Square Grouper Islamorada

A bayside seafood restaurant in the Islamorada Marina at mile marker 80.4, with a deck over the boats and a grouper sandwich worth the drive.

Checked November 2026

Good for a Keys day trip where lunch is the point: local fish, strong cocktails, a marina deck. It's more polished and pricier than a fish shack, and it's closed Monday and Tuesday.

Order the grouper

The Square Grouper sandwich is the one to get: sautéed, fried or blackened, topped with house onion rings and key lime tartar, served with chips or fries and coleslaw. It's market price, as is the local fish of the day. At dinner the menu gets richer, with Grouper Francaise in key lime butter, almond-crusted grouper with pineapple relish, and a seafood stew of local fish, scallops, shrimp and calamari ($29 small, $37 large). Starters include flash-fried conch ($22), coconut shrimp ($18) and smoked fish dip ($18). If someone in your group doesn't eat fish, there's an 8oz hamburger for $16.

The deck over the marina

The restaurant sits inside the Islamorada Marina on the bay side, and the outdoor deck looks straight over the slips. That's where you want to sit. Inside is calmer and a bit more dressed up than the usual Keys spot, which is the whole idea: the owners pitch it as a refined take on the original Square Grouper, their sister restaurant with about 15 years of following. It holds 4.7 from about 2,200 Google reviews, which is a lot of happy people for one stretch of Overseas Highway.

Timing the drive

Lunch runs 11 am to 2:30 pm and dinner 5 to 10 pm, Wednesday through Sunday. Monday and Tuesday it's closed, and nothing is served between 2:30 and 5, so plan your drive down from Miami around those hours. A late lunch on the deck followed by the drive home works well. So does stopping for an early dinner on the way back from farther down the Keys. Drinks are $14 to $18. The Key Lime Martini ($17) uses the house key lime curd, and the Mate-Cucumber Martini is the lighter pick.

Getting there

1. Look for the Islamorada Marina on the bay side of Overseas Highway, around mile marker 80.4.

Good to know

The kitchen closes between 2:30 and 5 pm, so don't roll in at 3 expecting lunch.

Questions people ask