Dining Out

The many big-screen TVs at this place are always tuned to football, hockey, rugby, cricket, basketball, car racing, and baseball -- attracting avid sports fans. Theme nights draw in other crowds. Monday is two-for-one Bacardi mojitos night. Tuesday is "Open Deck" night. Musicians come from all over the island for the chance to perform, and the crowd has a ball listening to all of them, good and bad. Budweiser's Retro Night is on Wednesday. Budweisers in retro cans sell for CI$2.50 (US$3.15), and DJs will play your favorite "oldies" all night long. Acoustic Jam Thursday is something the locals really look forward to and enjoy. Musicians bring their instruments down and just jam together. If you're into NASCAR, this is the place for you on Sunday. For CI$20 (US$25) you can watch the races and get five beers and a pound of buffalo wings.

Type: Bars & Pubs

This fun, relaxed, hip, counterculture venue -- collectively called "the Kaibo Yacht Club" -- contains both a bar and a special dining venue. Far from the madding crowd of tourists and touristy infrastructure closer to George Town, it's perched on the island's distant corner. Cecil's, upstairs, is the more elegant of the two dining venues here, but the raffish beach-level bar is a major stop on the Grand Cayman nightlife circuit. Clients are fun and free-spirited. In many cases, customers are Canadian-born refugees from the snows of the frigid north who mingle gracefully with local Caymanians and boat owners. In the downstairs bar you can enjoy a menu of sandwiches, burgers, salads, and savory cups of gumbo ya-ya, a New Orleans-inspired stew crafted from blackened chicken, andouille sausage, and Cajun seasoning. Drinks of choice, served in copious quantities throughout the day and evening, include Mudslides, Bloody Caesars, and Sex on the Beach, priced between CI$5.50 and CI$8.50 (US$6.90 and US$11) each. The entire venue is fun, romantic, and appealingly permissive. The bar and grill are open daily from 11am to 11pm.

Type: Bars & Pubs

This high-tech and high-energy club, located in the Islander Complex, is one of the most popular nightspots on Grand Cayman. Most of the patrons -- usually ranging in age from 18 to 30 -- are local, but visitors are welcome. Every night has a different theme. Monday is Back Track night, when you can dance the night away to tunes of the past. The hip-hop, reggae, and soul music played on Tuesday make up Rhythm Nation night. Wednesday is open mic night from 9 to 11pm. The popular two-for-five night is on Thursday: You get two beers for CI$4 (US$5) all evening. The most attended night among the locals is the Friday Event Night Dance Party. If you plan to visit this place on a Friday, show up early -- because the locals certainly will. The large bar and comfortable seating are situated around the expansive dance floor. Drinks are always served at reasonable prices, but on Saturday you'll find an open bar: CI$10 (US$13) for women and CI$15 (US$19) for men. The club is open Monday to Saturday 8pm to 3am.

The variety of ice cream flavors sold here surpasses the selection at any other outlet in the Cayman Islands. Tucked away in a shopping center off West Bay Road, just behind the also-recommended Cimboco Caribbean Café, it was established in 2002 by the Casteldello family, an Italian family who seem to know a lot about gelato and how a gelateria should be run. You'll find about two dozen varieties of ice cream here, including all the flavors you might find on a street-fronting ice cream parlor in Rome or Palermo, as well as such Caribbean-influenced selections such as mango, pineapple, apricot, almond and rum, and chocolate and rum. Cups of ice cream cost from CI$3 to CI$5 (US$3.75-US$6.25), and ice cream cones go for CI$3 (US$3.75) each. Takeaway ice cream costs CI$6 (US$7.50) per pound. Open daily 2 to 11pm.

In a two-story shopping plaza off West Bay Road, this nightclub is the only one in the Caribbean that's open weeknights and closed on Saturday and Sunday. Located immediately adjacent to The Attic Billiard Lounge, it's a large, glossy, terra-cotta-and-black space with an industrial-looking steel staircase that leads to a hideaway lounge upstairs. There's been a concerted effort here to appeal to the island's hip, urbanized, and trend-conscious yuppies, with DJs imported from faraway places like New York, and a focus on bringing in cutting-edge music. Look for lots of circle motifs in the decor (hence the name "O Bar"). Beer costs around CI$4 (US$5) a mug, and cocktails go for CI$6 (US$7.50) each. The club is open Monday to Friday 10pm to 3am.

Opening onto Seven Mile Beach, this is one of the premier live-music venues for both islanders and visitors. The bar, open to the trade winds, is a great place to dance the night away in the moonlight. There is an on-site restaurant, but many patrons dine elsewhere before coming here for the rest of the evening. On Friday and Saturday nights, live bands play calypso, light reggae, salsa, and meringue, among other music. The club caters to a wide age group, from those in their 20s and 30s to those beyond 50. The bar opens daily at 9am and stays open until 10pm, though the action doesn't get under way until 8pm. The club closes at midnight on Friday and Saturday and at 10pm otherwise.