What is in season in Key West. and what to order when the market changes.
Spring
- Stone crab claws: Florida's stone crab season is open from 15 October to 1 May, so spring is the last run of the year. Eaton Street Seafood Market sells them from the case; order them before the season shuts on 1 May.
- Key West pink shrimp: The Tortugas pinks are landed at the Stock Island docks year-round, but spring brings the calmest water and the steadiest supply. Order them peel-and-eat at Half Shell Raw Bar or Conch Republic Seafood Company.
- Yellowtail snapper: Yellowtail runs the reef line off the Keys through the year and is what Key West kitchens mean by local catch. Cafe Marquesa, Seven Fish and The Flaming Buoy Filet Co each build a signature plate around it.
- The last weeks of high season: High season runs December to April, which is the only stretch when every kitchen on the island is open and staffed. Book the small dining rooms well ahead in March and April; walk-ins get harder as the season peaks.
Summer
- Florida spiny lobster: The two-day sport season falls on the last consecutive Wednesday and Thursday of July and fills the Keys with boats. The regular season opens on 6 August and runs to 31 March, so August is when tails hit the menus.
- Key lime pie, at festival scale: The Key Lime Festival takes over the island across the July 4th week with a pie-eating championship, a pie hop and a sip-and-stroll. Kermit's and Key West Key Lime Pie Co both run at full tilt through the week.
- Lobsterfest on Duval: Key West Lobsterfest marks the opening of spiny lobster season in August, with a ticketed lobster boil, a pub crawl and a free Saturday street fair across the 100-500 blocks of Duval Street.
- Mangoes and sugar apples: Local chefs point to the fruit that grows abundantly here, mangoes and sugar apples in particular, as the second half of the island's larder after seafood. Summer is when it shows up in salsas, juices and bakery cases.
Autumn
- The September shutdown: September is the island's vacation month. Cafe Sole closes for the whole month, Azur for six weeks from 1 September, Louie's Backyard from 8 September and Square Grouper from 6 September to 8 October. Blue Heaven takes most of the month too. Check before you travel.
- Stone crab claws return: Stone crab season reopens on 15 October and the first claws of the year land in the Keys within days. Eaton Street Seafood Market and the raw bars around the Historic Seaport are the first places to show them.
- Bahama Village Goombay: The Goombay Festival fills Bahama Village on a mid-October Friday and Saturday with junkanoo, conch fritters and Bahamian street food, the clearest annual expression of the community that brought conch to the island.
- Key West Brewfest: Key West Brewfest pours more than 50 breweries at the Southernmost Beach Resort at the turn of September into October, run as a Sunrise Rotary fundraiser. It marks the point where the island starts filling again.
Winter
- Stone crab at its peak: Mid-season claws through December, January and February are the largest and the best value of the year, with the season running to 1 May. Buy them cold from the market case rather than reheated off a menu.
- Key West Food & Wine Festival: The festival fills five late-January days with ticketed tastings, strolls and dinners at venues across the island. The popular strolls sell out early, so book the individual events rather than turning up.
- Florida Keys Seafood Festival: Held at Truman Waterfront Park each February and run by the commercial fishermen themselves, with grilled spiny lobster, stone crab, conch chowder and pink shrimp. The $10 gate funds the fishermen's association.
- Full high season: December to April is when the island is busiest and every kitchen is open, including the ones that shut through hurricane season. It is also when reservations at Little Pearl, Louie's Backyard and Cafe Marquesa are hardest.