Our favorite pit stops for road food (and cocktails) along the Overseas Highway.
Florida Seafood
Florida’s seafood industry accounts for more than 84 percent of the nation’s grouper, pompano, mullet, stone crab, pink shrimp, spiny lobsters and Spanish mackerel.
The Everglades Seafood Festival in Everglades City brings fresh local seafood, country music, carnival rides and arts and crafts to this historic outpost on the edge of the Everglades. This year, the festival, which has been free for many years, is asking for a minimum of a $10 donation.
Nothing says Florida like an authentic Florida seafood festival. Fresh local fish served in delightful ways by local chefs. This is your guide to seafood festivals throughout Florida.
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 Florida Seafood Festival celebrates Apalachicola’s vibrant fishing industry. This guide features camping, lodging and things to do near Apalachicola. The 2023 festival is scheduled for Friday and Saturday, Nov. 3-4.
Four of my favorite stops in the Keys are a little hard to find, and that’s part of their charm. They’re off the Overseas Highway in neighborhoods — and they’re worth discovering.
The regular season for harvesting Florida spiny lobster begins August 6 and continues through March 31. Here’s what you need to know, how to catch Florida’s spiny lobster and how to cook it.
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.
The St. Augustine Lions Club Spring Festival has reimagined its seafood festival past.
This tiny fishing village wedged between Bradenton and Anna Marie Island celebrates its rich heritage as a commercial fishing hub.
Everyone wants to discover that funky inexpensive spot where locals go. In Key West, that would be Hogfish Bar & Grill on Stock Island, which wins raves for fresh off-the-boat seafood.
Due to Hurricane Ian, the annual Naples Stone Crab Festival has been postponed. A new date has not been announced.
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. Although Cedar Key was whacked by a hurricane, the festival is ON.
A low-key destination for kayaking, fishing, snorkeling and camping in our guide for things to do in the Lower Florida Keys.
The Marathon Seafood Festival calls itself the Original Marathon Seafood Festival to emphasize it’s the real deal – indigenous and authentic. Marathon is a fishing town, and you don’t get fish any fresher than here, unless you catch it yourself.
The Grant Seafood Festival is put on by community volunteers and has been held every year since 1966 in this riverside enclave between Melbourne and Sebastian.
The Fort Myers Beach Shrimp Festival goes back to 1959. After severe destruction from Hurricane Ian, it was cancelled in 2023 and is back much change in 2024.
Fresh Florida seafood is best enjoyed in an authentic Florida fish shack, ideally with an outdoor deck overlooking the water. Here are a few of our favorites.
The Pensacola Seafood Festival kicks off the festival season in Florida.
Driving U.S. 1 north of Titusville, you would never know Oak Hill even existed. But this gateway to the Mosquito Lagoon is worth finding. There’s fascinating history, a great fishing pier and the sort of atmospheric, out-of-the-way waterfront seafood shack that we love to discover.
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 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.
TITUSVILLE — Some say it’s touristy; some say it’s authentic. But pretty much everyone agrees that the hushpuppies at Dixie Crossroads are irresistible.
Lionfish are gobbling up native species on Florida Keys reefs. Now you can gobble them up instead. Several Florida restaurants are serving lionfish, said to be delicious.
This authentic Florida fishing village near Bradenton is the perfect place to find classic seafood shacks — open air, casual with the freshest fish.
The weather is perfect for getting outdoors, and there’s no better way to enjoy Florida in the Fall than a good, old-fashioned seafood festival. Free parking; Free admission. Camping, fishing, kayaking nearby.
Key West has so many restaurants that it’s hard to make a decision where to eat. Next time I go, though, I have an intriguing list of restaurants filled with local color and character– and I’m sharing it with you. It comes from a fellow blogger who ate his way through Key West recently.
JB’s is your original crab shack, a funky Florida kind of place where blue crabs are served steaming from the kitchen and dumped onto sheets of brown kraft paper that serve as your tablecloth. There’s an outdoor dining deck with a tiki bar overlooking Mosquito Lagoon.
FORT LAUDERDALE — The Southport Raw Bar is a favorite of locals, and you’ll love it, too. The water view down a canal filled with sailboats is awesome, and the seafood is fresh and tasty. This well-known, yet hidden, eatery is filled exudes ‘Old Florida’ ambience. A great place to wile away an afternoon, or take a friend to dinner.