Papa Zouk

Someone from this business manages this listing.

#2 of 103 Restaurants in St. John'sCaribbean, Seafood, $$ - $$$

What is Travellers’ Choice?

Tripadvisor gives a Travellers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travellers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.

Papa Zouk

Review

At a glance

Closed now

See all hours

Website

+1 268-464-0795Improve this listing

About

Travellers' Choice

2024

Features

CUISINES

Caribbean, Seafood, Healthy

Meal types

Breakfast, Dinner, After-hours

PRICE

$$ - $$$

FEATURES

Full Bar

Reservations

Seating

Serves Alcohol

Table Service

Location

Hilda Davis Dr., St. John's Antigua

Is this restaurant good for breakfast?

Yes

Unsure

Save this restaurant

Hours

Suggest an edit

Closed now

• Opens at 6:00 PM

Sunday

Closed

Monday

6:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.

Tuesday

6:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.

Wednesday

6:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.

Thursday

6:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.

Friday

6:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.

Saturday

6:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.

Contribute

Write a review

Upload a photo

Ask a question

4.4

567 reviews

Excellent

392

Very good

103

Average

Poor

Terrible

These reviews are machine translated from their original language. Show machine translations?

This service may contain translations powered by Google. Google disclaims all warranties related to the translations, express or implied, including any warranties of accuracy, reliability, and any implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and noninfringement.

Yes

Mel B

2 contributions

Awesome

Dec 2024 • family

This is an absolute delight, the staff are welcoming and great fun, the atmosphere is buzzing with eye catching paintings around the walls. The food is just delicious mainly fish and cooked in a variety of ways, all,of which are amazing. Portion sizes are generous. An absolute must for anyone staying on the beautiful island of Antigua

Written December 10, 2024

This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Tim R

33 contributions

If you love fish you have to go to Papa Zouk!

Jan 2025 • couples

Great dinner at Papa Zouk. Bert is a Super hospital host who personally took us through the menu and made recommendations. We had boulabaise and fish/chicken tacos and then the specialties of the house - Lobster and Mahi mahi as well as the fried snapper, all washed down with some delicious rose and their famous rum punch. Highly recommend it if you love fish! Great atmosphere and delicious local food and also well priced. We’ll be back on our next visit to Antigua.

Written January 10, 2025

Sarah D

Coulsdon152 contributions

A must to visit for an evening meal

Jan 2023 • friends

After reading some of the reviews I was very apprehensive about visiting Papa Zouk, but we had a fantastic time. The restaurant is in a back street and unless you have a hire car or get a taxi you probably won’t find it. It is very quirky with lobster pots, fishing nets and other fishing items decorating the walls, but this adds to the ambiance. We met up with friends and you sit at long tables and benches with other people, but this didn’t distract us from having conversations with our friends. All very clean and laid very basic with a table runner, napkins and beer mats. The owner sat down with us and told us the menu choices. I know other reviews state that they found this strange,but with a very small selection you can’t forget what you are told and you can ask for a menu if you prefer to read the choices. He recommended some dishes and the guys had the bouillabaisse to start and then we all had the lobster dishes for main with a side salad and roasted vegetables All the food was tasty and delicious and cooked well. With a tip and drinks it was approx £44 per person. Not bad considering lobster alone in the UK can be more than that. A very enjoyable evening and I highly re recommend that you visit when you are in Antigua.

Written January 12, 2023

DayTrip149453

New York City1 contribution

Rude and arrogant service

Jan 2025 • couples

If I could give them zero stars I would. I called to make a reservation for a Friday night they were fully booked so I made the reservation for Saturday night at 8pm instead. I showed up and the place is packed I walked in and both the waitresses looked at me and didn’t smile or greet me. I walked over to the bar and spoke to an older woman who appeared to be the owner. I told her my name and the reservation for two and without looking in the book she said she didn’t have a reservation under my name then asked who I spoke to when I made the reservation. How would I know that. Then writes me down as a walk in and lets me know they are full and they will do their best. She clearly refused to honor my reservation because she had a waitlist. I walked out and went somewhere else where I was greeted as soon as I walked in and provided polite and respectful customer service. The woman at Papazouk was rude, dismissive and treated me as if I was lucky to even eat there. I was on vacation visiting and I will never return. The last time I visited I brought two girlfriends here and they ran out of the snapper on the menu. Just all around disappointing.

