Bistros, trattorias and the everyday places where Key West actually eats.
Bistros, trattorias, taverns and neighbourhood rooms: the mid-tier places where Key West actually eats.
B.O.'s Fish Wagon is Key West's driftwood shack at Caroline and William, frying grouper sandwiches and cracked conch under a roof of netting and plates.
Signature: Grouper sandwich, Conch fritters
Order: Fried grouper sandwich with key lime sauce
Tip: It is open-air and cash-friendly chaos; go at off-hours because the shack smells like fried fish for good reason.
DJ's Clam Shack butters warm lobster rolls from a Duval Street counter in Key West, a Diners Drive-Ins and Dives stop with steamed clams and fritters.
Signature: Maine lobster roll, Conch fritters
Order: The warm buttered Maine lobster roll
Tip: Seating is a handful of sidewalk stools, so time it outside the Duval Street lunch rush.
Garbo's Grill cooks Korean BBQ tacos from an Airstream in the Hank's saloon courtyard in Key West, twice featured on Diners Drive-Ins and Dives.
Signature: Korean BBQ tacos, Cayo fish tacos
Order: Korean BBQ tacos with a side of island fries
Tip: Order at the truck window and grab a beer from Hank's bar behind you; the picnic tables share the same yard.
Frita's Cuban Burger Cafe keeps a Key West lunch under $15 with Havana-style fritas, tacos and yuca fries on a bright patio just off Southard Street.
Signature: Traditional frita, Yuca fries
Order: The traditional frita with its crown of fried potato strings
Tip: Owner Marcia Weaver built the recipe on trips to Cuba; the churros and Cuban coffee finish the meal properly.
Sandy's Cafe is the laundromat lunch counter of Key West, pressing Cuban mixes and pouring con leche at a White Street walk-up window from 05:00 daily.
Signature: Cuban mix, Cafe con leche
Order: Cuban mix with a large cafe con leche
Tip: Order at the window, eat on the stools facing the street; the buchi shot is the fastest caffeine on the island.
5 Brothers Grocery has pressed Cuban mixes and poured con leche at Southard and Grinnell in Key West since 1978, a family corner store with a bench crew.
Signature: Cuban mix, Bollos
Order: Cuban mix pressed hot, plus a bag of bollos
Tip: The Bench Crew of regulars holds court outside each morning; come before the 06:30 rush clears the pastry case.
Harpoon Harry's calls itself Key West's last true diner, flipping key lime French toast and blue plate specials on Caroline Street from 06:30 every day.
Signature: Key lime French toast, Blue plate specials
Order: Key lime French toast with the home fries
Tip: It is cash only with bike racks out front; the nightly blue plate special is the best value dinner near the seaport.
Old Town Mexican Cafe stocks over 200 tequilas and mezcals behind a Duval Street porch in Key West, backing carne adobada and fajitas with $4 taco Tuesdays.
Signature: Carne adobada, Salsa verde burrito
Order: Carne adobada with a flight from the tequila wall
Tip: Taco Tuesday runs all day and happy hour halves the appetisers from 16:00; the tequila wall is the reason to sit at the bar.
Amigos Tortilla Bar folds its signature square tacos a block off Mallory Square in Key West, with fire-roasted corn and carne asada nachos to match.
Signature: Square taco, Baja fish tacos
Order: Baja fish tacos and the fire-roasted corn
Tip: It sits between Captain Tony's and the seaport, so it makes the natural food stop on a lower-Duval bar walk.
Mr Z's has griddled Amoroso-roll cheesesteaks and pizza on Southard Street in Key West since 2002, the counter the bars empty into after closing time.
Signature: Philly cheesesteak, Stromboli
Order: The classic ribeye cheesesteak with white American
Tip: Weekend hours stretch to 04:00, which is why every bartender on Duval will point you here after last call.
The Conch Shack fries conch fritters towards midnight at weekends, a sidewalk window on lower Duval Street feeding Key West drinkers between bars.
Signature: Conch fritters, Cracked conch
Order: Cracked conch with the key lime aioli
Tip: There is no dining room, just the sidewalk ledge; weekend hours stretch towards midnight for the bar crowd.
Eaton Street Seafood Market sells the Key West catch two ways: over ice from the 1877 storefront case, or cooked into lobster rolls for the patio tables.
Signature: Maine lobster roll, Stone crab claws
Order: Hot buttered lobster roll, or stone crab claws in season
Tip: Pick a fish from the market case and they will cook it on the spot; stone crab season runs mid-October to May.
Fisherman's Cafe works a small counter by Key West's Historic Seaport, stacking fish sandwiches with papaya and mango slaw for boat crews and walkers.
Signature: Fish sandwich with papaya-mango slaw, Cuban mix
Order: Fresh fish sandwich with the papaya and mango slaw
Tip: Seating is a few sidewalk tables on Elizabeth Street; it closes at 17:00, so treat it as a breakfast and lunch stop.
Onlywood Grill fires Neapolitan pies in a garden courtyard off Caroline Street, the roomiest of the three Onlywood pizzerias running in Key West.
Signature: Neapolitan wood-fired pizza, Parmacotto pie
Order: A wood-fired pie with parmacotto ham and pistachio sauce
Tip: Happy hour runs 16:30 to 18:00; the original Onlywood Pizzeria Trattoria on Duval handles the walk-up slices.
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: Grilled cheese, 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.
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: Mojitos, Fresh seafood plates
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.
Kennedy Cafe cooks to midnight in New Town and delivers until 23:30, the late Mediterranean kitchen that feeds Key West's hospitality shift workers.
Signature: Uzbek pita breads, Falafel
Order: Falafel on the house-baked Uzbek pita
Tip: It is a locals' strip-mall room away from Old Town with free parking, and one of the few island kitchens open past 23:00.
Oasis Mediterranean Cuisine hand-folds Turkic manti and khachapuri in a garden room on White Street, Key West's Central Asian outlier worth the detour.
Signature: Manti, Chicken shawarma bowl
Order: Manti dumplings, then the chicken shawarma bowl
Tip: The lush back garden is the seat to take; the somsa pastries and baklava travel well for a beach picnic.
First Flight serves chef-driven plates and house beer in the 1927 building where Pan Am sold its first tickets, under a Key West garden tree canopy.
Signature: Fresh local fish, House-brewed beer
Order: The local catch with a Main Squeeze citrus wheat ale
Tip: Ask for the Tree-Top deck or the Crash Bar, whose counter is a riveted aluminium airplane wing.