ABSILVER's Key West Restaurant Reviews
I have been in Key West for almost a month, from the 2nd
of June to the 29th, 2013. So, I thought I would share my reviews of
restaurants. (Going to update and hopefully put these on a map.)
The Key is Simple, and I will try and keep comments a few.
Green: I would recommend it.
I ate there more than once, and the food and service were very good to
excellent.
Blue: It was very good. I would probably go back but read the
comments.
Orange: Was
OK. I may have been there on a bad day,
but odds are I won’t return. Maybe the restaurant did not match my taste, but not somewhere I would not
go out of my way to try again.
Red: I wouldn’t go
back, nor would I recommend anyone try it.
(you will note no reds below.)
A few observations about restaurants in Key West, to my
observation, they are all above average, and I was quite pleased overall. Also, the most expensive meal to eat here is
breakfast. If you have a standard
breakfast, it is $20 a person. This
seems high to me, even in a resort town, but it is what it is.
Lastly, these are just my opinions. A few here that I know from others
would be in a higher or lower category so take this all with a grain of salt. It is possible they had a bad day, I had a
bad day, or both.
So here it goes:
Green:
The best fish in town, and that is saying quite a lot. I have ordered Snapper or Grouper around town
and have not had a bad piece of fish. I
went here twice, sat at the bar with Anna (Friday and Saturday night) each time
with friends and family. The food is
great, and frankly, the last time, we ate too much for appetizers and were challenged
to eat all of the Gnocchi, which were delicious.
Make reservations, we didn’t see a walk-up get in both nights, and this is not season. Also, if you
want a treat and are a party of four or less reserve dinner with Anna at the
bar. She is not only charming and
knowledgeable about food and wine but can give you pointers for your visit to
town as well.
Cafe Sole 1029 Southard St, Key West, FL (305) 294-0230 · (http://www.cafesole.com/)
How lucky can you get? Café’ Sole’ is closest to the house I rented. I also think it is possibly the best overall food and ambiance. The outside is designed well and frankly makes the restaurant feel home-like even though it isn’t. My first night, I had two signature dishes. Their mushroom soup, was lovely and their hogfish was delicious. They do something else. I think more restaurants should. They have side dishes, and they serve them in small amounts together. (These nights were Lima beans, rice, carrots, and mashed potatoes). They complement the food very well, and the focus of the entree is the entree itself.
The next time I had the lamb chops and they were scrumptious
and then went with my niece, bf, and two friends this week, and they all noted
how fresh and good the food is.
I enjoyed the food, the ambiance, and they seemed to
remember me and made me feel at home.
Blue:
It is owned by Jack
Flats. It is mostly, if not all, outdoors
and has two things that I crave when out alone.
Good food, and a bar to sit at and eat when alone. I had eaten there a few years back and
remembered it as tasty food and was fun as the bar is close to Duval Street but
not sitting in the middle of the sidewalk. The food was good, and I went a few times.
I had the Caribbean Steak, the Macon Bacon Salad, and the last time my
niece and BF and I had some appetizers.
We really liked the Salad Wraps (the noodles were bland, though). The wings were great on first order and not
as good as the second, and the Texas Spring rolls were fair.
I think Caroline’s is perfect for lunch or late at night and
you want to people watch. Not gourmet
food, but overall would and did definitely go back.
I think the best
hamburger I ate in Key West. The service
is good, and if there is something sports worthy, it is crowded. Every night I was there, there was something
sports-oriented like the NHL playoffs, which was a little much for me. The food and service are quite good, and the
tater tots as a choice on the potato side were a nice change. They also have a very long bar which makes
eating there alone less challenging.
As a gay guy, Dante’s probably would not have been on my
list at all. That said, with my niece and
her BF, here was a recommendation from a local in town. It looks at first glance like a place to be
in the daytime. Nice pool, a few bars, and
obviously people are there to swim, be seen, and enjoy the view both around them
and the water that it sits on in Key West.
That said, we had lunch there. I had the fried shrimp, and they were
wonderful. My niece had a French Dip,
and her BF had a Cuban mix sandwich.
They were quite happy with their food, and the service was very nice as
well. If I were in my 20’s and
straight, I would probably move this up into the green as it seemed like good
value for the money and a nice place to be, especially on a hot afternoon. My niece compared it to a pool at a Cruise
ship, which may give you a picture of the ambiance.
