Best Key West Restaurants (Affordable and Gluten-Free!)
Your guide to the best Key West restaurants, all with gluten-free options and a cost guide!
Some of the links in this article are affiliate links, so I may receive a commission, at no cost to you, if you make a purchase through a link. Please check our disclosure for more information.
Key West has no shortage of amazing places to wine and dine! We found a lot of reasonably priced (and gluten-free!) Key West restaurants around the Historic District. I eat gluten-free, so all of the places below have gluten-free options.
Also check out our guide to the best gluten-free Key Lime Pie in Key West, and our full 3 day Key West itinerary to plan your adventure and get ideas of things to do.
This guide also references our cost at each establishment, using the per person breakdown below. Please keep in mind that this is approximate cost. Prices will be different depending on what you order and whether or not alcohol is included on your bill.
Approximate cost per person:
$ = under $15
$$ = $16-35
$$$ = $36-55
$$$$ = over $50
Getting to Key West
If you’re not already planning to get to South Florida by car, train, or boat, my favorite tip for finding cheap flight deals is signing up for Going! Going is cheap flight alerting, and they’ll send you emails when they find a flight deal from your home airport or nearby. I signed up years ago and have seen many flight deals come through for Florida. We flew into the Miami airport and rented a car for a road trip to Key West and back. The drive was awesome, and I would highly recommend making it a Miami to Key West road trip or taking some time in the Northern Keys outside of this itinerary if time allows.
Key Items to Pack:
- Sunscreen – we were there in early April and the UV index went to 11 every day!
- Sun Hat – sun hats are very popular in the Florida Keys given the weather and UVs. This sun hat from Amazon is one of my favorites.
- Sun Protection Shirt – another very popular item in Florida! My favorite is this UPF 50 button-down sun protection shirt from Amazon. It’s really easy to style with each outfit I brought.
- Water Shoes – For some of the water activities, you might want some comfy water shoes to wear for the activity and the rest of the day. I wore this pair of water shoes from Amazon around all day.
Best Affordable Key West Restaurants
Here are some of our favorite Key West Restaurants in order of preference:
1. Moondog Cafe
Moondog Cafe was by far my favorite restaurant in Key West! We went twice, once for a snack (gluten-free Key Lime tart — amazing), and another for dinner during happy hour.
Cost: $$
Moondog Cafe treat selection2. Rams Head Southernmost
Get the Crabby Grilled Cheese and thank me later. Popular for brunch, Rams Head Southernmost is a great lunch or dinner spot as well, and they have gluten-free buns!
Cost: $$
Crabby Grilled Cheese at Rams Head Southernmost3. Caroline’s Cafe
I’m not usually a big fan of salads, but the options at Caroline’s Cafe are so good! I got a salad with ham and hard boiled egg, and it really hit the spot. They have yummy non-salad options as well.
Cost: $$
4. Old Town Mexican Cafe
Classic dishes and classically delicious. I had the fish tacos at Old Town Mexican Cafe, and we got margaritas all around.
Cost: $$
Fish Tacos at Old Town Mexican Cafe5. Seaside Cafe at Southernmost Mansion
Beach + gluten-free pizza + mojitos = the best mansion eatery. The Duval Street corn pizza at Seaside Cafe was so good! The drinks also come with rock candy, which was super cute. We each got our own pizza, so the cost includes our drinks and leftovers too.
Cost: $$$
Duval Street Corn Pizza at Seaside Cafe6. Conch Republic Seafood Company
Conch Republic Seafood Company has gluten-free conch chowder! Seeing as conch chowder and fritters were seemingly everywhere in Key West, I had to try some version of conch on the trip. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but the chowder is closer to chili than clam chowder. The bowl was tasty but light as a stand-alone meal.
Cost: $$ (extra fee for paying with credit card)
7. Fogarty’s
Fogarty’s is centrally located and known for their frozen drinks. I got the pork bowl with plantains, and it was pretty good, and the portions are very big. The frozen drinks are also very good, and you can get refill discounts with their reusable cups.
Cost: $$
8. New York Pasta Garden
We stopped at New York Pasta Garden our first night for a late dinner since it was close to where we were staying. Gluten-free pasta available! The food was good, but a little more pricey than the other places on this list.
Cost: $$$
Shrimp Scampi at New York Pasta Garden
