Yummies in the Keys

While in Key West, Andrew and I tried to eat and drink at some of its most famous places; always the food adventurers, we also wanted to try some local "hole in the wall" restaurants as well. 
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We made the drive from Miami to Key West and had to stop at The Hungry Tarpon on Islamorada Key to eat dinner our first night.  You can't miss the Hungry Tarpon as it's in Robbie's Marina and there is a huge sign.  The restaurant is directly on the water and offers beautiful views, great food, and a tropical atmosphere. The food was delicious and the atmosphere was so much fun!  When you eat here, you're truly getting a taste of the Keys lifestyle.  You can eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner at the Hungry Tarpon while you watch the boats come in with their fresh catch of the day!  We were here in the evening and got to see the sharks and tarpons being fed the leftovers from the days fishing trip. Another reason the Robbie's Marina area is famous is because some of the Netflix original Bloodline was filmed here. This is where the characters of the show spend a lot of time in boats and on docks.  We're huge Bloodline fans and sought out as many filming places as possible in the keys (more on that in another post).  Our first night in Key West we felt compelled to go check out the world famous Sloppy Joe's Bar. The official beginning of this bar was on December 5, 1993- the day Prohibition was repealed. Sloppy Joe's Bar has been through two name changes and one change of location but it has been at its present location since May of 1937. This Bar sits on the corner of Greene and Duval Street. This place is a staple in Key West and was once the watering hole of Ernest Hemmingway.  Sloppy Joe's now also offers a food menu.  Andrew and I enjoyed listening to a live band, having a cocktail, and eating a sloppy joe! If you're ever in Key West, even for just a day this is a piece of history you don't want to miss! 

After Sloppy Joe's, we ventured over to Willie T's.  We were immediately drawn in by all of the one dollar bills hanging up all over the place.  There are thousands of them and we had to leave our mark as well!  Willie T's had live music and its open air so it is a really fun place to stop.

During our second day in Key West we wanted to have a picnic on the beach so we went to a place called Blue Heaven Restaurant to pick up food to go.  A local actually recommended it to us and the food was amazing!  I had a huge grilled cheese with bacon and Andrew had a chicken salad sandwich.  They even boxed the sandwiches up for us so we'd be able to carry them easily out to the beach.  That evening we went and ate at Sara Beth's, which provides both indoor and outdoor dining and its building is a historic 1800s clapboard landmark building.  The food here was delicious! We tried the velvety cream of tomato soup, the crispy calamari, and the shrimp and grits!  The service was some of the best I'd ever experienced, even the host was top notch!  Make a reservation if you'd like to eat here and I've heard brunch is awesome, I wish we would have had time to go back.

Our last night in Key West happened to fall on Christmas Eve.  We didn't want to do the traditional Christmas food so we decided to do a traditional Key West spot called Schooner Wharf.  This place has been voted Best Local's bar six years in a row.  They have really unique nautical decor, live music, great food, and it's open-air.  Schooner Wharf is located right on the Historic Harbor Walk.  We tried conch fritters here for the first time.  Conch fritters are to the Keys what hush-puppies are to the south. You can find fritters on the menu just about any place you go so we decided to give them a try and oh my, they were great!  They even came with a Key Lime mustard sauce, it sounds weird but it tasted amazing!  For our entree we shared the seared sesame tuna and oh my goodness was it fresh and so good! The entree came with seaweed salad which I have never liked any other time I've tried it but this place had the best seaweed salad ever! This was far from our traditional Christmas Eve dinner but you can't beat fresh seafood at an open-air restaurant, with a sand floor, watching yachts float by. 

There are lots of good eateries in Key West.  My major regret was that I didn't have time to try other places; however, I was really happy with our choices.  I'd give all of the places listed five stars! 
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Putting our mark on Willie T's!

Enjoying the best banana daiquiri I've ever had at Sloppy Joe's.