The Bella Vita Dining Digest

WHAT IS OUR MISSION?
To provide you with the best, quickest, most comprehensive, concise, up-to-date, user friendly, qualitative, representative, diverse and geographically balanced reference guide to the TOP QUALITY restaurants of St. Martin/St. Maarten (SXM).  Our goal is to project, as accurately as possible, the overall level of enjoyment you can expect from any or alll of your dining choices.

WHY?
Because SXM has over 400 dining establishments, and this digest reduces that total universe down to a manageable size to make your dining decisions easier and more informed.  We have done all of the research so you don't have to.

FOR WHOM IS THIS SERVICE INTENDED?
Originally, this service was designed to be an exclusive reference guide for the guests of Villa Bella Vita.  However after seeing the lack of similar condensed, quick reference guides for the island, it was decided to make it available to the general public through our website as well.  It provides ample quality choices for everyone from the gourmet diner with no concern for cost to the more budget conscious casual diner, and the vast majority of those who fall somewhere in between.  It also allows you to find a quality dinig experience no matter where you are on the island, or the type of food you may desire.

Just as a rule of thumb, the three- and two-star restaurants (defined below) do tend to be more expensive and more often situated on the French side of the island.

HOW ARE THE RATINGS DETERMINED?
All the ratings are subjective, based on the usual criteria of quality, consistency, creativity and presentation of the meals, the karma of the surroundings and decor, the level of service provided, the value for the price charged, and the overall final impression upon departing the restaurant (whether or not we would want to come back and/or recommend it to others).  The ratings are based on judgement from personal experience as well as the consensus opinions from as many respected and informed sources as possible.  These ratings reflect a comparative evaluation of each restaurant in relationship only to all others located on the island.

		Truly World Class Haute Cuisine.  The Best of the Very Best.
		Top Flight Gourmet Cuisine.  Just Half a Notch Below
		Very Fine Dining.  Still Exceptional Quality.
		Honorable Mention.  High Quality Alternatives, Less Formal Presentation, Good Food Well Prepared.
		Includes:	Beach Restaurants
			Cafe/Bakeries and Breakfast
			"Local" Cuisines
			Specialty International Cuisine

WHAT DO THE PRICE SYMBOLS MEAN?
The estimation of costs is subjective as well, and has been simplified down to only the relative comparisons of High, Medium, and Low.  Let your judgement be your guide when ordering, but our range definition breaks out something like this, give or take a little:

Finally,we have provided links to the websites of all the restaurants which have them, and to the "best-stmartin" listings for those which do not, to give you access to as much information as possible before making your dining decisions.  We also invite you to access the map  to see where each restaurant is located, or this site for information on all of the restaurants.  If you like, it is possible to make reservations from many of those links as well.

Bon Appetit!