Eighty-two marine-themed plaques were handed out to the best businesses, nonprofits and people — as nominated and voted on by the public — during the third annual Best of Upper Keys awards ceremony at Playa Largo Resort on Nov. 1.
More than 200 business owners, civic leaders and elected officials gathered in the ballroom at the bayside resort in Key Largo, as the Keys Weekly Newspapers unveiled the 2024 Best of Upper Keys winners. Square Grouper Islamorada came away with the most awards, five, followed by Florida Keys Brewing Co. and C&C Wood Fire Eats, with three apiece. Square Grouper Islamorada won Best Fine Dining, Best Bartender in Michael Roe, Best Overall Restaurant, Best Seafood and Best Dessert.
Florida Keys Brewing Co. took plaques for Best Bar and Best Live Music Venue for the third straight year. The bar also won Best Beer Selection, one of several new categories in this year’s Best of Upper Keys. Located in Key Largo, C&C Wood Fire Eats took Best Happy Hour and Best Pizza for a third year in a row. In addition, the restaurant and bar’s Joey Slaydon won Best Server.
The Best of Upper Keys also saw a number of threepeats: Monroe County Mayor Holly Raschein won Best Elected Official, Reef the fox won Best Celebrity and Dr. Stan Zuba won Best Doctor. Among the restaurants securing threepeats were Cafe Moka for Best Coffee, Robbie’s of Islamorada for Best Bloody Mary, Lazy Days for Best Waterfront Dining, Hog Heaven for Best Late Night Spot, Tacos Jalisco for Best Food Truck, Chef Drew’s for Best Catering and M.E.A.T Eatery & Taproom for Best Burger.
Additional categories brought new winners to this year’s Best of Upper Keys, including Alligator Reef Lighthouse for Best Place to Swim, Everyone Loves a Gentle Dentist for Best Dentist, Key Largo Fisheries for Best Fish Dip and Italian Food Company for Best International Fare, to name a few. A complete list of the winners can be found on the back page of this week’s Upper Keys Weekly.
From Sept. 5-22, roughly 3,600 people from the Keys and beyond nominated their favorites in the food and drink, business and community divisions by visiting keysweekly.com. The top vote-getters in the 82 categories moved on to the finalist stage, as people logged in daily for more than two weeks to make their picks. The Best of the Upper Keys is run similarly to the Key West Bubbas People’s Choice Awards, which began in 2014, and the Best of Marathon, which began in 2008.
A total of 240,000 votes were cast during the finalist stage from Oct. 3-20, up from the 121,483 votes cast in the finalist round in 2023.
The third annual Best of Upper Keys was made possible thanks to the sponsor Playa Largo, which provided beautiful venues for the cocktail/social hour and awards ceremony inside the ballroom. Event sponsors included First Horizon Bank, Baptist Health South Florida Mariners Hospital, Dr. Michelle, audiologist, Going Aire, Hotwire Communications, HNO Productions and Overseas Media Group.
Proceeds from the Best of Upper Keys will support the Florida Keys Children’s Shelter. Ben Kemmer. The shelter serves multiple youth groups throughout the Upper Keys and the rest of Monroe County.
“The Best of the Upper Keys event is such a great way to bring our community together. Congratulations to all the winners — it’s awesome to see everyone recognized for their hard work while also supporting the Florida Keys Children’s Shelter,” said Ben Kemmer, executive director for the shelter. Every bit helps us keep doing what we do for the kids in our community,” he said.
Stay tuned for next year’s Best of Upper Keys.
Click here for the list of winners: https://keysweekly.com/buk24/#/gallery/?group=497176
