By Allison Morgan
A storefront familiar to locals in the heart of Grassy Key right off Overseas Highway has officially opened its doors as the Grassy Key Land and Sea Market. Previously the Grassy Key Outpost, and before that, the Dairy Bar, the building was shuttered for seven years following Hurricane Irma.
Owner Matt Sexton has had his eye on the market for years – even as he operated his family of businesses including Grassy Flats Resort and Beach Club and the Rhum House (located directly behind the store), as well as Keys Cable Park and Bongo’s. He welcomes all to a community market that houses a butcher shop, fish house, bakery, deli and grocer, and Grassy Grinds — a coffee program with espresso and coffee beverages.
“If you want a packed breakfast burrito before you go fishing all day, we’ve got you covered; if you want a homemade breakfast with high-end pork, we’ve got that too,” Sexton said. “We work hard to offer a fair price for quality products, and shopping here allows customers to have a relationship with staff. This is your neighborhood market.”
The 3,000-square-foot market “soft opened” around the holidays and its staff has seen a steady stream of locals and vacationers make their way through. Sexton has lived in the Florida Keys for 14 years and said he leverages his community connections to bring the freshest locally-caught seafood to his market.
“I’m very transparent with our customers,” he said. “I’m able to tell them that this fish was caught in the Florida Keys, where it was caught in the Florida Keys, the name of the guy who caught it, and sell that out of our market today or sell it out of one of our restaurants tonight. We have the ability to do that between Bongo’s, the Rhum House and the Grassy Key Land and Sea Market. The quality we’re putting out is the old-fashioned way of doing it. ‘This was caught locally, this was sourced here. This was a relationship and a handshake.’”
When you walk through the front door, one of the first people likely to greet you will be Mike Shaner. Sexton is thrilled to have his longtime friend from St. Petersburg join him in the Keys as the market’s meat connoisseur. A third-generation butcher, Shaner grew up working and learning from his father in their family meat market, Shaner Land and Sea Market, on Pass-A-Grille Beach.
When Sexton lived in St. Pete Beach while attending college nearly 20 years ago, he would frequent Shaner’s family market down the street for sandwiches. The relationship he forged with the Shaner family left an indelible impression on his life.
“After I moved down to the Keys, Mike would visit, and I would say to him, ‘You know, one day, if your family sells Shaner Land and Sea Market, we could open a Grassy Key Land and Sea Market, and keep the spirit of your family’s market alive down here in the Keys,” Sexton said.
This dream recently became a reality, and in the summer of 2024, Shaner was offered the job to be head butcher at Grassy Key Land and Sea Market. He jumped at the opportunity.
“I love it here. I am living out my dream to run a butcher shop and with creative freedom,” Shaner said, standing in front of an old photo of his family’s business that hangs on the wall. “Coming from a family of butchers, this is something I take great pride in. There’s a great trust between Matt and I. I believe in his vision and value his work ethic.”
The butcher shop boasts a wide range of premium quality beef from classic steaks to pork, poultry and seasonal game meats. The market offers all the accoutrements as well, including spices, salts, butters and sauces. Shaner’s beef tallow has already established a reputation and has sold out quickly. Sexton also hired longtime friend Areta Brucic to be head of operations.
“A bunch of us are setting up roots again,” Sexton said. “This is the Marathon I moved into 14 years ago and I watched it slowly get chipped away at and destroyed. This is the year we put all the right people in all the right places and we grow into our shoes.“
Breakfast and lunch will be served at Grassy Key Land and Sea Market. If you’re just trying to get caffeinated, you can order a hand-crafted espresso beverage or latte. And if you want a pastry to go with that, you can expect to take a bite out of fresh, quality pastries prepared by the Rhum House’s pastry chef Hailey Pacyna, who moved her operations down to the market. In the market, you can pick up anything from pancake mix and protein powder to craft beers from all over the state. Always a great pair with premium meats, a broad selection of wine from multigenerational family vineyards is available.
The market is located at 58152 Overseas Highway and is open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily. The shop’s butcher and coffee operations are up and running, and Sexton said he hopes to begin offering meals and pastries in the coming weeks. Learn more about Grassy Key Land and Sea Market at grassykeylandandseamarket.com.
