🏖️ Where to Eat · Key West, FL Restaurants
Restaurants in Key West, FL
52 real, currently-open restaurants across every category — Duval Street icons, waterfront seafood, fine dining, and Cuban favorites — so you can plan around what you actually want to eat instead of scrolling a generic list.
🏙️ Duval St. & Old Town
✅ Verified Open
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🎶 Bars & Live Music
🦞 Seafood
🍷 Fine Dining
🇨🇺 Cuban & Latin
🌴 Casual & Local
🥐 Breakfast
🥧 Key Lime Pie
FAQ
Key West’s dining scene runs from Hemingway-haunted Duval Street bars serving up conch fritters to white-tablecloth waterfront rooms watching the sunset over the Gulf. Cuban food is a genuine local institution here, not a novelty — spots like El Siboney and Sandy’s Cafe have fed generations of Key West locals long before the cruise crowds arrived. We checked each restaurant directly against its own official site and current open status rather than a generic aggregator list, and untangled a few conflicting closure signals along the way.
7 Restaurants
Sloppy Joe’s Bar
Hemingway’s legendary former haunt, now a rowdy live-music bar and restaurant.
Captain Tony’s Saloon
The original site of Sloppy Joe’s, a rustic memorabilia-covered dive bar with deep literary history.
Hog’s Breath Saloon
Open-air waterfront-adjacent saloon known for live music and its irreverent motto.
Irish Kevin’s
High-energy Irish pub on Duval with nonstop live acoustic entertainment.
Rick’s & Durty Harry’s Entertainment Complex
Multi-bar nightlife complex spanning a chunk of Duval Street.
Bull & Whistle Bar
Three-story open-air bar with a rooftop bar known as the Garden of Eden.
Aqua Nightclub
Duval’s premier drag-show venue and LGBTQ+ nightlife hub.
4 Restaurants
Green Parrot Bar
Legendary dive bar since 1890, famous for live music and no-frills character.
Schooner Wharf Bar
Open-air waterfront bar at the Historic Seaport with daily live music.
801 Bourbon Bar
LGBTQ+ bar and drag/cabaret venue on Duval Street.
Vinos on Duval
Wine bar on Duval Street, part of the small Vinos Wine Bars group.
11 Restaurants
Half Shell Raw Bar
Original Key West seafood shack at the Historic Seaport, known for raw oysters and conch fritters.
Conch Republic Seafood Company
Big waterfront seafood house at the Seaport with a sushi bar, raw bar, and sunset views.
B.O.’s Fish Wagon
Funky, tin-roofed roadside fish shack, a Key West institution for fried fish sandwiches.
Hot Tin Roof
Upscale waterfront dining at Ocean Key Resort overlooking Sunset Pier.
Alonzo’s Oyster Bar
Casual raw bar and oyster house on the harbor at the A&B Marina complex.
Two Friends Patio
Longtime open-air patio restaurant known for breakfast, seafood, and nightly karaoke.
Salute! On The Beach
Italian-Caribbean beachfront dining right on Higgs Beach.
Hogfish Bar & Grill
Waterfront seafood shack on nearby Stock Island known for fresh-caught hogfish sandwiches.
10 Restaurants
Louie’s Backyard
Iconic waterfront fine dining with sweeping ocean views.
Cafe Marquesa
Elegant New American fine dining inside the boutique Marquesa Hotel.
Nine One Five
Upscale small-plates and wine bar in a restored Duval Street Victorian home.
Antonia’s
Longstanding upscale Northern Italian restaurant on Duval Street.
La Trattoria
Classic white-tablecloth Italian dining and martini bar on Duval Street.
Bagatelle
Historic conch house turned Southern-inflected seafood restaurant with a signature wraparound porch.
Cafe Sole
Intimate French bistro in Old Town, known for its hogfish and yellowtail dishes.
Prime 951 Steakhouse
Upscale steak-and-seafood steakhouse, considered among the top in the Keys.
Latitudes
Fine-dining beachfront restaurant on Sunset Key, reachable only via private launch.
