In Search of the Best Key Lime Pie in Key West

It likely comes as no surprise to you that I turned our recent family vacation to Key West into a mission to find the best key lime pie on the island.  We made a valiant effort, trying seven different pies in three days, but I’m still not convinced we found the best.  Guess we have to go back.  Oh darn.

Can you guess which was my favorite?

Blue Heaven, notorious for its brunch (and the wait!) didn’t come through in the key lime pie department.  The meringue was pretty, but lacking in the flavor department which is problematic given the pie to meringue ratio.  The lobster bene was delicious though, and the live music a hoot.  Definitely worth the wait.

We loved the ambience, the food and the service at Banana cafe.  The traditional key lime pie tasted straight out of a grocery store freezer, but being a French Bisto they also had a Key lime crepe, which was a fun twist.

The Key Lime Pie Factory, one of many of the touristy shops along the main strip of Duval Street, offered regular key lime pie as well as chocolate dipped frozen key lime pie.  As expected, their pie was quite standard.  I enjoyed the chocolate dipped pie because I like chocolate, but it definitely was very rich, and overpowered the lime flavor.

I’ve left our top two favorite pies for last.  The runner up was from Latitude, where we enjoyed a truly phenomenal dining experience.  The recommendation came from a couple we ran into while roaming the streets in search of a post-brunch key lime pie (moderation? what is that?)  They recommended that for truly great food, we take a boat from the Westin to Sunset Island and dine at Latitude.  It took a little work to talk our way into a reservation for that very night, but I pulled it off.  The boat left at 7:15 sharp, and after a quick five-minute ride to the island we were seated beach side at candle lit tables.  The breadbasket alone, with hummus and mango jalapeno butter could have satiated me, but of course we didn’t stop there.  The pie had two layers, the first the traditional key lime pie layer and the second a lighter lime flavored custard.

Swordfish with coconut risotto, asparagus  and crispy plantain

Our favorite key lime pie, ironically, was our first, which we had on our drive town to Key West.  It was the only redeeming factor of an otherwise overpriced, mediocre meal at Sparky’s Landing, a touristy joint in Marathon. Actually I lie… Courtney’s fish tacos were huge and pretty tasty.  What made this key lime pie our favorite?  Well, it was most definitely home-made, with a distinct tangy lime flavor.  The crust was fresh and flavorful, but not so sweet it overpowered the pie.  And we weren’t sick of key lime pie yet.

All this chatter given you a craving for key lime pie?  Head on over to the D.C. Ladies page and check out my twist on the classic: key lime magic bars.

Johanna