Fine Dining In The Keys Slideshow
Key West
The Flaming Buoy
The Flaming Buoy, a restaurant and wine bar in Key West, is a fine dining favorite for locals and visitors. Customers love the fresh cuisine, including their famous lobster macaroni and cheese, as well as bacon wrapped scallops and fresh catch pan-seared with banana salsa. For dessert, check out the spicy chocolate quesadilla and the beer shake.
Spencer’s by the Sea
A new eatery in the Keys, Spencer's By The Sea sits on the only natural sand beach in Key West. On the menu: Key West-caught seafood, conch chowder and plantain crusted grouper with key lime chipotle glaze, as well as Key West Lager-battered fish and chips.
Michaels Restaurant
A Key West steakhouse, Michaels Restaurant has impeccable dining and service. Meat entrees including veal chops, New York strip steak, and the cowboy cut are popular, as are the seafood selections like snapper, mahi mahi and fish n grits. Cheers too! Michael's drinks such as the Key Lime Martini and the cognacs, scotch or whiskeys, as well as desserts like red velvet cake and crème brulee are luscious!
Islamorada
Pierre's Lounge & Restaurant at Morada Bay dishes French Fusion with World Influences such as Asian and Caribbean cuisine. Zagat says the restaurant, located at mile marker 81.6 in Islamorada, is "one of the top all-around dining experiences" in the Florida Keys.
Pierre's is located in a white two-story plantation house facing Florida Bay and providing gorgeous sunsets. Executive chef Jouvens Jean prepares high quality ingredients daily including snapper, tuna, salmon and lamb.
The dress code is casual elegance and no jackets or ties are required.
Chef Michael's
This Islamorada restaurant earns rave reviews from diners who praise their specialty hogfish, as well as ceviche, crab and other fresh fish.
The restaurant's theme is "Dock To Dish" with a seafood focus. Still, the restaurant serves up meats and game, noting that even in the "sport fishing capital of the world, sometimes you just get fished out!"
Ziggie & Mad Dogs
Ziggie & Mad Dogs, located at mile marker 83 in Islamorada, has been around since 1962. They know what they're doing too. The restaurant has an extensive menu featuring steak, chops, and seafood including lobster, tuna steak and scallops.
A can't-miss dish? The lobster and white truffle mac and cheese, featuring tomato, fresh basil and brandy.
Oltremare Ristorante
Islamorada's Oltremare Ristorante is an intimate 60-seat restaurant at Amara Cay Resort. Focusing on Italian dishes and fresh seafood, the restaurant is also committed to sustainability, promoting local farmers and fishermen. Oltemare, the first Florida Keys' restaurant participating in the state's Fresh From Florida program, uses locally-sourced ingredients to enhance the flavors and freshness of each dish.
The menu features daily homemade pastas like fettuccini carbonara, as well as grilled cobia, braised short rib, and grilled octopus.
The Fish House
The Fish House in Key Largo is a restaurant and sushi bar serving up some of the Keys' best seafood, including homemade chowder, grouper, mahi mahi, lobster, stone crab and yellowtail snapper. This restaurant, which has been in business since 1982, has received many awards, including Best Fine Dining by Best of the Upper Keys. You can also buy fresh fish from their extensive seafood market.
Ballyhoo’s Restaurant
A historic seafood grill located in a 1930's conch house in Key Largo, Ballyhoo's Restaurant offers a wide variety of fish appetizers and entrees. Featured menu items include conch chowder, charbroiled oysters, cast iron mahi, fried snapper, and snow crab, as well as grilled lobster.
Sundowners
Take in the view and enjoy seafood and steaks at Sundowners in Key Largo. This waterfront restaurant has a glass walled dining room and outdoor seating on the covered deck or tropical patio. Start with a glass of wine and lobster bisque before entrees like crab cake, blackened yellowtail, or filet mignon. Sundowners also has a vegetarian menu featuring grilled artichokes, mushroom kabobs and pasta primavera.
Hideaway Café
Hideaway Café is the spot for a romantic dinner in Marathon. The restaurant, located at mile marker 58, has indoor seating as well as outdoor dining on an enclosed balcony. The menu ranges from surf & turf and beef wellington to roasted duck and rack of lamb, to seafood crepes, shrimp wrapped in bacon and seafood puttanesca. Stick around for dessert – diners rave about the bananas a la hideaway.
Plaza Grill
Focused on creative cooking and presentation, Plaza Grill prides itself on not being a typical "island seafood spot." Instead the Marathon restaurant, located at mile marker 50, is grilling up steaks like the 24-ounce Porterhouse and serving sustainable fish like the locally-sourced Parmesan Black Pepper-Encrusted Tripletail. Sample one of the restaurant's outstanding wines – their collection includes more than 200 bottles of vino!
Lazy Days South
Lazy Days South may sound casual but the restaurant is more than relaxed food. Sitting at mile marker 47.3 in Marathon, Lazy Days South been voted "Best Overall Restaurant" every year since 1996 by the annual Upper Keys' People's Choice Awards. They're dishing everything from meats like the New York strip to the crab and asparagus salad to fresh seafood. Order a Key Lime martini, a glass of wine, or a tropical drink and savor a great dinner and great ambiance overlooking the ocean.