Let’s Get Brunch! 12 Key West Places for Best Breakfast
In Key West, we know how to party & we know how to sleep in, which means we know how to brunch! A good party can live on into the twilight hours, but you still need to recharge, even if it’s for just another relaxing, fun-filled day of vacation! If you’re like us, breakfast is one of your top 3 favorite meals of the day and you wouldn’t want to miss it. Good news is, our island paradise caters to you all-nighters and later risers! We love to serve breakfast long post lunch hours! Brunching here is truly an art form. So brunch, baby, brunch at any or all of these 11 KILLER spots to get your Key West day started off on the right foot!
1. BLUE HEAVEN
This Key West icon needs no explanation. If you only have time for one meal on the island, Blue Heaven should be it…and if you’re lucky, you’ll show up at brunch. It’s not hard, it happens everyday from 8am to 2pm. This hidden gem on the main drag of Bahama Village serves all the goods from Pink Shrimp and Grits and Blueberry Pancakes, to thick slices of Homemade Banana Bread and Lobster Benedicts with Key Lime Hollandaise! The mimosa menu is no joke either–there’s a list full of different varieties and they don’t quit after a couple sips…they’re served in stemmed water goblets and filled to the top! Don’t forget to save room for their nationally award winning Key Lime Pie! So, head over to Petronia St, lounge with the cats and roosters in the historic boxing yard of Hemingway himself and tell them Key West Food Tours sent you!
2. BAGATELLE
Touring inside gorgeous historic Key West homes is intriguing, but dining in them is better! Home to a sea captain and his family, Bagatelle was moved down Fleming St to where it sits pretty on Duval and has served as one of Key West’s premier island fine dining spots for the last 30+ years. It has two happy hours daily and lucky for everyone, one of them is called the Hangover Happy Hour from 9-11:30am! In these few magical hours breakfast tapas are $5 each and so are the brunchy booze! The name is french for “brief flirtation” which you can do with some chicken & waffles or fried french toast any day you’d like.
3. GOLDMAN’S DELI
Leave the ocean views behind, because where you’re brunching, you don’t need ’em! Goldman’s Deli is a fast and furious, family-run, flavor filled funhouse-of-a-diner. For those who like to eat around, put this unpretentious gem at the top of your list! Classic diner dishes made from scratch with love, sprinkled in with beloved jewish specialties like corned beef hash, pastrami, and lox platters paired with any of their selection of homemade bagels. Take our advice and get there early, (there’s even an early bird special) the line to get in the doors spills out onto the sidewalk quickly.
4. PEPE’S
If it’s good enough for President Truman, why shouldn’t it be good enough for the rest of us? Pepe’s is the longest standing locals’ magnet that’s been on the island since 1909, because they don’t mess around with the goods. They serve up daily changing specials hot, slathered in cream cheese sauces and paired with delicious homemade breads. Hey, we locals know what’s up, and you’re lucky we share our secrets! Like how waiting for a table is easy-breezy when you have one of their bloody marys in your hand.
Want to try brunch at 5 places instead of one? Our Food Tours let you sample dishes at local’s favorites so you don’t have to commit. This way, you’ll bypass the places that didn’t impress and spend your time and money on ones that DID! 11am-2pm Monday thru Sunday.
5. HOT TIN ROOF
If the term “vacation” translates to pampering, don’t bother brunching anywhere else on Sunday morning than Hot Tin Roof. This is no buffet, folks. This is fine-dining brunch style at the Ocean Key Resort! Pay one price and sit back and relax. The drinks seem to refill themselves as the attentive servers bring unending, freshly made tapas from the kitchen. It’s luxury at it’s finest. With over 1,200 5 star reviews, you don’t even have to take our word it, just read the reviews!
6. MOON DOG CAFE
Sitting beside the Hemingway home is a spot that Ernest himself would’ve wished existed in the 30’s…Moondog has made its mark on the scene quickly bringing new life (and strung lighting ) to Whitehead Street. It doesn’t matter what time of day you sit down at a table, but brunch qualifies for top of the list! Freshly baked goods behind the counter and squeezed juice mimosas, a meal at this quaint café comes with the generous side of atmosphere. You can’t go wrong with anything from the menu–And it’s one of the few places in town that vegans and vegetarians can feel welcome and have options!
