I had been priming my tastebuds for the tour-guide dinner at Carumba's for a couple of weeks. When I got in on Thursday, I went for dinner, and they are closed until September 12. Business is pretty slow, and lots of places either have closed up for vacation until things get better, or, like the Pier Lounge, are closing certain nights of the week. No shortage of good eats or places to go, but if you're counting on Carumba's...don't. Also the big internet cafe on Coconut Drive has been closed since I got here. FYI.

Also found out this morning that Estelle's will be closed from the 8th to the 23rd.....George's Kitchen is closed for the month, and Blue Water Grill will be closed the entire month of September....for all you folks on your way down.

Hello Dutch,

How are you doing?

WAHHHHHH!!!!! Shuffles is that the 8th of Sept? Or are they closed now (Estelles)

September....you're safe!!!

*WHEW*....... that was a close call!!

Will the last one to leave please turn out the lights! :-)

September is the pit of the season and its almost tradition.
I just posted on my blog 'closed for Sept.' also. I'm going birding.

Casa Picasso will be closing for 5 or 6 weeks and Celi's closes Sept. 6.

Our favorite restaurants might be closed...but the good works continue. Most San Pedro restaurants spend their "closed" season repainting, refurbishing and recovering from the busy season. They will be all opened shortly...spic and span...ready to meet unreasonable requests.

So October sounds safe for us?? We arrive on the 10th - count down has begun!

will domino's deliver that far?

I don't know but I'm betting they can't do it in 30 minutes or less!

I just spoke with George and Maria from George's Kitchen and they closed yesterday for 9 WEEKS!!! Not just a month...ouch.

I am going to loose allot of weight this Sept.

Come to San Pedro in September and loose weight , now theres a slogan for the BTB.

I will be keeping Monkey Bites Cafe open straight through the season with new menu items and variety of very tasty daily specials. The hours are 7am-3pm Monday through Saturday. Try the hot glazed apple/raisin fritter and a cup of coffee.

Mmmmm, Good to hear lil red. We are spending two weeks there starting Sept.6 and the idea of dieting on my vacation is not what I had in mind. Can I order my fritters now?

...and when Celi's closes this fall it'll be permanent-at least as far as the staff that received termination notices. So sad.

oooh, sounds yum! prob see you for breakfast one day next week, red!!

Umm, ya, counting calories at my place is not recommended. The hush puppies and cajun popcorn shrimp, 3 layer enchilada bake, shepherds pie and Italian 3 cheese pastry are delicious but not likely a dieter's idea of light lunch.
I have an apple fritter every day, they are just so good. Made as they are ordered. I am introducing new foods to the girls every week and want to take it slow till they get it down. But the food is excellent, a balance of comfort foods and local dishes. Now I have to start doing daily desserts.

Hey SJ, I look forward to seeing you again.

Red, save me some popcorn shrimp!!! IIIIEEEEEE!!!!

I love it when I have the girls taste something they think is going to be distastful and then see that look of "food lust" that crosses their faces. They are finally starting to realize that despite the fact that I am like a kitchen terror, I am a good cook and they no longer back away when I hand them something to eat and say "trust me", lol. The latest victory was the hush puppies yesterday. Damn, they were so good I am doing them again today with fish instead of shrimp.

Well...I was a huge fan of Monkey Bites when John and Tracy owned it. I am looking forward to trying it...all of it!!

Oh, I hope that the Celi's rumor is just that...a rumor. Celi's was traditionally our first dinner in San Pedro when we were tourists...as it is with so many. I know it will disappoint many people if they close.

Not to mention Celi's Wednesday night barbecue!!! Who can live without that???

I had some of the BEST nachos ever at Monkey Bites!!

Celi's closing is bad news. They had some wonderful folks there...very loyal!!! Hope they will all land feet first. I fear that Antoinette will no longer serve my spicy fish fingers while watching NFL football on their TV...or am I being selfish?

LOL this is like Bruce with my 11 year old son at least once a week!!!

interesting tho, he tries more new foods in belize than he does here. i forsee an order of hush puppies & shrimp in our futures too! see ya soon, red!!

I got nervous about the Celi's restaurant so I just called down there and I spoke with Kim and she says that they are not closing permanently. (Those spicy fish fingers and stuffed fish are worth the long distance phone call!)

Carb, way to go! I was getting worried also!

Well, then the waitress that serves you (this past Monday nite) shouldn't tell people that the notices were rec'd.

krehfish, I heard the same thing you did.

Krehfish and JZB - No worries, I have always said that if you line up 20 people and whisper something into the first person's ear and have them pass it down that by the time it gets to the 20th person it will be different. Who knows why the server said that.
While we are on the subject of rumors, I would like to dispel the rumor that has been going on about me that I am the illegitimate love child of Deacon, That is just false and it hurts!

...and after the season's hedious...Celi has arisen.

Please, try to say something half way intelligent.

I will be truly disappointed if Celi's closes for good. I do hope it is just seasonal.

If it did close for good though, could it be a complete surprise? Love it as I do, it isn't as busy as it used to be . . at least the times I've been there over the past year.

So, if it is only a seasonal closing, I'd like to encourage others to stop in for a dinner or two on your next vacation. Food is good, price is good, service is good and it's a nice little place too! I'd think that couples would especially like the small tables on the beachside.

What is open north of the cut........

Sweet Basil, Beach'n Kitchen, Palapa Bar, Ak Bol, Capt.Morgan's, etc.

