This place is in a great location. My friend grew up in Key Largo and swore by this place. We went to the Lorelei the first time May 28th. We set up on their little beach area, which is about 4-5 ft from the dining tables. My group and I hung out for about 20 mins and didn't see any servers.
I walked to the outside bar to be greeted by the angry male bartender, who advised me he was setting up the bar. My group and I walked to the main bar. We ordered some drinks and appetizers. We asked the bartender to split our bill up, so we could pay separately. The bartender got visually angry, huffing and puffing that we should have told him when ordering. The bar wasn't that busy, Memorial Day was the before and it seemed to just be local people.
We went back to our beach spot and decided to get another round of drinks. 30-45mins had passed, so we went back to the outside mini bar. The angry bartender told us the bar still wasn't ready and he wasn't scheduled to be open for another 10mins. We ended up leaving and going to Hog Heaven.
We gave the Lorelei another shot this past week while visiting Key Largo again. We actually had a great waitress Wed July 10, during the day. Friendly, helpful, etc. She served us at the tables by the beach area. We had a great time and spent about 2-3hrs hanging out.
We went back Thurs, I guess the normal angry staff was back on shift. We showed up at shift change. We got a lot of "I' m not ready yet" "I'm just getting off shift, your server should be here soon". We let about 15mins pass so the staff could situate.
My friend walked to the outside bar and was advised, once again by the bartender that she wasn't ready. The manager actually saw my friend looking for service and stopped a staff member and asked "Are you on the clock?, then you can take an order".
The Lorelei is a great location and the food is decent, but the service sucks! I am actually a bartender, so I know how the service industry is. I don't expect great service everywhere, I know people have down days.
The staff at the Lorelei seem angry about working. At the end of the day they don't have to work in the service industry. Get a job somewhere else if you don't want to deal with people...
Went to this place on the recomendation of our hotel bartender. Had a nice view of the sunset. The live band was 2 dudes who couldn't sing, but I liked them. the food was not what I expected. I got the fish sandwhich, and it was definatey a frozen patty and not fresh...I could see the ocean and they gave me a gortons frozen patty! The drinks weren't great, but they were drinkable. Overall, I liked the place, but after the high recommendations I was disappointed
Review Source:Beautiful spot to watch a sunset!! It was a stunning sunset the night we were there!! Â We sat on the beach area. Great live music. Perfect location. Food is fine. We would definitely go back if we were in the area again. We had spinach and artichoke dip for appetizers and it was really good. Service was ok. We were there at sunset and he was slammed but he kept up fairly well and he was hustling which we appreciated. Â We did have to ask for things that if it was a different time he probably would have been on top of (like drink refills and napkins). Â It all worked together for a very enjoyable evening.
Review Source:This place is all about expectations. Â Â Â Expect good food and you will be disappointed. Â Â Expect a good location and some drinks, and you will be happy. Â Â
We expected the good food part but knew better after reading the Yelp reviews. Â But on a Saturday night in the keys around 7, everything was booked up and this was the place we were at that had availability (another restaurant didn't have availability til 9:30). Â Â So we 'ended up' here.
You seat yourself. Â We got a table on the beach, that was actually pretty cool. Â Â We had 8 in our party and needed two tables, and no staff would help us move another table together. Â Okkkkk. Â Â Food an drink took forever and it was just so 'so-so'. Â Staff was ehh as well (dude seemed annoyed to be working).
Great location, great sunset, good food at reasonable prices, and live music!
With an average of 4 solid stars after 109 reviews, I'd say it's accurate. My husband and I had a great time. Our snapper sandwiches with coleslaw were delicious and fresh. Prices were reasonable. And most people come for the sunset and live music.
We will return!
Beautiful scenery paired with excellent breakfast choices makes for a perfect morning !
The Spanish omelet was delish.
Friends tell me this is one of the most valuable places to go for good prices and descent portions in or near islamorada!
The water is crystal clear and full of sea life.
I finally tried Lorelie after many trips to Islamorada and was happy that I did! Â Stopped on the way home from Key West to Fort Lauderdale for a late lunch and ended up staying for hours! Â Great happy hour, yummy Mahi sandwich, good prices and a beautiful sunset to boot. Â Band was a little cheesy but hey I'm in the Keys, you could play Miley Cyrus and I wouldn't care...well maybe not.