Willie T’s is sitting on Duval St., and they generally have
live music. So, it would be pretty hard to
mess that up. I ate there the second
night here, I think, and had a hamburger that was quite good but not as good as Jack Flats, which is almost right next door. My
niece, BF, and I ate there and had real entrees, and they were good as well. The only thing keeping this from moving up
to the green is the service is a little flat (not bad, just a little flat), and
frankly, the bands are fair. I realize
it is hard to have good bands off-season, so this may not be fair, and this
seems to be a challenge all over town in the summer, but if the band was good, we would have sat much longer and enjoyed it more.
We ate there for breakfast.
If you can’t tell, breakfast is a favorite meal of mine to eat out. Two Friends is close to the sunset (Mallory
Square) and just off Duval St. We
(niece, bf, and I) had breakfast there and frankly was late in the morning and
we were hungry. Food was good, service
was very good, and we had more than the standard egg breakfasts all of us and I
think it was still under $20 each, so I think not only was it tasty and fun but
they were reasonable.
Frankly, if I ate there again, it would be interesting to be an outdoor
and indoor option. I could see, but won’t
this trip, trying them for another time of day and see how they are.
Mangoes has a few things going for it to start. They used to be affiliated with the one in
Fort Lauderdale, which is quite good. I
have a memory of a nice meal at one here at the bar a few years ago, and they
are on Duval St. They have changed hands
since the meal a few years ago. Was a
later evening, this time, and I ate at the bar.
The food was quite good. I had
Snapper that was very fresh and remember it fondly. The service was ok, but I felt it was a
little overpriced.
What keeps Mangoe’s from the green is, for some reason, I didn't
go back. Partly cause at night their
dinner menu is more on the expensive side, and I tend to eat lighter at night
when alone. In a crowd of
good restaurants, they need to do more to stand out, especially off-season.
Sara Beth’s I only
ate there for breakfast, but I think they probably deserve to be in the
Green. The breakfast was very nice. It was on the expensive side, but not by
much, and I had an omelet, latte, and orange juice. The service was impeccable. The ambiance was nice, and it felt like this
was a place local business people come and leverage the peace and civility that
comes across from their restaurant.
Honestly, if I had a destination breakfast in town, they win over the
Blue Heaven for me.
Old
Town Bakery: 930 Eaton St
Key West, FL 33040 (305) 396-7450 (http://oldtownbakerykeywest.com/Home.html
)
I am a lucky man. In
every town, I seem to run into a very good bakery. I think it is harder to do in the humid south
than the north, so when you encounter a good bakery, I take note. They have very good sandwiches, fresh
squeezed OJ in the morning, and very good latte’s. They also gave me a great breakfast option as they made for a fresh lovely option under the average $. So, you would think they should be in the
green. I only put them in Blue for one
reason. I had their breakfast sandwich
yesterday with egg, cheddar, on a brioche, and I thought it was just ok. My advice would be to use real eggs and more
salt and pepper, and since breakfast is that important to me, I will keep them in
the blue.
Orange:
Yes, the gods will shoot me for this, I assure you. Everyone says you have to eat at Blue Heaven
for breakfast. My take on it is don’t go
alone. The first time I ate there alone
and was mostly ignored for my time there.
The food was fine, but nothing too out of the ordinary, and Havana’s was
as good to me and more reasonable and cleaner.
The second time went with two friends, and one got the special omelet (seafood)
which ended up being $25, but the waitress didn't feel compelled to mention that
when discussing the specials.
If you went with a group, and maybe later for brunch
with drinks and listening to the band Blue Heaven would be fun. They were crowded the first and less so the
second, but after the second adventure, it is not a place I would rush back to
for breakfast. Would rather go to Havana’s
or the Six Toed Cat.
Harpoon Harry’s: 832 Caroline St. Key West, FL
33040 (305) j94-8744 ( http://harpoonharryskeywest.com/
)
This was a why don’t you try Harpoon Harry’s, from a
friend. Not a recommendation, but I had
heard from another it was good. The
frank truth is maybe they are better for breakfast. It was an evening dinner. They had a special that they had already run
out of that evening. The menu listed a
fish sandwich, and I had read a review raving about it, and it was OK. The fried green beans that went with it were
ok, and the service was listless.
If this had been anywhere but Key West, I would have felt
they weren't comfortable with gay folks.
But, I just think they were not great, and as you can see above, I ate
pretty well over the last month, so I would not put them in the recommended categories.
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