Buba Wuba's Grill & Smoke Shack

Most of the smoke you smell walking Placencia's main street comes from grills firing to order. At Buba Wuba's Grill & Smoke Shack, it comes from meat that has been on the fire for hours. This is a waterfront grill and smokehouse that smokes its own pork and chicken on-site, tucked on a canal just off the main street with a dock, so some of the people at the next table arrived by boat.

What Buba Wuba's Actually Is

It is a smokehouse first and a grill second. The kitchen smokes pork and chicken on the property rather than shipping it in, which is the whole reason to walk down here instead of stopping at the first palapa you pass. You sit under an open-air palapa beside the lagoon, and there is live music at times.

The setting does part of the work. The dock access means the restaurant faces the water instead of the road, so the view is the channel and the lagoon rather than passing golf carts. If you are working your way through the peninsula's open-air waterfront spots, this one earns its place by what comes off the smoker, not just where the tables sit.

What to Order

Start with the thing the name promises. The menu runs on smoke: smoked pulled pork, and smoked chicken or shrimp tacos that carry the same low-and-slow character. Beyond the tacos, the kitchen puts out ribs, burgers, and seafood, so a table can split between the smoker's output and something fresh off the grill.

• Smoked pulled pork, the house's core, cooked on-site.
• Smoked chicken or shrimp tacos, the easiest way to taste the smokehouse in one order.
• Ribs and burgers for anyone who wants the grill straight.
• Seafood, fitting for a table on the water.

If seafood is what pulled you to Placencia in the first place, it is worth reading the rest of the peninsula's seafood and ceviche spots too, then deciding whether you want yours plain-grilled or carrying smoke.

Finding It, and When to Go

Buba Wuba's sits on a canal a short step off Placencia's main street, so it is walkable if you are already in the village and reachable by boat if you are coming across the water to the dock. That off-street position is easy to miss on a first pass, which is part of why the crowd tends to be people who came looking for it.

Hours here follow a weekly schedule that the restaurant posts on its active Facebook business page rather than keeping fixed all season. Before you make the walk, check the page's latest post for the current days and times. That one habit saves the wasted trip, and it is the most useful thing to know before you go. For a wider look at the peninsula and the rest of the country, the towns directory is the place to start.

Who It's For

Go if you want smoke that took real time, eaten at a table on the water, with the option of arriving by boat. It suits travelers who would rather find the spot off the main street than settle for the nearest one, and anyone who reads "smoke shack" as a promise worth checking. Look at the Facebook schedule first, then walk down to the canal.