The Place Anguilla
Barefoot beach club dining on Rendezvous Bay's quieter end
Why Go
A weather-beaten white timber shack at the edge of a two-mile crescent of powder sand, where the Gumbs family (of Smokey's fame) has been slinging Caribbean-with-a-twist plates straight to your beach lounger since long before the Instagram crowd found Rendezvous Bay.
The Experience
Getting here is half the ritual: you drive past the Anguilla Great House, roll through a gate, bump down a dirt track with the salt pond glinting on your left, and suddenly the road just ends at the sand. The Place (which locals will also point you to as Rendezvous @ Tasty's Beach Club, its 2025 rebrand) is genuinely two experiences layered on top of each other. Up top, it's a proper open-air restaurant on a covered wooden deck; down below, it's a scatter of loungers and picnic tables spilling onto some of the softest sand in the Caribbean. Order a rum punch and a plate of coconut shrimp, then move the whole operation ten steps forward onto a beach chair and stay there until the sun does its thing behind Saint Martin. The vibe is unhurried, family-run, and blissfully unstyled - no DJ, no dress code, no minimum spend on a daybed. Just Chef Smoke on the grill, the Gumbs cousins at the bar, and the same soft turquoise water that made Rendezvous Bay famous in the first place.
What to Try
The coconut-crusted shrimp with lemon-pineapple Amaretto sauce is the signature and worth the trip on its own - oversized shrimp, golden batter, a sauce that has no business being this good on a beach. The blackened grilled fish sandwich (usually mahi or snapper, whatever came off the boat) on a homemade bun with pickle-lemon aioli is the other cult order. If you're hungrier, Smokey's Burger with creole sauce and sauteed onions holds up against any burger on the island. Start with the pea soup or the fish chowder, and wash it all down with a rum punch or a Ting-and-a-sting.
Insider Tip
Skip the lunch rush (1-2:30pm) and roll in around 3pm instead - the kitchen slows down, the beach loungers open up, and you'll basically have your own private stretch of Rendezvous Bay for the golden hour. Bring cash for the beach chair tip, and ask whoever's working if Chef Smoke has anything off-menu that day; the fresh catch specials rarely make it onto the printed sheet.
The Practical Stuff
Located on the eastern end of Rendezvous Bay - drive toward the Anguilla Great House Beach Resort, pass the entrance and public parking, then through a gate and down a dirt road with the salt pond on your left. Open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner; closed Mondays. Mid-priced ($$). Call ahead on 264-584-6501, especially for sunset. 4WD not required but the last stretch is unpaved, so take it slow in a rental. Cash and cards both accepted; bring cash for beach-chair and server tips. No reservations needed for the beach loungers - first come, first served.
Pair It With
- Bankie Banx's Dune Preserve — The other iconic beach shack on Rendezvous Bay - drift down the sand after lunch for a rum punch and live reggae in Bankie's driftwood cathedral.
- CuisinArt Golf Resort & Spa — Anchors the western end of Rendezvous Bay; walk the full two-mile crescent from The Place and reward yourself with a spa treatment or a round on the Greg Norman course.
- Shoal Bay East — When you're ready for a beach change of scenery, Anguilla's most photographed strand is a 25-minute drive northeast - snorkel the reef in the morning, then head to The Place for a late lunch.
- Anguilla Great House Beach Resort — The neighbor you pass on the way in - grab a pre-dinner cocktail at their beach bar, then wander over to The Place for dinner under the stars.