key west dining
 

I'm going to be in Key West in June for my honeymoon and we are looking for some restaurant suggestions. We are going to be there 5 days and will probably want a good cross section of fancy and casual places to eat. Cuban food and Seafood are definitely on the list.<BR><BR>Recommendations???

Try chowhound.com . Lots of knowledgeable foodies hang-out there. Do a search on the FL board.

El Siboney for Cuban and The Half Shell Raw Bar for seafood seem to be top choices for most.

Here's a list of restaurants: <BR>Antonias Restaurant; 615 Duval St; (305) 294-6565<BR><BR>Abaganza; Simonton St; <BR><BR>Banana Cafe; 1211 Duval St;(305) 294-7227<BR><BR>Blue Heaven; 305 Petronia Street; (305) 296-8666<BR><BR>Bo's Fish Wagon; 801 Caroline St; (305) 294-9272<BR><BR>Camilles Restaurant; 1202 Simonton Street; (305) 296-4811<BR><BR>Kellys Caribbean Bar Grill; 303 Whitehead St; (305) 293-8484<BR><BR>La-Te-Da; 1125 Duval St; (305) 296-6706<BR><BR>Louies Backyard; 700 Waddell Ave; (305) 294-1061<BR><BR>Martin's;305-296-1183<BR><BR>Meteor Smokehouse; 404 Southard St;(305) 294-5602<BR><BR>Michaels; 532 Margaret St; (305) 295-1300<BR><BR>Pepes Cafe; 806 Caroline St; (305) 294-7192<BR><BR>Salute; 1000 Atlantic Blvd; (305)292-1117<BR><BR>Schooner Wharf Bar &amp; Grill; 202 William Street; (305) 292-9520<BR><BR>Seven Fish; 632 Olivia St; (305) 296-2777<BR><BR>Siboney; 900 Catherine St; (305) 296-4184<BR><BR>Turtle Kraals; 1 Lands End Village;(305) 294-2640 <BR>

Dear lunchbox,Blue Heaven is the best restaurant in Key West!The food, and atmosphere are fantastic!Sunday Brunch is great!

Papa's Restaurant on Duval Street is great, with outdoor dining for some interesting people-watching. The grilled lobster is fantastic, and I don't even like lobster.

We really enjoyed Seven Fish when we were in Key West last October. Blue Heaven was good as well. We also had some excellent shrimp at the Conch Republic Seafood place, which is terribly touristy, but not terribly expensive.<BR><BR>We keep thinking we'll go to Alice's at La Te Da, but we never seem to make it there. Next time for sure.....<BR><BR>Jean

You've gotten some good suggestions! As another poster mentioned, El Siboney is best for Cuban food and the Half Shell Raw Bar has wonderful fresh fish. It's on Key West Bight and is very casual. <BR><BR>For fine dining, try Michael's or Square One. Ditto Alice's. A word about &quot;fancy&quot; in Key West. There's really no such thing. All restaurants welcome people wearing shorts, even though they might be serving $30 entrees! And in June, the heat and humidity will be stifling...<BR><BR>Blue Heaven is funky and quirky, but its food isn't always what it's cracked up to be. Decades ago it was a bordello and the chickens walking around the grounds today are reminders of the cockfights that were held there! If you want to give it try, I'd go for breakfast. <BR><BR>For good Italian food, try Antonia's and for a cholesterol-laden breakfast, try Pepe's (on Caroline). Seven Fish has a very good reputation, but my experience there was unremarkable. <BR><BR>In other words, there are LOTS of great restaurants in Key West, and if you stay in Old Town, you'll be within walking distance of most of them. For a preview of some of the menus, go to keywest.com/themenu/menus.htm

Blue Heaven was my favorite. We ate there for breakfast and dinner. Both were fabulous. I wouldn't miss it.

Best Cuban - El Siboney (although El Meson de Pepe is good too)<BR><BR>Best Seafood - I don't know if it's &quot;best&quot; but we did like the Conch Republic Seafood Co. Very touristy, but good food.<BR><BR>Best Italian - La Trattoria on Duval. The best restaurant we ate at while in Key West.

We ate at Louies Backyard for dinner. The atmosphere is nice (we sat out on the deck with view of the water). The food was very good, but it is pricey.

<BR><BR>For a honeymoon, I'd pick La Te Da's. To me it's fairly romantic (if that's what you're looking for.) Plus it has great food. For great food, but lacking a little on ambiance, try Seven Fish. (The restaurant at the Marquesa Hotel also has good food and is, in my mind, romantic. But it's tres pricey.)<BR>As mentioned, Blue Heaven is very funky but the food is sometimes equally funky. And it has sort of taken on a life of its own. Which isn't necessarily bad.<BR>Louie's Backyard has, which really can't be argued, the best setting in Key West. The food and service, however, can be argued about. A lot.<BR>My personal favorite restaurant, though, is Turtle Krall's. On the water. Next to the boats. With pelicans flying about and a stray cat meandering around (if the mayor has deported them all yet). It doesn't have great food (sorry Turtle Krall's)(the food's never made me sick, though, if that's an endorsement) but I just can relax there.<BR>Have fun in Key West.

Pepe's and Blue Heaven.<BR><BR>And Haagen-Daaz is worth a stop for their chocolate-covered key lime pie on a stick.

I thought it was the chickens they were getting rid of. I never heard that about the stray cat population.

Had a great time in Key west last May, going back next month! <BR><BR>Here are a couple of places we liked:<BR>HALF SHELL is a must.<BR>EL MESON DE PEPE, Wall Street <BR>MANGOES, Duval Street (this place gets mixed reviews. I thought it was great for lunch. The chicken wrap with mango chutney was delicious!)<BR><BR>And also, had a fantastic meal at an Italian place on Duval. If you head away from Mallory Square, cross Truman, it is on the left, tucked back in a shopping area. Across from Gay/Lesbian Info Center. Had outdoor seating. I think its called New York Italian Caf&eacute;. Great food, service and huge portions. <BR><BR>Also, Ann41 is right, you have to try the chocolate covered key lime pie on a stick. Yummy! Have fun. <BR><BR>

We went to Camille's for breakfast and then went back the next day because we liked it so much. Everything we had there was delicious. :-)

Alice's (at La-Te-Da Hotel) is very good, as is Seven Fish and Michaels. Not so good - Cafe Sole, Louie's and Banana Cafe. Keep Blue Heaven strictly for lunch - fun, quirky and different, but not for foodies. Kelly's - no!