Aruba is quietly turning into the Caribbean’s culinary overachiever. For a tiny island roughly the size of Washington, D.C. located an athletic swim from Venezula, it welcomes around 2 million visitors a year. So, there’s huge demand for seriously good food packed into very little land. Part of the magic is how many cultures cook here: as a Dutch Caribbean island where kids grow up learning four languages in school—English, Dutch, Papiamento, and Spanish—the whole place is a living melting pot, and you taste that mix everywhere from beach shacks to white-tablecloth spots.
Auténtico, the island’s fast-rising Caribbean food festival, is helping seal Aruba’s “food capital” status. The annual week-long food fest held in mid-October features dozens of local and international chefs showcasing their talents at tasting booths, pop-up cocktail bars, cocktail classes, ‘bucket-list’ dinners like sexy toes-in-sand feasts by celebrity chefs like Christian Petroni and crowds of hungry visitors turning downtown into one big open-air dining room. Next year will be its third edition—prime time to plan a trip to the island known as ‘One Happy Island’.
Wear your stretchy pants or flowy dress, and get ready to eat your way through Aruba with some of the best restaurants, fish shacks and bakeries:
Best Fine Dining in Aruba
Lima Bistro
Lima Bistro brings modern Peruvian magic to Oranjestad’s harborfront, under the vision of Lima-born chef Teddy Bouroncle, who draws on fine-dining experience from kitchens around the world. Expect vibrant ceviches, tuna tiradito, fall-apart short ribs with yuca purée, and lobster sous vide with silky risotto, all plated with artistic flair. A stellar wine menu features top-rated bottles from across the globe, making it easy to match each course with something special. The chic, intimate room overlooks the marina, with an open kitchen and lively bar. For a different side of Teddy, check out Azar Open Fire Cuisine, his wood-fired, Latin-inflected steak and grill spot on Palm Beach.
Infini
At Infini, dinner feels like theater—and the stars are what’s on the plate. You’re welcomed with champagne, then ushered to a bar-height chef’s counter facing the open kitchen, basically courtside as Chef Urvin Croes and his team move in quiet sync all night. Aruba’s first “Iron Chef” winner, he’s big on local ingredients and modern techniques, using both to tell the story of the island through food. Course after course from the long, luxurious tasting menu lands in front of you while he talks through the flavors and ideas behind each dish. It’s intimate, immersive, and one of those meals you’ll keep talking about long after vacation.
Papiamento
Papiamento is that Aruba “you have to go here” spot I’d text you about the second you book your flight. Set in a more than a century-old family home in Noord, it feels less like a restaurant and more like you’ve been invited to dinner at someone’s island villa. Tables are scattered around a glowing pool and tucked into leafy gardens, while inside you’ll find cozy rooms filled with old European antiques and a serious wine cellar with nearly 2,000 bottles.
Named after Aruba’s creole language, the restaurant leans into that same blend of influences in the kitchen: Caribbean seafood in coconut milk and local spices, French-inspired dishes like bouillabaisse, and classic Aruban comfort food like keeshi yena, a cheesy, stick-to-your-ribs chicken-and-beef dish. It’s family-run, romantic without being stuffy, and very “this is what Aruba tastes like.” If you’re saving one night for a big, memory-making dinner, this is the place to book.
Terra
Aruba’s newest coveted reservation to score, Terra is the island’s most talked-about dining room. Helmed by Michelin Green Star chef Jeremy Ford (of Miami’s Stubborn Seed and Top Chef fame), the restaurant sits inside the ultra-eco-conscious Bucuti & Tara Beach Resort and treats “zero-waste fine dining” as its whole identity, not a buzzword.
Ford works hand-in-hand with Aruban farmers, fishermen, and artisans to build a hyper-local, low-waste menu that feels rooted in the island but executed with modern, global technique. Expect an intimate room, an 8–10 course tasting menu or polished à la carte options, and plates that tell a land-and-sea story using Aruba’s own bounty plus ingredients from Ford’s organic farm in Florida. Word to parents: the island is very family-friendly, but Terra is an adults-only dining experience.
Best Lunch in Aruba
Zeerovers
So, what’s one spot that screams Aruba island vibes? Zeerovers—or ‘pirates’ in Dutch.. Set on a rustic fishing pier in Savaneta, this cash-only joint serves whatever just came off the boat—think baskets of freshly-caught fried snapper, mahi, and plump shrimp, ordered by weight at the counter and handed over with golden fries, pan bati (Aruban cornbread), plantains, and a seriously addictive tartar sauce.
