This really wasn’t a big deal until a few weeks in because the problem isn’t just the restaurant’s menu selection, but combined with the fact that that all the grocery stores sell the same items it becomes a bit boring.  My meals all start to look and taste the same.  I suppose this could be a good thing if I was a person who didn’t care much about food, but that is not me – I LOVE food.  Even my cats miss the various treats I used to give them from the take-out food I brought home, so their diet has been dramatically changed as well. 

For the first few weeks of being in Belize we did not have a stove or a grill and no propane to power either so even if we did have them we could not use them.  So we ate out for every meal.  Our first pick was a cute little place called RD’s – a family restaurant on one of the main roads in town.  It was close to our house and easy to walk to which was essential if we wanted to cut down on the blisters that were showing up on our feet from the miles and miles of walking we were getting in due to the lack of a vehicle.  Dinner was the first meal that we had at RD’s when we headed over there it was dark and rainy, on the walk over our legs were being speckled with mud but by now we were getting used to this look so it didn’t bother us too much.  We finally got there, ducked under the overhang to get out of the rain and sat down; it is a very nice, clean and inviting establishment so we were looking forward to dinner.  The owner, Rick came out to greet us and hand us our menus.  We put our umbrellas down and introduced ourselves.  He was very friendly and very willing to give us advice about where to go to get certain supplies, who to call for propane and just gave us some general advice about doing business in the area.  He is a Belizean but not originally from Corozal, he moved to Corozal from Belize City.  As we looked at the menu little did we know that these would be the same 12 food items on every menu so for that particular dining experience we weren’t yet jaded and we enthusiastically picked something off the menu to enjoy. 

I chose the chicken quesadilla, which was absolutely delicious.  Unfortunately another truth about food in Corozal is that you will never get the same taste as the last time you ordered that particular item.  People told me this and I didn’t really believe them at first but it was soon evident when that delicious chicken quesadilla was never ever quite as good again.  So from that moment on I typically don’t even try to find something unique; I take a quick look at the menu just in case, but then go for rice and beans, the dish of Belize.  There are some stars out there in town, but when there’s only two or three even they get old after awhile.  One of the nice places right on the bay, Vamp’s, has a fantastic pan fried fish and chicken fajitas.  If you ever find yourself in Corozal, Belize make sure you stop in there.  So because of the fact that there is no real selection of food in this town we were slightly optimistic that our restaurant would do well – we would be serving something totally different and without the main staples of the typical Belizean diet.  We chose to be optimistic, but in reality this could mean we do really well or completely sink.  This was still to be seen.  We had two main reactions from people when we told them what we planned on serving.  The first was, “You’re not going to serve rice and beans?!?  You have to serve rice and beans!”  The second went something like, “Oh!  That’s fantastic!  We need a good burger place in Corozal.  Something new!”

On the bright side of this whole situation is that the food supplies we need to get for the construction of our hamburgers is all organic, hormone free and totally green.  The produce is all local and pesticide free and the meat is also local beef that is grass fed and hormone free.  It is a little sad that it costs so much more to eat like this at home but here it’s pretty much the only option.  So I have found a bright side to the state of food in Corozal.  In fact, I’ve noticed that due to lack of infrastructure here, green living is a common side effect.  Many people grow their own produce, all coke/beer bottles are glass and recycled, alternate energy in the form of solar and wind are commonly used and buses/bicycles are the main mode of transportation. 

So as we struggle to appreciate a more simple way of eating we also continue to work on getting our restaurant set up.  The walls are freshly painted, the sign is completed, the tables and chairs are polished, the grill is in and it almost resembles an actual restaurant.  Scotty’s Bar and Grill would be up and running in a couple of weeks. 

The Bar - Before Cleaning

The Bar After Cleaning

The Sign is up