This guide is original editorial content. Linked public sources and directory listings should be checked again for live schedules, closures, prices and access rules.
How this guide works
The Middle Keys in this guide are Layton and Long Key (Layton & Long Key, about MM 65–72), Duck Key (Duck Key, about MM 60–65), Marathon (Marathon, about MM 47–60) and Key Colony Beach (Key Colony Beach, about MM 53). Marathon is the service town. The others are quieter lodging, resort or park stretches with shorter restaurant lists. Eating well is still a mile-marker problem: the practical meal is the one on the same stretch as the boat, the beach or the hotel, not a drive back across two-lane U.S. 1 for a name you saw online.
Nothing here is ranked. Linked names open a KeysCompass page that points back at the operator's own source; a name without a link is still a real kitchen, so check it on its own site or the island hub. Inside each group the order is geographic or arbitrary, never sold; Verified source on a listing means stronger source verification, not a paid slot. We do not publish prices, hours, wait times or phone numbers on this page—those change faster than a guide, so open the listing's source link before you drive. Chains and map-only places stay on the island hubs. This page is a sample of source-backed kitchens, not every fragment in the directory.
For full lists, use the island restaurant hubs: Marathon restaurants, Key Colony Beach restaurants, Duck Key restaurants and Layton & Long Key restaurants. Grassy Key kitchens are filed on the Duck Key hub, not on a separate island page. For a Keys-wide view of places on the water, see Waterfront restaurants. The Upper Keys companion is Where to eat in the Upper Keys: Key Largo, Tavernier and Islamorada by Key and type, and the Lower Keys companion, from Big Pine to Big Coppitt, is Where to eat in the Lower Keys: Big Pine, Torch, Summerland, Cudjoe, Sugarloaf and Big Coppitt by Key and type. Key West and Stock Island are in Where to eat in Key West, by neighborhood.
- Pick food on the same mile-marker stretch as the day's main job.
- Unranked: group order is geography, not quality or payment.
- Confirm hours and reservations on each operator's own site.
- Hubs: Marathon restaurants, Key Colony Beach restaurants, Duck Key restaurants, Layton & Long Key restaurants.
Marathon: on the water
Boot Key Harbor is a side-street decision, not a glance from Overseas Highway. Castaway Waterfront Restaurant & Sushi Bar is at 1406 Ocean View Avenue on the harbor, with a sushi bar. Dockside Boot Key Harbor is at 35 Sombrero Boulevard. It shares that address corridor with Sombrero Marina and is a separate business.
Oceanfront rooms sit on other streets. Mahina is the oceanfront restaurant at Isla Bella Beach Resort, 1 Knights Key Boulevard. The resort dining page says it is open to non-guests. It is separate from the resort lodging listing and from The Beach Bar at Isla Bella at the same boulevard. Hurricane Grille is a waterfront restaurant and sports bar at Blackfin Resort, 4650 Overseas Highway, and the listing notes live music; it is separate from the Blackfin resort and marina listing. Lazy Days South is the Marathon oceanfront restaurant at 725 11th Street Ocean. It is not Lazy Days Islamorada.
At the west end, Sunset Grille is the oceanfront listing the operator places at the foot of the historic Seven Mile Bridge. Use it as a before-or-after table for an Old Seven walk, and confirm kitchen hours and parking on its own site.
- Boot Key Harbor and Knights Key are side streets, not U.S. 1 shoulders.
- Mahina and The Beach Bar share Isla Bella and not a listing.
- Lazy Days South ≠ Lazy Days Islamorada.
- Sunset tables fill—check the operator, not this page.
Marathon: dock and dine by boat
Some Marathon meals can start at a slip. This group is unranked, and it only includes restaurants whose own sites describe arriving by water. Keys Fisheries at 3502 Gulfview Avenue is a restaurant, seafood market and wholesale fishery on the Florida Bay side, at the end of 35th Street. Its site says guests can come for lunch or dinner by water, and that its on-site marina rents dockage for boats up to 60 feet for short and long stays. Burdines Waterfront Marina at 1200 Oceanview Avenue is a full-service marina with a dockside fuel station, and its bar and grill sits upstairs from the marina. The operator invites guests to come by land or sea and calls itself a stop for boaters and locals. Up the road on Long Key, outside Marathon, Lick It BBQ & Wood Fire Pizza at Edgewater Lodge, 65651 Overseas Highway, tells guests on its own site (https://www.lickitbbq.com/) to arrive by land or by sea and to “dock your boat conveniently at our restaurant.”
