Key West Restaurants and Dining

(Key West, Florida - FL, USA)

Key West has a huge choice of dining options and restaurants, owing to its rich cultural diversity ranging from Cuban to Caribbean, French to Italian, traditional and authentic. There are fast-food joints galore in the New Town area, of Key West, while the Old Town has an endless offering of charming cafés and restaurants for vegetarians and carnivores alike. Duval Street has the largest profusion of cafés and restaurants, while Bahama Village is fast becoming one of the premiere areas in Key West's Old Town for eateries and alternative dining options.

From casual cafés to gourmet restaurants, Key West offers the choice of spending as little as a couple of dollars for an all-you-can-eat breakfast or as much as you want in a fine establishment serving the freshest seafood. Key West restaurants come in a variety of shapes and sizes from fine Old Town homes to fast-food bars and trendy cafés on the beach.

Opening Hours

Generally, the hours of operation for eateries in Key West is from about 08:00 to 21:00 or 22:00, while some cafés open as early as 07:00 and burger joints often stay open all night. In the low season in Key West (September to mid-November), some restaurants may close for a four week period, although you can always find another place nearby if your chosen restaurant is closed.

Wine and Beer

The best place in Key West to hunt for wine bars and restaurants is in the up and coming restored Bahama Village, where you will find a profusion of bars, shops, trendy cafés and fine restaurants. Duval Street is very long and has eateries in all categories including some popular wine bars and restaurants with a wide selection of wine and beers. Mallory Square also has a number of excellent restaurants and dining venues, with good wine and beer menus, although this area gets particularly busy at night about an hour before the famous Key West sunset.

Breakfast

There are so many places in Key West where you can enjoy breakfast, ranging from open-air cafés on City Beach to tucked-away establishments in one of the myriad of leafy streets in the Old Town. You will find some of the best breakfast deals and the best choice on Duval Street. Good all-you-can-eat breakfasts can be found in Key West's Duval Plaza at a very reasonable price, with the breakfast consisting of homemade pancakes, toast and cereal. Breakfast and Sunday brunch may also consist of fresh-baked breads, fruit-topped pancakes and homemade granola.

Lunch

For lunch, Duval Street reigns supreme where you will find a wide range of restaurants serving all-you-can-eat international buffets as well as a wide selection of seafood restaurants. Vegetarians may want to try a vegetarian stew, a Key West specialty made with local produce. The Blue Mountain Cyber Café has a terrific lunchtime menu and makes some of the finest coffee in town.

Dinner

The busiest time for dinner in Key West is at 20:00, although many restaurants start serving at 19:00. There are some wonderful ethnic restaurants that add variety to the Key West dining experience including Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Mexican, Polish, as well as inexpensive Cuban delights. You may find that some restaurants do not allow children at nighttime sittings. Greene Street and Front Street are superb locations for seafood restaurants, while Duval Street and Bahama Village are more diverse.