Review Source:My favorite restaurant in the keys hands down. This place has the most spectacular views of the sunset. You couldn't get closer to the water unless you're standing in it. The food is really good, the music is fun and festive. I made about 30 people drive from Miami to the keys for my birthday and we ate here and a few people have decided to celebrate their birthday's here as well. Love this place MUST TRY!
Review Source:If you are looking for something nice and romantic, this is NOT your place. This American cousin of the Rhine mermaid is rather expansive, crowded and loud (not really what you come to expect from a mermaid but hey, this is the US baby) but also extremely welcoming.
Your best bet?
Come here for happy hour and prime sunset watching. Beers are cheap and fresh, pair very well with conch fritters and their fish mousse and nothing beats orange skies over the water while relaxing on the shore.
Come early to get a spot right by the water and watch the fish dance in the dusk, and then order another beer.
Relax, you are in the Keys and life is damn good.
Good: this place is by far my favorite place to relax during sunset and evenings, the open water views and sandy outdoor seating is pleasant and wonderful to prop you feet up and unwind. Â This place will offer a nice romantic experience,just sit far to the back where it's quiet, you will love the atmosphere.
Bad: I hate to say it, but the food and the menu suck. Â The steak has no flavor, the menu is limited compared to other restaurants, I don't understand why they would not improve it, please... Find a new chef! Add new items!! Â Wahoo down the road is by far best place for grouper hands down.
Extra: Wild anglers will love the fact you can have a stiff rum at 7am before fishin!
Lorelei has a nice relaxed atmosphere; it's a place to get a drink, get dinner, or both. Â There's a bar area as well as an expansive "dining area" on the sand. Â Not the kind of place you'd bring a client in dress shoes.
Service here is none too rapid, but this is the type of place where you come to relax, watch a sunset, listen to live music on occasion, and just soak in the good life. Â
Their blackened mahi sandwich is one of the better in the area that I've had, but not as good as Ma's. Â I asked about their beer selection and was told a list of crap macros, but on leaving I saw they actually did have a decent selection. Â Decent for the Keys, that is...but it's not going to win any awards anytime soon. Â
To find this place, you have to park up front, walk past the bait store, walk along the marina, then you have the option to sit in the front bar, back bar, or on the sand/table area. Â We weren't guided...we just kind of had to figure it out. Â Not too hard, but it's a large place so hopefully that little tip will get you a drink in your hand just a bit faster.
Local spot with a great view. Â We had a terrific lunch and the Key Lime mixed drink that we had was amazing! Â Would have loved to stay for the band that night, but we were on our way to Key West.
Conch Frittters: Â We all tried them, nicely prepared but not our thing.
Mahi Mahi: Â Outstanding
Big fan. Been visiting this joint for many, many moons and it has been interesting to watch this place evolve from a relatively quiet Keys bayside watering hole into a "family sunset campus."
This is a great joint to cocktail at, and has been for years. Bayside, with a great, big, and unobstructed view of the bay. One part of the property is a bar that sits on the bay, and band-stand for this week's Jimmy-Buffet-esque Keysy-white trash band. LOVE IT!
Then you have seating, tables and chairs for the hush-puppy eating masses to feed the kids whilst the parents power-drink.
Lots of space. Tough parking for anything but flats boats. All outdoors. No indoor seating, no air conditioning. Tough to find seating and service right at sunset, that's the POWER HOUR.
Good and consistent Keys-fare for food, but nothing stands out.
Great place. Wish I was there NOW. Can't wait to go back. Please visit my blog: <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Fclubcabeza.blogspot.com%2F&s=fbcc986a45268278dc4c9f15d4b57bc000c6d6b6256503705908d1dc61dcb881" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://clubcabeza.blogsp…</a>
Cabeza, OUT!
If you come for a meal during prime dinner time, be prepared to hunt (stalk) down either a free table or one that has diners preparing to depart. If you come for the sunset, they have a great area in the back where you can dine and watch the sunset as well as snap some good photos. Â Also, be prepared to wait for everything or don't be if you're there for a lazy evening of enjoying good company and good drinks.
Now for the food.
My table shared the conch fritter appetizer, my mother inlaw and I had the blackened snapper sandwich and my wife and father inlaw had the cracked conch sandwich.
Our wait for the conch fritters was quite a bit long, longer than it should be for something that is typically prepped ahead of time and quickly fried. Â Overall, they were OK. Â Just a bit of a piece of conch in each, better than when it is shredded and you only taste the batter. Â The dipping sauce seemed to be a mix of cocktail and mustard sauce, this was spicy and very nice.
