Hogfish Bar & Grill | Margaritaville Seafood & Potent Cocktails

Florida Keys Life The Way It Used To Be

Hogfish Bar & Grill offers a vivid taste of Keys life. Just walking in, through a thatched-roof entryway at Stock Island’s Safe Harbor Marina, sets the tone. The folks here boast that their restaurant offers a taste of Florida Keys life the way it used to be. To prove the point, they enumerate “fresh seafood, strong drinks, panoramic waterfront views, outdoor dining, and plenty of local characters.” Even if a good number of the characters who come here now are food-savvy tourists, the tropical-themed eatery retains unpretentious charm that is a dramatic contrast to the commercial hubbub of Duval Street, miles away. You’ll find it at the edge of town, but its seafood & potent cocktails evoke storybook Key West. If you’re visiting the Conch Republic, put it on the must-eat itinerary.

Have Hogfish Your Way

Yes, hogfish stars. Have it grilled or fried. Get it as a pork substitute in a seafaring Cuban sandwich with Swiss cheese on Cuban bread. You can choose hogfish & chips, hogfish tacos, or hogfish stuffed with crab and shrimp.  Grilled hogfish fillet topped with a trio of blackened scallops outdoes everything. The scallops are big, satiny, spice-crusted rounds delicious unto themselves. The hogfish — simply grilled — delivers silky luxury reminiscent of well-marbled beef, but ever so much more delicate. The menu advises, “We only serve authentic hogfish … and we never substitute other lesser fish!”

If You Don’t Love Hogfish

The menu goes far beyond hogfish. Its Caribbean-accented highlights include Key West pink shrimp (with cheese grits), sauteed yellowtail, a crisp-fried conch sandwich, grouper cheeks, and conch chowder. Bring in your own fillets and the kitchen will fry, blacken, or grill them. They’ll then serve them to you with a couple of side dishes for $14.95 per pound or person. Fish frowners avail themselves of ribs and steaks, Cuban-style roast pork, and big hamburgers. But really, seafood & potent cocktails are the way to go.

House motto: “Relax! It’s just Stock Island.” (In other words, it’s not downtown Key West.)