The name may be an irreverent, inside joke about the Florida Keys’ old days of pot smuggling and pirate-like behavior, but the owners and staff at Square Grouper Key West take their food seriously. And it’s seriously good. As in, go back twice in a week for brunch and dinner, good.
That’s what we did on a recent Saturday morning for brunch and Monday evening for dinner — and we were thrilled with both visits.
For the uninitiated, a square grouper was the term Keys fishermen and smugglers used to describe bales of marjuana when they were found floating in the ocean. And the decor of all three Square Grouper restaurants — Cudjoe Key, Islamorada and now Key West — is reminiscent of the burlap-wrapped bales and photos of real-life smugglers (for whom the statute of limitations long ago expired).
Lynn Bell, who still owns and operates the Cudjoe Key location, spends a few days a week in Key West, where her son, Joe Bell, runs the new Key West restaurant.
Longtime Key West locals will recall the building at 920 Caroline St. as the old PT’s Late Night, which was owned by Bobby Mongelli, currently of Roostica and Hogfish fame. More recently the property was Off the Hook restaurant. But the interior and exterior have been completely upgraded.
Giant windows along the inside bar now open to provide outside seating as well. Cornhole games and pingpong tables are also outside to entertain hungry customers while they wait for a table or bar seat.
Lynn Bell has lived in the Lower Keys for 36 years. “When I first moved here, I worked at Henry’s at the Casa Marina and then at Little Palm Island,” she said. “Both of my children went to Key West High School, so Key West was always a restaurant goal. It’s a place with a great sense of community and great food. And of course, buying the old PT’s location was pretty epic, and opening a restaurant there with my son, Joe Bell, is an absolute pleasure — well, most of the time,” she added, laughing.
“We look forward to welcoming everyone to Square Grouper Key West. Come see us.”
The whole staff is excellent, from Lynn and Joe Bell, to chef Shane Le Beet, manager Nate Dewolf, bartender Britt Gordon, server Braelie Ray and so many others. “The whole staff honestly seems really happy to be there, and it shows in everything,” said Key West resident and recent Square Grouper diner Simone Lasswell. “Of course, maybe they’re happy because they all found a square grouper to share — just kidding!”
Square Grouper Key West is open for lunch from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and for dinner from 5 to 10 p.m., but it’s closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Saturdays and Sundays now find the regular lunch menu supplemented with about five brunch items, which recently included a blackened grouper benedict, the most flaky and tender chicken and waffles and shrimp tacos. (Note: When given a choice of sides, always get the waffle-cut sweet potato fries. Always.)
Oh, and don’t miss the raw bar selection, which offers stone crab claws in season, a half-dozen oyster selections and more, all artfully arranged in a classic clawfoot-style tub packed with ice.
The bar offers a spicy bloody mary topped with a fried softshell crab, while dinner rocked our world with the ahi tuna and avocado eggrolls, the yellowtail piccata and the most tender, flash-fried conch Stan has ever eaten.
(I should mention, the espresso martinis were also a hit at both meals, but then again, that comment — by me — will surprise no one.)
Square Grouper doesn’t take reservations, but there’s a full bar and outside entertainment to pass the time while you wait for a table — and it’s worth the wait.
