07/23/2025
The warm Caribbean Sea breeze blew through the coconut trees, as I drove across the BelCan Bridge, coming from the Northside of Belize City to the Southside. Travelling along Central American Blvd, I passed the Civic Center on the left and made the first right at the Plant roundabout and catching my eye was a cement brick wall, with a plaque marked:
WELCOME TO THE MAHOGANY STREET MARKET PLACE!
It may not be Lucca’s Restaurant & Bar, perched along the shores of the Caribbean Sea on Princess Margaret Drive, with its tasty contemporary cuisine and exotic crafted cocktails; nor is it Vino Tinto Restaurant, atop the Golden Bay Hotel, with its sweeping 360-degree views of the city.
But if you’re searching for an authentic slice of local culture; the nitty gritty of Belize City; then the heartbeat of Mahogany Street is worth exploring.
This developing marketplace is a space, where you’ll discover authentic cultural Belize food recipes. These dishes have been prepared the same way for decades, passed down from generation to generation; cooked with traditional herbs and s**ces, offering a taste of ancestral cooking and down-home flavor of Belizean Soul Food.
Pull up any day of the week, for a taste of Mahogany Street. You’ll find a smorgasbord of flavorful street food made from scratch; wholesome, nutritious; budget friendly and lovingly prepared by the local cuisine custodians preserving the Belizean food culture and heritage.
Treat yourself to stew beans and rice, melt in your mouth oxtails; stew beef and okra; curry lamb; tasty split peas, dukunu or escabeche. Fresh seafood caught daily from the Caribbean Sea minus that fishy reek smell. Creole cooking, Indian, or savory Spanish food; Belize style American fusion; or indulge in some Garifuna cultural cuisine. Mahogony street offers a culinary world tour of home cooked meals, prepared in full kitchens along the roadside.
As I gallivanted down Mahogany Street, I first noticed an orange house with the menu scrawled across the wall. Powder Bun...Journey Cake...HOT TAMALES READY NOW! Panades...Garnaches...Salbutes...Burito and Fry Guacho; a few street food favorites the locals of Belize eat day to day.
A brethren name Gill runs the spot. I asked, ‘You have Garnaches’? ‘Not right now’ Gill replied. Timing is of the essence with the serving of meals along Mahogany Street. There’s a morning rush, then shush...a lunch crush, then hush. ‘Garnaches will be prepared for evening tea today’ Gill says with a wide gap-tooth smile; so, I purchased a fresh creole bread instead.
Across the street, I passed a row of colorful, perfectly aligned stalls before stopping at a turquoise stall marked MEAT PIES. A cardboard menu listed three flavors: Dario’s, Belizean, and Ladyville. A fellow named Sergio Nunez greeted me with warm Belizean hospitality. "Can I help you, Sir?" he asked.
“I'll try one Dario’s, one Ladyville, and one Belizean,” I replied, peckish to sample all three recipes.
"These stalls look nice" I said.
‘Yes indeed,' Sergio replied. ‘The Belize Tourism Board granted stalls to vendors to help start their business.’
‘Did you receive a stall?’ I asked.
“Yes, and we get free stove, refrigerator, blenders, microwave--everything! We signed contract with the Belize City Council for $365 a year for the license fee. One dollar per day” Sergio revealed and went on to explain the collaboration between the Belize Tourism Board and Belize City Council to revitalize the Mahogany Street Reserve by investing in the local community infrastructure with generous grants for equipment and training to create an entrepreneur friendly hub, providing essential kitchen table items and services to the community; and plans to expand similar projects countrywide.
I listened keenly and indulged in two more Ladyville meat pies...which turn out to be my favorite of the three flavors. “I will start sell Pau’s meat pies soon” Sergio let drop, and I placed an order for a dozen to take back to America, adding to the more than 300 meat pies Mr. Nunez serves daily.
A couple stalls over, Ms. Donna labors over her hot stove and the scent of rice and beans and coconut milk drifted through the air; none of that stuff out the can though; Miss Donna rises early each morning and grates whole coconuts, to make fresh milk to add to her prodigious pot of rice and beans to give it that coconutty flavor; served up with stewed chicken and potato salad; one-two-three, you form the nations national dish; or substitute the stew chicken for Randy’s jerk chicken; the Jamaican seasoning s**ce, now popular in the Belizean food culture.
Two cyclists zipped by as I approached Naked chicken, where you’ll find premier Chef Ainsley Castro, known for his delicious healthy dishes. Taste the Fish Fillet topped with Callaloo and Spinach in Banana leaf for a traditional cooking method experience, or his Garlic Cilantro Shrimps for something scrumptious!
The grill is always blazing at Naked Chicken with a variety of meats from big bone tomahawk pork chops to fresh locally sourced chickens and sausage links.
On Wednesdays, treat yourself to some highly nutritious conch soup. It’s prepared with creamy coconut milk, tender okra, and fiery habanero pepper. This thick and rich soup is packed with flavor and nutrients, offering plenty of gumption to give you lasting hardihood and endurance!
