Quick Bites: The New Sunset Location for Caliente Restaurant

Caliente Restaurant had been serving delicious Tex-Mex-Belizean cuisine for over 20 years on the beach in downtown San Pedro.  But a few months ago, they got a notice:  they needed to vacate the location in just over a month!

Businesses Asked to Move as Spindrift Hotel Plans Upgrades

The owners, Miss Melly and her husband Joel, were caught completely off-guard and scrambled to find a new spot.  Perhaps north…or maybe across the lagoon…

But they have many customers in town – locals who come for lunch – and they wanted to stay central.  Then they found the PERFECT location.  Just a few blocks away from the original spot but a whole different view on my favorite street in town, Backa Back Street.

A Brief Stroll on A Brief Street:  Back A Back Street, San Pedro

Lined with working docks (so fun to watch fishermen unloading conch and lobster and Mennonite salesmen selling fruits and veggies), an incredible sunset view and HUGE BONUS – lots of parking, this new open-air building went up surprisingly quickly!

Here’s a photo I snagged from their Facebook page.  Cute right?

And Jeff and I stopped in for a lunch date a few days ago.  It’s our new “local spot” – Jeff parks the camp boats just a stone’s throw away at one of the docks.

Here’s what we saw…and ate.

We were there a bit early and had our pick of most of the seats…

This donkey made his way from the old location – many people pose with him…usually after a few margaritas.  He’s the restaurant mascot and has clearly been hitting the cocktails hard recently.

Our view from our table.

Caliente is famous for their margaritas and I watched a few being made…

Hector suggested a larger size for us…

They also do pitchers but…we asked about non-alcoholic drinks.  And Hector had some delicious suggestions.  The frozen lime drink…soooo good on a hot day.  And sweet coconut water.

We tried the chicken soft tacos – they came with three sauces…I LOVE onion sauce (just onion, lime and cilantro) on EVERYTHING.  Especially tender chicken with lots of charred flavor.

And enchiladas – the red kind.  They also do a mole.  These were cheesy and delicious.  Ask for a bit more onion sauce…yum.

Really really tasty.

And I LOVE that Caliente is locally owned and a family business.  Miss Melly explains her whole story here…how her dream of owning a business in San Pedro came true.

Too small for you to read?  You’ll just have to go in for lunch or dinner and read it yourself.  If you’ve never been…Friday’s are a great day to go…they do $10bzd margaritas.

For hours and information, see their Facebook page.  And for great photos of the sunset…I just plucked this one for an example…

Wow.  You can see Jeff’s boat right there…and that little mangrove island.  Hundreds and hundreds of grackles return there each evening to roost.  It’s such a beautiful sight.