Big Chill Restaurant

We found this gem on the way to islamorada. We sat at the outside bar and were instantly greeted by one of the friendliest people I’ve ever met, Amanda. Her and Shauna provided great service throughout our visit. We ordered the pigskin (pulled pork) nachos. They were AMAZING! The whole staff seemed to work so well together and the atmosphere was beautiful. The live music was great and I only wish we could have stayed longer!

Good service and great chill atmosphere! We had a good waitress: Mary (cool ocean themed apron) and the food was fresh and quick service.
We had salads with crab cake and shrimp all seafood is fresh and yummy! Crab cake was mostly crab with some corn meal instead of the other way round!
The brow is beautiful and worth the stop on key largo!

I’ve been here at least 30 or more times. Most of the time by boat but a few by bike. Great drinks, food and atmosphere. Always start the experience with a frozen rum runner. Frozen drinks are off the chain. Chicken wings are great– Caribbean jerk is my favorite. If you like ahi tuna I recommend the tuna nachos they are amazing. Other favorites are fish tacos and pizza. They have docks for easy boat parking. Bartenders are always good and food is always fast which is good because we are always hungry!

Restaurant was good. The bartender Devin was amazing. She was very interactive and friendly. The view was to die for, oceanfront. The drinks were also good. I had what was called the happy ending and it was delicious. Highly recommend !

I am starting this review with the bad part of the experience. We arrive, get sat and wait outside for about 20 minutes with not a single person passing by to help us. Feeling very agitated, we finally decide to go back inside to be waited on. Everyone seems to lost in this place. Everyone is all over the place. Thankfully our experience changed completely after being sat down inside. Gaby, our waitress was amazing. She went above and beyond to make sure everything went well after that. She made great recommendations on food and drinks. She was very friendly and sweet. Very knowledgeable about the menu. Thankfully she told me they fried everything with the same oil since I’m allergic to selfish and could’ve had a serious allergy attack. This is extremely important to someone with an allergy. It was our grandmother’s birthday and she made sure she made her feel special on her day. The food here is phenomenal, this is the only reason we go back. Oysters are BIG! Delish. The pizza, to die for. My favorite was one of Gaby’s suggestions, the new BBQ pork nachos! Deff a must try. The key lime pie here is great. Do not order the cheesecake, it’s bland. Planning on going back next month since we will be in the area.

Nice view, however, while eating out on deck a horde of flys invaded and took food inside. Some fans might help. Also, my food was bit salty, girlfriends had garlic overload; and ironically the people at the table next to us complained about shrimp dish and gave it back. Friendly staff

They get stars for being right on the water with different seating areas with different atmospheres. For example there is a glass enclosed dining area which feels kind of formal. There is an outdoor deck on the water which is romantic. There is a fun tiki bar. And our server was very attentive and friendly.
Stars are taken away for the food. Mediocre at best. I had very bland pizza. He had a bacon cheeseburger which was just average. And they get absolutely zero stars for their «lobster game», which is one of those giant claw games. Only the prize isn’t a stuffed animal, it’s a live lobster. Disgraceful. I was so disgusted by this I will certainly never return to this establishment and I will encourage anyone who will listen not to go there because of it.

Had the burger, it was awesome. Also had the coconut shrimp for an appetizer and it was fantastic! We will definitely be back again.

At Jimmy Johnson’s Big Chill Restaurant and Sports Bar you’ll have GREAT food, GREAT drinks and an even GREATER view. If you are lucky you will meet Jimmy Johnson. We missed Jimmy but we did meet the owner Larry Calvano… a super nice guy. This is a «must stop» place for us from now on.

My boyfriend had been wanting to come for a while, we finally stopped on our way back home. The place is gorgeous and the ambiance just as great. We sat on the deck, the weather and view were perfect. To drink he got The happy ending which tasted somewhat like key lime pie, really good. I got The Pain Killer, it wasn’t all I expected it to be, tasted like pineapple but was not sweet. Appetizer was the Lobster Mac and Cheese which was absolutely delicious, the best part of our meal, but take your time it is really hot! We both got the Local Mahi Sandwich. The blackened fish was low on salt and it was more like Cajun seasoning. The jerked fish was a little spicy but it tastes a little like soil, maybe because the spice combination. The mango coleslaw was really good, sweet and refreshing. Our sandwiches came out before we were done with the appetizer which is a little pet peeve of mine. But overall I enjoyed the place and our waitress was very attentive. The view and the mac and cheese are definitely worth the drive

Amazing Food! Lobster Mac and Cheese is to DIE FOR! The BBQ nachos, calzone and mojo chicken sandwich were great and the Key Lime Pie was Delish!
The view is breathtaking and spectacular! The breeze on the water makes this a must go to for your trips to key largo!
Watch the sailboats, cruisers, and kayaks glide across the water, enjoy the colors of the magnificent sun sets, listen to the music and RELAX!
You can’t go wrong with a stop here

I’ve been here a few times and have never had an issue with the food or service, always delicious and friendly! The view is lovely as well.
Their tuna nachos are probably the most unique in Key Largo/​Islamorada and very yummy, it’s great to have something different when every other restaurant serves the exact same version as one another. Their linguini and clams are AWESOME (coming from a family with an Italian mother and grandmother who are masters of said dish, this means a lot), and I’m a big fan of the clam chowder.
We have been served by Mary a few times and she’s a sweetheart! One time when we were sat outside it started to rain and she immediately got us a table inside even though it was during season and pretty busy. She remembered us months later to my surprise, and was wonderfully accommodating.
I find that down here, bad service is more common than not so when we have a good experience with staff (who are all friendly, from the hostesses, to kitchen staff waving hello, to the bussers), that’s something significant.
Big Chill is definitely a must try whether you’re a local or visiting!

