Mangrove Mama’s Restaurant
As the locals who come daily for happy hour will tell you, this is a dive in the best sense of the word. The restaurant is a shack that used to have a gas pump as well as a grill. Diners share the property with stray cats and some miniature horses out back. It’s run-down, but in a charming Keys sort of way. A handful of tables, inside and out, are shaded by banana trees and palm fronds. New owners have retooled the menu to include standard comfort food (meatloaf, country fried pork chops, sandwiches), and less standard options like braised duck tacos with spicy mandarin orange drizzle (a deelish special when I was last there). But it’s the newly converted outdoor tiki bar and pontoon boat stage that are the real draws.
As the locals who come daily for happy hour will tell you, this is a dive in the best sense of the word. The restaurant is a shack that used to have a gas pump as well as a grill. Diners share the property with stray cats and some miniature horses out back. It’s run-down, but in a charming Keys sort of way. A handful of tables, inside and out, are shaded by banana trees and palm fronds. New owners have retooled the menu to include standard comfort food (meatloaf, country fried pork chops, sandwiches), and less standard options like braised duck tacos with spicy mandarin orange drizzle (a deelish special when I was last there). But it’s the newly converted outdoor tiki bar and pontoon boat stage that are the real draws.
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