February 2007March 2009

Rating: 9 out of 10

Tariff: Dinner for 3

• 2 platters
• 1 'basket'
• 1 soup
• 3 iced teas
• tip
• $50

Atmosphere

This is an old timey Key's restaurant specializing in seafood of all kinds.  When you see it from the road it almost looks too run down (old building, sign needs repainting, gravel lot), but don't be discouraged, inside it's rustic but not at all scary. There are two small dining areas and a screened in porch.  When it's high season be prepared to wait in a long line to get a table. It is a place loved by locals and tourists alike.

Service

The waitresses we've had were no nonsense but friendly and the service is fast. No credit cards, only cash.

Food

Everyone raves about the conch chowder.  This is always a tomato based chowder and since I'm one of those who likes the creamy chowders, I went for the lobster bisque--very rich and sweet Since you are in the Conch Republic, you may want to keep sampling their eponymous delicacies. The conch fritters are pieces of conch (more like calamari) and are way better than the ground up, battered fritters at the nearby Cracked Conch. The grouper sandwich is great with a giant piece of fresh fried grouper. The sauteed scallop platter had huge beautiful, lightly seared scallops. We compared the shrimp platter and the shrimp basket. While the shrimp entree was about $15 it was a good sized platter of large butterflied, fried shrimp with fries and coleslaw.  The basket (half the price) had 20 something tiny fried shrimp on a basket of fries with slaw--a better value, but the big shrimp were tastier.

Herbies

6350 Overseas Highway

Marathon, FL 33050

305-743-6373