Marathon: Key's Fisheries

When I embarked on my new blogging hobby a few months back, I was hoping to be able to post one of these every week.  I built up these great expectations and started having fun with it, then LIFE suddenly smacked me in the face and said, “Remember Me”….deadlines at work, end of the school year activities with the kids, grandma’s in the hospital, birthday parties, funerals, grandma’s in the hospital again…  So I think I’m going to take a step back and commit to once a month.  On occasion you may get lucky though and get an extra post or two.  For now, we will just take advantage of whatever little gems of free time LIFE yields by bringing you some of the really AWESOME food that’s out there.

Last week I made my Keys run, visiting customers in Key Largo, Marathon and Key West.  I love the Florida Keys for many different reasons, but among them are all the really good places to eat.  Seriously, finding good food in the Keys is like finding hay in a hay stack.  The trouble is deciding where to go.  On this trip, I followed the advice of one of my customers and stopped at fun little spot that serves up great food called Key’s Fisheries. 

Like most great spots in the Keys, this one is off the beaten path.  I drove up US1 from Key West, made my way through Marathon, came up on Fishermen’s Hospital, turned left past the Highway Patrol Station and headed down to where the road meets the bay.  I pulled into the gravel parking lot and there she was, Key's Fisheries: Marina, Fish Market and RESTAURANT.

The marina is home to a fleet of commercial fishing and crabbing boats.  Their fish market ranks among the finest purveyors of fresh caught Florida Keys favorites like hog fish, yellow tail, dolphin, conch, lobster and stone crabs, when in season of course.  The restaurant serves them all up for you to enjoy while looking out over the majestic waters of Florida Bay.

Key's Fisheries embodies the laid back lifestyle that most everyone loves about the Keys. There is the casual walk up window for ordering and picking up food.  The perimeter of the white building is shaded and lined with pic-nick tables to enjoy your meal by the bay.  Take a walk around their little piece of paradise and you'll find maps of the Keys, old newspaper articles on their business and pictures of their building sitting under water during the storm surge of a hurricane.   

Look over their menu and you will find a wide variety of great seafood dishes.   There is one item though that stands out from the rest.  It is a sandwich, a Reuben sandwich to be exact.  This Reuben is like no other though.  I am a big fan of Reuben sandwiches.  Many places across Florida will make you one with grouper or dolphin (some refer to it as mahi mahi, but in Florida we call it dolphin).  Key’s Fisheries, however, has the one and only Lobster Reuben.  You know that’s what I ordered.  Boasting that they have served 154,549 Lobster Reubens to date, I knew I could not go wrong.

Now when I walked up to the order window I noticed the specials sign had a line that read “Name: A Island.”  That is Key’s Fisheries way of getting your creative motor running.  When you place your order, be ready to come up with a name.  Not your name, but rather the name of a song, a band, maybe a 70’s TV show, or a cartoon character.  This is how you know your order is up.  Just look for the specials board and you'll see what kind of name Key's Fisheries is looking for today.  I had to come up with the name of an Island.  My Island was Sanibel, though its not in the Keys, it is one of my all time favorite islands.

Another fun thing there is to do here is feed the fish.  Don’t feed them your leftovers though.  Go over to one of the feed boxes, get some fish food, and get ready to watch the show.  As soon as the little pellets hit the water you’ll see what I mean as the the fish come from everywhere to get their lunch.

As soon as I heard Sanibel Island called out over the speaker I went back up to the window, picked up my tray and sat down to marvel.  Wow, this thing looked awesome and tasted just the same.  Tender chunks of lobster, crisp pieces of cole slaw, rich thousand island and warm melted cheese between two golden-brown monster slices of grilled toast.  Phenomenal!

In the middle of a hectic week, filled with life’s many complications, I’m glad I was able to stop by Key’s Fisheries.  Between their awesome Lobster Reuben, cool gulf breeze and beautiful views of the bay….I was definitely Floored by Food.

Feeding Frenzy

Bright & Beautiful