Other Marathon restaurants sit on or near the water without describing tying up on their own sites, so they are not in this group. A waterfront table is not the same as a public dock. Ask the restaurant or marina about slip space, depth and any dockage charge before you set a course, and check the boat-up rules on its own site.
- By water: Keys Fisheries, Burdines and, on Long Key, Lick It describe it on their own sites.
- Keys Fisheries is on the bay side at the end of 35th Street.
- Burdines: the bar and grill is upstairs from the marina.
- Waterfront seating is not a public dock; ask about slips first.
Marathon: highway seafood and Cuban-Caribbean
King Seafood Market & Restaurant at 10925 Overseas Highway is both a seafood market and a dining room. Barracuda Grill is a grill at 4290 Overseas Highway—a highway table, not a harbor spot.
Cuban and Caribbean kitchens are spread along the same highway, not clustered in one village. El Siboney Marathon is the Cuban restaurant at 3574 Overseas Highway, in the space that was Overseas Pub & Grill. It opened in March 2026. It is not El Siboney Restaurant — Downtown and not El Siboney Restaurant — Stock Island. Irie Island Eats is a Caribbean outdoor restaurant at 4540 Overseas Highway. La Niña Restaurant is a Cuban restaurant at 1571 Overseas Highway; it does not publish an operator website, so confirm it is open before you drive.
- Market plus dining room: King Seafood. Grill on the highway: Barracuda.
- Three El Siboney locations: Marathon, downtown Key West, Stock Island.
- La Niña has no operator site—confirm it is open before you drive.
- Outdoor Caribbean at Irie is still a highway stop, not a dock.
Marathon: pizza and casual
Coast To Coast Pizza Co. lists a Marathon shop at 61 53rd Street. Other cities named on that operator site are not this location. Driftwood Pizza, Pasta & Subs is the Marathon pizza, pasta and sub shop at 10875 Overseas Highway. Do not use a Big Pine Key marina or express stop that shares the Driftwood name. Upper Crust Pizza – Marathon is the shop at 3740 Overseas Highway, not Upper Crust Pizza Key Largo.
For a west-end grill rather than a pizza, 7 Mile Grill is at 1240 Overseas Highway, mile marker 47.5. It is a restaurant, not Seven Mile Marina. Takeout pizza is the honest tired-after-the-boat dinner; a grill at MM 47.5 is the honest stop when the day's last job is the bridge.
- Coast To Coast's Marathon location is 53rd Street, not another city on the same site.
- Upper Crust Marathon ≠ Upper Crust Key Largo.
- 7 Mile Grill is a restaurant at MM 47.5, not the marina.
Marathon: breakfast and cafés
Pre-boat and pre-park breakfast in Marathon is a highway café, not a bakery crawl like Key Largo. LJ's Café is a breakfast-and-lunch café at 10694 Overseas Highway. It is listed by the Marathon Chamber and Visit Florida Keys and does not publish an operator website. The Stuffed Pig serves breakfast and lunch at 3520 Overseas Highway. Match the mile marker to the dock or the park, then confirm opening time on the source the morning you go.
For a slower, sit-down breakfast on the water, the kind of meal other towns call brunch, two Marathon waterfront rooms serve it every day. Hurricane Grille at Blackfin Resort says it serves from breakfast until last call, seven days a week. Sunset Grille at the foot of the historic Seven Mile Bridge lists breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days a week, and on Sundays it hosts what it calls Sunday Funday, a pool and beach party. Neither of those two sites uses the word brunch, so check the morning menu on each one. Castaway Waterfront Restaurant & Sushi Bar, on Boot Key Harbor at the end of 15th Street, is the waterfront room that does: its own site (https://castawayfloridakeys.com/) lists brunch every day, with a later start on weekdays than on weekends.
- Two breakfast-and-lunch spots: LJ's Café and The Stuffed Pig.
- LJ's has no operator website; the Marathon Chamber and Visit Florida Keys list it.
- Waterfront breakfast: Hurricane Grille or Sunset Grille, every day.
- Brunch by name: Castaway on Boot Key Harbor, every day, starting later on weekdays.
- Sunset Grille's Sunday Funday is a pool and beach party.
- This guide does not publish opening times.
Key Colony Beach: a short oceanfront list
Key Colony Beach is a compact island city next to Marathon, not a second dining strip. KeysCompass has two verified restaurants worth building a meal around. Havana Jack's Oceanside Restaurant & Bar at 401 E Ocean Drive is an oceanfront room for local seafood and Caribbean- and Cuban-inspired dishes, with indoor seating and an open-air tiki patio. The Inn at Key Colony at 700 W Ocean Drive is a dinner restaurant opposite the golf course—steaks, fresh fish, shrimp and pasta. The listing says it reopened under new owners after the Key Colony Inn Restaurant closed in July 2025.
