There’s been a lot of talk lately about the new restaurants popping up around the island, rightfully so, of course, But there’s also a lesser known gem located in the heart of Coral Bay that we thought you should all know about. It’s called Coral Bay Caribbean Oasis and it brings something special to the island – down home, Southern cooking.
Karen Granitz opened Coral Bay Caribbean Oasis January 1 and it’s popularity has been growing ever since. A lot of that has to do with the quality of food served. Everything is homemade from scratch and prepared daily by Karen herself. And it gets better – all of Karen’s dishes are affordable, and the portions are more than generous, making them easy to share.
Karen was born in North Carolina and raised in Texas, but has lived in St. John for the past 11 years. She worked over at Maho Bay Camps before opening the Oasis where her goal was to bring some Southern flavor to the island in a nice, relaxed atmosphere. And based on what we’ve seen, Karen is accomplishing just that.
Karen’s menu is relatively simple. Each day she has four main dishes – a beef or pork, a poultry, a seafood and a vegetarian dish. Each changes daily and only costs $9. Some recent ones have included pulled pork, chicken fried chicken, veggie lasagne, and baked mahi. Karen also offers 20 sides daily, which only cost $3 each.
Here is a copy of Sunday’s menu:
Karen is open Tuesday through Sunday from 4 p.m. until the food sells out, which happens nightly.
Want to know what’s on Karen’s menu? Click here to check out her Facebook page and see images of her menus, which are posted daily (except Mondays of course).
In addition to serving great food, Karen also strove to create a warm and welcoming atmosphere. Well she did such a good job that some of the locals now refer to her as “Mama Bear.”
“People feel comfortable here,” Karen said. “It’s people feeling like they’re part of the Oasis. It’s like family. They feel part of our home.”
And here’s a fun fact: Coral Bay Caribbean Oasis is the only place on the island with a drive-through window. How cool is that?! So if you’re feeling a bit lazy after a long day at the beach, you can simple call Karen at (340) 774-1030, place your order and pick it up at the drive through. Pretty neat in our opinion.
Coral Bay Oasis is currently a cash-only business, so please plan ahead when visiting. Karen said she plans to begin accepting credit cards later this month.
we really enjoyed Karen’s place and the voting locals too,including “Philly”.
the food as just described, the bar is pour your own too and the beer was ice cold.
We stopped several times and had a drink after the beach and a snack or some take home.
Do not miss the Mac and Chesse. Great value here.
Im coming down in two weeks. I put this on my list of places to visit.
( I need more time on the Island my list is very long ) :>)
I just read about this but where is it located? I wish I would have known about it when I was there last month. =)
I forgot to mention,Karen can bake too!, Peacan Pie was awesome.
The locals and Karen were so friendly to us Jersey folks. Love pour you own cocktails concept.
While you visit walk across the street righ on the bay in the shade under the tree you will find the friendliest fish monger with just about anything you want, just ask! Fresh fish daily.
We even partied with them a bit, fried the fish when we got home and ate with Karen’s Mac andCheese.We had the munchies lol.