Written January 30, 2025

Patrick S

Romaneche-Thorins355 contributions

Major disappointment

Oct 2024 • friends

Small restaurant with local atmosphere and friendly boss Disappointing cocktail. The ti punch white rum lime cane sugar that can be so good drowned by lots of ice cubes making lose the taste of rum Bowl of bouillabaisse soup. Super spicy soup with onion. with 2 mussels.... Crabcake. Brulé the warmly recommended lobster garlic sauce thawed overcooked chewy while we are in the middle of the season Our expectations have been deeply disappointed Too bad. In addition we arrived at 6:30 p.m. and 7:55 p.m. We were asked to go to the bar to make way for the 8pm customer....

Automatically translated

Written October 30, 2024

thereviewer22

3 contributions

Poor customer service and excessive wait times for average food.

Jan 2023 • none

Poor customer service and excessive wait times for average food. First, when we sat down the table was dirty and could tell the linen not changed between customers. We were seated and given no menus so when we asked for a menu, the waitress give an attitude saying that’s not how they do things. Okay fine. But say that upon us seating and don’t be rude about us inquiring. The owner came to share what they are offering, all verbal, no prices to know in advance to know how much we’re paying. Okay fine. We still rolled with it because the reviews are good and it should be worth it. We ordered an appetizer and our entrees at the same time with the owner. They’re was not much variety only lobster and fish for your meal, that only comes with salad, no other side option. And a version of a soup or a shrimp/fish/plantain platter for the appetizer. Fast forward ONE AND A HALF HOURS LATER and we just got served our appetizers. Another large party who sat down after us got their meals before us. When I inquired as to why, they said it’s because we ordered an appetizer. How can a table that sat after us receive their meal before us when our order was placed first?? Appetizer or not, our order was in first. They used the lame excuse that their food is cooked fresh that’s why it’s takes so long when really what it is is poor customer service, poor back of house management, and disorganization.

Written January 5, 2023

Bert K

Well all I have to say to this is ….read the rest of the comments….

Written February 26, 2023

This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Althea G

1 contribution

Listennnnnn! Like good food…..Poppa Zouk’s got you❤️

Sep 2023 • friends

Listennnnnn! Like excellent food, love all types of fish/seafood?…..Poppa Zouk’s got you❤️ We went for casual dinner! The ambiance is laid back and chilled! It’s not large so make a reservation to avoid disappointment. The description is ‘fish and rum’ but you can grab a beer! If you’re not in the drinking weight division, there’s non-alcohol treats. The owner and his wife are truly lovely welcoming people!! He’s a consummate professional laid back friendly Antiguan (German). He’s proud of his dishes and rightly so! I didn’t see a menu….he had his order book and told us what was ‘cooking’ in a way that almost had us buying every dish 🤤 My dear, the fried fish was massive! The bouillabaisse/gumbo fusion was de bomb.com! Just go hungry and be prepared for a feast with lovely host waitresses (honourable mention to Vinette). Oh and the prices was outrageously……great for what you get!! We forgo the dessert because bwoy/gurlllll we were stuffed and really happy! We got a hug and come again from the owner! Heads up - ask him about his son, the multi-award winning Cinematographer! His face will light up🥰 No negatives for me or my friends! We almos wolfed it all down before we remembered to take pictures 🥳🤩🫣

Written September 17, 2023

Vanellus01

393 contributions

Fantastic Seafood

Jan 2025 • couples

Lively atmosphere and interesting decor, plus attentive service. Very busy, make sure you book in advance. The seafood here is outstanding, but the tourism-inflated prices of Antigua mean that it will not be a cheap night out!

Written February 16, 2025

Tom B

Bordon123 contributions

Fantastic!

