Bel Mare Restaurant — Restaurant in Key West

Definitely deserves 10 stars! Is by far the nicest, fine dining restaurant I’ve been to in a long time, even surpassing Ruth’s Chris, which used to be my favorite. As someone who is Italian, I promise you it’s Authentic. It’s everything you want in an Italian restaurant. In the moment we walked in the staff was amazing and sat us to a table with an excellent view. Waiter Was a tall, slender, black gentleman, and I forget his name but it started with Har or Han I believe & he was exceptional. He helped me find the perfect glass of red wine and he helped my husband pick a drink that wouldn’t affect his stomach problems. He brought bread with a garlic butter, and it was to die for! He was very patient with us as he went over the menu and explained everything and helped us find the perfect dishes.( My husband has food allergies and restrictions, Usually, unfortunately, this is a problem for us when going out to eat and often times at Other restaurants we leave with him in pain or having a mild allergic reaction because they didn’t listen.) My husband ordered the piccata And the selection of fish for that dish that day was grouper. It came on a bed of rice with vegetables and when I tell you, there was not one grain of rice left I’m so serious he ate everything!! I chose the veal Bolognese. My husband said it’s the best dish he ever had out to eat. And it’s the first time since we’ve been together in 6 years that we’ve been able to leave a restaurant without him hurting or having any allergic Reaction. I know my dad would’ve been impressed with the Bolognese. In fact, I almost cried eating it because it reminded me of the multigenerational Bolognese recipe he has and being a little girl eating that. As other parties trickled in for their dinner, I noticed they all as well got exceptional service from their waiters and seem to love their food as well. When the bill came, our waiter stepped away and allowed us to pay without him standing over our Shoulder like some servers do at some restaurants. The whole experience was so tasteful and classy, and exactly what you expect from a fine dining restaurant. Very high caliber. The only slightly negative thing I have to say about all of it is that I wish there was an elevator specifically for the restaurant because unfortunately, I do deal with with a disability and although I can walk up and down stairs, it’s very painful. Elevator or not, we will definitely be back though! Upon leaving our cab driver, notified us we could’ve used the elevator for a nearby restaurant (A&B lobster house I believe) and walked around the upper boardwalk balcony to get there, so if you are in a wheelchair, use the elevator for the lobster steakhouse and then go around to it. You’ll be glad you did. Although we live in Virginia, our business has a location in Key West so we will definitely be coming back and more than likely will be bringing employees and clients here as well. IF YOU HAVEN'T BEEN HERE YOU'RE REALLY MISSING...

Bel Mare gave us not only the best meal but the best dining experience of our trip!

We ate dinner just about everywhere on the island worth talking about from Louie's to Latitudes as we call it. On this particular go around Bel Mare took the gold! First off we had a top notch waitress named Patricia. Her calm demeanor, hospitality, attentiveness and all around knowledge of the menu really is what took this dinner from great to amazing. My wife started with the Cream of mushroom soup with taleggio and I went with the Arancini. Both Outstanding. For our Entrees my wife then went with the ravioli of the week. At that time it was a mushroom ravioli with a brown butter sage sauce. They could not have made it better. Now mind you this dish is quite delicate & decadent. There are only a total of five or six thin ravioli, this was told to us before we ordered and after the soup my wife found the dish to be sized perfectly. If you were skipping an appetizer this dish may not be ideal as an entree. For my entree I went with the Veal Bolognese. A Veal Meat Sauce with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes, Parmigiano-Reggiano & Tagliatelle Pasta Topped with Ricotta Cheese. Coming from western NY were the Red sauce flows and the battle of sauce vs gravy forever ensues I can tell you this is one of the best veal bolognese I've ever had. In conclusion when I think of Key West the last thing I personally think is Italian food. Even though Bel Mare categorizes themselves as coastal Italian, I think a lot of people never give it the chance. If more people gave this place a try we certainly wouldn't had been able to get a seat that night. But after that dinner, Patricia and all staff at Bel Mare, we thank you for a perfect meal on an...

Avoid This Restaurant - Overpriced and Disappointing Experience

I recently visited Key West for my 52nd birthday and chose this restaurant based on its appealing exterior. Unfortunately, the experience inside was far from satisfactory.

Upon arrival, we requested window seating for the view and mentioned my birthday, but we were told the entire restaurant was fully booked, despite it remaining mostly empty throughout the evening. The server, though polite, brought my Old Fashioned half full and two other poorly made drinks. When we pointed this out, he apologized, saying, “the bartender does not like complaints,” which was quite shocking. Instead of fixing our drinks, he brought us shots to compensate, which wasn’t what we wanted.

The server explained the specials without mentioning prices. When our meals arrived, they were terrible. We didn’t send the food back but tried to eat what we could. By 9:30 pm, noticing the restaurant was still empty, I inquired about the seating situation. The hostess said I had to speak with Kim, the manager, who, like the bartender, seemed unapproachable and averse to complaints.

When we received our bill, it was a shocking $680 for four people, for drinks we didn’t enjoy and an unexplained $25 fee for using a credit card. We also noticed different rates for the same special entrée, $65 and $57. The server, clearly afraid of Kim, eventually adjusted the bill but didn’t fully resolve the issues.

Kim never addressed us directly, leaving a lasting impression of poor management. Kimm must be a BULLY!! We won’t be returning, and I advise others to steer clear of this place. It’s overpriced and not worth...