The Everglades Restaurants

Dining in the Everglades area centers on mom-and-pop places serving hearty home-style food, and small eateries specializing in fresh local fare: alligator, fish, stone crab, frogs' legs, and Florida lobster from the Keys. American Indian restaurants serve local favorites as well as catfish, Indian fry bread (a flour-and-water flatbread), and pumpkin bread. A growing Hispanic population around Homestead means plenty of authentic, inexpensive Latin cuisine, with an emphasis on Cuban and Mexican dishes. Restaurants in Everglades City, especially those along the river, specialize in fresh (often just hours out of the water) seafood including particularly succulent, sustainable stone crab. These mostly rustic places are ultracasual and often close in late summer or fall. For finer dining, head for Marco Island or Naples.

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  • 1. City Seafood

    $$

    Gems from the sea are delivered fresh from the owners' boats to this rustic haven. Enjoy breakfast, lunch, or an early dinner outdoors to watch pelicans, gulls, tarpon, manatees, and the occasional gator play off the dock on the Barron River. Even better, you can chow down on sustainable stone crabs—medium, large, jumbo, and colossal, based on weight—with a clear conscience. After they remove the meaty claws, crabs are returned to the water so they can grow new ones. Brought a cooler with you? City Seafood wraps for the road (and ships, too). Gator and shark-tooth necklaces and cutesy crabby-style tanks, boxers, and tees await in the gift shop.

    702 Begonia St., Everglades City, Florida, 34139, USA
    239-695–4700

    Known For

    • Sustainable stone crab in season
    • Waterfront hangout
    • Wrapping and shipping fresh seafood
  • 2. Farmers' Market Restaurant

    $

    This quaint eatery is inside the farmers' market on the edge of town, and it's big on serving fresh vegetables and seafood. A family of anglers runs the place, so fish and shellfish are only hours from the ocean. Catering to farmers, the restaurant opens at 5:30 am serving fluffy pancakes and omelets with home fries or grits in a pleasant dining room. For lunch and dinner, you can choose from fried shrimp or conch, seafood pasta, country-fried steak, and roast turkey, as well as salads, burgers, and sandwiches.

    300 N. Krome Ave., Florida City, Florida, 33034, USA
    305-242–0008

    Known For

    • Early hours for breakfast
    • Seafood-centric menu
    • Using fresh produce from the market
  • 3. Joanie's Blue Crab Café

    $$

    West of the nation's tiniest post office, you'll find this red barn of a place dishing out catfish, frog legs, gator, grouper, burgers, salads, and (no surprise here) an abundance of soft-shell crabs and crab cakes. Entrées are reasonably priced, and peanut butter pie makes for a solid finish. Order an icy beer or wine by the glass, and eat out front or on the back patio—just keep an eye out for neighborhood gators. Joanie's schedule changes depending on the season, so call for hours of operation.

    39395 Tamiami Trail E, Ochopee, Florida, 34141, USA
    239-695–2682

    Known For

    • Fresh seafood
    • Live music
    • Patio dining

    Restaurant Details

    Rate Includes: Hrs vary seasonally; call to confirm
  • 4. Triad Seafood Market & Café

    $$

    Along the Barron River, seafood houses, fishing boats, and crab traps populate one shoreline, while mangroves line the other. Some seafood houses added picnic tables and eventually grew into restaurants, like the family-owned Triad Seafood Market & Café. It's nothing fancy, but you'd be hard-pressed to find a better grouper sandwich. The fried green tomatoes are tasty, too. An all-you-can-eat fresh stone crab feast (when available from October 15 to May 15) is worth your time, especially for the jumbos. As a bonus, you can have your picture posted on Triad's Glutton Board. This casual spot has a screened dining area and additional outdoor seating under a breezeway and on a deck (heated in winter). Here you can savor fresh seafood at its finest or have it shipped to your home.

    401 W. School Dr., Everglades City, Florida, 34139, USA
    239-695–2662

    Known For

    • Coveted grouper sandwiches
    • Outdoor dining
    • All-you-can-eat stone crab feasts

    Restaurant Details

    Rate Includes: Closed seasonally; call for hours
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