That is the list. A wider cuisine range, a seafood market or a late backup is a Marathon errand, not a walk across the golf course. Use Key Colony Beach restaurants, then Marathon restaurants. Confirm whether a dock or beach next to the table is public or guest-only before you tell the group it is “the water.”
- Two Key Colony restaurants, then Marathon for range.
- Havana Jack's is oceanfront; The Inn at Key Colony is a dinner room opposite the golf course.
- Guest-only beach or dock rules are the property's, not this guide's.
Duck Key and Grassy Key: resort tables and coffee
Several Duck Key meals sit inside Hawks Cay at 61 Hawks Cay Boulevard, and a table there is a reservation, not a walk-in promise. Angler and Ale is the waterfront restaurant on the marina docks, with island-inspired seafood, casual fare and hook-and-cook for a guest's catch. Non-resort guests should reserve and confirm parking and hook-and-cook rules. Salt + Ash is the upscale Hawks Cay room built around local ingredients, seafood and wood fire; the resort says it welcomes non-resort guests based on availability, and reservations are encouraged. These are two outlets at one resort address, not two islands.
Grassy Key listings are on the Duck Key directory view. Georgie's Coffee Shop is a coffee shop at mile marker 59.3; its mailing city is Marathon, and the shop is not inside Hawks Cay. The Duck Key restaurant hub also holds highway kitchens such as S.S. Wreck & Galley Grill, a casual Grassy Key seafood and sports-bar listing at MM 58.8 with indoor and outdoor seating. If the pool, cart or table is guest-only, the grocery and the wider menu are still in Marathon.
- Hawks Cay tables: reserve if you are not a resort guest.
- Angler and Ale is the marina waterfront room; Salt + Ash is the wood-fire room.
- Georgie's is Grassy Key coffee, filed on Duck Key restaurants.
- Hook-and-cook rules belong to the restaurant.
Layton and Long Key: a thin list, on purpose
Layton and Long Key are a park and lodging stretch, not a service town. The restaurant hub is short, and that is the honest product. Lick It BBQ & Wood Fire Pizza is the waterfront restaurant at Edgewater Lodge, 65651 Overseas Highway, with slow-smoked barbecue, wood-fired pizza and outdoor seating. The listing notes sunset views and a bring-your-catch service—confirm those rules on the operator site. Oceans305 is the waterfront restaurant and bar at Fiesta Key RV Resort, 70001 Overseas Highway in Layton, with seafood, steaks, cocktails and live entertainment. Confirm you can reach the table through the resort before you count on it.
A highway grill, Long Key Bar and Grill, sits at mile marker 68 next to Lime Tree Bay Resort. The operator says it is the former Florida Boy restaurant. That is still a short list. If you need a grocery, a seafood market or a second cuisine, eat in Marathon or, northbound, use Where to eat in the Upper Keys: Key Largo, Tavernier and Islamorada by Key and type. The full list is Layton & Long Key restaurants.
- Two waterfront stops plus a highway grill—then leave for Marathon.
- Lick It is Edgewater Lodge; Oceans305 is inside Fiesta Key RV Resort.
- Bring-your-catch and resort access are operator rules.
- Do not count on a last-minute strip of restaurants here.
Plan the meal around the day
On a Marathon hub day, eat on the island you slept on. Marathon as a Mid-Keys base: day plan is the radius: one boat or one shoreline, then a local dinner, not an Islamorada drive after a full water day. Breakfast before that day is LJ's Café or The Stuffed Pig on the Marathon highway, or Georgie's if the pillow is on the Grassy Key / Duck Key end. Match the café to the dock mile marker.
Lunch before or after Seven Mile Bridge belongs at the Marathon end of the span. Sunset Grille is the oceanfront table at the foot of the old bridge; 7 Mile Grill at MM 47.5 is the highway grill on the same west-end errand. Read Seven Mile Bridge and Pigeon Key: walking Old Seven, parking and driving the span for the walk, the parking and the crossing, and do not lock a kitchen to the minute a trail or a boat “should” be done. If the day is actually Islamorada, use Where to eat in the Upper Keys: Key Largo, Tavernier and Islamorada by Key and type instead of commuting a Marathon reservation north.
Key Colony Beach and Duck Key are worth a meal when you are already there—an oceanfront lunch on East Ocean Drive, or a reserved Hawks Cay table—not a ranking that pulls you off a Marathon errand loop. Save one sit-down and one quick backup on Trip planner. If the question is which island gets the pillow, use Where to stay in the Florida Keys: best base by Key for a 5–7 night trip. Re-open each listing's source link the morning you go.