Everyone enjoyed their sandwiches, fries were good but the coleslaw left a lot to be desired. Heavy on the onions and vinegar, very little cabbage and what seemed to be relish. Â The snapper was a generous size broken into two stacked portions. Â They should spend some time looking for a better vendor for their rolls as I felt they overpowered the sandwich. Â The fish on it's own was very good.
I had to drink a Long Island Iced Tea which was fantastic. Â Blended perfectly and there was not an overwhelming taste of alcohol. Â I also had a Dark and Stormy. Â This needs work, avoid at all costs. Â It tasted as if it was made with Spiced Rum instead of Dark/Black Rum and with Ginger Ale or another carbonated fake ginger soda instead of real ginger beer. Â Note to the owner's get some REED'S ginger beer.
My wife had a Rum Runner with a rum floater and it was very, very good. Â I don't enjoy frozen drinks but this one with the floater was very good and I could enjoy several.
Great place to come and enjoy some solid food and good drinks very leisurely late into the evening.
We have been coming here for years and could not wait to spend my birthday there on Saturday..Big disappointment!
The atmosphere always gets 5 stars but food was horrible. Had coconut shrimp or should I say greasing with a little shrimp. Bacon wrapped shrimp horrible as well and had to get the "famous" fish sandwich. The fish sandwich was horrible it was Sysco frozen fried not fresh. And how do you have "fresh" stone crab chowder when it's not stone crab season! It would have been nice to have lobster chowder since it is in season.
So upset that this is what has happened to one of our favorite places.
We will return but for drinks and sunset
Went there on Saturday night and was suprised to see several open tables. The host said we could pick our favorite table and have a seat, so we did. we waited about 15 minutes and asked the host if the waiter was around, the host said he is with a table right now but he will be right with you so i sat down and waited patiently again. 10 more minutes go by and i get up again, this time i inquire who the waiter is and i get the same reply. To try and speed things up i asked the host if i could have some menus so we could be ready with our food order by the time the waiter comes around. the host simply points over to the stand across the table and mentions they are over there if you want to grab them....hmm something tells me they did not want our business so we all got up and left!
We ended up going to Islamorada Fish Company and had an amazing dinner with great service!!!!
Great place to watch the sunset!
Came here because of the Yelp reviews and was really glad we did. Got there about 45 minutes before sunset. The place looked pretty busy but we were able to find a table for our party of 8 with no wait.
They had a band playing some good music when we first got there. They stopped playing right after sunset. After we got to see a great sunset, Mike Tricks started his magic show. He performs on Wednesday nights. It was a pretty good show.
Food- It was good but not great. I had the catch of the day sandwich. You have a choice of grilled, fried, or blackened. I got grilled and the fish was tuna. My sandwich was really big and I ended up just eating the fish and leaving the bread. My brother got the same thing but fried and swears that it was the best fish sandwich he's ever had. They had stone crab chowder on special that I tried and that was pretty good.
Overall it was a great experience and I'm so glad that we went!
I went to Florida and this was the highlight! This place was amazing. Right on the water with great service and good prices.
The drive from Miami was SO worth it and gorgeous. We had beers and buckets of crab and felt like Jimmy Buffet the whole time. There were definitely some rough n' tumble locals there which just proves it's a good place.
Now that I live in NY I might have to take a keys vacay and close this place down!
I went to this cute restaurant yesterday. I arrived just when the sun was peaking above the sea and the band was playing. It was a bit too windy, our saucers kept on flying off of the table, but it was a pleasant day eating some burgers and enjoying the band.
The only reason why I am knocking off one star is because the "Lorelei World Famous Madeira Bay Fish Sandwich"wasn't the greatest item on the menu. The fish had no taste to it... I had to dunk it in the separate sauce that came with it to make it pleasant.
BUUUUT We had ordered shrimp & Sunset conch fritters & some mojitos. The drink was awesome and they didn't skimp out on the alcohol (like many restaurants in my area). & the basket of shrimp were awesome (they put it a whole bunch of bay seasoning so it has an extra umph to it) & the conch fritters were finger licking gooooooooood.
The waiters were attentive & always checking up to make sure we were happy.
I will definitively visit again and maybe try out another burger.
Keysational, is the ridiculous, made up word I would use to describe this place. As a restaurant, it is pretty good. Nothing I've ever had thrilled me, but it has never been bad.
