Sunset Pier — Restaurant in Key West

My wife and I visit the Sunset Pier every year (for the past 20 years) on at least evening during our annual Florida Keys vacation because it's literally the best place to watch the sunset and have a cocktail at the same time. We've occasionally eaten at the bar here (for lunch), but the food is not really the major attraction, because there are so many other places with better food on the island. It's the view and the atmosphere that is the hallmark of this place. It's changed somewhat over the years, and we noted on this visit they'd set up a pretty large band stand for live music acts. On our most recent visit (July 18, 2025) they had a great three piece band that played hits from the 60-80s. A few hits into the start of their sunset show, this older Black man who looked to be in his late 70s or early 80s (who the other band members called "The Soul Man") shows up in electric wheel chair and started singing like he was Ray Charles, Marvin Gaye, Sam Cook, or Otis Redding reincarnated. We weren't even sure if he was a local "amateur" or a full-time member of the traveling band. He had an incredible voice and we stayed for several hours listening to him. During New Years Eve, they usually close the pier off for a gala event that they charge steep prices for, but all other times we've been here its always been open to everyone on a first come first serve basis. If you do plan to dine here, then I'd recommend arriving at least 90 minutes before sunset to ensure you get a rail-side table with an unobstructed view of the harbor. If the weather is sunny, you will probably wear out your camera taking 100s of pictures of the sunset and all of the beautiful old schooners that sail up and down the harbor during this magical time of the day when the color of the sky changes so dramatically in a 90...

Came here with Family. Food was fine.

I do have some feedback:

The Indian Spice Vegan Burger. please either use a bun for this dish or serve it as a burrito. Serving a small pita bread as a burger is misleading.

Servers need to respect the customers. I asked for more Pita knowing well that I will be paying extra. She said that it will be extra charges and she will have to check. I said, it’s fine. I was expecting 2 pita breads and only received one. I asked for it again later as my veggie pattie was half finished and I was going to finish it with another pita bread. I was reminded again by her that the small size pita bread will be $2 something, I told her that I am okay with paying the extra money and I just need my requested food item. It was getting annoying to be reminded of the extra charges when I was already aware of the restaurant ethics!

Tips She was very aggressive and rude when we were paying our bill. Not only she moved the machine several times when we were selecting our option but also tried to ask questions and distract us by moving the machine back and forth while my family was paying the tips and had their finger on the machine. The aggressive behaviour of the staff felt very disrespectful and rude as if she was demanding to pay certain percentage of the tips. The guy staff wearing a green hoodie beside our table had better manners than this lady staff. I had the best trip so far in Key West and just one incident...

My wife and I came here to watch the power boat races and while that was a fun experience, this review is solely about our server Judy. We asked her to speak to a manager so we could rave about how great she was, but she informed us there was no need to as she was leaving this job soon to move back home. We still think she deserves some recognition so here I am writing my first review.

We had the pleasure of being taken care of by Judy for just under 6 hours and let me tell you, she was a breath of fresh air and provided us with some of the best service we have received in quite some time. And it seems we weren’t the only fans of her as the patrons across the gate screamed her name and asked why she wasn’t serving them again! Judy was extremely friendly, and attentive and no matter how many times we asked her for just some ice, she always had a smile on her face and never made us feel like we were a bother. When we asked her about the lobster roll, she was honest with us and said she preferred and would recommend the mahi tacos over the lobster. Not many servers would recommend a menu item that’s $20 cheaper so we really appreciated that she cared more about us enjoying our meal than she did about getting a higher tip. As we started getting ready to leave, she even offered to rinse out the tumblers we bought and bagged them up without us asking. Judy was truly a gem and exponentially enhanced...