Editor's Pick
by Lisa Roberts
Travel Editor

Hogfish Bar & Grill Serves up a taste of the old Key West

Hogfish Bar & Grill, in Safe Harbor Marina on Stock Island, is as authentic as Key West used to be. The reason may be that, as popularity has driven up real estate prices in the Southernmost City, many Conchs have fled to the small island just north of Key West, a workaday place of modest homes, practical condos and marinas jam-packed with shrimp and charter boats.

The Hogfish is perched on water's edge at 6810 Front St. Don't let its shacklike appearance pout you off. Slide into a parking space, choose a seat at a picnic table on the covered patio (a large fan helps keep the no-see-ums at bay) and order from a modestly priced menu that offers everything from hefty burgers and hogfish sandwiches to a tasty Caesar salad topped with, you guessed it, grilled or blackened hogfish. Ask for the salad "all the way" and get a heap of grilled onions and melted cheddar cheese atop the fish.

Save time for a bathroom break -- the depictions of Popeye and Olive Oyl on the restroom doors are works of art.

The Hogfish is open daily for lunch and dinner; it serves breakfast on Sundays. For directions and hours, call 305-293-4041.