Café Matisse sits in the corner of a small piazza with a garden in the center and pink-and-white judicial offices around the perimeter. It's all very Bahamas—until you step through the carved mahogany doors, and you're suddenly in la bella Italia (the chefs all hail from Milan). Gabriele and Gregory Curry have re-created a typical sunny, simpatico trattoria with yellow walls, white tablecloths, wooden chairs, and tile floors. Lots of paintings and prints decorate the walls (some by the artist Matisse, although the restaurant was actually named for a chef), and the friendly waiters are outfitted in white shirts and white aprons. Tourists gravitate to the garden patio shaded by foliage and market umbrellas, while the conservatively attired lawyers prefer the air-conditioning of the three small indoor rooms. The lunch menu ranges from chilled green gazpacho with cucumber to veal saltimbocca. Pizzas clock in at $14 and up, lobster salad at $17. The Currys' attention to detail includes refinements such as double cloths on the tables and waiters who whisk away the crumbs before serving dessert—something you don't find at the pricier Café Martinique.

Open Tuesdays through Saturdays noon to 3 pm and 6 to 10 pm, closed the month of September.

In a Christian Liaigre wenge version of a British colonial dining room, with a blue glass wall into the kitchen and an open-air terrace overlooking the ocean, is Jean-Georges Vongerichten's first Caribbean outpost. The question is, how often does Jean-Georges get down here, given his 18 other restaurants? Never mind; dishes such as spice-crusted snapper with sweet-and-sour jus, local tomatoes, and oregano, or a lobster sandwich spiced with Bahamian goat pepper, are a cut above most of what you find on Paradise Island, and yet another reason to visit the One&Only Ocean Club. Vongerichten's second restaurant in these parts, Café Martinique, opened to considerable fanfare but doesn't match this place in terms of food or service (Marina Village, Atlantis Resort, Paradise Island; 242-363-3000; www.atlantis.com).

Open daily 7 to 11 am, noon to 3 pm, and 6 to 9:30 pm.

In this solarium-style restaurant, tables are set with white lacy cloths, fine china, and lace-trimmed napkins bursting from crystal goblets—they couldn't be more elegant if they were gracing a state dinner at Government House across the street. Graycliff's owners, the Garzaroli family, hail from Italy, so the menu leans to homemade pastas and seafood Italian-style. The dishes are tasty, the prices moderate, the service polite and prompt. But don't come here for a quick meal—it will take you half an hour just to skim through the 128 pages of the wine list for the 250,000-bottle award-winning cellar. The 250-year-old Graycliff's surprises don't stop there: The rear door leads to a sort of secret garden, all terraces and greenery, with two swimming pools, a small gym, 20 spacious suites, a Brazilian rodizio, and (get this) a workshop turning out top-notch cigars.

Open Mondays through Fridays noon to 3 pm and 6 to 9:30 pm, Saturdays and Sundays 6 to 9:30 pm.

Undoubtedly one of the two top tables on Harbour Island—along with Rock House—this red-walled den of glamour in the Landing resort offers a great plate of food, thanks to trendy Sydney chef Ken Gomes. The menus aren't too challenging: salt and pepper squid with lime mayonnaise; lobster tempura with sushi rice and seaweed salad; steamed grouper with chermoula and marinated lemons; braised pork belly with soy, ginger, and star anise; and a superior Black Angus burger—all super-consistent and super-fresh. And the cellar! Grand cru Bordeaux and two dozen Champagnes are just the start (there also are affordable bottles).

Open Thursdays through Tuesdays 7 to 10:30 pm. Closed September and October.

When you first come upon this higgledy-piggledy structure you get the impression that all those sailboats out in the harbor must have taken their spare bits and pieces of wood and metal ashore, dumped them on Pete's doorstep, and miraculously this detritus turned into decor. The bar is topped by a peaked canopy of salvage, the tables and benches are plain wood—just perfect for a funky beach pub in a backwater artists' colony like Little Harbour. A new deck right beside the beach gives Pete's what in these parts passes for a touch of class and makes room for around 40 to 50 more diners to sit at proper tables rather than perch on the nearest flat surface picnic-style. Pete's is not the sort of place where you expect "cuisine," but the mango-glazed grouper and the dolphin in crushed walnut–batter surpass expectations. If, that is, you go easy on Pete's Blaster cocktails (a secret combination of four rums and four juices)—otherwise your expectations extend no further than a long siesta. Pete's is part of a family business that includes an adjacent art gallery featuring bronze sculptures, jewelry, and island art.

Open Mondays noon to 4 pm, Tuesdays through Sundays noon to 4 pm and 6 to 9 pm. Closed the last week in August through October.

Missing the big city while you unwind into island time? This very decorated, perfectly perfect, all-white dining room with big windows over the water is the place to get your silver-service fix. Food is contemporary, of nonspecific origin, and is based on local ingredients (as if there were any choice): conch chowder, cider-brined pork tenderloin with goat-cheese mashed potatoes, the popular "almost boneless" chicken, and Bahamian rum cake. Expect your fellow diners at this hotel restaurant to be of the sophisticated variety.

Open daily 6 to 9 pm. Closed mid-August through mid-November.

Since 2003, this green über-shack on one of Harbour Island's endless sugary beaches has been generating all the sip sip—meaning "gossip"—the island can handle. Not that it's pretentious in any way—far from it. Chef-owner Julie Lightbourn does lovely traditional, fresh island lunches; her specialties include grilled shrimp, conch chili, and carrot cake. It's not her fault celebrity residents keep dropping in.

Open Wednesdays through Mondays 11:30 am to 4 pm. Closed September through mid-November.