Gladys’ Cafe

US Virgin Islands


With the stereo blaring beside her, Gladys belts out Tina Turner tunes while serving some of the best West Indian food around. Locals and tourists pile in for her callaloo (spicy soup with okra, meats and greens), fungi (cornmeal pudding), Ole Wife (triggerfish) and fried plantains. Gladys’ homemade hot sauces (for sale at the front) make a fine souvenir.

There's also a towering Caribbean-lobster salad sandwich.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby US Virgin Islands attractions

1. St Thomas Synagogue

0.13 MILES

The second-oldest synagogue in the western hemisphere (the oldest is on the island of Curaçao), peaceful St Thomas Synagogue is a National Historic…

2. Emancipation Garden

0.17 MILES

Emancipation Garden is where the emancipation proclamation was read after enslaved people were freed on St Croix in 1848. Carnival celebrations and…

3. Frederik Lutheran Church

0.18 MILES

Located near the fort, this is one of Charlotte Amalie’s architectural gems. During the 19th century the church had segregated congregations – one West…

4. Fort Christian

0.19 MILES

Red-brick Fort Christian is the oldest Danish fortification in the Caribbean, dating to 1672. Over the years it has housed a jail, a governor’s residence…

5. 99 Steps

0.21 MILES

These stairs lead from Kongens Gade up into a canopy of trees at the foot of Blackbeard's Castle. The steps, of which there are actually 103 (though you…

6. Government House

0.25 MILES

Ascend the hill behind Frederik Lutheran Church and you’ll come to a grand white mansion housing the territorial governor's offices. It was built between…

7. Blackbeard’s Castle

0.3 MILES

Set atop Government Hill, this five-story masonry watchtower was said to be the lookout post of pirate Edward Teach, alias Blackbeard, in the 18th century…

8. Frenchtown

0.55 MILES

The island’s ‘Frenchies,’ aka Huguenots who emigrated to St Thomas from St-Barthélemy during the mid-19th century, populated this community of brightly…