Ben A.
Yelp
Among our most treasured memories from this last summers cross-country road trip was, believe it or not, having lunch. for the sake of this review, I will just state a given in the equation that our family does not really do lunch when we're traveling; generally speaking, we make peanut butter and jelly in the car or skip it all together as we are out adventuring, exploring, and having a good time in a new location.
But when we inquired with the front desk staff at our camp spot on nearby Stock Island where we should visit in Key West, they told us you simply have to visit Saluté On The Beach.
They were right.
We arrived to the adjacent beach pretty early in the morning, staked out our spot on the white sand between clumps of somewhat stinky Sargasso weed, and enjoy the morning of snorkeling and swimming around in the bath temperature water. The beach is probably fodder for a different review, but suffice to say, about lunch time we were getting peckish, and as my dad says in Vegas, "we're not here for a haircut."
We walked in to Saluté still wet and sandy from our outdoor fun, and the nice fellow who runs the joint found us a shady spot on the patio. My SoCal kids could not get enough of the iguanas, curl tailed lizards, and ubiquitous roosters and chickens casually hanging out around our table.
The service was impeccable, friendly and not stuffy, sophisticated but casual, with a postcard review of the cobalt and azure waters framed by white sand and coconut palm trees that were almost cliché.
Nothing cliché about the menu here, though: everything was delicious, and I wish we had ordered more. My kids scarfed down the calamari appetizer almost before I could get a bite, and then ravenously enjoyed their own plates. Drinks never ran empty thanks to the attentive servers, and we even finished it off with a big slice of their famous Key Lime pie, mile high with meringue.
After starting back to work on a new school year, and during the SoCal heat of late August, memories slowly fading from our once in a lifetime trip this past summer, I can honestly say I would much rather be sitting at this restaurant right now than writing a Yelp review about it. I suppose, however, that seeing the pictures provides some relief, and galvanizes my resolve that our family will visit this awesome spot again as soon as we can.