Jekyll Island Restaurants (Where to Eat in Jekyll Island)

The best Jekyll Island restaurants {and where to dine outdoors!}

One of my favorite things about visiting other areas is getting a taste of the local fare and the great ambience that comes with it. I’ve found that navigating that can sometimes be cumbersome, especially when you’d rather spend your time enjoying the beach or exploring an area rather than planning your meals.

We spent the week on Jekyll Island, off the coast of Georgia. It’s such a quaint community, you’d think that finding where to eat would be easy, but I could find very little information in our search and thought I’d share in case someone vacationing in Jekyll stumbles across this little blog ‘o mine.

I think ambience is equally important to great food when vacationing, but am willing to compromise in times of bad weather.

The Best Restaurants on Jekyll Island for an Ocean View:

Tortuga Jacks – It’s no secret that we love Mexican, but when paired with an ocean view, well, that was a combo that led us to eat there 3 times during our stay. They had a fantastic guacamole and salad, the girls loved the kiddie cocktails and there were plenty of great views indoors and out. If sitting outdoors, the best views are under the tiki hut and indoors to the right. You can find live music there on evenings and weekend.

The Reserve at The Westin – Website photos fail to show that you can dine outdoors not only at their upper level bar {which is uncovered}, but on a beautiful patio sitting just below the dunes. You can catch a cool breeze while enjoying their extensive menu. The food is nothing to write home about, but the ambience more than compensated for it. The girls played just below the patio and made several friends during our visit.

The Anchor at Holiday Inn – This outdoor beach eatery is much more charming than you’d imagine. It boasts just a few tables, but plenty of ocean views and a beautiful breeze. The cheeseburger and mahi mahi were both great.

The Wharf – beautiful views and great music. We biked through the Historic District until we came across this fun little stop, which also happens to be where the Dolphin Cruises depart from.

Picnic! Of course the best way to take in ocean views are on the beach. Grab sandwiches at the Jekyll Island Market and dine al fresco.

What is surprising, yet charming to find are that some of the best Jekyll Island Restaurants aren’t on the water:

Courtyard at Crane – This restaurant was by far the best we encountered on Jekyll. We watched a summer storm blow in from the beautiful brick patio while enjoying an incredible wine list. Photos do not do this venue justice. We started with the chorizo and caramelized onion dip {recipe coming soon}. I loved the artichoke pasta and Chris loved the Fried Oyster Salad. The service was equally impressive. This restaurant captured so much of the island charm we hoped for when we planned our vacation.

Driftwood Bistro – We knew that Driftwood Bistro would be good when we arrived and saw an abundance of guests waiting to be seated. It was worth the wait. I recommend trying a few of their sides and taking advantage of their $17 bottles of wine! After dinner, venture onto the beach for spectacular views of Driftwood Beach.

Where to Get Ice Cream on Jekyll Island:

Sweets Shoppe in Historic Jekyll

Jekyll Market offers great ice cream {try salted caramel or cotton candy complete with pop rocks}

Jekyll Island has a site for dining, but we found that some of those restaurants have closed, never opened, or have yet to open. In addition, it lists out many of the same restaurants in a different format, which is confusing. I hope this makes your dining adventure as enjoyable as ours was!

There are a limited number of places to eat on Jekyll Island, so you just may be able to enjoy them all!

Originally published June 2016, updated February 2019