Old Tavernier Restaurant & Lounge

Now this is a good spot. Have driven past it and for some reason we never stopped to see what they’re about. Glad we stopped because it is very worth your attention. It’s upstairs with an outside porch and big dining room, but they have a bar menu where you can get a wood fired pizza… that was excellent. Good wine list, very efficient and friendly staff, and you’ll feel very at home here. Full big boy menu as well.

We ate at Old Tavernier the first night of our vacation to the area. Our reservation was taken by the jovial and accommodating Sam. When we arrived, our table was ready and waiting. Always appreciated.
We thoroughly enjoyed the hour and a half we spent in the restaurant. It’s cozy and friendly. The proprietress is out and about among the diners. .. always a nice touch.
We sat across from the bar. I appreciate bartenders for both their spirits and their spirit. This young lady is a master mixer and she keeps the customers cheery, many of whom choose to eat at the bar.
The drinks, the appetizers, the entrees were all top drawer. Our meal was enhanced by the attentiveness and friendliness of our server. She explained the specials in detail and was tableside as needed throughout the meal.
If we lived in the area, Old Tavernier would be on our rota of local eateries.

Food is pretty good however it is drastically overpriced. The atmosphere is nice but can still dress somewhat casual. It is one of the nicer places to go in the area. Probably good for a special event

Truly some of the worst lobster bisque I’ve ever tried. We pulled in at the recommendation of our hotel concierge when an accident on overseas highway turned a 30 min drive into a two hour ordeal. Pretty place. Star down for the bartender who stubbornly kept telling me that a whiskey that I requested wasn’t there when it was behind her. Dining room service is good. Salad was lightweight nothing and we ordered the Unilocal-​touted Lobster bisque which had a flour roux to give it body which unfortunately was burnt and gave the soup a tragic gritty consistency.
The main course was pretty terrible. My seafood pasta was overcooked mush and, for the price, $ 36.95 I thought it was odd that they served up the seafood with a jeweler’s eyepiece so I could actually see the underwhelming, tiny mussels and clams with the tail of a lobster that had to be anorexic or a serious underachiever in the hunting department. It was so tough that I could hammer it into that hole in my shoe.
It was not a memorable evening of cuisine.
This is a beautiful place. They should order shellfish from the top fish farm in the area that sells to Miami to Palm Beach rather than serve up this embarrassing cheap seafood for top dollar.
When I spoke to the owner he said that they like to smaller shells because they’re more tender. Then put more in. Otherwise the only thing that it’s tenderizing is your profits. $ 36.95 for cheap ciappino and a dinner salad that you can find at Denny’s is not cool even in the clip joints that so many restaurants in the Keys unfortunately are.

Waitress was nice and the wine was good but seriously, how on earth can you screw up pasta? Ordered pasta with olive oil and veggies and it was a pile of water with 5 pieces of ziti. It sucked.

Finding really high quality restaurants in the Keys can sometimes be a challenge, but Mary at the Old Tavernier seriously made our experience even better. They offer excellent portions for the prices, and while it’s not necessarily cheap, it’s a great value. The whole yellowtail snapper might be one of the best entrees but it requires some work to debone. The lobster Thermidor is immensely rich but absolutely delicious. For starters, the best items were the carpaccio and the cracked conch. The cracked conch was especially phenomenal. However, the calamari were a bit dry and chewy and the oyster rocks were very small oysters and mostly cheese, which were alright. For dessert, the coconut angel food cake is amazing: moist, sweet, light, and airy. Overall, will definitely be back.

Food is great. The pizza is like no other in the keys. The staff is very friendly and accommodating. Our waitress Becka was awesome! Thanks for the breakfast shot. It’s a must try you won’t be disappointed

Great local spot. We sat at the bar and it was apparent that this place is where the locals go. There was an upscale/​old-​fashioned vibe unlike the tiki bar type restaurants that are found around the area. We had the absolutely delicious Crevettes & Coquilles St. Jacques appetizer, a heavenly shrimp, scallop and cheese dip. There is a hidden pizza menu that a regular patron told us about and we were not disappointed getting one. I can’t wait to go back and try more!

If you want the best, and I mean literally the best on the island, this is your place.
The wine list is perfect for pairing with no skidmarks, each dish is constructed with care, and the specials are imaginative and delicious.
What I love most was complex flavors that we’re not to over bearing. I’ll see food was cooked a perfect temperature and not masked by pounds of butter for heavy blackening.
Desert was so great I ordered another of the same. Some kind of coconut angel food cake that happened to pair perfectly with champagne.
It’s obvious that this is an excellent place for a day, but I would do girls lunch here or even parents in town.
The ladies behind the bar are not only helpful and knowledgeable, but friendly and upbeat. Too accommodating.
Best all around.

