Headed in Feb to Key West with several couples. What are your recommendations for your favorite Key West Restaurant? Anyone tried Alice's at LaTeeDa and the cabaret show? Thanks for your help.

Was in Key West a few years ago. Highly recommend Louie's Backyard for an elegent dining experience. Overlooks the water with the entire deck decorated in white lights. Main part of restaurant in a wonderful old house. Also, Blue Heaven great for a true Key West experience- lunch or dinner. We went to Alice's the first night- good but not my favorite. A place called the Tree House was recommended by a local- great food. Also- restaurant at the Marquesa Hotel looked like alot of fun.If shopping on Duval, Mangoes is a great lunch spot. Have fun- it's a great vacation place.

There are LOTS of restaurant recommendations on this board for Key West, which in my opinion has some of the best restaurants anywhere. Unfortunately, Louie's has developed a pretty bad reputation...both for haughty service and overpriced meals. It's definitely the prettiest restaurant, though, so if you want to try it for cocktails or for lunch, you should. El Siboney has great, cheap Cuban food. Pepe's has a little bit of everything. Blue Heaven is wonderfully funky and very Key West. It used to be a bordello. I love Alice's!! For very casual (plastic fork/paper plates) on the water try Half Shell Raw Bar. It's got some really good, fresh fish. Michael's has fabulous veal chops. For some sample menus, go to keywest.com/themenu, then click on "menus"

Here is my list of favorites (locals and tourists)with quick descriptions. Skip Louie's but do go to the Afterdeck Bar for drinks. It is the part truely over the water. Marquesa is sort of hit or miss. Look at the menu while you are here and see if it sounds good to you. If so make reservations. Ask for Glenn. The Drag show at La Te Da is very fun. GO by and see it. If Randy Roberts is performing, don't miss his show.

Breakfast
Blue Heaven - very funky, usually a wait for a table, great outdoor eating area.
Martins- Great Brunch only on Sundays, great benedicts, make reservations
Harpoon Harry's - local hangout, cheap and quick
Banana Cafe - fabulous crepes, Locals favorite
Pepes - delicious but expect a wait, get the homemade bread
The Deli - cheap but good and fast
Lunch
Alonzo's Oyster Bar - try the lobster sand and the white clam chili. They also have warm and cold water oysters, cold are the best.
Mangoes - great people watching place and good salads and sandwiches.
The Deli - cheap but good and fast
Half Shell Raw Bar - locals favorite, best raw bar, great conch chowder and fritters
Turtle Kraals - locals favorite, Southwest flavor
Banana Cafe - good salads and crepes
B's Restaurant - Cuban, locals favorite
B.O.'s Fish Wagon - delicious fish sand
Rusty Anchor - on Stock Island, locals favorite
Louie's – O.K. for lunch, not dinner – if you must try it. Not as good as it once was. Very pricey for snobby, so so service.
Dinner
Cafe Des Artiste - fine dining but worth it. Great wine list. Ask for Joseph. Yellowtail Atocha – to die for
A&B Lobster House - fine dining, get a pan roast but save room for the banana foster! Sit outside if available. Great wine list of some very hard to find American wines.
7 Fish –Locals favorite. Make reservations a couple days in advance. Casual. Don’t miss
Antonia’s - amazing Italian, upscale. Great specials. Make reservations
Mangia Mangia - great cheap Italian, expect a wait
Ambrosia - Sushi!! Make reservations. Best sushi in town. The tuna will melt in your mouth.
Michael's - great steak and duck. Chocolate Volcano!
Alonzo's Oyster Bar - White Clam Chili!. Great dinner specials.
Alice's – funky, make reservations. Don’t miss her Artichoke. Locals favorite.
Mangos - great specials or pizza late night
Blue Heaven - Yellowtail!!
El Siboney - Great Cuban
Martins - great specials

Dessert
Flamingo Crossing Ice Cream

Loved Alice's at La-Te-Da. The seafood there was wonderful. Not as elegant dining as Louie's but more enjoyable. Highly recommended. Also went to the caberet, which we really enjoyed. It was one with a special guest and was highly entertaining.

Thank you for the restaurant details. With just 4 replies I am set and will do the cabaret at Alice's and as many more as we can squeeze in.

fran

Turtle Kraels was crappy last June 2001. poor service. Greasy food, wih large piles of dried out rice and beans, and black over-fried plantains. Do yourself a favor and try somewhere else. It was terrible. Hardshell Cafe was great for drinks and appetizers.

He&* Jersey, was there anything about the Keys or Key West that you liked. All you have done is complain. Hard Shell (you mean Hard Rock I assume) is a joke.

There is no Hard Rock in the keys......thank god!!!

There is a Hard Rock Cafe in the Keys.......in Key West on Duval Street. Why anyone would think a local restaurant would be better over a chain is nuts!

wouldnt be is what was meant.

I have had dinner at Turtle Kraals 4 times in the last 9 months, recently as last week...and have found the prices reasonable and the service and food good in a nice casual dockside atmosphere.........it's certainly not up there with finer establishments like A & B, Micheals,Alice's etc....but surely a good valued alternative in my opinion

Lonepalm757

We just got back from key West last night and had a wonderful time!(A special thank you to GRGLNSWSH who was kind enough to email me suggestions on eating before we left.)I would definitely suggest including Pepes on your eating march around town. We had dinner there the other night and although we had a 40 minute wait-it was worth it. Calamari appetizer along with the two biggest pork chops I have ever seen on a plate(fabulous sauce!)Supposely,Harry Truman used to ditch his secret service people to eat there as it was his favorite spot for dining.(The place looks like nothing on the outside but has a very small diningroom and courtyard with bar that is great on the inside).
I had a great seafood salad at Turtle Kraals for lunch too. We went to Sloppy Joes the first night and had the jerk chicken sandwich with a beer.Food alright but
the people watching is GREAT! Blue Heaven had major lines both day we tried to go for breakfast-last day there we would have had a 2 1/2 wait!
Just try and time your eating with the off hours of the cruise ship people.
On a personal note-PLEASE do not waste your money or time on the Key West Aquarium.$9.00 ripoff and it should definitely NOT be called an aquarium.The place has "people/castmembers" who take live sharks out of tanks(after wrestling them into a net) and walk around having people pet them like they are a dog.No supervision at the kids touch tank,children trying to pull legs off of horseshoe crabs,squeeze guts out of sea cucumbers,etc.There is nothing educational about the place and the treatment of some of the other animals there should be investigated. It broke my heart!

thanks for the info on the Aquarium Debbie. The only way "aquariums" such as the one in Key West make any changes, is if people such as yourself stop giving their dollars and spread the word to stop supporting such pathetic institutions.

Thanks - I for one will not be visiting when I go next month.

I wonder where "Grglnswsh" came-up with that restaurant list with all that information on it. I have seen a simular list on the AOL travel board from a different person who posted it a couple of years ago many times. It looks very simular, not saying her recommendations are very good & that she lives there. I wonder.

It is my list and I have been on the AOL board for years. I have also lived here for years and dine out 3-5 times a week. I "tweek" it as new places come and go.

Come on Carol, I'm going down there in Oct....tell about the Seance Theater...

I frequent AOL's Key West board and Grglnswsh is the real deal....accept no imposters. My wife and I have relied often upon Grglnswsh's insights and years of experience on that board and as a KW resident.

Nuff said.

Tim