Sunday 18 December 2011

Key West - Island Grill

We found that visiting the Keys in September had some drawbacks. It is the slowest month of all in Key West. There are no big festivals or events like the rest of the year, hurricane season is going full blast, and the snowbirds are still up north. A number of businesses close up and the owners take vacations. (Why do you need a vacation from paradise?) We did not realize how much this might affect our eating plans.

After walking around old town for days we decided it was time for a road trip. We took the 50 mile drive  up beyond the 7 mile bridge to the nearest town of Marathon. We had planned to eat supper on the way back at Boondocks, where we knew the food was great. It was closed for remodeling. OK, we said, let's try the Square Grouper that everyone talked about on Summerland Key.  It was closed too with not even a sign to explain why. We ended up back in the Key West area for supper. It is not really unusual for eating joints to close down suddenly and reopen later as something else. Our favorite BBQ place in Key West, The Meteor Smoke house closed a couple of years ago. This last year Captain Mario's Seafood Buffet closed, the only place I could get enough crab cakes at one sitting. That is hard for old folks like us who don't like no stinking changes in life.

On our trip to Marathon we stopped on Big Pine Key for lunch. We couldn't believe the “for Sale” sign on the Island Grill.

We had eaten at the grill a number of times last year when we were staying on Big Pine. It is a nice bar/grill with really good bar food. We knew it was having some troubles from comments on the Coconut Telegraph web site. (Yes Big Pine Key has it's own crazy web page) But, we didn't expect it to go out of business altogether. We had what will probably be out last ever juicy Island Grill cheeseburgers.




The bill was $32 with tip, and worth every penny.

Bon Ton Roulett Y'All    
Gene and Nancy    

“I want a cheeseburger in paradise” --- JB

1 comment:

CarrieMarie said...

Update from Uncle Gene:

This is something I read on the Coconut Telegraph about the Island Grill on Big Pine Key. It turns out I was wrong and it is not going out of business. Some guy named Tom bought it and did some improvements and it is now more popular than before. Just some info. This is a direct quote from the CT .....



"Big things happening at the big curve on BPK. Rob's is soon to no longer be Robs's nor Not Rob's, not even the New Island Grill. Tom has cool changes in the works. He's changing the name to The Curve. The new logo is to be a baseball. Tom is revamping the menu, adding a gang of really good new eats. We had the steak fajitas last night, and they were great. Plenty of really good sliced marinated steak. If you're a fan on live music, you're in for a treat. Tom will be having live music on Wednesday's and Saturdays. We were there last Saturday, and the band played on the improved patio. It was a great evening. Stopping in during the happy hour from 3:00 till 6:30 is a great way to unwind with good friends and great drinks. The ladies tending bar are the absolute greatest. The half price deals make it even better The revamped patio is really great. Tom is making BPK's best bar and grill even better. "

Hope the food is still as good as ever ..... Gene