Restaurants are clustered in Uehara and Ohara and around a handful of resorts. The food is recognisably Okinawan rather than mainland Japanese: goya (bitter melon), Ishigaki beef, sea grapes (umi-budo), pork in many forms, and the local Orion beer.
Many places shut early and few open on Sundays — plan ahead. The little izakayas behind the Uehara ferry pier are a good evening option, and several roadside shops along the ring road sell rice balls and bento for hikers.