Key Largo Fisheries Backyard Cafe

Really cool, laid-back atmosphere. Walk up and order your food. I had the grilled mahi basket, and it was excellent. The key lime pie was great. I would recommend this place to everyone.

Great food and great ambiance. The tropical salad with shrimp and the seafood soup were very tasty and fresh. Highly recommend.

Disappointed is how I describe my experience. I am a several year customer of KLF online, having ordered by now several thousands of dollars of stone crab claws and Florida lobster, so I was very much looking forward to trying their restaurant while down in south Florida for the holidays.

I ordered the lobster bites appetizer and grilled hogfish. My wife ordered grilled grouper. In both cases, the fish portions were generous, but the filets were thin and ended up being overcooked and dry. It is not easy to cook lower fat fish like grouper and hogfish without overcooking them, but a skilled line cook can do it. These obviously were not cooked by skilled professionals, which was so disappointing. Taking something so fresh and potentially delicious and ruining it is just wasteful. I ate less than a fourth of my fish and threw the rest away, it was that bad.

My lobster bites were also a disappointment. The batter on them was far too thick, and not very flavorful. The result was an unsavory mess that I had to manually remove the batter from in order to eat it at all. That was further complicated by the fact that the lobster was overcooked, dry and tasteless. I am guessing it had already been cooked before being cut into chunks, battered and cooked again, resulting in a way overcooked product. Finally, my side for my hogfish was the tostones. Another disappointment. Too thick and not crispy. Pretty much inedible.

To add to the disappointment, I ordered stone claws, ceviche and whole lobsters to take with us. Only the lobster turned out good. The fish in the ceviche was so tough as to be inedible. The crab I kept on ice for two days before I picked it. Even though it was properly stored the whole time, it was starting to get slimy. It didn’t yet smell bad, but it didn’t smell fresh either. By two days later, again, stored properly, it was bad and I had to throw away at least a pound. Very disappointing!

Someone needs to come in and revise their recipes and train their cooks. Given the quality and freshness of their raw product, KLF Backyard Cafe has the potential to be great, but it is so very far from that currently. I still recommend their online ordering, it is world class. The retail operation stinks!

Freshest seafood anywhere. Fishing boats tied to the dock. Supplies fish to many restaurants in Miami. Great selection of fish, shrimp, lobster, stone crabs (in season) self serve order one window and pick up at another. Efficient and fast. Order and head for the fish market, check out the fish you may want to take home. Frozen specials and best key lime pie, grab a couple stone crabs for appetizer. Selection of beer and sodas some wine but nothing special. Prices are very reasonable for the keys. Remember when they started with 4 or 5 tables.

The fish here is so fresh and delicious. Their mahi chipotle wrap special was amazing. Would recommend everything on the menu.

Great place to eat fresh seafood & soak in the ambience. Worth the drive from Miami to experience the live music, excellent food & laid back atmosphere.

The best seafood restaurant! I highly Reccomended getting the Mahi Quesadilla! Dip it in the sour cream and it’s an explosion in your mouth!
Also the conch fritters are amazing as well. I have only had these two choices from the 10 visits lol. I just keep coming back for it every time.

Local seafood served outside next to the marina. Not exactly cheap but not bad for good quality seafood and fresh. We had the whole fried yellowtail for $22 and the 5 “large” stone crab claws for $40. I’m not an expert on stone crab but they were tasty. Loved the Key West Crazy Lady blond ale on tap. It was Friday night and we were subjected to a local cover band, I liked the tune selection but too loud. Trying to talk over dinner with that. Dial it down guys. The key lime pie is not made in house and at counter they don’t know who makes it. Very small slice for $5.95. It was ok. Buttercream on top was an odd combination.

One real complaint, TONS of plastic used here. Come on, you’re next to a marine sanctuary for god’s sake. It appears to all go in the trash, not even recycled. That was disappointing.

Probably the best seafood I had in the Keys. If you're goal is great fresh seafood...no frills...but great food, stop here. Best buy on stone crabs I found.

Food is fantastic. Very nice ambience and clean. Excellent service. Friendly staffs. Love the live music! Clean bathroom. Parking at the back of restaurant.