Blue Heaven

729 Thomas St., Key West, FL - (305) 296-8666

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Posted By Michael Stern on 9/22/2008 9:27:00 AM

Wild chickens run among streets and gardens all over Key West, but even most al fresco restaurants manage to keep them away from dining tables … with one significant exception. At Blue Heaven, chickens are welcome. In fact, they feel right at home. In this supremely laid-back restaurant in old Bahama Village, cocks, hens and chicks roam along the dirt-floored patio pecking for bugs or the occasional scrap of pancake offered by a diner. It’s not unheard of for a particularly bold rooster to hop onto the back of an unoccupied chair at YOUR table and crow loud to wake you up in the morning better than a triple espresso.

An incredibly colorful place to eat, Blue Heaven has been the home of a boxing ring (Ernest Hemmingway sparred here), a bordello (the tiny rooms upstairs are now part of an art gallery), a bookmaking parlor, and a cockfighting pit (heroic roosters are buried in a little graveyard behind the dining area), as well as inspiration for Jimmy Buffett’s song “Blue Heaven Rendezvous.” It is delightfully disheveled, casual in the extreme and one of Key West’s most evocative dining experiences.

Starting at eight o’clock every morning, when neighborhood roosters are still greeting the sun with gusto, three meals a day are served. Much as we relish the jerk chicken and barbecued shrimp at lunch and supper, it’s breakfast we like most. Before the this little plot of paradise begins to bake (Key West is the hottest city in the U.S.), it is a special joy to sit out under the shade of the banyan trees and fork into banana pancakes with maple syrup or spoon into nutty-flavored granola with fresh fruit, and drink coffee from mugs inscribed with the house motto: Blue Heaven: you don’t have to die to get there.

One other reason we like early breakfast best is that seats are usually available. In the evenings and on weekends, the wait for a table can be maddening. And true to its spirit of taking life easy, Blue Heaven does not take reservations.

Scorecard

Overall: Legendary - Worth driving from anyplace

banana pancakes	banana heaven dessert
barbecued shrimp	jerk chicken

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Reviewers Photos [Upload Your Photos]

"House-made granola, topped with bananas and blueberries: a sweet way to start the day"
Michael Stern

"One of the many "cheeky" signs about."
Pam Mason

"Hoping for crumbs..."
Pam Mason

"A delightful dish with a curried sauce that complements the pork beautifully."
Jeanne Smiczek

"Banana pancakes, pre-syrup"
Michael Stern

"Snapper dinner with all its accutrements."
Jeanne Smiczek

"One of the nicest places to eat in Key West: the open-air dining room at Blue Heaven. This picture was taken at breakfast time."
Michael Stern

"When you look at the walkway into the dining room at Blue Heaven, it's little wonder that natives of Key West consider their community to be paradise."
Michael Stern

"To the side of the dining area at Blue Heaven is this rooster cemetery, a tribute to the many brave cocks who did battle here in Key West's wilder days."
Michael Stern

"When you dine at Blue Heaven, your companions will include a flock of chickens, large and small. This bird was wandering a roof near our table. When she hopped to the ground, we gave her a piece of banana pancake."
Michael Stern

"If Jimmy Buffett was a restaurant, he would be Blue Heaven. It is said this place was the inspiration for the song Blue Heaven Rendezvous."
Michael Stern