The Florida Keys Are Home to Way More Specialties Than Pie

I’ve crisscrossed the Florida Keys for years, chasing something good to eat. And sure, I’ll always say yes to a wedge of Key lime pie — especially the tart kind with a salty graham crust and mile-high meringue like Blue Heaven’s — but if that’s the only thing on your plate down here, you’re missing the point.

The real flavor of the Keys lives in grilled hogfish drizzled with Key lime butter, a mess of steamed Key West pink shrimps mounded on a paper plate, and spicy conch chowder served at dockside shacks. It’s in tender Cuban pork marinated in mojo, hook-and-cook lionfish fillets, and fresh snapper finished with mango or sour orange. This island chain is shaped by the sea, by migration, by a rhythm all its own. And if you know where to look, there’s a whole lot more on the table than dessert.

This summer I got in the car, pointed north from Key West, and followed my appetite all the way to Key Largo and back — with plenty of detours and extra napkins along the way. Here’s where to stop for specialties in the Florida Keys.

Key West

I start where every good Keys trip should: 5 Brothers Grocery and Sandwich Shop in Key West. The locals greet each other by name. The counter’s managed by three generations. The Cuban sandwich gets everything right — crusty-soft bread, juicy roast pork, sharp mustard, and just enough pickle. But it’s the bollos I came for. Once the street snack served at carts up and down Duval Street, these black-eyed pea fritters come piping hot, garlicky, doused in housemade hot sauce. I crush half a dozen before I make it back to the car.

For caffeine, I stop by Cuban Coffee Queen. The line snakes out Key Lime Square, but I’ll always wait for the café con leche — strong, smooth, and perfectly sweetened.

Dinner takes me to Stock Island, where the GPS signal gets iffy, but the seafood is spot on. Just follow the yellow yard signs. Hogfish Bar & Grill sits behind a working marina, its sign barely visible, its tables always full. I kick off with steamed Key West pink shrimp — plump, sweet, seasoned with a whisper of Old Bay.

When in the Keys, you must have some conch even though harvesting is no longer done locally. All the conch comes from nearby Bahamian waters. The Bahamian conch ceviche combines tender, lime juice-soaked conch and sweet Florida spiny lobster complemented with hunks of fresh mango. But the reason you go to this spot is right there in the name: the hogfish. I get it fried. No regrets. I wrap things up with a boozy piña colada bread pudding, which tastes like someone baked the Keys into a casserole.

The next afternoon, I keep it rolling at El Siboney, a low-key Cuban restaurant tucked off Catherine Street. The ropa vieja simmers into tomatoey, beefy bliss. The roast pork basically shreds itself. I pop conch fritters (the best in the Keys) between sips of cold soursop juice.

Marathon

I point the car north and roll into Marathon, where I make a beeline for Fish Tales Market & Eatery. This old-school fish market doesn’t waste time on frills. I order the blackened hogfish sandwich — thick, flaky, seared just right — and a cup of homemade limeade for the road.

Just up the way on a dead-end street, Key Fisheries brings the dinner chaos in the best way. You place your order, and they call it out by your favorite candy. I am “Junior Mints.” I grab a tray stacked with the lobster Reuben, a gooey, griddled tower of buttery bread and tender meat. I add spicy conch chowder and a slice of rum cake studded with toasted pecans. They’ll even cook your lionfish catch — I hand them mine and get it back blackened and tucked into tacos. Salty, spicy, sustainable.

Islamorada

In Islamorada, I pull into Chef Michael’s, where the local boats set the nightly menu and the motto is “Peace, Love, and Hogfish.” I hand over my bounty from the day’s scuba diving: lionfish. I go full Pontchartrain: blackened, topped with crawfish and shrimp, smothered in Creole cream. The conch and shrimp fritters here? Crunchy outside, soft inside, with a mellow aioli that smooths out the heat.

Key Largo

In Key Largo, I climb the porch steps of Key Largo Conch House, a salmon-hued cottage with the kind of wraparound vibe that says, “take your time.” I order the cracked conch Benedict — lightly fried conch, rich hollandaise, and a fresh conch-lobster ceviche that cut through all that richness with clean acid. But the sleeper hit? Those key lime macadamia pancakes – cloud-soft with housemade coconut syrup. One bite and I stop caring about lunch.

Key West

I pull back into Key West just in time to check in at La Concha Hotel, the pink grande dame where Ernest Hemingway wrote part of To Have and Have Not and Tennessee Williams finished Streetcar Named Desire. I drop my bags and head straight for Tropicado, the mojito bar in the lobby that partners with Hemingway Rum Company. Every bartender here goes through a deep-dive training: the drink’s history, the culture, and — crucially — how to make it right.

At 4:30 p.m. sharp, they roll out the portable mojito cart. I watch my bartender slap six mint leaves (only once), stir with precision, and build the drink with Papa Pilar’s Blonde Rum, a sugarcane stick, and a bouquet of fresh mint. I take a long sip and taste balance, simplicity, and a hint of Keys’ magic.

At dinner, I order conch carpaccio — shaved paper-thin and kissed with olive oil and capers — at Café Solé, tucked inside a quaint Creole cottage away from the Duval madness. The main event? Diver-caught hogfish topped with roasted red pepper hollandaise, paired with a crisp glass of white wine. I savor every unfussy, elegant bite.

For my final meal before leaving town, I return to Moondog Café & Bakery, because no Key West trip feels complete without it. I settle into the shakshuka, warm and perfectly spiced, and my husband grabs the fresh catch Benedict — blackened yellowtail, poached eggs, silky hollandaise. We eat slowly, soaking it all in. On the way out, I grab a slice of coconut carrot cake and a flaky raspberry–key lime turnover to take home, because I can’t only walk past that case filled with the best pastries in the Florida Keys.

Not wanting to leave, I pull into Ana’s Café Cubano for one more Cuban sandwich and a last café con leche for dinner at home, followed by my Moondog goodies. The ladies manning the counter slow roast their pork, make their bread, and serve their coffee piping hot.

So yes, I’ll always make room for pie. But if you’re coming to the Keys and stopping at one dessert, you’re missing the best parts of the meal.