You may be lucky to partake in a cultural Garifuna dish that tells a story on a plate, such as Sahou porridge, made from mashed cassava, or traditional Hudut, a creamy coconut milk soup with fresh fish, mashed plantain, and okra...but don't dare add pigtail, or you’ll be remanded to food jail, by the Garinagu!
Next door to Naked Chicken; City Tacos is an must try!
Chef Nayomi cooking style reflects her distinctive culinary personal expression with innovative dishes. The menu changes every day and features a variety of traditional and contemporary dishes. Morning breakfast you can have journey cakes; stuff fry jacks; or American favorites with a Chef Nayomi twist, such as taco waffles or a pancake wrap for some of the best breakfast in Belize City!
Put in a custom order for a conch or shrimp ceviche and Chef Nayomi will make it happen with her signature customer service. Try her juicy T- bone steak or you may be lucky to sample one of her exotic dishes, like bake chicken marinated in Cîroc and Beer, to literally tiddly your tastebuds!
Crossing over Oleander Street, next door to Arana Kitchen, I saw a green stall, with red and gold trim; and found a Rasta man name Darnell Wright the locals call Duck.
What we cooking today? I asked the Ras.
“Baked chicken with stew beans and white rice or rice and beans” Duck replied, then asked “yu evah try dis?” Handing me a small pea from a pod to peel, that he climbed the tree in front of his stall to collect. “Dis da Moringa; Google it, It gud fi lotta ting” the Ras stated in a broad Creole accent.
A quick google investigation and I learned, these Moringa tree peas, is good for an host of illness; from diabetes, inflammation, joint pain, cancer, bacterial and fungal infections; and this well-kept secret superfood is filled with potassium, protein, iron and calcium; along with generating 10 billion dollars a year in global sales and growing steadily...and growing naturally, along Mahogany Street.
I peeled the skin of the chalky white pea, that tasted like bitters soaked in aniseed liqueur, then ordered the baked chicken with stew beans and white rice, to try the hand of the Rasta man, from his street kitchen, that was s**c n span.
The chicken had a s**cy zesty flavor, with a hint of garlic and lemony zing; this was something different! Savoring every bite I had to ask Duck “what kind of seasoning is this?’
“Nature seasoning” Duck replied.
“Nature seasoning?” I echoed ‘Whe dat? Where can I buy this?” I asked intrigued.
Duck explained nobody knows what’s in it; a local woman just goes around and picks the herbs growing wild and sells it at the market, you must catch her spontaneously. Duck went inside his stall and brought back a plastic bag with what looked like some wild parsley, some oregano maybe, basil and thyme perhaps, garlic flakes; and I wouldn’t fault anyone if they thought they were eating some of the high-grade cannabis. One could get addicted to this all-purpose secret blend of herbs and s**ces with a flavorful robust s**cy taste and savory zing, that would make KFC jealous.And at $4 US currency for a freshly prepared, two-piece nature seasoning baked chicken, stew beans and white rice, with coleslaw, a much better value than the Colonel.
Somehow the world’s greed-induced inflation, has not found its way to the Mahogany reservation.
Reasonably priced eats, flavored with fresh organic herbs and s**ces; superfoods such as Moringa, that's been curing a host of illnesses for centuries, are some serendipity surprises waiting to be discovered at the Mahogany Street Marketplace!
Another stroke of fortuitous fate across the street, was a house with a driveway covered by a tent with a sign that read:
DREADY’S CAR WASH!
I pulled right into the driveway, to wash the sewer water away from the previous day, driving up Blue Marlin Blvd and went around the lane and dropped in the drain.
At Dready’s, you can get a meticulous hand car wash, interior and exterior, spray jet wand wash underneath wheel wells and fenders for $25BZ.
And inside the house, peanut ideal selling for a shilling you can suck on while you wait!
Other Essential services that can be found along Mahogany Street include; mini marts for pantry goods; locally grown fruits and vegetables stand, where you can grab a fresh organic slice of watermelon with seeds for $1BZ.
Gentlemen can stay fly with a fresh cut from Wiley D Exotic Barber; that also doubles as a hardware store, where the handyman can get quality used and new tools. And for the ladies, further up the street, a sidewalk boutique, stop and browse for a bonnet or blouse.
However; the real appeal of Mahogany Street, is the traditional nutritional Belize food to eat. Affordable meals, to have or to take, that won’t break the budget you designate. Supporting the home-grown economy, becoming better travelers in the community.
The Mahogany Street Reserve Project cooks up a delicious combination of social responsibility; investing in the local infrastructure to grow the economy from the bottom-up; by developing an inclusive, entrepreneurial friendly market place, that provides practical essential goods and services; with a main course of authentic home cooked Belize cuisine, prepared fresh, with traditional herbs and s**ces, from the local street chef’s fully equipped roadside kitchen…pot spoon…and heart.🥰🇧🇿