Jul 2022 • couples

Brilliant food, friendly genuinely welcoming service, great cocktails, thoroughly enjoyable experience! Having attempted to book through facebook messenger on what turned out was the day Papa Zouk had reopened from a holiday break I received an apologetic response for my message being missed which, then led to us booking in for dinner the following evening. Upon arriving Papa Souk were having a lobster delivery and having cooked for 23 years professionally i was surprised at the size of the lobsters (in my experience bigger doesn’t equal better flavour necessarily) however on this occasion i was wrong, having noted how lively they were whilst being unloaded i shouldnt have been surprised by how fresh and bold the flavour was. 2 mixed lobster plates with shrimp and grilled mahi mahi served with salad and we ordered a side of fried plantains after the chicken tapas starter WITH the garlic bread and garlic pita strangely left us both defeated. Perhaps it was down to the hotel we stayed in (which will remain unnamed) focusing on catering for the needs of retiree british holiday makes but we lacked any flavour throughout our stay on the island but Papa Zouk was a huge exception to this. At the risk of it sounding a tourist cliché, wanting to find “where the locals eat” every recommendation pointed to Papa Zouk, which when we entered to find a busy restaurant full of both locals and tourists it felt like we had made the right decision! Bursting with vibrant freshness was refreshing, washing down with their signature rum cocktail and cold Carib made a shared starter, 2 mixed lobster, 8 drinks for $125US INCLUDING service incredible value for the quality. If we should return to Antigua Papa Zouk will definitely be our first port of call. Thanks for a brilliant evening.

Written July 10, 2022

Bert K

Awwwwwwww…….thank you so much for your raved review Looking forward having you again 🙏

Written July 18, 2022

This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Nicole

Austin48 contributions

Food is great, owner is unfriendly

Jan 2023 • couples

I’m conflicted on giving this place 4 stars because the food is absolutely five stars and completely worth going. However the owner Bert was unfriendly and we found his demeanor to be pompous. We were originally seated in the front of the restaurant on gravel rocks in uncomfortable patio chairs with a wood supporting beam practically in front of my husbands face. We waited about five minutes and no one came to our table because apparently Bert is the menu. Then a family with two loud children came in and were seated right next to us. After waiting another 5 minutes we got up asked to be moved by one of the kind servers who said no problem. We also ordered drinks from the bar because Bert was talking to a table of people for over 20 minutes while we waited. We asked the staff if they could give us a menu and they said there is no paper menu and that he is the menu. Meaning he comes to each table to give his long spiel and you have to wait on him. It was honestly like a Seinfeld episode, and could not of been more ridiculous. The menu is simple enough to where all he has to do is simply print paper menus and people can evaluate the options themselves. But he wants to be the menu and he wants to be the one to deliver the menu. Finally he makes his way over & the first thing he said is “why did you move tables? I planned every table in advance.” I told him we didn’t want to be seated next to loud children because we are trying to enjoy our vacation without yelling kids. His demeanor toward us was much less friendly than the other table he spent over 20 minutes chatting with. Not sure why our table location even mattered because we moved from a two top table to another two top table. Clearly he seats the less preferred customers in the gravel area with uncomfortable patio chairs. Moving past that he went straight into the menu and appetizers and then asked us which appetizer we wanted. My husband asked to hear the rest of the menu because we did not want to be pushed into ordering without hearing the full menu. Finally, after hearing the menu and his overzealous descriptions of each thing, we ordered. The food and vibe here is absolutely fantastic but our experience with the owner wasn’t great. Many couples & parties we saw seated after us waiting to be told the menu instead of just getting a regular menu. Ridiculous! If there is an option to come here when he is not here I would do that - because the food is stellar and the chefs definitely know what they’re doing. We would have come back twice if it wasn’t for our experience with Bert. I highly recommend anything with fish. I got the fish two ways (Waloo fried and another type of fish grilled) and my husband got the fried whole snapper - all were delicious.

