Key Largo Fisheries Backyard Cafe — Restaurant in Key Largo

Disappointed is how I describe my experience. I am a several year customer of KLF online, having ordered by now several thousands of dollars of stone crab claws and Florida lobster, so I was very much looking forward to trying their restaurant while down in south Florida for the holidays.

I ordered the lobster bites appetizer and grilled hogfish. My wife ordered grilled grouper. In both cases, the fish portions were generous, but the filets were thin and ended up being overcooked and dry. It is not easy to cook lower fat fish like grouper and hogfish without overcooking them, but a skilled line cook can do it. These obviously were not cooked by skilled professionals, which was so disappointing. Taking something so fresh and potentially delicious and ruining it is just wasteful. I ate less than a fourth of my fish and threw the rest away, it was that bad.

My lobster bites were also a disappointment. The batter on them was far too thick, and not very flavorful. The result was an unsavory mess that I had to manually remove the batter from in order to eat it at all. That was further complicated by the fact that the lobster was overcooked, dry and tasteless. I am guessing it had already been cooked before being cut into chunks, battered and cooked again, resulting in a way overcooked product. Finally, my side for my hogfish was the tostones. Another disappointment. Too thick and not crispy. Pretty much inedible.

To add to the disappointment, I ordered stone claws, ceviche and whole lobsters to take with us. Only the lobster turned out good. The fish in the ceviche was so tough as to be inedible. The crab I kept on ice for two days before I picked it. Even though it was properly stored the whole time, it was starting to get slimy. It didn’t yet smell bad, but it didn’t smell fresh either. By two days later, again, stored properly, it was bad and I had to throw away at least a pound. Very disappointing!

Someone needs to come in and revise their recipes and train their cooks. Given the quality and freshness of their raw product, KLF Backyard Cafe has the potential to be great, but it is so very far from that currently. I still recommend their online ordering, it is world class. The retail...

USED TO BE GREAT before it changed ownership in 2021. In fact, we being locals, it was the first place we recommended to out of town visitors. NOT ANYMORE!! Food is still good, BUT still no table service, which I don't dislike (as long as the prices relate to this being non existent), however expect to pay as if you did get it, or even more, AND BE FORCED TO LEAVE A TIP AS YOU PLACE YOUR ORDER!!! Isn't the "tip" dependent on the quality of "service" you get anymore? NOT HERE. As you insert your credit card to pay for your order, you get a message on the screen "HOW MUCH TIP DO YOU WANT TO GIVE ME". You might think, "what if I hit "decline", will they give me a smaller portion, delay my order, it be cold, will they spit in my food?" This is sooo WRONG!!! Prices have almost doubled; menu has changed, not for the better since the ownership change. It had been a while since we visited this place, but had good memories of it, so we did yesterday. In looking at the high prices on the Menu, I asked the attendant "how many tacos on the plate?" He responded "4 or 5", so my wife and I decided to share. WE GOT 3 tacos (with fries), for $26 dollars!! (when you add the "MANDATORY" "TIP"). That's crazy!! Yes they were tasty, (not of an out of the ordinary size), but left us wondering about the "value" of our money. An older man, who looked somewhat like the previous owner, Mr. Hill Senior, came to me asking "how's everything?". Something you see the owner or manager do sometimes, to get feedback. Of course I let him have it (nicely of course). His response was "oh the portions are a set size and that's it, as if I was talking about a hamburger at Burger King or McDonalds, where it's always the same everywhere you get it. If you're still curious and want to try them out, I suggest you check out their menu online first, take out your calculator and add a minimum of 15% extra to the price, AFTER adding the 7.5% sales tax (yes, here in Florida you pay tip based on the after tax amount), and let that sink in before you head out there. Of course I will no longer recommend this place as the first choice to people who ask me about nearby restaurants. I don't want my...

I went deep sea fishing and we meet at 7:30 am to prepare for a day of fishing in a charter boat with a captain that is straight up a cool and grateful man + 10 other patrons fishing long side of us today. The system by which you have to know in order to get your turn off the rear of the boat where they used chum bags to attract the bigger fish. My instructor called me back, he showed me how to bait my hook, roll a sand and oats lure, pitched it into the water and wait for a fish to take my line.,boom the fight was on, the captain mates were helping me bc whatever I hooked it is BIG! we battled him for a while then SNAP**-----there went my line! Rotate to the end of the line, step up and get bait, roll the sand & pitch it in the water. (The captain has joined in the fun and he is standing next to me.) Someone yelled "FISH ON" it was me, yep, 2 yellow (Finn fish, one for our captain. Yuipee , rotate around again, sand ball is in the water shuffle down to the right and Fish on again, having help from the mates to get the fish inside the boat. Laughing, a shark was following my fish and it bit it's tail off. Now i have 3 yellow Finns and the boat is turning and it's time to come back to shore and get your catch and get it cleaned.( I always clean my own fish). I, had a great time, deep sea fishing is on my bucket list, now on to my next desire before the end of my journey called life. Best...