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If you're a fan of vibrant coastal decor and fresh local seafood, you'll gush over this restaurant and bar overlooking the water and Hawks Cay Marina. The menu is varied with options that include burgers as well as grilled fish, the cocktails are creative, and there are more than a dozen beers on tap. Live music and comedy nights bring in the locals. The restaurant also offers a "Hook and Cook" option whereby your catch is prepared and served family style with sides.
540 Duck Key Dr., Duck Key, Florida, 33050, USA
Known For
- Locally sourced seafood like grouper cheeks and Key West pink shrimp
- Pricey menu
- Family friendliness
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Authentic southern Italian cuisine, with freshly made Neapolitan (Naples-style) pizza, pastas, and desserts is the focus here. A nicely landscaped garden with a cute Fiat decked out in the colors of the Italian flag should alert you to founders Tony and Isis Wright's obsession with detail. All the ingredients are imported from Italy, including the tomato sauce and olive oil, and master pizzaiolo Leopoldo Figlioli churns out pies with chewy crusts that are nicely blistered from the brick oven.
98070 Overseas Hwy., Key Largo, Florida, 33037, USA
Known For
- Friendly service
- Neopolitan pizza
- A second location in Islamorada
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Tues.
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This is the place to satisfy any French-pastry craving—from the made-from-scratch croissants to the cookies, muffins, coconut macarons, and of course, breads. A lovely patio is the perfect backdrop for breakfasts of brioche French toast, quiches with fresh salads, and a croque madame oozing with bechamel and poached eggs. Look out for the little French bulldog who meanders around the tables and is the unofficial mascot of the place.
1211 Duval St., Florida, 33040, USA
Known For
- Ham-and-cheese croissants
- Friendly owners
- French breakfasts
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Mon.
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This tiny counter-service restaurant is the best-kept secret in Islamorada, with the tastiest and most affordable ($11) grouper Reuben sandwich in the Keys. It's a small place—with six tables inside, a bar overlooking the kitchen, and an outdoor patio—and most diners are locals. The menu ranges from fresh seafood to excellent pizza. Don't miss the meatballs.
82758 Overseas Hwy., Florida, 33036, USA
Known For
- Excellent key lime pie
- Microbrews
- Seafood omelets
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Because of its location where the fast ferry docks, Conch Republic does a brisk business. It's huge, open-air, and on the water, and the menu is ambitious, offering more than just standard seafood fare. Try a Caribbean-style twist on oysters Rockefeller with the baked oysters callaloo, or opt for paella, plantain-crusted mahimahi, or steak. Live music adds to the decibel level.
631 Greene St., Florida, 33040, USA
Known For
- "Royal Reds" peel-and-eat shrimp
- No reservations
- Live music most nights
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Reservations not accepted
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Recommended Fodor’s Video
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Smack-dab on the docks, this legendary place gets its name from the oysters, clams, and peel-and-eat shrimp that are the stars of its seafood-based menu. It's not clever recipes or fine dining (or even air-conditioning) that packs 'em in; it's fried fish, po'boy sandwiches, and seafood combos. For a break from the deep fryer, try the fresh and light conch ceviche.
231 Margaret St., Florida, 33040, USA
Known For
- Daily happy hour with food and drink deals
- Few nonseafood options
- Good people-watching spot
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Reservations not accepted
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This is part of the colorful, bustling Old Florida scene at Robbie's Marina, so you know that the seafood here is fresh and top quality. The extensive menu seems as if it's bigger than the dining space, which consists of a few tables and counter seating indoors, plus tables out back under the mangrove trees. Try the Matecumbe fish sandwich with provolone and bacon on grilled sourdough.