Thanks....how about Coco Locos and Pinki Knox?

Pinki Knox is no more - Coco Loco's is open with Butch serving up the drinks.

Hate hear about the various closings, but not worried about missing a meal. FYI - White Sands Cove is closing Sept & Oct, per Marilyn. Seems there could be a way to keep all these closings in one area for trip planning. We spent (or wasted) over 1 week narrowing our choice down to White Sands only to be advised by someone else they were gonna be closed. Guess I should assume some responsibility for not immediately e-mailing for availability. Is there a place that tracks all of the low season closings that I have missed?
Taco Girl, your blog has helped us alot. Hope we see you.
E - got your e-mail, you gonna start back on Oct 1? We'll still have a couple of dives that first week of Oct. I'll look into other arrangements for our Sept 29-30 dives.

Captain Morgan's is closed for September. Belizean Shores/Upper Deck will be open.

This is very sad to hear, I am getting married on September 13th and there are about 45 of us coming down to AC on 9/10 and are staying until 9/15 for the first time. IN fact September 12th, is our rehearsal dinner at Carumba's! I hope there will still be plenty to do and places to see.......

Just an FYI - Upper Deck at Belizean Shores is closed on Mondays.

Ah, Butch & Marlon.....what great bartenders!

2aggies - had almost the same thing happen to me with White Sands. Spent many hours narrowing it down to them, and were fully booked in June (for September), paid the down payment, and even received an email in August saying that everything was a go for our trip from 9/26 - 10/2 to White Sands.... then 2 days later we get a voicemail saying that they had to close down for an unnamed 'family issue'. So 2aggies, don't be so hard on yourself for not immediately checking availability. I did that, and was fully booked for almost 60 days before I got the news. I hope everything's OK with Marilyn, but I would have just liked a bit more notice (or openness) regarding the resort's status.

HM29 Thanks, but I did feel stupid for not checking, wasted hours and hours reading reviews on White Sands. I suggested posting the closure dates to Marilyn, but she said she'd rather address it individually. I also hope everything is ok with her. My wife was very disappointed and we are going to walk by and check WS out for our next trip. Marilyn invited us to stop by.
We did find what we think will be equally as accomodating at Xanadu and we're already happy with how Stacey has handled everything.
We'll be in 9-27 / 10-5 so maybe we'll run into you next week.
Have fun and get Belized!

2aggies, is this your first trip to AC? It is ours, and maybe we'll run into you checking out WSC. We decided to stay just north of there at Cocotal, and we'll def. be checking out WSC in person for any possible (and for what I've read and heard everywhere, probable) return trip to AC. Hopefully Cocotal will be nice and quiet, as it is our honeymoon (as I'm sure you guessed by now) and all, and it is a fairly small establishment... Have a great trip if we don't see you!

HM29 - 1st to Ambergris. Been to Belize mainland. We normally go to the Virgins, Aruba, etc. We are both divers and this is suppossed to be the ultimate according to our local dive buddies. Short trip for us, leaving DFW.
We were afraid too far North would make having a little fun at night a challenge. I think Ms. 2aggies had Cocotal on our list. Rain is probable and traveling North of cut can be difficult I hear.
Enjoy the Honeymoon - 21 years for us and the honeymoon is not over.
Hope we'll see you guys for a beer or punch!

2aggs - WSC is a HELL of a walk from xanadu!

You guys are gonna love San Pedro! Long walks with frequent bar stops are one of the best ways I know to spend an afternoon, but I'm betting you'll have a golf cart a day or two as well. Xanadu is very cute and has a nice beach front too! Happy diving!

SJ - I think WSC will be a cart ride. We'll cart it to the north one day just to check out that end. I do love a long walk early in the morning though.
LA is on the money about cart rental a day or two, which reminds me. I have read you can't walk in public with a beer/open container. Is this really true and what are the rules for open containers on carts. I will not be driving around drunk (It might ruin my chances for other vacation activities with Ms. 2agg's) :>)
Anyone have some insight about strict the law is about public areas.

coupla posts on here about that with some varying opinions - my experience has been no real problem as long as it's in a cup (commonly referred to in these parts as a "Haul your ass" cup) and you haven't had enough to impact driving skills. Personally I prefer to let someone else do the driving so I can do the drinking, so your plan sounds good to me!

Consider riding bikes north rather than a golf cart. That way you can ride along the beach instead of dealing with the less than wonderful 'road' up there. It's cooler and less bugs as well. And you won't have to worry about missing any of the great bars up that way.....

I took a ride north yesterday and it was awful! My caretaker goes up to Legacy on a regular basis so I asked him to drive his gas golf cart. I wanted to go to an area the other side of Capt. Morgan's. NO WAY! I made him stop at Elizabeth's. The roads are terrible and lots of people are getting stuck in mud holes.
I grew up in the country and we had ditches on each side of our gravel roads. I don't understand why these various resorts with their backhoes don't do that here. It would be a simple think to trench out and use the fill to build up the road.
There are a number of areas where locals have used broken building material to help fill in some of the holes but lots more is needed.
BTW - If you have never stopped at Elizabeth's I would urge you to do so. I think it is named Shangri-La??? She makes the most beautiful mobiles out of native material to look like ladies dancing and various sea creatures. She has other gift items but these are classic! Her new shop is in the bend of the road just south of Belizean Shores.

We will ride bikes or walk during the day. Our loft has free bikes for use. We do not want to add to the noise or emmissions.
Only using a cart a few times.
3 sleeps and we're there!