In 1991 Billy and Akaisha Kaderli retired at the age of 38. Now, into their 4th decade of this financially independent lifestyle, they invite you to take advantage of their wisdom and experience.

Big Daddy's Grill

Boquete, Panama

Billy and Akaisha Kaderli

Walking along the main street in Boquete, there are a selection of restaurants, bars, banks and businesses. It is here that you will find Big Daddy's Grill.

The Entrance to Big Daddy's

There is outside seating, inside seating and seating on the porch in the back. We chose to sit in the tropical gardens behind the restaurant.

Fish Tacos!

When in the tropics, one of our favorite foods to eat here is fish tacos. Since Big Daddy's advertised this delicious dish, we had to go in to try it.

Colorful indoor decor

The inside was charming in its brilliant Caribbean Salsa style of wild colors and murals.

The daily specials

We had initially misread the daily special menu, thinking that the Mahi-Mahi tuna was $4.95, but this was the price for the Pina Colada.

We came in for fish, and this is what we ordered.

Fish tacos

The $9.95 fish tacos covered the plate. It comes with Cole slaw and French fries. But after having had the fish wrap at Black and White, these fish tacos were a bit of a disappointment.

The three salsas and sauces offered as condiments were literally tasteless. The fresh fish was tender and delicious, but it was lacking something and needed a kick. A fresh jalapeno salsa, a chipotle mayo, some lime or chili powder would have gone well.

 I know you didn't ask, but we think that the plate should have been only one fish taco, had 2/3 less fries, keep the Cole slaw and be offered for the price of $6.95.

But of course, we aren't running the joint!

Fish and Chips

Again, we figured less fries and a bit less fish, and charge the more affordable $6.95 for the plate. We only ate one-third of the French fries on both of our lunches.

Unfortunately, service was not memorable. No specials were ever mentioned, and the waitress never checked on us about our meal. We had to go looking for her twice - once to get another glass of wine, and once to receive the bill. We have been told that restaurant service in Panama is just "one of those things."

Our bill

Here is our bill, with the Jubilado discount given to just one person, not the both of us. We don't know what they were thinking, but when we returned with a friend a few days later and asked for the discount, they wouldn't give it to any of us (!). So the Jubilado is not guaranteed in every location every time. And it seems to be at the whim of whoever is running the cash register.

All prices in USDollars plus tip.

Big Daddy's Grill, Vía Boquete, Bajo Boquete, Panama

For more stories and photos of Panama, click here

About the Authors

Billy and Akaisha Kaderli are recognized retirement experts and internationally published authors on topics of finance, medical tourism and world travel. With the wealth of information they share on their award winning website RetireEarlyLifestyle.com, they have been helping people achieve their own retirement dreams since 1991. They wrote the popular books, The Adventurer’s Guide to Early Retirement and Your Retirement Dream IS Possible available on their website bookstore or on Amazon.com.

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