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Best Restaurants in Maun

The Okavango's gateway town eats on river time: kudu burgers on backpacker decks, hotel grills that have fed the safari trade for generations, and one table reached by boat.

Every safari into the Okavango Delta starts or ends with a meal in Maun, and the town has built its tables accordingly. Old Bridge Backpackers serves kudu burgers on a deck over the Thamalakane River; Safari Bar & Grill is where the operators themselves eat between trips; and twenty kilometres east, Thamalakane River Lodge plates dinner on a stone terrace while crocodiles drift past. Nothing here performs for the camera. It feeds people who drive into the bush at dawn.

How Maun Eats

The clock runs early. Kitchens open for breakfast at seven, the safari trade eats dinner at six-thirty, and most kitchens take last orders between eight and nine; Old Bridge's kitchen closes at eight sharp. Arrive at nine expecting dinner and you will be eating bar snacks.

Game meat is the menu's spine. Kudu, locally farmed beef, and Botswana's excellent oxtail appear everywhere from backpacker decks to lodge terraces; the national staple seswaa, slow-pounded beef, is worth ordering whenever a kitchen admits to making it. Vegetarians do better than the reputation suggests, with lentil and bean burgers now standard.

Pay in pula, tip ten percent. Lodges and hotels take cards reliably; the town rooms prefer cash, and the ATM queue on a Friday is its own safari. A 10 percent tip is the convention, and a service charge appears only on lodge bills.

Season decides everything. June through October, the dry-season high, fills every deck and makes a dinner booking at the river lodges sensible; the green season, December to March, halves the town and brings mosquitoes to the riverbank at dusk, so pack repellent with your appetite.

Where to Eat Along the River

The Old Bridge. Old Bridge Backpackers is the town's common room: a riverside deck by the old wooden bridge where overlanders, pilots, and guides compare routes over kudu burgers and cold St Louis, kitchen open seven to eight daily.

The town centre. Safari Bar & Grill does the reliable kudu steak the operators order on repeat, and Cresta Riley's carries the hotel-dining-room tradition of Maun's oldest hotel name, cold Windhoek and Botswana beef under ceiling fans.

The airport gate. Bon Arrivée is the first and last meal of half the Delta's expeditions: a full English breakfast before the charter flight, a debrief coffee after.

Up the Thamalakane. Twenty kilometres east, Thamalakane River Lodge serves the area's most atmospheric dinner from stone chalets on the riverbank. Far beyond, in the Okavango panhandle, Xaro Lodge plates bush dinners on an island reached by boat, hippos providing the soundtrack.

The Maun Top 6

  1. Thamalakane River Lodge · Lodge dining · 20 km east · 150–350 BWP. A stone terrace on the riverbank with the Okavango's evening light and occasional crocodiles; Maun's most atmospheric table and worth the drive.
  2. Safari Bar & Grill · Grills · town centre · 90–220 BWP. Where the safari operators eat between trips; the kudu steak arrives correctly done every time, which in this town is the highest compliment.
  3. Old Bridge Backpackers · Deck kitchen · the Old Bridge · 60–150 BWP. The river deck every Delta traveller finds eventually: kudu burgers, stacked lentil burgers, and the best route gossip in Botswana, kitchen closing at eight.
  4. Cresta Riley's · Hotel dining · town centre · 100–250 BWP. The dining room of Maun's oldest hotel name, where the town's business has been settled over Botswana beef and cold Windhoek for generations.
  5. Xaro Lodge · Bush dining · Okavango panhandle · lodge rates. Dinner on a Delta island reached by boat, stars for a ceiling and hippos for ambient noise; the meal that justifies the word expedition.
  6. Bon Arrivée · Café · airport road · 50–120 BWP. The airport café sharpened: the full English that has launched more Delta expeditions than any other meal in Botswana.

Best for Each Occasion

Best for a first date. The river does the talking: a sunset table at Thamalakane River Lodge, or the deck at Old Bridge if the date wears dust well.

Best for closing a deal. Maun's deals are charter contracts and concession leases, and they close at Cresta Riley's, as they have for generations, or over a working lunch at Safari Bar & Grill.

Best for a birthday. Book the long table at Thamalakane River Lodge for the riverbank version, or commandeer the deck at Old Bridge and let the bar handle the rest.

Best for an expedition dinner. The night before the Delta: Safari Bar & Grill feeds the whole vehicle without fuss. The night after: Bon Arrivée coffee while the charter pilots file their paperwork.

All

Every Restaurant in Maun

Thamalakane
Thamalakane River Lodge, Maun Botswana
Thamalakane River Lodge
Safari Bar & Grill
Safari Bar & Grill, Maun Botswana
Safari Bar & Grill
Old Bridge
Old Bridge Backpackers, Maun Botswana
Old Bridge Backpackers
Cresta Riley's
Cresta Riley's, Maun Botswana
Cresta Riley's
Xaro Lodge
Xaro Lodge, Maun Botswana
Xaro Lodge
Bon Arrivée
Bon Arrivée, Maun Botswana
Bon Arrivée

Maun Dining Questions

What is the best restaurant in Maun?
For atmosphere, Thamalakane River Lodge, twenty kilometres east of town: a stone terrace on the riverbank with the Okavango's evening light. In town, Safari Bar & Grill is the operators' own choice and the most reliable kitchen, and Old Bridge Backpackers' river deck is the obligatory first-night table for anyone headed into the Delta.
What should I eat in Maun?
Game and beef. Kudu appears as steaks and burgers across town, Botswana's grass-fed beef is the region's quiet pride, and seswaa, the slow-pounded national beef dish, is worth ordering wherever a kitchen makes it. The lentil and bean burgers at Old Bridge cover vegetarians better than Maun's reputation suggests.
How early do restaurants close in Maun?
Early. The safari trade eats at six-thirty, Old Bridge Backpackers' kitchen runs seven in the morning to eight at night, and most town kitchens take last orders between eight and nine. The lodge dining rooms hold slightly later for house guests, but a nine o'clock dinner plan in Maun is a bar-snack plan.
Do I need reservations in Maun?
In the June-to-October high season, book the river tables: Thamalakane River Lodge for dinner, and any group larger than six anywhere. The town rooms and Old Bridge seat walk-ins year-round. Booking is by phone or WhatsApp; nothing in Maun lives on a reservation platform.
How much does dinner cost in Maun?
Roughly 60 to 150 pula a head at the backpacker decks and cafés, 90 to 250 at the town grills and hotel dining rooms, and 150 to 350 at the river lodges before drinks. Cards work at lodges and hotels; carry pula cash for everything else and tip 10 percent unless a lodge has added service.
Can you eat inside the Okavango Delta itself?
Yes, at the lodge tables, and Xaro Lodge in the panhandle is the version reachable without a full safari booking: an island dining room reached by boat, bush dinners under the stars, hippos audible from the table. Everything else in the Delta proper is tied to a camp stay, priced accordingly, and arranged through your operator in Maun.

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