People in other climates dream of sitting in a waterside restaurant, pulling up on their boat and enjoying a simple meal. In the Florida Keys, this is part of life. Open air restaurants, with water views and friendly service are virtually everywhere here – that is how it goes when you live on a chain of islands 150 miles long, are surrounded by water and have a year-round tropical climate.
Last week I had lunch at the Island Grill, located at Mile Marker 85.5 on the 
Atlantic side. It is very typically Keys-y. From the docks out back to the friendly staff, everything about the place is laid back and comfortable.
One of the house specialties is the Tuna Nachos, which come with seared tuna and seaweed salad served atop wonton chips. Delicious as those sound, I had the Seafood Tacos. I love that you can get these as you like them – with either fresh fish, shrimp, lobster or conch. I chose the fresh mahi-mahi, grilled, although fried is also an option. The two good sized tacos ($9.95) came with quite a few on-the-sides: guacamole, chipotle sour cream, pico de gallo and hot sauce.
The menu is huge, and covers all types of food products: they have soups (even in the summer), salads, a bunch of different sandwiches as well as entrees. They even serve a piece of locally-caught fish, dredged in ranch dressing and coated in potato chips, then baked. I will have to have that on my next visit, preferably after a 10 mile run.
Overall, this is a good place to stop if you are staying in Islamorada or just passing through. Service is friendly and the food is good. What more could you want?
