Florida Seafood

With South Florida in a tizzy over the opening of Florida lobster season, here’s what you need to know, how to catch Florida’s spiny lobster and how to cook it.

Seafood festivals are common in Florida, but Cedar Key Seafood Festival is uncommonly appealing. Not only is Cedar Key historic and charming, it’s also clam capital of America.

No Name Pub has been around since the 1930s, and it looks like it. It offers tasty food in a historic building, but what makes this the king of Funky Florida is the decor: $90,000 (some say) stapled to the walls and ceiling.

This isn’t frozen shrimp or imported shrimp or farmed shrimp. The huge boiling pots at the Fort Myers Beach Shrimp Festival are filled with fresh, right-off-the-boat Gulf pink shrimp. Members of the Lions Club have perfected the cooking technique over 50 years of Shrimp Festivals.

Legendary diners, cafes and dives — our favorite roadside restaurants along the scenic Overseas Highway in the Florida Keys.

If you want to savor the flavor of the Florida Keys, spend a little time at a tiki bar. Our favorites profiled here are unpretentious waterfront spots where you’ll get good fresh fish, fried everything and a big serving of Keys atmosphere.

This is Old Florida as it should be, rustic and ready for curious visitors, so pack the tent or stock the RV for some camping at what seems like the end of the world. Endless vistas, great kayaking, quaint village, and don’t forget those sweet, delicious little Cedar Key clams.

The coronavirus pandemic is taking its toll on events throughout Florida. Check here to see the status of your favorite seafood festival.

Stone crab season starts Oct. 15 and Everglades City, a small, isolated fishing village south of Naples, is a place to feast on this Florida favorite in an authenic Old Florida atmosphere.

The 2020 Pensacola Seafood Festival, postponed from its original date in September, is set to go this weekend, November 6-8, after changes were made to accommodate the coronavirus.