I find this place to be so-​so. Ordered the Moscow Oysters and they were dry and tasteless. When an oyster is dry taking them out of the shell is nearly impossible. There’s an added mix of disgust and disappointment. l ordered the shrimp scampi — a casual dish that’s not that complex to put together. Utter disappointment. I specifically asked for the pasta to be al dente, because I know how busy restaurants overcook pasta. The dish was a fail. Five large shrimp on a ridiculously large plate of American style spaghetti. I would much rather have less pasta and a better however rustic dish. The sauce was tasteless — where is the garlic, butter? Parsley helps carry the flavors of this dish but even this simple garnish was excluded. The pasta tasted cheap — yes there are levels of dry pasta — spend more on a better box, it makes all the difference. I requested parmesan to help make the pasta more edible and when I was brought a shaker rather than some freshly grated parm it put things into perspective about this restaurant. In sum there’s a lack of sophistication and attention to detail.
Keep in mind entrees here are in the $$$ range so I expect more given this, don’t you?
Now the good. My husband ordered an amazing veal chop as part of the specials menu. It was lightly breaded and doused in a delicious sauce of mushrooms, carrots and wine. We asked to have it paired with the risotto which disappointed. It tasted premade and dry. Nonetheless the protein was perfectly cooked.
Entrees come with soup or salad. The minestrone was well flavored with the appropriate mix of veggies and broth. The salad was an average pre dinner salad. The wine menu is also good.
Service lacked with long wait times between dishes and cocktail refills. After a long initial wait, the sever asked if we wanted bread. Why ask? Yes we’ve been waiting for 15 minutes and now we’re famished. Bread would be great dude.
Overall Old Tavernier has hits and misses. A note to the restaurant, fresh pepper, parmesan and better pasta are a small investment to make in better taste. Turn it up a notch.

Service was excellent, even one of the owners came by our table to check on the service. Waitress very friendly. Great wine selection. We went in for some and wine and a few appetizers to share. We had the calamari which was ok, a little over cooked, the baked Brie which was amazing, and the spinach cheese oysters rockafella. They were good too but gave us both diarrhea later on. Our stomachs are used to oysters. We would go back though.

The French make fun of American restaurants because, in general, they buy croutons. Well here at old tavernier they make them in house and they are delicious. Also had the beef tips in burgundy mushroom sauce. Very good. If you’re sick of seafood, this is the place! Dawn was great!

I was very impressed with the staff, the quality of the food was great. I would come back in a second!

Strip steak special was very good. The filet mignon off the regular menu, not so much.

We stopped in for dinner on our way home. We were pleasantly surprised. It’s a white table cloth dinning room. We were seated immediately and our server greeted us pretty quickly too. The menu has a lot of Greek influence but we opted for the specials. I had the coconut encrusted yellowtail and loved it. My husband had the blackened shrimp and scallops in thai chili sauce. Both were great. The server was very friendly with our girls too. The ony minor negative was that I was not impressed with the dessert choices but oh well. All else was good. I’m sure we’ll be back

Great New England chowder. Almondine was tasty. Good service. Became crowded at about 7 — nice outdoor seating. Friendly service. No beers on tap but good wine selection.

Excellent service, but Thanksgiving dinner was just average, almost «cafeteriaish,» pumpkin soup was completely bland, potatoes room temperature, plating was sloppy. Son’s New York strip was gristly. Daughter’s filet mignon was good.
High point was a sweet potato dessert that hit on all cylinders! Service was, again, excellent. However, call ahead to find out if there is a party going on (wedding party of about 25 – 30 was there: very loud, almost obnoxiously so).
Will probably return again, but not on a holiday.

Some of the negative reviews are overly harsh. This is a fine restaurant for the location it is in. They have a full menu of «meat dishes» but that isn’t local. My great waitress, Lisa, recommended the soup, Greek salad and special Yellowtail Catch of the day. All were superb and I would get again. The soup was included with the entrée so if it were not for my drinking, I would have come out at $ 36 for my entire meal. They have the best wine list on the island with many great options for «by the glass». I may not come here every night but would come here every trip.

They were able to accommodate a large party. Food was OK but very expensive. At the end of the meal our waitress proceeded to lecture us about tourists coming to the area to go lobster diving and how they «rape her ocean». I was like, excuse me, we tourists just dropped 600.00 at this restaurant so we don’t need a lecture.

Old fashioned upscale Florida restaurant. Good but not outstanding. Perhaps I eat out too much and I am accustomed to today’s outstanding and healthful food trends.
That said, I enjoyed the Osso Buco but my husband didn’t like the veal chop special. The grill marks left a bitter taste.
I still will go back. It is one if the few restaurants in the upper Keys that offer a more elegant atmosphere. (i.e. table cloths) But I think we will stick to the regular menu.
Last but not least: It is definitely overpriced. Had more reasonable priced and excellent food in Aspen.