Hi gang-

My brother and I will be spending about a day-and-a-half in Key West in July. I just booked a room at the Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza on Duval St.

We're looking forward to hitting all of the fun joints (Doing the "Duval Crawl")...I've got that pretty much covered.

Can you guys give me any feedback on dining? We'll probably just do sandwiches in a bar for lunch, but I'd like to have a NICE dinner someplace. Money isn't an issue, but our casual attire might be. (Probably in shorts and t-shirts).

Thanks in advance-

Nanette

Do a text search on Key West and you will find tons of information. The test search box is at the top...

Hi, Nanette! One of the nice things about Key West is that ANY restaurant will be perfectly happy to take your money no matter what you're wearing! And like you, most people will probably be wearing shorts. I have a couple of recommendations. For a very casual lunch with the best seafood in the world, try the Half Shell Raw Bar at the Historic Seaport. For a fun and tasty dinner Alice's is a great choice. Another wonderful dinner choice (more expensive than Alice's) is Square One. Both are on Duval.

I second Susan's suggestion of Square One. We also really liked sevenfish (a few blocks off Duval) and Blue Heaven (not really fancy but good food and a fun place). We've also had good meals at Papa's on Duval and Mangoes. These are all places (except maybe Square One) where shorts are fine.

Blue Heaven's great. Definitely recommend it.

My favorite place is Pepe's, but that may be more like the places you'd be visiting for lunch.

Shorts are great for any place there, even the fine dining restaurants. Some favorites are 7 Fish and Half Shell Raw bar.

Nanette - Since you are in a great location on Duval... consider a pre-dinner "hose-down" along with a quick change to smart casual for dinner... that will make you comfortable at the Marquesa Cafe, Cafe de Artiste, Louie's Backyard, or Alices at La Te Da.

Anywhere else will accomodate your sweaty T's and ragged shorts.

You will be fine in shorts no matter where you go including the upscale places. Avoid Louie's Backyard (very over rated). We went there after many people on this board and others told us not too (including our host) and we were very disappointed. Alice's was great and so was Square One. El Siboney is delicious is you like Cuban.

Yea you can pass on Louie's Backyard for dinner but they do have a nice bar to sit at outside. Banana Cafe is really nice for anytime of day.

I was in KW 3 weeks ago...We went to the rooftop cafe... was wonderful! Great food and wine. It's a great place to eat with good specials before Sunset. Just a few blocks from the sunset celebration and a block from the top of Duval St.

A good seafood restaurant we ate at is The Conch Republic Seafood Company. GREAT fried shrimp ( not too battered, just flash fried) And a drink/ rum menu that was huge. Fun and good!

You guys have been SO helpful. Many thanks.

(Too bad I'm REALLY confused about where to eat now!)

*grinning*

blue heaven is great!!
louie's is ok, kind of overrated, go for lunch, not dinner--
must do:a&b seafood for mojitos--the best in the keys__

If you're going to be there on a weekend, I'd heartily recommend making reservations for dinner.
I'd recommend Seven Fish for dinner (very low-key, and very small, but great food).
Alice's has great food as well for dinner.
For lunch, check out Turtle Krall's. It has a great location, right on the water.
For breakfast, I'd do Blue Heaven, Pepe's or Camille's.

Husband and I go to Key West for a week or so almost every year. Stay at the end of Duval Street at the Southernmost Motel. A typical motel, nice pools, and great location. The restaurants that we have liked best, and we have tried most of them, are Camilles (the best), Blue Heaven, and an Italian restaurant one block down from Camilles on Simonton St. Used to like Half Shell Raw Bar years ago but is mostly fried food and much too touristy. Also like Mo's. a really small, local place with a French flair.
Have fun and bon appetite.

My family loves The Half Shell Raw Bar because of how many items you can get that are NOT fried. We are not big on fried food so we always get the broiled fish dishes and there are many offered. I think they do offer many fish selection broiled or fried but we prefer broiled.
We also enjoy Pepes for lunch. My son swears they have the "best burgers anywhere!"

Peppi's....near the docks. The oldest restaurant in the Keys

The raw bar items at the Half Shell are the best anywhere but that Po-Boy Oyster sandwich is killer!