Vacation to Florida Keys, any recommendations of places to eat? page

[Lunalotus]

Hi,

I am a little over 2 weeks in to eating pretty strict Paleo. I have committed to 100 days of being very strict with myself to help my body adjust and then I am going to find a happy 80/20. Problem is, my boyfriend and I are going on a road trip from Mass to the Florida keys for 2 weeks. I have found a bunch of Whole Foods and Natural Food Stores along the way, and we will have access to kitchens so we should be able to make a lot of our own food. But I am having trouble researching in the keys. Is anyone from that area or been there recently enough to recommend some places to eat out or good grocery stores that would have good meat and veggies? I'd like to be able to go out to a restaurant or two out there. I think if I can find a good seafood place they can make some yummy seafood without sauces or bad oils and have sides of veggies. Any recommendations?

Thanks!
Tara

[meeshar]

It's been nearly a decade since we visited the Keys. If it's still like when I went, grocery stores are few and far between, and there's only one highway with variable traffic. We had to travel to Marathon to go to a grocery store. The trucks bringing in fresh food have to travel down that same, slow highway, so the prices are really high. In fact, if you can, I'd bring a cooler and stock up on the mainland to save money and not drive as much. Seafood is a great choice, in fact I wasn't a big fan of seafood until that trip, it was so fresh and tasty!

Enjoy your trip! I do fear that if/when we visit the Keys again, the biggest temptation for me would be a real Cuban sandwich...that bread is like nothing I've ever had in my life. Then again, I weighed 280 lbs. back then, wonder why...

[Yeah4me2]

My wife and I went last year at this time and honestly I don't think we had a bad meal anywhere.
I would absolutely recommend hog fish any place you can get it, we had it served multiple ways at different resteraunts and each time it got even better.
There is a BBQ place in Key Largo next to the Hampton that was surprisingly good and the waiter is the fellow that turned us onto the hog fish.

[SouthBeachPrimal]

The Florida Keys stretch through about a hundred miles. Where exactly are you staying? I could give you some advice for Key West, but that wouldn't really be relevant if you are staying in Key Largo or Islamorada.

[Lunalotus]

Hi! Thanks for the info! SouthBeachPrimal~ We will be staying in Key Largo but heading out to Key West for one of the days and eating at least one meal out there and perhaps another somewhere on the way back to Key Largo. Any recommendations are greatly appreciated!!

[SouthBeachPrimal]

Hi! Thanks for the info! SouthBeachPrimal~ We will be staying in Key Largo but heading out to Key West for one of the days and eating at least one meal out there and perhaps another somewhere on the way back to Key Largo. Any recommendations are greatly appreciated!!

If I was going to Key West for just one day/night I'd probably eat at Louie's Backyard. It is right on the water on the South side of the Island and has outdoor seating with a really nice view as well as excellent seafood. Reservations might be appropriate depending on the time. Blue Heaven is a really cool place for breakfast or lunch, although their best item- the Lobster Benedict, isn't primal friendly because of the English muffin it comes on. Seven Fish has really good food too, but no view and less primal friendly than Louie's I think. Seven Fish is super small so reservations are a must if you went there. If you are well off, there is a restaurant at the hotel on Sunset Key that is supposed to be pretty good too but I've never been to that one. You take a boat to get over and it is right on the water so you'd get the most unobstructed view of sunset there. There is a Food Truck called Garbo's that gets a lot of hype, but I personally think it is a bit overrated and their meals aren't all that primal friendly either. The bar on the roof of The Bull is clothing optional, so if you want to get your drink on in the most primal state possible that is an option. Louie's and Blue Heaven would probably be my top recommendations for eating. Hope you have a great time.

[Lunalotus]

Thanks so much for that advice!