- One sit-down plus one quick backup per day.
- Bridge lunch: Sunset Grille or 7 Mile Grill, then confirm the kitchen.
- Hub day: Marathon as a Mid-Keys base: day plan. Upper Keys day: Where to eat in the Upper Keys: Key Largo, Tavernier and Islamorada by Key and type.
- Past Seven Mile Bridge: Where to eat in the Lower Keys: Big Pine, Torch, Summerland, Cudjoe, Sugarloaf and Big Coppitt by Key and type.
- Save picks on Trip planner and re-check sources that morning.
Frequently asked questions
Does this guide rank Middle Keys restaurants?
No. We do not rank restaurants. This guide groups places already on the site by Key and type—waterfront, Cuban and Caribbean, seafood market, pizza, breakfast—so you can choose by location and the day you already planned. Organic directory order is never sold; Verified source means stronger source verification.
Where can I eat on the water in Marathon?
Boot Key Harbor restaurants include Castaway Waterfront Restaurant & Sushi Bar on Ocean View Avenue and Dockside at 35 Sombrero Boulevard. Mahina is the oceanfront restaurant at Isla Bella and is listed as open to non-guests. Hurricane Grille is the waterfront sports bar at Blackfin Resort. Lazy Days South is the Marathon oceanfront restaurant on 11th Street Ocean, not the Islamorada Lazy Days. Sunset Grille is the oceanfront listing at the foot of the historic Seven Mile Bridge. See Waterfront restaurants for the Keys-wide grid.
Can I get to a Marathon restaurant by boat?
Yes, at two Marathon places whose own sites say so. Keys Fisheries says guests can come for lunch or dinner by water and that its on-site marina rents dockage for boats up to 60 feet. Burdines Waterfront Marina invites guests to come by land or sea, with its bar and grill upstairs from the full-service marina. On Long Key, Lick It BBQ & Wood Fire Pizza at Edgewater Lodge says guests can dock their boat at the restaurant. Ask about slip space and depth before you go. Other waterfront restaurants are not listed as boat-up because their own sites do not describe docking.
Where should I eat before or after Seven Mile Bridge?
Stay on the Marathon end. Sunset Grille sits at the foot of the historic bridge and is the before-or-after table for an Old Seven walk. 7 Mile Grill at mile marker 47.5 is the nearby highway grill, and it is a restaurant, not Seven Mile Marina. Confirm kitchen hours and parking on each operator site. The crossing itself is Seven Mile Bridge and Pigeon Key: walking Old Seven, parking and driving the span.
Where can I get breakfast before a Mid-Keys day?
In Marathon, LJ's Café at 10694 Overseas Highway and The Stuffed Pig at 3520 Overseas Highway are the breakfast-and-lunch cafés. If you are starting from Grassy Key or Duck Key, Georgie's Coffee Shop is at mile marker 59.3. Match the stop to the dock or park, and confirm opening times on the source. This guide does not publish hours.
Does this guide publish hours or prices?
No. Prices, hours, holiday closures, resort-guest rules and reservation policies change often. Each listing links the operator's own site or the directory source. Check it the day you go. A Verified source label is not a menu or a wait time.
Is Key Colony Beach or Duck Key worth a meal stop?
Yes, when you are already on that island. Key Colony Beach has a short list: Havana Jack's on the ocean and The Inn at Key Colony for dinner. Duck Key meals at Hawks Cay—Angler and Ale on the marina and Salt + Ash—are resort restaurants, so non-resort guests should reserve and confirm availability. Georgie's on Grassy Key is the coffee stop in that same directory view. Neither island replaces Marathon when you need a market, a second cuisine or a late backup.
How do I use the restaurant hubs with this guide?
Start with the Key you will actually be on: Marathon restaurants, Key Colony Beach restaurants, Duck Key restaurants or Layton & Long Key restaurants. This guide is the unranked sample; the hub is the full list, including chains. Save one sit-down and one backup on Trip planner. Pair a Marathon hub day with Marathon as a Mid-Keys base: day plan.
Is Lazy Days South the Islamorada restaurant, and is El Siboney Marathon the Key West one?
No. Lazy Days South is the Marathon oceanfront restaurant. Lazy Days Islamorada is a different waterfront restaurant up the highway in Islamorada. El Siboney Marathon is the Cuban restaurant at 3574 Overseas Highway in Marathon. The Key West and Stock Island restaurants have their own listings and are not this stop.
