Florida's signature dessert: a graham-cracker crust filled with tart key lime curd thickened with sweetened condensed milk, topped with whipped cream and a wedge of fresh lime. Origin disputed between the Florida Keys and Miami, settled politically as Florida's official state pie since 2006.
Where to eat it: 7 restaurants across 2 cities.
Key lime pie was likely invented in the late 19th century in the Florida Keys, where the small, intensely tart key limes (Citrus aurantiifolia) grew wild and sweetened condensed milk (invented by Gail Borden in 1856) was the only available shelf-stable dairy on the islands. The chemistry of the dish is unique: the citric acid in lime juice causes the condensed milk to thicken without heat, so the original 19th-century version was uncooked, set by acid alone. Modern food safety requires a low-temperature bake. Joe's Stone Crab in Miami Beach has served the dish since 1913 and is the most-cited Miami canonical address. The Florida Keys grow few commercial key limes today; most are now imported from Mexico and the Dominican Republic. Some Miami spots use Persian limes for accessibility, but purists demand authentic key limes (smaller, yellower, more aromatic).
Common allergens: Gluten, Dairy, Egg
Tip from the editors. Real key lime juice is essential; Persian lime alone tastes flat. If you cannot source key limes, the Nellie and Joe's brand of bottled key lime juice is the canonical Florida pantry substitute. Use Eagle Brand condensed milk if possible; other brands have different sugar levels and the chemistry varies.
This is the TableJourney editorial recipe, modelled on the canonical bistro / counter version. The first place to try the dish in its city of origin is below.
Joe's Stone Crab in Miami Beach is the 1913 South of Fifth seafood cathedral, serving chilled stone crab claws with mustard sauce from October 15 to May 1.
Signature: Stone crab claws with mustard sauce, Key lime pie, Hash browns
Order: Jumbo or large stone crab claws with the mustard sauce and a side of creamed spinach.
Tip: No reservations for dinner; arrive by 5pm or use the take-away counter next door for the same claws to-go.
Versailles in Miami is the 1971 Cuban institution at 3555 SW 8th Street, open until midnight every night and 1am on weekends with the ventanita pouring.
Try: Cuban full plates and ventanita cafecito
Tip: Weekend 1am closing on the dining room; the ventanita stays open later. Order vaca frita and a cortadito.
Yardbird in Miami Beach is the Southern brunch room at 1600 Lenox Avenue, with 27-hour brined fried chicken, biscuits and bourbon-maple syrup on a Saturday.
Order: Chicken n watermelon n waffles with bourbon-maple syrup
Tip: Book the patio at 10am for Saturday brunch; the queue stretches to 1pm by noon.
Columbia in Ybor City has plated 1905 Salad, paella and Spanish-Cuban classics since 1905, Florida's oldest restaurant under five Gonzmart family generations.
Bern's Steak House in Hyde Park is the 1956 dry-aged steakhouse running the largest restaurant wine cellar in the world: 500,000 bottles, 6,500 labels.
Ulele on the Tampa Riverwalk in a restored 1903 water works building cooks native-inspired Floridian fish, alligator and pompano over a 10-foot barbacoa.
Wright's Gourmet House on South Dale Mabry has built Tampa's classic Cuban and roast-beef sandwiches plus the famous rum cake since 1963. A Tampa table.
Order: Cuban sandwich pressed and a slice of the rum cake to take home.
Tip: Pete and Marjorie Wright started the shop on April 20, 1963; the Casper family bought it in 2024 to keep it Tampa-owned.
More cities are in research. Want key lime pie covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.