5 Restaurants
El Siboney
Old-school, no-frills Cuban comfort food beloved by locals since 1984.
El Meson de Pepe
Lively Cuban restaurant with live music near Mallory Square.
Sandy’s Cafe
Cult-favorite hole-in-the-wall attached to a laundromat, famous for Cuban mix sandwiches.
Cuban Coffee Queen
Popular walk-up counter for Cuban coffee, mix sandwiches, and breakfast burritos.
5 Brothers Grocery & Sandwich Shop
Family-run corner deli since 1978, famous for Cuban mix sandwiches and con leche coffee.
7 Restaurants
Blue Heaven
Funky Bahama Village courtyard restaurant with free-roaming chickens, famous for brunch.
Pepe’s Cafe & Steakhouse
Key West’s oldest restaurant, open since 1909, known for classic steaks and breakfasts.
Roostica Wood-Fire Pizzeria
Casual wood-fired pizza and Italian spot, a local go-to for pizza night.
Santiago’s Bodega
Lively small-plates and tapas restaurant in Bahama Village with wine and sangria.
One Duval
Waterfront restaurant and bar at the Pier House Resort & Spa.
First Flight Island Restaurant & Brewery
Historic Pan Am building turned restaurant and brewery, leaning into the birthplace-of-Pan-Am history.
5 Restaurants
Harpoon Harry’s
Old-school diner-style breakfast spot near the Seaport, a longtime locals’ favorite.
Banana Cafe
French bistro and creperie serving all-day breakfast crepes on a tropical patio.
Date & Thyme
Organic, health-focused cafe and market known for smoothies and salads.
Sarabeth’s Key West
Key West outpost of the NYC brunch institution, known for fried chicken and baked goods.
Southernmost Beach Cafe
Beachfront restaurant at the Southernmost Beach Resort, near the Southernmost Point.
3 Restaurants
Kermit’s Key Lime Shop
The most famous key lime pie shop in Key West.
Old Town Bakery
Neighborhood bakery and cafe for pastries, breakfast sandwiches, and coffee.
Better Than Sex – A Dessert Restaurant
Adults-only, dimly lit dessert restaurant and bar with over-the-top decadent desserts.
Dining Tips for This Area
- Reserve ahead for Louie’s Backyard and other sunset-view tables. The best-located waterfront restaurants book up fast around sunset time, especially in winter high season.
- Key lime pie should be yellow, not green. Real Key West key lime pie uses the naturally yellow-fleshed key lime — bright green pie usually means food coloring and a less authentic recipe.
- Latitudes on Sunset Key requires a boat. It’s reachable only by a private launch from the Historic Seaport — check the pickup schedule before booking a reservation there.
- Key West’s restaurant scene turns over often. Every restaurant above was checked for current open status, but call ahead or check before a special trip — this guide caught several businesses with conflicting online closure signals.
What is Key West’s signature food?
Key lime pie is the most famous, but fresh seafood — especially stone crab, hogfish, and conch (in fritters and chowder) — along with a strong Cuban food tradition are just as central to Key West’s food identity.
Where can I get an authentic Cuban sandwich in Key West?
Sandy’s Cafe (attached to a laundromat) and 5 Brothers Grocery & Sandwich Shop are both longtime local favorites for an authentic Cuban mix sandwich, well off the main tourist strip.
Is Duval Street dining worth it, or all tourist traps?
It’s a mix — some Duval spots are pure nightlife-driven tourist bars, but genuine institutions like Sloppy Joe’s, Blue Heaven, and Pepe’s Cafe (Key West’s oldest restaurant) are worth visiting for the history as much as the food.
How does NME choose which restaurants to feature?
We verify each restaurant directly against its own official site and current open status rather than relying on aggregator lists, and we exclude anything we can’t confirm is still open. Read more on our methodology page.
Know a Restaurant We Missed?
If you know a great restaurant in Key West we’re missing, email us and we’ll take a look.
Heading to Key West?
See the full trip guide — where to stay and things to do, organized the same way, by category.
