Can anyone recommend any restaurants that serve authentic conch dishes in or around Key West? By authentic I mean they would still be serving this food if no tourism existed. If there are certain regional dishes you'd recommend, please do so. I've had conch chowder in Homestead once and it was amazing. Thanks in advance.

I typically eat a lot of stone crab & conch whilst in Key West. By the same token, nearly everyone has one or both on the menu 'in season' so I'm sure I can help more than that... Although BOs Fish Wagon may be what you seek - http://www.keywesttravelguide.com/bos-fish-wagon.html

Sorry - clicked the wrong link - http://bosfishwagon.com/

I suspect they'd still be serving a lot of those Cuban-influenced dishes if tourism didn't exist. too.

El Siboney...it's been around forever and it's very good Cuban food.

http://www.elsiboneyrestaurant.com/menu.html

Mo's Hatian restaurant, 1116 White Street. Most tourists don't wander out White street, especially far enough to hit Mo's.

Isn't conch a protected species in Key West? I thought all the conch served in KW was from the Bahamas (or elsewhere).

I eat lots of Key West Pinks (shrimp) when I'm in the keys.

Thanks all. These sound great. I'll say hi to the chickens for you.

Jeah - After I read your post I looked it up on google, and sure enough conch is protected in the keys. And you're right again, all that's served in Key West is from the Bahamas.

Thanks so much for the info!

Seven Fish is a very good small restaurant in Key West. You will probably need to make a reservation.

On conch: people trap conch here in Nantucket in the summer and export it to the Bahamas. Maybe some of it gets reexported to the Conch Republic but originates in Massachusetts. One Jimmy Buffet comes here every summer to fish, so there is a lot of contact between the two islands!

On authentic food: Key West has a number of Cuban groceries that make sandwiches and usually have a couple of hot dishes at lunch and maybe dinner time for takeout. Ask locally for a recommendation. Once you have seen one, you will recognize them easily. Cheap and good in my epxperience.