The Florida Key Lime Pie Company — Restaurant in Cocoa Beach

Wanted to go in for a key lime pie. However, the live gator repelled me. It isn’t right to use live animals as attractions. They aren’t ours to exploit. I’d hate to have my mouth taped shut and force to interact with countless people several hours, especially in the heat.

Please consider banning this attraction. There are plenty of wild gators to see in the Everglades.

Ps. I’m not even vegan.

(UPDATE) Since I can’t reply back to responses;

Yes I took the time to read the backstory by other reviewers before I “blemished” your business. I suggested a solution that keeps the reoccurring clients and doesn’t repel people sensitive to animal wellbeing. Are you in the business of gators or key lime pie? You also sell gator jerky which is a bit of an oxymoron.

All your reasonings are of human interest and none towards the alligator. Sweetie had zero choices. Didn’t ask to be removed, didn’t ask to travel, and certainly doesn’t care about a fan base or a deputy badge.

Why would they have removed her if she wasn’t a nuisance and only because she’s blind? Your other senses compensate. And who’s to say wether she would survive or not. A good short life beats a long bad one.

If she’s so docile, why tape her mouth shut? Covering the eyes of alligators relaxes them which is likely why she’s of calm temperament. Does she wait at the door eagerly to be handled by countless people for photo ops?

I’m all for education , but every child in Florida can go to a nearby channel and learn about gators.

As a rescue, why can’t she be at peace in a center that replicates her natural habitat?

You are putting your interest first by creating an attraction at the expense of another being to get people in the door. Let your product speak for itself.

And you are right, vegan was not relevant to the review. However I wanted to emphasize that I did not have any extreme views and still felt very sensitive...

This place is a tourist trap.

Louie and his team offer an ALL Florida sourced store. That's really a cool concept. Louie himself, can basically tell you where every piece of merchandise in the store comes from, it's really amazing. They take pride in an all American and all Florida store. The experience begins before you ever step foot in the store. There are amazing murals on all the walls and floors, including the parking lot, featuring huge tarpon and other fishes. Depending on the day, you might even run into JR & Sweetie, the World's most famous alligator, outside being held and taking pictures. Once inside the murals are simply amazing! They store has "Cocoa Beach Crack", which are these addictive little keylime coated pretzels and they're AMAZING! Then there's the ice cream, OMG, and of course, Florida cows helped make it. Louie might even know some of their names, LOL. I cannot partake, but there are walls of hot sauce 🔥, some have funny little names. Don't take offense, it's just hot sauce. I do walk out with a bunch of the Florida beers and wine though! Last but far from least, is the name sake, the KEYLIME PIE! This is by far the best keylime pie I've ever eaten. It's so good that we make trips from across the state to go get it. Go see them and just take in everything the store has to offer. I will...