77522 Overseas Hwy., Florida, 33036, USA
Known For
- Insanely good Bloody Marys with a beef-stick straw
- Heart-of-the-action location
- Biscuits and gravy
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Reservations not accepted
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Owned by Bass Pro Shops and housed in an open-air, oversize tiki hut on Florida Bay, this restaurant offers a quintessential Keys dining experience. Menu highlights include cracked conch beaten until tender and then fried, and fresh-catch Portofino blackened perfectly and topped with Key West shrimp and a brandied lobster sauce. There's a small tiki bar if you prefer a stool to a table.
81532 Overseas Hwy., Florida, USA
Known For
- Tourist hot spot
- Great views
- Afternoon fish and shark feedings in its private lagoon
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You can't miss the enormous tiki bar on stilts, but the walk-up window on the ground floor is the heart of this warehouse-turned-restaurant. The huge lobster Reuben served on thick slices of toasted bread is the signature dish, and the adults-only upstairs tiki bar offers a sushi and raw bar for eat-in only.
3390 Gulfview Ave., Florida, 33050, USA
Known For
- Seafood market
- Marina views
- Fish-food dispensers (25¢) so you can feed the tarpon
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Reservations not accepted
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This could be the prototype for a Keys restaurant, given its shanty appearance, lattice trim, and roving sort of indoor-outdoor floor plan. Then there's the seafood, from the ubiquitous fish sandwich (fried, grilled, broiled, or blackened) to the lobster Reubens, crab cakes, and coconut shrimp. Burgers, steaks, and ribs round out the menu. Hidden in a grove of banana and palm trees, the place opens for breakfast, lunch, Sunday brunch, and dinner.
19991 Overseas Hwy., Florida, 33042, USA
Known For
- Pizza
- Award-winning conch chowder
- Slow service
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This bayfront restaurant wins high marks for its surprisingly stellar cuisine, tables in the sand, and tiki torches that bathe the evening in romance. Seafood takes center stage, but you can always get roasted organic chicken or prime rib. The tapas menu caters to smaller appetites with offerings like fried calamari and conch salad. Sit in a dining room outfitted with surfboards, or outdoors on a beach, where the sunset puts on a mighty show and kids (and your feet) play in the sand.
81600 Overseas Hwy., Florida, 33036, USA
Known For
- Feet-in-the-sand dining
- Full-moon parties
- Intoxicating sunset views
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Locals pack the counters and booths at this tiny eatery, where license plates decorate the walls, to dine on everything from blackened prime rib to crab cakes. Every night is themed, including Meatloaf Monday, Italian Wednesday, and Seafood Sensation (offered Friday and Saturday). There are also tasty Angus beef burgers, sandwiches, a famous chili, and key lime freeze (a tangy concoction somewhere between a shake and a float). In season, ask about the hogfish special du jour.
99336 Overseas Hwy., Florida, 33037, USA
Known For
- A second location a half mile south with a full liquor bar
- Champagne breakfast
- Being a stop on the Florida Keys Food Tour
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Sun.
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$$ | Old Town |
Pizzas are the star of the show at this bustling trattoria a short walk from the Duval fray. The kitchen churns out a variety of Neopolitan pies from its 2-ton wood-fired oven made of bricks and stones from Mt. Vesuvius. Pastas run the gamut from gnocchi to buccatini done cacio e pepe (cheese and pepper) style. Antipasti and salads round out the lengthy menu.
613½ Duval St, Key West, Florida, 33040, USA
Known For
- Brick-oven pizza
- Another location near the harbor
- Burrata salad
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Occupying a 1930s conch house with outdoor seating right alongside U.S. 1 under the sea-grape trees, this local favorite is all about the fish: yellowtail snapper, tuna, and mahimahi. Choose your favorite, then choose your preparation, such as the Hemingway, with a Parmesan crust, crabmeat, and key lime butter. A handful of vegan and vegetarian options also make this a good bet for those with dietary restrictions.
97800 Overseas Hwy., Florida, 33037, USA
Known For
- Spicy corn muffins
- Fish and fried-tomato sandwich
- Grilled avocado appetizer
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Reservations not accepted
