course. Kudos for him for owning up.

The second night, one in our party wanted to buy a bottle of their coconut rum, but the bar was all out. Jessie filled a bottle for her and sealed it so she could take it back on the plane. I told him the skull fracture was too sweet for me and asked him to come up with something like it, but not so sweet. He did a smoky rum old fashioned (skull fracture without the luxardo) but used a less sweet Puerto Rican rum instead. It was great. I had a few of them. Unlike many bars in the caribbean, they use real maraschino cherries -- not those tasteless bright red things they put on some ice cream sundaes.

Speaking of sundaes, one in our group got the affogato for dessert. It was unusually good, probably due to the amaretto they added.

We told the manager (owner?) that Jessie was great. He didn't seem to care, but we wanted to give Jessie a shout out here.

The reason I took a star off the atmosphere was that there was live music both nights (which was great!), but on the second night the bar downstairs also had live music and it was competing. Not that the downstairs music was bad, but they ought to work something out so they don't have to...

We came here as a family on a Sunday night. Ordered apps (bruschetta and garlic cheesy bread were great), a salad, and drinks. Wood fired pizza was decent. Held its own but not the best I've ever had. There was live music that was quite good. But all of that got overshadowed by the terrible service. We waited quite a while for the food, which in retrospect may not have been just because we were on island time. It initially came out in to-go boxes because someone (?) told her we wanted it to go. When she brought it back out replated, she didn't seem to know what the orders were, so it took some shuffling around to get everyone's plate to them. But our server had forgotten part of our order, which we didn't complain about (I've waited tables; I know it can get overwhelming and you can mess up on occasion). And she got in the rest of the order right away. But then, much later, after we'd ordered a dessert to go, she dropped it off and then didn't come back for at least 10 minutes. Maybe she lacks experience, but common sense says if someone has eaten and is getting dessert to go, they're ready for the bill. And while we waited in vain for the bill, she came to the table next to us at least a couple times and chatted away. I finally had to go to the bar and ask someone else for the bill. We left confused and a bit hurt by the whole experience. We hadn't been rude or demanding at any point, nor did we complain (it was only as we started handing out the boxes among us did the server realize we weren't taking it to go). We usually tip extra, but the 20% automatically added was, we felt, more than enough for the...

Got to give them the review they deserve. This place is definitely one of the best on the island. Great view on the water. Plenty of seats outside. It might not look as fancy as other places, by the quality of food is the best of them all. First of all they are open late. Most of restorants close an hour or two earlier, and this is the spot to eat if you are running late. Especially great if you are with kids. The next thing: one of the best pizzas we tried in 20 years, defenetly in my top 3 in the US. Very fresh and mouth watering. They get all their stuff from local farmers. Signature of the place: in house rum, and unique rum drinks. If you like rum, and if you are in carribian, this is what you need to try. It is very hard to find anything close to compare, local herbs and fruit, signature recepies, (smoke 😆) and exceptional inhouse rum. If you are in St John, and haven't been here, you missed a lot! Similar quality drinks on the continent will cost as least twice more, if you can find it, this is not some off the shelf drinks. Not my word, all my friends were blown out by these drinks. Not expensive (by any measure) and top notch, the service is great and people inside will set you right in the island mood. My wife is extremely picky about food, and we ate half of our time on the island there, kids were very pleased. By the way, there is plenty parking up the hill (the street is not parking friendly), don't let the hill scare...