Cocktails, wine bars and dives: drinking in Key West for grown-ups.
Cocktail bars, wine bars, dive bars and gastropubs: drinking in Key West for grown-ups.
The Green Parrot has poured at Whitehead and Southard since 1890 by its own count, Key West's open-shuttered dive with free popcorn and nightly bands.
Signature drink: Cold draft with free popcorn
Food: Free popcorn only; bring your own food
Tip: There is no kitchen, only free popcorn, and outside food is welcome; soundchecks around 17:30 are a show in themselves.
Sloppy Joe's opened with Prohibition's end in 1933 and has held Duval and Greene since 1937, a National Register Key West saloon with all-day live music.
Signature drink: Sloppy Rita
Food: Sloppy Joe sandwiches, wings and bar snacks
Tip: The operator dates the bar to 1933 and this corner to 1937; July's Hemingway Look-Alike Contest is the rowdiest week to visit.
Captain Tony's Saloon drinks inside an 1851 icehouse on Greene Street, the Key West bar that claims Hemingway's patronage and a tree through the roof.
Signature drink: Pirate's Punch under the hanging tree
Food: No kitchen; drinks only
Tip: The operator says the building was an icehouse and morgue and that Hemingway drank here; both bars on this block claim him, so enjoy the argument.
Schooner Wharf Bar has held the old Singleton shrimp-factory site on Key West's bight since 1984, an open-air deck of roosters, rum and live music.
Signature drink: Pina colada on the harbour walk
Food: Seafood, breakfast from 08:00 and bar plates
Order: A pina colada with fish and chips at the dock rail
Tip: Breakfast starts at 08:00 Friday to Sunday and 08:30 Monday to Thursday; the bar calls itself a last little piece of old Key West.
Hog's Breath Saloon works an open-air corner near Mallory Square, the Key West room of a saloon brand founded in Florida in 1976, with all-day bands.
Signature drink: Hog Snort
Food: Raw bar, fish tacos and hog legs
Order: Fish tacos and a Hog Snort during the afternoon set
Tip: Live music runs from 13:00 to close most days; the raw bar side is quieter than the stage side if you want to talk.
The Rum Bar pours one of Key West's deepest rum lists on the Speakeasy Inn porch, an upper Duval house whose basement once hid Prohibition bottles.
Signature drink: Rum flight from a list in the hundreds
Food: Drinks only; restaurants within a block
Tip: Ask the bartender to build a three-pour flight by island; the porch rockers are the best seats on upper Duval.
General Horseplay mixes proper cocktails and pours craft beer on Caroline Street in Key West, with a hidden back bar opening nightly at 19:00.
Signature drink: House cocktails and tasty beers
Food: Bar snacks and small plates
Tip: The back bar opens at 19:00 and feels like a second, smaller venue; sister rooms include Mary Ellen's and The Roost.
Mary Ellen's serves grilled cheese down an Appelrouth Lane alley until 02:00, the late Key West kitchen that beats a pizza slice after Duval Street.
Signature drink: Boozy slushies with a grilled cheese
Food: Nine grilled cheeses plus Bad Boy Burrito
Order: A grilled cheese from the nine varieties, with the dipping sauces
Tip: Appelrouth Lane is easy to walk past; the kitchen serves late, which makes it the grown-up alternative to pizza slices.
Tiki House shakes zombies and mai tais with fresh fruit on lower Duval in Key West, the island's dedicated tiki room from the Horseplay bar family.
Signature drink: Zombie with fresh pineapple
Food: Drinks only
Tip: Happy hour runs 12:00 to 15:00 before the street gets loud; the rum build quality beats the location's spring-break stereotype.
The Smallest Bar squeezes a full Key West cocktail list into 72 square feet on lower Duval, claiming the title of the tiniest bar in the United States.
Signature drink: Key Lime Pie shot off the shotski
Food: Drinks only
Tip: The operator claims 72 square feet and America's smallest-bar title; the Key Lime Pie shot is the thing to order at the ledge.
Berlin's hides behind A&B Lobster House above Key West's harbour, a leather-chair speakeasy the operator dates as a local favourite since 1947.
Signature drink: Slow-sipped classics with a cigar terrace
Food: A&B Lobster House menu served in the lounge
Tip: You can order the full A&B menu at the bar, and the cigar terrace overlooks the marina; jazz nights run in season.
The Chart Room hides inside the Pier House Resort at mile zero of Duval, the wood-panelled Key West bar once frequented by Jimmy Buffett and Mel Fisher.
Signature drink: A cold beer amid the room's stacked memorabilia
Food: Complimentary bar snacks
Tip: The keywesttourist guide notes Buffett and treasure hunter Mel Fisher drank here; the room seats barely a dozen, so go at 17:00 sharp.
The Roost pairs serious old fashioneds with caviar service half a block off Duval in Key West, doubling as the neighbourhood's corner liquor store.
Signature drink: Wednesday old fashioneds
Food: Caviar service, smoked salmon and deviled eggs
Tip: Happy hour runs 12:00 to 18:00 and the caviar-and-cosmopolitan order is the move; bottles to go from the shop shelves.
Irish Kevin's has run singalong sets on lower Duval since July 1998, a Key West show bar pouring Irish beer with a kitchen that serves until 23:00.
Signature drink: Irish beers with singalong sets
Food: Burgers, wings and pulled pork sliders until 23:00
Tip: Entertainers work the crowd hard, so sit back from the stage if you would rather not be part of the act.
Willie T's papers its Duval Street porch in signed dollar bills and pours mojitos over live music from 11:00 to 01:30, with a full Key West seafood menu.
Signature drink: Fresh-mint mojito
Food: Full seafood and burger menu, late-night service
Order: A fresh-mint mojito and whatever fish is on the board
Tip: Add your own signed dollar to the tens of thousands on the walls; the kitchen serves lunch through late night.