Key West pink shrimp is a signature dish of United States; we have verified places to eat it in Key West. Tortugas pink shrimp, sweeter and firmer than the Gulf browns, boiled in seasoned water and served peel-and-eat with drawn butter and lime. Start with where to eat Key West pink shrimp in Key West.
Key West pink shrimp · Key West
Tortugas pink shrimp, sweeter and firmer than the Gulf browns, boiled in seasoned water and served peel-and-eat with drawn butter and lime. Menus call them pink gold for a reason.
Vast beds of pink shrimp were found in Gulf waters off Key West in 1949, and the seaport filled with trawlers almost overnight in what the island still calls the pink gold rush. Hundreds of boats worked out of the Bight through the 1950s and 1960s, and the fleet reshaped the waterfront that is now the Historic Seaport. Catches fell in the 1980s and the last dealers left the Bight by 1989, moving the working fleet across to Stock Island, where it still lands shrimp today. The Florida Keys Seafood Festival at Truman Waterfront Park each February is run by the fishermen themselves.
Where to eat in Key West:
- Conch Republic Seafood Company
- Half Shell Raw Bar
- Hogfish Bar & Grill
- Eaton Street Seafood Market
Where to eat Key West pink shrimp in Key West: the editor picks