We just left Bonaire on Saturday; this was our 9th trip and it was just wonderful as always! The restaurants in Bonaire are very good! For the 4 years we have been coming to Bonaire, we have really been craving a Tex-Mex Restaurant, but there has not been one. Bill heard about the Papaya Moon Cantina on Bonaire Talk and we tried it...we tried it 5 more times because it was sooooo good! It is absolutely great in our opinion! The owners are Ray/Jan Brietzke and Carl and Pam (not sure of their last names). Jan and Pam are sisters. Andrew is a server and he is Ray and Jan's son (we call him Randrew because initially we confused his name with Ray's, thus Randrew!). He's great! They all very nice and really want to please their customers! The food and atmosphere are fantastic! The beautiful Dutch building is over 100 years old. They have a nice courtyard with great ambiance for dinner. The atmosphere is very relaxed, with great service and GREAT food! We were in Bonaire for 2 weeks and we ate at the Papaya Moon 5-6 times. Every dish we ordered was great. Carl, the Chef(and co-owner) is from Dallas and has a lot of experience...he knows what he is doing! Carl has a wide variety of menu items, from traditional Mexican to creative Tex-Mex dishes. We highly recommend The Papaya Moon Cantina! The location is downtown where Crocantina's (Spelling ?) used to be. When you go to the Papaya Moon, tell them Bill and Donna said hello and "let's go diving!"! :-) Our other favorite restaurant is Pasa Bon Pizza!!! Joe and Lisa make excellent pizza's and pasta!!! It is really great after a day of diving! The atomosphere is relaxed 60's chic with great food and music (CD's not live music). Both of these restaurants are open until 10:00-11:00 so you can do a evening-dusk dive and still have a great dinner. Papaya Moon did recommend during the "not as busy season" if you know you are going to be late 9:45ish or later, you may want to call and let them know you are coming. If they are slow, they could possibly close earlier.
Have a great Trip!!!! You will LOVE Bonaire...the diving and the food (and in the case of the Papaya Moon Cantina...the people)!
Donna and Bill

Nice food report! We didn't make it to Papaya Moon Cantina last time, but might give them a try next time. However, we ALWAYS make it to Pasa Bon Pizza! I couldn't agree more about the excellent pizza Lisa and Joe make. I am absolutely addicted to their fish pizza and am a pretty big fan of that spicy sausage. Thanks for posting!

Must agree re papaya moon....they really are developing a good following. Also, try the Pasa Bon Salad if you get a chance.

absolute agree about Pasa Bon Pizza - the spicy sausage was excellent and so was the pasa bon Salad!!!!

I do not think Papaya Moon was open when we were on Bon in December. I am so looking forward to giving it a shot, as we shall be pretty close. I also heard their happy hours are not shabby either.

Papaya Moon is a great place for happy hour also - 2 for 1 and we recommend the Pink Panties! The service is warm and friendly. The food is wonderful - large servings so we always have leftovers for lunch the next day. Yummy stuff !

I must agree with all the postings about Papaya Moon. My girlfriend and I just got back from our first Bonaire trip (yes, I need to post my report) and decided to try Papaya Moon on our 2nd to last night...Needless to say, we ended up returning for our final night there. The dinners we had were excellent and the service and hospitality is exceptional! We even took the time to sign their customer book and left our comments about our experience. As for Pasa Bon Pizza, I am from Chicago and the owner is from New York so I am picky about my pizza Having said that, I truly enjoyed the pizza and had the crab meat/cheese dip which was amazing. I know we will be going back to both places on our return trips. Buon appetito everyone!

After reading all of these wonderful things about Papaya Moon and Pasa Bon Pizza, I NEED to be there right NOW!!!! IT makes me sooo hungry! They are both wonderful and I NEED a Bonaire "dive fix"!!!

And Bill & Donna.... I am saving your table!!!

Hey Island Grrrl (great moniker) - and that table will be well used the first two weeks of October!

I've just finished the video from that trip and it features the "Boys" when they met us at Margate Bay for an afternoon dive (and then they drank our rum and ate our cheese and baguettes!). You're even in it (that afternoon when you walked by the car downtown - Donna was actually sneaking up on me to make a movie of me sleeping while she shopped)- give me an address and a method that won't take months to reach you (sent something to Capt Don and it took him 3 months to get it!) and we'll send you a copy (expecting it to run constantly on the bar widescreen you'll install for just this purpose).

Hugz, b/d