​Four Flamingos, A Richard Blais Key West Kitchen — Restaurant in Key West

We almost missed out in this place and sure glad we didn't. Also glad we ate here on our last night in Key West, because we may not have eaten at another place the entire stay. It was that good. One of the best meals on any vacation... ever.

We stayed at the Hyatt Centric and saw Richard Blais had a a restaurant here and were excited. The reviews were decent but we worried that they just put his name on it to draw a few shmucks like us.

We didn't go until our last night. We sat out side to watch the sun go down which was hot but we had an amazing view. Our server was as Anna and she was great. We asked for her recommendation between different appetizers and she gave us her picks.

We started with the Prime Beef Empanada. It was great. Great shredded beef with a touch of curry. We have been chasing a beef curry empanada that we had in Maui and this was very close second place to that one. One of the best ever. Then we had the Tuna Tartare Tostada. We were going to pass on this and go with a different app but Anna said this was her favorite. It didn't miss. It was magical. Crispy tostada with an avocado cream, tuna, mustard seed, soy, and a mango "yolk" that you can tell was a Richard Blais touch. All the flavors came together to be the best bite we had in our week in Key West. And we had some great meals here. I will never forget this appetizer. Never ever.

For our mains I had the Seafood Moqueca and my wife had the catch of the day which was 3 finned snapper or something like that. The Moqueca was awesome. A savory tomato broth with an array of great seafood. I wouldn't pass on this. My wife's snapper came with a cream sauce and mango salsa. She's not a huge seafood fan but this made her a believer. She was head over heals.

The drinks were nice. We had the espresso martini with a big smoky bubble. It was great. We had a couple of the pineapple kiwi margaritas and they were a hit. My least favorite was the purple cucumber collins but I could see how someone could like this as a more refreshing and less sweet drink.

We capped off the meal with the key lime pie, which is apparently an award winning recipe that got adopted from prior restaurants. We were more than stuffed before this hit the table but we killed it as well. The meringue was great the the pie was super balanced and not too tart or sweet.

Overall, this ended up being the best meal of our stay and one of our top meals ever. Don't pass on it what ever you do. Way to go Richard Blais, you...

Impressed and Amazed....that's how I'm starting off this post. Didn't know what to expect. I honestly hadn't heard to much, but I have heard it was all positive. We went there for my wife's birthday and a friend. We started off with cocktails which were just amazing. My wife had the Island expresso...OMG...she's not a coffee drinker, but I think this might have changed her mind. They made an impressive Coconut Bubble...you got to go there to see what I mean. I had the 1865 Smoked Old Fashioned...best one I have every had and our friend had the purple Cucumber Collins and she was so excited and happy with the flavor and presentation. For the food...first...everything on the menu looked good. We started with Appetizers that included the Cornbread Madeleines that were so good followed by the Pietro's Calamari...OMG...Best on the island...I'm serious when I say that...absolutely the best! and our friend ordered the Ahi Tuna Tartare Tostada with a mango yolk and the Stuffed Avocado with Lump Crab. The outside of the avocado looked just like the outside of an avocado, but it was black lime which was so good and genius. We decided to have the Prime Rib for two, which actually fed all 3 of us and a lobster tail. All perfectly cooked. Let me also say our waiter, Veli, was just the best. So friendly and helpful and very, very knowledgeable about the menu and the offerings. Just expanded on the experience we had. By dessert time we were so full, but since it was my wife's birthday she got to choose and her selections was the Smoked Chocolate & Cherries...WOW...is all I can say. All the staff from setting up the reservation to those filling our water and delivering our food were just so friendly and professional. This is a wonderful atmosphere, where you can sit inside with wonderful views or sit out side and enjoy the water and for us the sunset. We island dressed up for this, but we saw people who came in to dine in just relaxing attire. We'll be back...especially at happy hour as they have a really nice offering. Put this place on your must go restaurant. I...

Given this is Richard Blaise’s restaurant my expectations were extremely high going into this dinner but I was quickly let down. We arrived at 730pm and there was 1 other couple in the entire restaurant. That should have been a red flag for us to turn around. I read online this was a brand new restaurant that opened in May 2023- but this building is certainly not new. I’m guessing there was a previous restaurant that was there before. The prices were very high for what you received and the food was average. For a couple of 2 our tab before tip was $220 and the food was not “next level” but more so on the same playing field as a big chain restaurant where our total would have been 50% of that.

Food/Drink Reviews: -Drink- Cotton Candy Sunset- $18- This tasted horrible and had an unimpressive glob of blue cotton candy stuffed on top. Definitely not the “craft cocktail” experience.

-Beef Empanada (Starter) - best thing we ate. Absolutely delicious and recommend only getting this.

-Ceviche- Average. It was OK but probably wouldn’t get it again. Given how slow the restaurant was I kept wondering how long it had been premade and if I was going to get sick from it.

-Catch of the day- Triple Tail Snapper w Coconut Rice- it wasn’t bad but it certainly wasn’t rememberable.

-Filet- Filet was good (hard to mess a filet up) but the whipped potatoes were lackluster. They tasted like a mashed potato with salt added and no other seasonings.

Atmosphere- we ate outside and had a nice view of the ocean/sunset- this was a perk!

Service- Although we would not return and did not enjoy our food, our server was great! Very friendly and super attentive (but again we were 1...