Louie’s Backyard is one of the Key West restaurants people book when the occasion actually matters. This page covers what’s on the menu across all three parts of the property, the hours for each, and the practical questions that come up before you book.
Price ranges checked August 2026; I update this page when they change.
The restaurant has been serving dinner on the water at 700 Waddell Avenue since 1971, in a house a wrecking captain built in the early 1900s and furnished, by his own account, entirely with salvage. It earned its place on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. Dog Beach is next door, and Jimmy Buffett was a regular here before anyone outside Key West knew his name.
The Three Ways to Do Louie’s Backyard
Louie’s is really three places sharing one address, and picking the right one matters more than picking the right entree.
The main restaurant is the fine dining room and the reason for the reputation. Oceanfront tables, a serious wine list, and reservations you need to plan for. Open seven days for lunch and dinner, plus weekend brunch.
The Café at Louie’s Backyard is upstairs; small plates, wines by the glass, a few tables, and no reservations taken. It is the quiet room above the party, and it is a place I like to drop in to. More on it below.
The Afterdeck Bar sits right on the water, first come, first served, seven days a week. Cocktails, wine, and beer all day; food is served at the rail only, from 11:30 AM to 2:30 PM and 6 to 9 PM. If you have seen a photo of Louie’s, it was probably taken here.
Louie’s Backyard Dinner Menu and Prices
Dinner runs nightly from 5 to 9 PM. Starters sit in the $17 to $25 range, and the Bahamian conch chowder with bird pepper hot sauce has been on this menu longer than most Key West restaurants have existed.
The rest of the section runs to cracked conch, coconut shrimp, seared sea scallops, and a crab cake with sweet corn guacamole, with a few more on their site, where each menu sits under its own dropdown.
Nine entrees run $44 to $54, plus a Catch of the Day at market price. The seared sesame crusted tuna, grilled swordfish, gulf shrimp with grits, double lamb chops, and the filet with horseradish crust are worthy choices.
The root beer glazed Berkshire pork chop, a bacon-wrapped king salmon with summer succotash, a dry rubbed New York steak, and a prosciutto and spinach stuffed chicken breast round out the section.
Two starters, two entrees, and a decent bottle puts dinner for two somewhere north of $200 before tip. That is what you can expect at Louie’s, and on the right night, with the water a few feet away, it holds up.
Louie’s Backyard Lunch Menu
Lunch is the toned down version. Same view, same kitchen, and the check is roughly half of dinner. Served daily 11:30 AM to 2:30 PM.
Sandwiches are $20 to $25: the snapper sandwich on an onion roll, a tuna burger, the double cheeseburger with secret sauce, fried fish tacos, and cajun grilled chicken. And then you have the prime rib French dip, which is what I’d be after.
Eight small plates run $12 to $22: conch fritters with hot pepper jelly and wasabi, and a charred baby octopus with chorizo, potatoes, and chili oil that I still think about.
The rest are the conch chowder at $14 against $17 at dinner, fried anchovy stuffed olives, crab and avocado mini rolls, a grilled flatbread with beef filet and truffled pecorino, and a shrimp and mango escabèche with chicharrones.
Big plates run $27 to $32: the shrimp Creole with andouille, duck confit, lemongrass grilled chicken, and the baby back ribs with guava barbecue sauce.
The bacon-wrapped shrimp with papaya, avocado, and passionfruit mustard is my favorite app in the building, and lunch is the only place to get it; it is not on the dinner, brunch, or Café menus. Weekdays only, since brunch takes over the weekend slots.
The lunch menu got a refresh in June 2026.
Weekend Brunch Menu
Brunch is Saturday and Sunday only. Starters are $12 to $18 and mains are $18 to $32 and a market priced item.
The fried chicken on a waffle with sausage gravy is one to consider. Poached eggs on a sourdough crumpet with smoked salmon and hollandaise, blueberry buttermilk pancakes with whipped yogurt and lemon syrup, and the leek, bacon, and gruyere quiche are the rest of the egg-side options.
Part of the lunch menu carries over, so the cheeseburger and the French dip are available if eggs feel too blasé.
The Café at Louie’s Backyard Menu
The upstairs Café is open Tuesday through Saturday, walk-in only. Their site says 5 PM; doors actually open at 4:45, and the kitchen runs to 9.
