The Keys reef fish that appears on every serious Key West menu, usually pan-sautéed whole or filleted and finished with a fruit salsa, a citrus butter or a curry. Delicate, sweet and easy to overcook.
Where to eat it: 3 restaurants across 1 city.
Yellowtail runs the reef line off the Keys year round and has been the local restaurant fish since long before the shrimp boats arrived. It is what Key West kitchens reach for when a menu says local catch, and each of the island's dining rooms treats it as a signature: Cafe Marquesa serves it crisp with shoestring potatoes, Seven Fish finishes it with a Thai curry sauce, and The Flaming Buoy Filet Co pairs it with banana salsa. The variation between those three plates is a fair summary of how Key West cooks: Caribbean fruit, Asian heat and old-school technique on the same fish.
Common allergens: Fish, Dairy
Tip from the editors. Yellowtail is a thin fish. Take it off the heat while the centre still looks slightly translucent, because it carries on cooking on the plate.
Cafe Marquesa is the Marquesa Hotel's 50-seat dining room in Key West, where chef Travis Lee crisps yellowtail snapper and plates oysters nightly.
Order: Crispy yellowtail snapper with shoestring potatoes
Tip: The room seats around fifty and fills with hotel guests first, so reserve ahead for the 19:00 to 20:00 window.
Seven Fish is the Key West dinner room locals book on Truman Avenue, plating yellowtail snapper in Thai curry sauce and smoked mahi from a tight menu.
Signature: Yellowtail snapper with Thai curry sauce, Smoked mahi-mahi
Order: Yellowtail snapper with Thai curry sauce
Tip: Dinner only from 18:00 and closed Tuesdays; the small dining room rewards a reservation over a walk-in wait.
The Flaming Buoy Filet Co plays retro supper club on Eaton Street in Key West, searing yellowtail snapper with banana salsa under Star Wars memorabilia.
Order: Yellowtail snapper with banana salsa
Tip: Happy hour runs 16:00 to 18:00 and the room is tiny; Tuesday is the dark night, so plan around it.
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