Written January 26, 2023

HeleonvdF

London27 contributions

Finally a great meal in Antigua

Nov 2023 • friends

We ate at Papa Zouk on our last night in Antigua. We had had pretty disappointing eating experiences up to that point, hitting all the usual Caribbean low notes of indifferent service, expensive meals and very average food. Not here though. 4 of us arrived on a Friday night without a booking and the hostess (who owns the restaurant with her husband) made a plan and accommodated us. Loved her! She was personable, friendly and helpful and made us feel really at home. Why can’t all restauranteurs be like this? I had the conch fritters to start (I had been hunting conch all week to little effect). They were amazing. Now I had red snapper during the week and was not blown away. Dry, overcooked and not fresh at all. Here though they know exactly what they are doing. I had it as a main: fried, first dusted with some flour, to give a nice crispy outside with deliciously white flesh on the inside. Seasoning was spot on too. Yum yum yum. One of the great fish dishes I have had. And local to boot. Yes please. We read good reviews before we went, but so did we about some of the other tourist traps we ended up at, and therefore didn’t expect to find Papa Zouk to be any different. How wrong we were. This is the real deal. Just go here.

Written December 12, 2023

Bert Kirchner

Thank you very much for your kind words . We are very happy that you enjoyed your dining experience with us 🙏❤️

Written December 17, 2023

This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Jane F

Gloucestershire33 contributions

Amazing food, ambience and staff

Nov 2024 • couples

We hadn’t booked and were a little ahead of the 6pm start for dinner but Vinette (apologies if I got your name wrong - you were from St Lucia) offered us a table and kindly allowed us to order if we finished before 7.30pm. Absolutely no worries about that. She was so, so lovely and very helpful with the menu and genuinely made us feel right at home even though we were obviously ahead of opening time. The food and signature cocktails were just so good. Do not miss this … but do book ahead!

Written November 2, 2024

Motiondynamix M

Miami2 contributions

My Evening Dining At Papa Zouk!

Apr 2024 • couples

My wife and I had the most wonderful experience at Papa Zouk! If ever you are in Antigua and want to experience the best seafood dining, this restaurant is a must! The service was impeccable, set in a Caribbean ambience, and the food was fresh and tasty! The whole experience elevated my spirit and makes me want to return! I think that you'll feel the same way too!

Written May 2, 2024

Margaret H

Dewsbury216 contributions

Good tapas, overcooked fish main course

Jan 2023 • couples

This restaurant is very quirky. Pebble floor and eclectic decor. It’s quite dark inside but atmospheric nevertheless . The rum punches are quite different and strong. The staff are pleasant and informative. We had tapas to start which were excellent then both had grilled red snapper which was over cooked. Unforgivable as fish is a delicate item. For this reason we would not return.

Written February 8, 2023

Bert K

So sorry to hear that you experienced overcooked food ….we actually pride ourselves to serve perfectly prepared fish ….really not sure how this could have happened ! Wish you would come back and experience how it normally is in our 23 years of doing it right . So sorry 🙏

Written February 26, 2023

This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

PeeJayonthego

691 contributions

Best Dinner Experience in Antigua

Jun 2021 • solo

Having dined here, I better understand why it’s so highly regarded. Growing up eating Red Fish, I was less than enthused to order it but was blown away by its flavor including the “sauce” provided to accompany it. I’ve eaten Bouillabaisse and would say it’s one of my favorite French cuisines but this was by far the lightest I’ve ever tried bursting with flavor unlike any other. Also, this is the place for your rum tastebuds and their rum punch, called “Ti punch”, is to die for and packs a subtle punch so beware. The owner Bert is personable and good natured, spending time at each table providing dinner recommendations as opposed to having guests pour over a menu. It’s apparent he is passionate about each patron’s rum bar dining experience. During my dining experience, it was almost as if those dining with me were acquaintances, not strangers and a solo traveler, I left having met others from the US and Antigua one of which as it turned out shared similar connections. In sum, no visitor to Antigua would be complete without a visit to Papa Zouk’s. If you’re looking for an estimated cost, it’s approximately $65 USD