Tuna Nachos is a must! Definitely try some of the specialty drinks and local seafood favs! Stay longer for sunset, music, and shows!!!

This place has a great view to the beach but I was not impressed by the food. We ordered the tuna nachos for appetizers. It came with seaweed, wonton crisps, seared tuna and dressing on top. It was good but not the best I’ve ever had.
Then I ordered the full size shrimps for main course to share with the hubby. I think there were 14 shrimps in the large platter. It was OK, didn’t taste super fresh. The cocktail sauce was also not impressive. It didn’t have the typical kick that I expected from cocktail sauce.
I also ordered the Piña colada… This was pretty good.
Our waitress was attentive and the food and drinks came out quickly — so at least service was good.

We stopped by this restaurant after looking for a bathroom and decided to eat here. It looked clean and has a good view. Just… not the best food nor service but I give them credit for trying. Took me a while to finally get utensils for our salads… which should logically be on the table before food arrives.
The salad wasn’t bad but was drowning in dressing. Fortunately the pepperoni pizza redeemed the meal.

I visited big chill this past weekend for a lil girls fun with some sun and jet skiing. Without a doubt the jet skiing was a BLAST it was four of us girls and for 30 min it was $ 60 each so it came out to about $ 120 and it was so worth it.
Now about the food lol. We were starving after the jet skis so of course went to the big chill restaurant which is right next to it. We ordered the spinach dip as the appetizer which was served with salsa and sour cream and tri color tortilla chips. That was very good in my opinion. We also got the jerk chicken wings. Now I hate to use the word disgusting when describing food but honestly the chicken tasted like it was outside for an hour before serving it to us. It had an awful taste we actually had to send it back. They were nice about it tho and took it off the bill with no problem.
My sister ordered the clam chowder which was average but not bad at all. The other two ordered a cheeseburger and I had the chicken sandwich that I ordered blackened which was delish. I really liked the taste of the chicken it was very tasty. I would def recommend this place for some fun but don’t expect 5 star meal lol.

The Big Chill offers an exceptional venue for a large group. Between the enormous bar outside or the private area by the pools overlooking the ocean, your party needs can be met!
I got to come here as a pre-​wedding celebrating night. For such an incredibly busy night, huge props to the staff for remembering who was who and delivering drinks swiftly. The ‘bucket’ drink was sold as a must. Never a must though for those who don’t like drinking sugar. The shots were impressive, but were totally not a generous pour of liquor.
Beers and bar food is what I’d recommend at the Big Chill. Also, check them out when they have live music. Their staging and sounds makes for an ace time with plenty of dancing room!

Heading back from m key west and being in the mood for oysters we first stopped at Shula’s steak & grill on Isla Morada. After going over the menu and seeing that there was no seafood on it, we asked our waitress if they had oysters and she said unfortunately they don’t but she recommended «The Big Chill» for seafood.
We headed 20 miles north to key largo where we found Jimmy Johnson’s Big Chill. The restaurant is inside a hotel (I think, it was night time) we got great service from our server & awesome food.
I was able to get my oyster fix with all the trimmings that I like such, cocktail sauce, Tabasco & lemon. My kids both had pizza which they loved. We all had shakes that were amazing (small).
Again our server kept coming around asking how was everything which was great.
I am not able to tell you the noise level as we went pretty late when the kitchen was going to close soon, therefore, there were no other customers inside. We had the restaurant all to our selves.
We chose to sit in the bar side of the restaurant, which would be great for game watching as there were so many tv’s, the tables were publix style but you also has the bar setting. Along the walls you find pictures of Jimmy Johnson.
Great place to get a bite. Price is adequate for an establishment like this.

First visit and it was a pretty good visit might I add. I was there last Friday night celebrating the birthday of a staff member.
The things that I loved most was the food and fact that we actually made it to happy hour, our waiter (didn’t catch his name) but he was great, the view, and the live music. The food on the Happy Hour menu was half off and they took a $ 1 off of the glasses of wine. I had a pound of peel and eat shrimp that they dash with some Old Bay seasoning. It is also accompanied by 2 slices of lemon, a ramekin of melted butter and one with cocktail sauce. And then there were the wings. Hot wings. That had the right amount of spice, was crunchy… Just really good in comparsion to some of the other places that serve wings.
Hopefully I can make it back soon. Maybe I can stop in and catch HH today!

Having attended UM, of course I love everything Jimmy Johnson. I have stopped at the Big Chill pretty much every time I have been to the keys either for lunch or dinner.
I am probably a bigger fan of lunch than dinner as it is far less crowded and the view is amazing. The food here isn’t spectacular overall but you can get some decent bar type food and drinks and enjoy the view. There is also a pizza menu
For dinner it can get quite crowded. While it is usually a very lively bar scene often with live music playing, I find the service to be a little slow, especially sitting outside. Recently we had dinner here around 8pm to catch the sunset. The kids loved being able to walk on the dock, play the «claw» game inside trying to catch a lobster, and enjoying watching people dance by the bar.
I actually had a pretty awesome hogfish special but the sheer amount of flies that came out and swarmed as soon as the dish came out made our dinner very un-​enjoyable.
DO NOT ORDER FISH WHILE SITTING OUTSIDE
It was very strange as the flies did not attack when our Oysters came out or when the pizza came out for the kids. Apparently it’s just the fish. I had to scarf my dish down which sucked.
Anyways, overall this is a pretty cool spot to check out for drinks and some bites but don’t expect gourmet quality food.