Blue Heaven, Key West

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We were traveling on foot and the restaurant which is located on the 700 block of Thomas Street is not easy to find. However once you do it is well worth the walk.
The Blue Heaven, whose seating is outside, is like sitting in a neighbor's farm back yard. The seating is casual and there are all sorts of chickens and cats roaming the backyard. While it sounds irritating it is actually quite relaxing.

We ordered the Jamaican Chicken Jerk Sandwich and the Shrimp Sandwich. The chicken sandwich consists of strips of chicken breast marinated in a delightful concoction of spices. It is served on a bun. The The Shrimp Sandwich is actually a shrimp melt on a fresh bun topped off with cheddar cheese. The waiter indicated that the shrimp is caught locally. It tasted fresh and was a joy to eat.

For desert the key lime pie served here is out of this world. It tastes like it was just prepared a few minutes ago and has the crisp taste of limes and just a nice addition of whipped cream.

Favorite Dish: Shrimp sandwich with cheese, and the fantastic key lime pie. Even the ice tea which they bring plenty of is tasty and refreshing. Basically you cant go wrong at this restaurant!

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My daughter recommended this place for breakfast. But we almost never eat breakfast out, so we hadn't gotten to it until now. So when we visited my sister in a condo that she rented, rather than make breakfast, we went to try to find Blue Heaven. Unfortunately my map had Thomas and Thompson streets reversed on it so there was a delay in navigation.

When we got there. first we tried to go in the wrong door. When we found the gate, it was very crowded with a long (1.5 hour) wait. So we sat down to wait. Uncle George (my brother-in-law) went out to intercept Bob who was parking the car. My sister and I sat at the entrance and people watched. We also got a menu and read about the restaurant.

Eventually she went down to where George and Bob were and they also registered at the La Crêperie. However Barbara noticed that people were not being seated there any faster than at Blue Heaven, so she crossed our names off their list when we got seating at Blue Heaven.

Favorite Dish: Bob got banana bread and bacon sides which were $2.50-$3.00 each. I got a fruit smoothie ($5.00) and a lobster omelet ($22.00) which was the special. Aunt B and Uncle G got the lobster eggs benedict.

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This is everyone's favorite place for breakfast - it is one of the places I recommend to people who are going to visit Key West. They also do dinner, but they are particularly known for breakfast.

Monday - Saturday: Breakfast: 8am - Noon
Lunch: "After breakfast**" - 3pm
Dinner: 5pm - "10-ish" pm

Sunday: Brunch: 8am - 2pm
Dinner: 5pm - "10-ish" pm

**Please note. Breakfast is very popular. Esepcially January - May. You may have to wait. After they finish breakfast, they start lunch.

Favorite Dish: Be SURE to have some of the Banana Bread

Don't leave the island until to have dinner at Blue Heaven. It truly is a little slice of heaven. If you are going to go out for a nice dinner once on your trip...this is the one. Dress down in your best pair of flip flops and your favorite shorts and get prepared to eat some good fish! Get the tuna...Although, everything is top notch. Even the land lubbers will delight in the preparation of their pork, chicken, and beef. The atmosphere is just what you need to complete your vacation. Roosters run amok, there is outdoor ping pong and a rope swing. Zydeco music on the weekends. Need I say more?

Favorite Dish: Everything is good. Get the tuna (hehehe). I say that it is a little more expensive then a usual dinner (for me) but it is worth it to go there and not have to be pinching pennies. Go there and treat yourself like a king...or a queen. No offensive references meant. Go with a loved one or bring the whole fam, let the kids go crazy and relax for a moment just listening to the breeze.

Picture if you can, the romantic ambience of dining outdoors in a woodchip covered courtyard, under the gently swaying arms of tropical breeze blown trees while being pestered into providing small portions of your meal to a mother hen and her offspring as a rooster crows loudly from the branches just above your head. This is all part of the "atmosphere" of this lovely restaurant.

Favorite Dish: The locals all know you have to make it to the Blue Heaven for breakfast, and you have to try the pancakes. I highly recommend the blueberry pancakes and a hot cup of coffee. With all the chickens and roosters sauntering around under (and above) the tables, you may find it a bit too intimidating to order the Jamaican Jerk Chicken Dinner. After all, you may be dining on one of your mealmate's relatives. But, that is all part of the fun at this place for great food and fun, relaxing surroundings.

The first thing you notice about Blue Heaven is the atmosphere. Out back, you can dine on a sandy patio lit at night by colorful floodlights and jazzed up by local musicians. In the center of the patio by the bar is a giant tree complete with a rope swing to keep the kids entertained. In fact, this is a great restaurant to take the kids because, when they're done coloring their special menus, they'll leave mom and dad alone to go play with their new found friends. And to top it off, the food is out of this world. I especially reccomend the seafood specials and the carpathian tuna appetizer, and for the kids, a virgin daquri or two.

Favorite Dish: This past tuesday (April 18th) I had the yellowtail snapper, which was delicate and delicious. Lightly battered and accompanied by a citrus beurre blanc sauce, you hardly need the buttery pasta, seasoned corn, and plantains that come along with it.

The location is a bit out of the centre. Just a fair walk, no problem. We had read good reviews for this restaurant, but it turned out as a flop.
We arrived at 11:45 am. Wow, a lovely old wooden building, nicely paint in blue and green. Very typical, very “Old Key West”. Inside, the place was an ant’s nest. We had to queue and the lady at the counter told us that we had to wait about 2 hours!
Yeah… what a bunch of good reviews can do.
We decided to go for dinner at Alonzo’s instead.

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Its Key West, so your going to eat outside in the shade.
A calico cat and hostess greeted us as we entered the courtyard restaurant, and we were seated at one of the blue antique wrought iron tables with an umbrella in the middle. Gazing up at the brown and white shade sails tied high in the trees sent me into a daydream. The old buildings and palm trees provide a lot of shade and privacy from the outside world as well as a beautiful backdrop for the bar and stage. A great retreat from the heat and crowds on Duvall St.

Favorite Dish: I had the Shrimp Plate. The Shrimp Sauteed in wine and butter was very good, came with a big slice of cornbread, black beans, and vegetables. very good