French$$$white-streetDaily 17:00-21:00
Cafe Sole pairs French technique with Keys fish in a quiet Key West garden room, a husband-and-wife kitchen open since 1995 for hogfish and duck a l'orange.
Order: Hogfish, then the duck a l'orange if you are sharing
Tip: The garden tables under the trellis are the seats to ask for; the whole restaurant holidays through September.
New American$$$$old-townBreakfast and lunch daily 07:00-14:15; dinner Sun-Thu 17:00-22:00, Fri-Sat 17:00-23:00Book 2-4 weeks for sunset seatings ahead
Latitudes seats you on Sunset Key's beach after a short ferry from Key West, plating snapper and lobster bisque with the Gulf horizon as the back wall.
Order: Red snapper at a sand-side table before sunset
Tip: The launch leaves from the Opal Key Resort marina at 245 Front Street and your reservation time is the departure time; book the crossing, not just the table.
Seafood$$$$Four-course tasting menuold-townMon-Sat seatings at 17:00, 19:00 and 21:00; closed Sunday
Little Pearl runs a four-course local-seafood tasting menu from a corner cottage on Olivia Street in Key West, with a deep cellar and three set seatings.
Order: The four-course chef's tasting built on the local catch
Tip: Seatings run at 17:00, 19:00 and 21:00 six days a week; the wine pairing leans on the half-bottle cellar and is worth it.
New AmericanChef Travis Lee$$$$old-townBreakfast daily 08:00-11:00; dinner daily 17:30-21:00
Cafe Marquesa is the Marquesa Hotel's 50-seat dining room in Key West, where chef Travis Lee crisps yellowtail snapper and plates oysters nightly.
Order: Crispy yellowtail snapper with shoestring potatoes
Tip: The room seats around fifty and fills with hotel guests first, so reserve ahead for the 19:00 to 20:00 window.
New American$$$$casa-marinaLunch daily 11:30-14:30; dinner daily 17:00-21:00
Louie's Backyard stacks oceanfront decks above the Atlantic at Waddell Avenue in Key West, serving island fare with the Afterdeck bar right on the water.
Order: Conch fritters on the Afterdeck, then the daily catch upstairs
Tip: The Afterdeck pours until late even when the dining room is booked out; Louie's takes its holiday in September.
Seafood$$$$historic-seaportDinner daily 17:30-22:00
A&B Lobster House has served surf and turf above Key West's harbour since 1947, with martinis, yacht views and the Berlin's speakeasy tucked behind it.
Order: Whole Maine lobster with a classic martini
Tip: Ask for a balcony table over the marina; Berlin's cocktail bar behind the building serves the same A&B menu.