It’s perfect after a lazy morning at Baby Beach—and an easy must-hit if you’ve only got a few hours in port on a cruise stopover. Grab a picnic table over the water, crack open a cold beer, and watch fishermen unload the next round of lunch right beside you. Or, wander around the side of the restaurant to watch the fish cleaning prep in open air. Hot tip: come before noon to dodge the legendary lines.
Old Cunucu House
With the release of the recent movie Nonnas, grandma’s cooking is having a moment—as it should. In Aruba, Old Cunucu House is like going to your favorite madú’s (grandma in the island’s Creole language, Papiamento) house for a home-cooked meal. Set in a 150-year-old farmhouse, it serves the kind of classic island dishes Arubans actually grew up eating. This is the place to try keshi yena (baked Gouda stuffed with spiced chicken), cabrito stoba (slow-cooked goat stew) and rich oxtail soup.Sides to try include funchi, a creamy cornmeal mash similar to polenta, and pan bati, a slightly sweet, griddled cornmeal flatbread. Save some room for chukulati di pinda—a peanut chocolate cinnamon drink.
The Xperience
And the best restaurant in Aruba? Well, it may very well be at your own AirBnb. Thanks to Chef Xavi Jaramillo of The Xperience, he and his team offer a gourmet meal cooked to order in the comfort of your Aruba vacation rental. You can also opt for a cooking class where you learn how to make a gorgeous curry fish dish, including how to crack a coconut the right way, filet a just-caught fish with confidence and blend a fragrant curry spice mix completely from scratch. Between sips and tastes, Xavi layered in stories of Aruba and his Caribbean–South American style. It’s proof that sometimes the best places to eat in Aruba aren’t restaurants at all, but your own Airbnb when this chef comes to cook or teach.
Best Breakfast in Aruba
T2 Pan
At Authentico’s food festival, my nose, following the heady scent of baking croissants, led me to discover T2 Pan Sourdough Boutique initially. Owner Zaida Everon is the Caribbean’s only certified bread sommelier, turning a former home project into a cozy storefront in 2024. She left her job as a biology teacher to bake healthier loaves for her kids—and it blew up from there. Don’t miss the World Bread Awards USA-winning Pan di Tres Maishi, a hearty sourdough honoring Aruba’s agriculture, made with Maish’i Rabo, Maishi Grandi & sugar cane, plus her classic country sourdough and rotating croissants. It’s the kind of place you “just pop into” and leave infinitely happy.
Eduardo’s Hideaway
This plant-focused café takes Aruba’s beloved empanada-style snack, pastechi, and gives it a spin: think crisp, golden pockets filled with gooey cheese, spiced meat, tuna or a veggie-friendly option, lined up with tangy, mayo-based dipping sauces that you’ll end up dragging every last, flaky crumb through.
Balance that with the bakery at Eduardo’s Hideaway. Think vegan protein balls, rich cashew-based cakes, and colorful treats that make it easy for vegans and gluten-free folks to actually order what they want, not just what they can tolerate. Pair a pastechi (or three) with an açaí bowl or a loaded breakfast plate, and you’ve basically nailed the best possible start to an Aruba beach day.
Best Wine & Cocktail Bars in Aruba
Aruba’s drink scene may be small, but there are a few treasure you will want to check out. Start in downtown Oranjestad at Apotek Speakeasy, the island’s original hidden bar, where you ring a doorbell behind the Renaissance hotel and slip into a former pharmacy turned cocktail lab—perfect for a late-night “remedy” if you’re staying there. Up in Palm Beach, Boutique Speakeasy doubles down on the moody, vintage vibe with expertly made classics and creative signatures in an intimate lounge.
Wine lovers should carve out time for The Wine Room in Oranjestad and a visit to Alto Vista Winery, Aruba’s first and only winery (they also distill rum), where tastings showcase how this desert island is somehow making its own wine among a cacti-dotted landscape.
And wherever you end up, make sure you try an Aruba Ariba, the island’s unofficial national cocktail—a big, fruity, boozy beach drink originally built around the local coecoei liqueur made from the sap of agave.
At this point, you can see why the best places to eat in Aruba are starting to put the island on the global food map. From grandma-style plates at Old Cunucu House to just-caught fish at Zeerovers and plant-forward breakfasts at Eduardo’s, Aruba’s food scene is way bigger than its square mileage. At the high end, Chef Urvin Croes at Infini has been clear about his mission from day one: to help turn Aruba into a true culinary destination, using local ingredients and thoughtful technique to tell the island’s story on the plate. He’s part of a growing crew of chefs, bakers, and bartenders making sure that when you think “best restaurants Aruba,” this little desert island comes to mind first.