One Duval — Restaurant in Key West

This is an exceptionally difficult review to write because for the most part, our experience at One Duval was very pleasant. The food was excellent (if you do go, I would highly recommend the seared ahi tuna and the curry carrot soup) and our server, Bek, was incredibly friendly and very accommodating. However - and this is a big however - we had someone in our party you is allergic to dairy and eggs and the chef neglected to omit butter from the meal even though is was explicitly stated on numerous occasions that butter could and would not be used. The meal started off by going through the menu and figuring out what menu items didn't have dairy or could be modified to fit the needs of the person with the allergy. Like I said, Bek was very helpful. He checked with the chef to make sure things could be modified and confirmed which items were dairy free. When we received our meals, the person with the allergy tried their food and was pretty confident that dairy had been used so she checked with the server who checked with the chef to confirm that no dairy had been used. We were so delightfully impressed with how good the dairy free mashed potatoes were that we asked if the chef would share what he used in the meal. It is at this point that we realized that butter had in fact been used in making her food. What made things worse was that the manager of the restaurant came to our table for about three seconds to apologize but the grunt of the apologizing came from the server who was only the messenger of the bad news. For the caliber of this restaurant, the chef should have come and apologized. Our meal was discounted and we were given some fruit, but once we paid, the restaurant staff cleared out and we didn't see anyone - not even the host was there when we left. Frankly, the only person who gave us a genuine apology was the server when it was clear to us, that it wasn't his fault. Perhaps if they handled the situation with more decorum this review wouldn't have been so harsh, but allergies are a serious matter and shouldn't have been dealt with so cavalierly. Luckily, the allergy doesn't cause this person to go into anaphylactic shock, but she lost a whole day in Key West laying in bed with an excruciating stomach ache.

Long review short, you will like have an enjoyable experience at One Duval, but if you have any allergies or food concerns. I would avoid this...

I booked a reservation at One Duval for 2 people several weeks before our Key West trip. The reviews looked great and location was ideal. There are very few restaurants on the water in this part of Key West, and reviews raved about how good the food was, so I thought it would be a slam dunk.

Unfortunately our dining experience was pretty terrible and I feel like the rave reviews are either false or from people who don't actually know what decent food tastes like.

For starters, we waited to be seated for 5-10 minutes because the hostess was also bussing tables, running food, and taking orders simultaneously. It's as if the place is running on bare bones staff, which makes no sense considering the prices they are charging they could definitely afford another hostess and perhaps a waiter.

Our cocktails to start were, in a word, bad. I ordered an old fashioned. Supposedly made with Basil Hayden's, I was expecting a very good drink. Instead I got a watered down whiskey seltzer with BRIGHT RED maraschino cherries. For $18, no old fashioned should have anything but Luxardo cherries in it, and never seltzer water. I doubt it was Basil Hayden's, tasted very mild and hardly like bourbon at all.

The Grey goose martini was definitely a lower quality vodka, or perhaps watered down. It tasted off.

Appetizers were ok, crabcake and spinach salad. Extremely small overpriced portions but decent flavor.

Entrees were very poor. Pan seared grouper with cream sauce had zero flavor, the fish wasn't seasoned at all.

But worst of all was my new York strip. Ordered medium rare, it was undercooked. Typically I'm ok with that because I like my meat rare but this cut of meat was not prime. It was tough, leathery, and extremely chewy. Definitely a poor cut of beef.

We opted to skip dessert and left soon after. At One Duval you are paying for a seat by the water. If you're ok with sub par food for a premium price, you should consider dining here. Otherwise look elsewhere...

We stayed at the Pier House for my husband’s birthday and decided to make it easy by eating at One Duval - so glad we did! They offer both indoor and outdoor seating which is very nice, portions were great for the price, drinks were strong, and service was attentive.

The first night we dined outdoors and it was perfect. I got the filet while my husband opted for the scallop and shrimp linguine. The filet was perfectly done to my order, flavorful, and filling. My husband’s pasta dish was well-balanced with seafood to pasta to sauce ratio while not smelling fishy. I also enjoyed the complimentary bread which was warm and perfect to start the meal. For drinks we ordered old fashions which we drink regularly, but these were strong.

The following morning we ate at One Duval for breakfast and SO good! I got the smoked salmon Benedict while he got the French toast with a side of fruit. The hollandaise sauce was not skimp, capers were plentiful, and I really enjoyed the green onions with my breakfast potatoes. My husband’s pasta dish enjoyed his French toast, but these hot syrup really needed to have a handle on the container - it was hot, hot. The “side” of fruit was a full bowl full or fresh fruit that we both split and still couldn’t finish. I also want to give Beck a shoutout, his service was top notch and we weren’t...