In this area of the keys, there isn't a wide variety of night life so they arent bumping all night long. Lorelei does, however, always have live entertainment, that is great to sit back and enjoy, or get up and dance if you feel the beat in your feet, it is welcomed.
The absolute best thing about Lorelei is the view of the sunset from their beach, it's magical. That is enough of a reason to go to his place, is truly is breathtaking.
All the reviewers here who said the restaurant has a beautiful setting and mediocre food are on the mark. Â We arrived after sunset so couldn't enjoy the view but it's a delightful location. Â The restaurant and bar overlook the water and there are some tables down on the beach with a few cabana-tables among them. Â We snagged a cabana, listened to the live band and watched a few couples dancing in front of the stage. Â Very soothing and relaxing.
As for the food, well, don't get your hopes up. Â I had a "Lorelei World Famous Madeira Bay Fish Sandwich" and was frankly shocked that a sandwich with such a grandiose name could be so bad. Â The fish that day was mahi mahi, I believe, and it was grilled so dry I thought it was chicken, and a tough one at that. Â It came on a burger bun that was even drier than the fish, it crumbled in my hands. Â My wife had the Bayside Grilled Chicken that was also dry and they tried to cover it up by drowning it in some kind of sauce. Â Only the chicken wing appetizer had any kind of flavor.
The server was friendly and pretty efficient but even she didn't ask how the meal was when she bussed the table, so it's pretty much acknowledged that the food isn't the draw at this restaurant. Â
Know what you're going for when you go there--the setting, not the food. Â Eat up before you go and maybe have some snacks with your beer as you watch the sun go down.
A beautiful place to stop for sunset. There are a lot of Florida Keys cats walking around. I think we may have taken our best sunset pictures here ever! But  most of them  are in storage. We even won a photo contest with them! The Florida Keys cats are all taken care of by local  vets and not feral at all. Most of them get fresh fish from local restaurants and will turn away canned food if you go buy them some like we did! The cats are not to be pitied but envied! They are living it up on the beach in the Keys!
But anyway we just had an appetizer of smoked fish and some drinks. It is the sunset celebration that is memorable!
Every time we are in Islamorada we stop here for the catch of the day fish sandwich and fries for 10.00. Also definitely have to have their frozen drink called the candy cane which is (i think) half rum runner and piña colada with a floater on top!  So good!  What makes it even better is to enjoy that watching an amazing, a really AMAZING sunset on the water listening to a live music band! A favorite of ours!!
On one note though, the service is spotty as other reviewers have noted and some of the menu items are just okay. Â But the sunset and music make it great!!! Â Relax its the Keys!
Dear Lorelei,
Where can I begin? Â After a long day of drinking at Tiki Bar, we were ready to relax and kick back to a stunning Keys sunset. Â At the suggestion of a friend we came here, ready to see what all the hype was about. Â Lo and behold, it was worth the entire trip.
The scenery here is absolutely stunning, with natural mangroves, a dock to walk on, and the sandy shore of the Gulf-side water. Â The tables are set along the water facing the sunset. Â There seems to be a couple of different bars, one closer in, and one next to the water. Â
When we were here, we only ordered drinks, which is all I really needed. Â :) Â We grabbed our beers and sat in chairs right on the sand, just gazing into the sea. Â There was a live band playing, which kept the mood light and fun, and there was even a wedding taking place.
This has to be one of the most romantic bars I've ever been to, and that almost sounds like an oxymoron. Â LOL Â But honestly, it was just one of the most relaxing and memorable evenings I've had. Â Thank you for the great times, beautiful memories, and stunning photos. Â :) Â Until the next Keys trip... Â
MUCH Love,
SabrinaAnna*
One of the most romantic dates I ever had was at Lorelei's. Â We were spending Valentine's Day weekend in the Keys a couple of years ago, and were driving around for a place that didn't have a 10 hour wait. Â We stopped at Lorelei's, and while it was definitely crowded, it was one of the less crazy spots that night. Â
We settled into our romantic table overlooking the water, and ordered our food/drinks. Here, my dear yelpers, is where I took off one star. Â The food was okay, and I ordered a margarita that was mediocre at best...But no matter, the atmosphere, live music, and scenery make up for the middle-of the-road cuisine. Â
I will never forget that night. Â So relaxing, so peaceful. Â I need to go back there soon!
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