Rafiki Tiki Bar & Grill

Rafiki Tiki Bar & Grill sits right on the water at Riviera Beach Marina Village, close enough to the Peanut Island shuttle dock that you can watch the boat load up while you wait on your food. The name and the thatched-roof look promise a tiki bar, and it delivers on that, but the kitchen leans into what the menu calls Floribbean cooking, which is really just a practical description of South Florida eating: tropical fruit and island spice worked into fresh Gulf and Atlantic seafood, with citrus doing a lot of the heavy lifting on flavor.

This is a marina restaurant first, and the setup reflects it. Most of the seating is open air, looking out over the docked boats and the channel toward Peanut Island, so plan on sun in the afternoon and a breeze most evenings. The kitchen is run by Executive Chef and General Manager Marcelino Rancaño IV, and the operation has the feel of a place built around one waterfront address rather than a concept designed to be copied elsewhere. That matters if you are trying to avoid chain seafood spots along this stretch of coast, because a lot of marina-adjacent restaurants in Palm Beach County belong to regional groups. Rafiki Tiki reads as a standalone operation tied specifically to this marina.

Hours run later than a lot of nearby lunch counters, with the kitchen open into the evening seven days a week and extended hours Thursday through Sunday that push toward 11 PM, which fits the live entertainment the venue books on a rotating schedule. Ordering ahead is an option through GrubHub for anyone who wants to skip the wait, though the appeal here is mostly about staying put and enjoying the view rather than grabbing food to go.

Because the marina draws a mix of boaters, Peanut Island day-trippers, and locals who treat it as a regular happy-hour stop, the crowd shifts through the day. Lunch tends to be quieter and more geared toward people passing through on their way to or from the water; evenings get louder once the bar fills in and any scheduled entertainment starts. Anyone coming specifically for a table with a clear water view should aim for an early dinner before the outdoor seating fills.

For a Riviera Beach food directory focused on independent, locally rooted businesses, Rafiki Tiki is a solid entry: it is anchored to one specific piece of Riviera Beach real estate, the marina, and its identity is built around that location rather than a portable restaurant format. Anyone exploring the marina district for the first time and looking for a sit-down meal with a genuine water view, rather than a quick bite from one of the bait shops or snack counters nearby, will find Rafiki Tiki is the most complete option in that immediate stretch of the marina.