Small plates run $15 to $32, from truffle fries with smoked gouda fondue up to a seared flat iron with frites, with a braised short rib and a Catch of the Day at market price in between.
I have eaten my way through a fair amount of this menu for my research: the curry seared scallops, the truffle lobster risotto with prosciutto, the conch fritters, and the catch of the day, which was a bread encrusted black grouper on my last visit.
Chef Brandon Queen runs the kitchen up here, and if you get the chance to talk with him, take it.
The drink list upstairs is longer than the food menu. There’s a page of signature cocktails, a printed specials sheet that changes, and a wine list running from house pours by the glass to bottles that cost more than dinner.
The Cherry Garden is the one I’d go back to: Hendrick’s, dark cherries, fresh basil and lime. Whatever is on the specials sheet the night you go will not be what was on it the night I went.
One seasonal note: all of Louie’s, not just the Café, takes a fall break in September, along with half the island. Exact dates are in the hours section below.
Does Louie’s Backyard Have a Happy Hour?
No. Louie’s does not run a happy hour, and they will tell you the same. What they have instead is the Afterdeck Bar, open daily from 11:30 AM to 11:30 PM or later, where a full-price cocktail comes with the Atlantic a few feet below your stool. Dogs are welcome on the Afterdeck during the day before sunset, which makes sense with Dog Beach next door.
If an actual happy hour is what you are after, my Key West Happy Hour Food Guide covers 70+ bars and restaurants with times and specials.
Hours and Reservations
| Space | Days | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Main restaurant, lunch | Daily | 11:30 AM–2:30 PM |
| Main restaurant, dinner | Daily | 5–9 PM |
| Brunch | Sat–Sun | Brunch menu at lunch service |
| The Café (upstairs) | Tue–Sat | Doors 4:45, kitchen to 9 PM, walk-in only |
| Afterdeck Bar | Daily | 11:30 AM–11:30 PM or later |
Reservations are phone only: (305) 294-1061, with the reservation office open 9 AM to 4 PM daily. The largest party they will seat is twelve, and they are not booking private events at the moment.
Booking opens on the 1st of each month for the current and following month, and the sunset-hour dinner slots go first. If your trip is more than two months out, set a reminder for the 1st. The Café and the Afterdeck take no reservations at all; show up. The only holiday closure is Christmas Day, plus the fall break.
Louie’s closes for annual maintenance each fall. In 2026 that’s Tuesday, September 8, with dinner back Thursday the 24th and lunch Friday the 25th. The Café runs on its own schedule and is closed longer, from September 6 through the end of the month, reopening Thursday, October 1.
One local tip: Louie’s posts menu changes and updates to their Facebook page before they show up anywhere else. If you want the current word on the kitchen, that is where to look.
Dress Code, Parking, and the Practical Stuff
Dress code: casually elegant. Their words, but the translation is simple: no exposed bathing suits, no workout wear, no tank tops on men. A shirt and shorts will not get you turned away; a swimsuit fresh off the beach next door will earn a look.
Parking: free street parking in the surrounding blocks. It is a residential neighborhood, so do not block driveways. From Duval it is about a 10 minute walk.
Everything else: dine-in only, no takeout. Cards and cash accepted, but no Apple Pay or tap-to-pay, so bring a physical card. There is a kids menu at lunch and dinner (chicken fingers, fish, shrimp, steak), but no highchairs or booster seats, so bring your own for the small ones. No live music; the water and neighborhood chickens handle the soundtrack.
Birthdays: they provide candles and a dessert you can order. If you want a proper cake, Key West Cakes at (305) 296-4162 is the only outside bakery they will take a delivery from, and they ask that you give them your reservation date and time so the kitchen has it noted. Outside wine is not allowed at all.
If It Were Me
My move is straight upstairs to the Café. Fewer people, and the same water the dining room is charging for. If you want the classic opener first, a sunset drink on the Afterdeck works. Either way, you get the Louie’s experience without the two-months-out reservation, and a check that will not require you to shuffle funds around.
Save the main dining room for an actual occasion, an anniversary or a birthday or the night you decide Key West deserves a proper send-off. That is what it is built for, and it is very good at it.
The rest of your trip is covered in my Key West Things to Do guide and the Happy Hour Food Guide.
Louie’s Backyard is located at 700 Waddell Ave, Key West, FL 33040 • (305) 294-1061