Hurricane Hole Restaurant, Bar, and Marina, Stock Island, Florida

What a fun (and tasty) lunch! I’ve found another Keys winner on Stock Island.

Stock Island is the last of the Keys before you enter Key West, and Hurricane Hole is the very last left turn before you cross the bridge into Key West. The restaurant sits next to a busy marina, and includes houseboats, or Aqualodges, which are available for nightly, weekly, or monthly rentals. Just stroll from your houseboat to their abundant outside seating.

Or to the bar.

Michael was very interested in the houseboats, and I was intrigued as well. It’s as close as I can get to my dream of floating down the Mississippi on a raft. Hurricane Hole also has a pirate ship playground, which Ella and Lily loved.

It seems to have brought out Lily’s piratical side, but it kept them well occupied after we ordered while the grownups relaxed and enjoyed ourselves during the wait for our food.

Ah, yes, ordering the food. Our server, Katrina, hails from Hungary, as she volunteered, and is as lively and chatty as can be, and great with Ella and Lily (extra cocktail toothpicks

and maraschino cherries in the lemonade), all while being utterly efficient. She’s a wonder. For starters we had conch fritters

and an order of fried dill pickle chips.

Those photos were taken after locusts had laid waste the land. There were a lot more before I got around to taking a picture, and they interfered with my photography through the meal. Both appetizers were popular with the girls, with Ella enthusiastic about the fried pickle chips and Lily preferring the conch fritters. I loved them both, too. The conch fritters were the best I can remember eating, and the pickle chips were top drawer, nice and crisp.

Going around the table, David ordered the Catch Reuben, fried mahi-mahi, the Catch of the Day, with the standard Reuben ingredients on grilled Texas toast.

I was skeptical about the fish-sauerkraut combination, but it worked.

Both Sue and Liza went with the Chopped Salad, which features blackened shrimp along with greens, mango, bleu cheese, as you can see, along with cucumber, tomato, onion, bacon, and candied pecans. A house mango vinaigrette dressed the salad.

That’s a lot of salad, and both did it justice in a characteristically restrained and lady-like manner.

Michael went with a burger,

this time a very cheesy double burger with lots of well-grilled onions on a pretzel bun, and an absurdly large side of fries. As Michael said, it was “nothing fancy, a solid backyard-style burger, the best kind.”

Nancy went with the Mex Bowl, a mix of lettuce, tomato, jalapeño, and lettuce with blackened mahi-mahi, rice and black beans, and corn salsa plopped on top.

A house-made ancho chili dressing tied it all together. Nancy was thrilled with the dish, and mentioned later how much she’d liked it. Meanwhile, I chose The Catch Sandwich, blackened mahi-mahi with some nice onions and lettuce and tomato. 

I usually go with beans and rice, but after David chose rings, I went with those on the assumption that David knew something I didn’t know. It proved to be true. The outside was nice and crisp while the onions were soft and sweet. They were overshadowed by a good, simple piece of fish with good, complex blackening seasonings.

Everyone was happy with their food and the delightful atmosphere that pervades Hurricane Hole — very relaxed and very much fun. It’s the same mood I’d found on Stock Island at The Hogfish Grill and El Siboney, one I’m eager to explore more on our next trip. Those Aqualodges are sounding more and more intriguing, and as I sit in Washington where on a day with high winds and sideways rains, I’m wondering, “What would Jimmy Buffet do?” 

Hurricane Hole now has a spot on my Keys restaurant rotation. Put it on yours, and let me know of other Stock Island highlights.

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