7. BREAKFAST CLUB, TOO
If you have an early boat trip off of the Historic Seaport, then Breakfast Club, Too was the perfect launching (or landing) point. Located conveniently on Greene Street, this breakfast bistro has a nice combination of cool, dark inside seating (if you’re fighting off a hangover) or sunny porch spots. Come hungry because the breakfast skillets are mountains of deliciousness. Wash it down with their own signature roasted coffee.
8. AZUR
Inspired by the two head chefs’ European influences, the Mediterranean-styled Azur restaurant serves up dreamy dishes to order all day long, which means couples can steal away off-Duval St. for a romantic meal no matter what time it is. But it’s their weekend brunch that makes it a particularly popular destination. They offer such tantalizing items such as Key Lime Stuffed French Toast, Yellowtail Snapper or in-house cured Nova Salmon Benedicts, and roasted pork sandwiches with fontina cheese. The atmosphere of either inside or out sets the scene for their well-dressed plates as a set would the actors of a broadway show. Expect features like shaded terrace and trickling waterfall for outdoor dining, and comfy pillowed benches and brightly colored paint and lanterns inside.
9. MATT’S STOCK ISLAND
As a winner of OpenTable’s 2019 Diners’ Choice award for Best Dining, Ambiance, Seafood, and Lunch, and named #2 out of the Top 10 Restaurants in Key West by Timeout magazine, you best be darn-toot’n that Matt’s Stock Island Kitchen & Bar’s brunch stands up the the high expectations set by their head Chef Kalen. Come on any day of the week and the breakfast includes American Coastal Comfort Food favorites such as chicken and waffles, guava & cheese stuffed french toast, and pink shrimp omelettes. But if you manage to stop in on a Sunday, be prepared to dine on stocked buffet tables full of bushels of oysters on the half shell, ceviches, pastries, tropical fruits, peel n eat shrimp, and bottomless brunch drinks for $50 per head. You can take your overflowing plates inside or dockside, with unobstructed views of the working waterfront to watch impressive yachts and boats glide in and out of the marina.
10. THE CAFE (Vegan & Vegetarian)
If you happen to be a meatless muncher, we’ve got a place for you too! Key West’s The Cafe caters to most (if not all) specialty diets ensuring that everyone has a delicious, nutritous, and bountiful start to their day, or in their brunches’ case…the weekend. Here, inside their hippy, traveler-meets-funky-art-peddler location, even the laziest among us can wake up late and still enjoy because the party doesn’t stop until 4pm. Sip on bottomless mimosas paired with homemade juices, or a in-house made kombucha or seltzer. Don’t forget to ask for your to-go box in advance because most dishes are big enough to take a little extra home…but no judgement if nothing makes it to the box.
11. BISTRO 245
Don’t even bother coming if you didn’t bring your appetite…Bistro 245’s Sunday brunch from 10am-2pm isn’t a sprint, it’s a marathon. From the moment you arrive and the attentive staff serves your first mimosa, don’t expect to ever see your drink reach below 1/2 empty again. It’s now time to stretch, grab your plates, and head off to the races. There are 2 entire rooms of the hall dedicated to serving up what’s gotta be the best array of dishes on the island, and there’s no rush. Take your time, take as many trips to the buffet that you need and want, but make sure to leave room for the desserts! Yes “desserts” plural. There’s a tower displaying at least a dozen different kind of bite sizes treats and edible treasures!
12. ARGO NAVIS “Best of Key West” Brunch Sail
If you’re only in Key West for a good time, not a long time (say ‘just the weekend’) then why not kill 2 bird with one luxurious stone. Enjoy a relaxing Sunday morning on the only 75 foot luxury catamaran sailing yacht in Key West. They source the very best brunch fare from the top Key West restaurants to bring you an amazing al fresco noshing experience. Enjoy bottomless mimosas, premium wine and craft beers, juices and coffee but seriously, don’t miss the Bloody Mary’s! Winner of 7 “Best in the World Bloody Mary’s” awards, The Saint Hotel’s concoctions are literally a meal in itself! Build an artfully crafted skewer of Key West pink shrimp, meatballs maple syrup, Yorkshire pudding, even prime rib parcel with homemade horseradish cream! Mmmm Delicious!
You can expect a relaxing morning as the SV Argo Navis doesn’t play any music and never overcrowds the boat so you can enjoy space to stretch out while experiencing the tranquility of a wind driven vessel in the beautiful azure waters of Key West.
Bon Apetit!