Key West Southern & Soul Food Guide

By FRI Editorial Desk · Vibe list · openings/closings route through the audit log at output/cuisine_essay_audit.parquet

Validated open entries14

Confirmed closures0

Inspection/safety overlays7

Filtered candidates0

Monroe

$$ · Late-Night & No-Frills

SMOKED BBQ

1801 N Roosevelt Blvd, Key West

Website

Late-Night & No-Frills notables entry; inspection severity is within the typical peer range. Emergency-order history: 4 event(s).

$$$ · Full-Service & Polished

DOCS ON DUVAL

712 Duval St, Key West

Full-Service & Polished notables entry; inspection severity is within the typical peer range. Emergency-order history: 2 event(s).

$$$$ · Late-Night & No-Frills

BIG CHILL RESTAURANT & BAR

104000 Overseas Hwy, Key Largo

Late-Night & No-Frills notables entry; inspection severity is running 2.6x the peer alert threshold.

$$ · Modern Casual

HARRIETTE'S WELCOME CENTER RESTAURANT

95710 Overseas Hwy, Key Largo

Website

Modern Casual notables entry; inspection severity is elevated at 1.6x the peer alert threshold.

$$$$ · Full-Service & Polished

ISLAND GRILL

85501 Overseas Hwy, Islamorada, Vlg Of I

Full-Service & Polished notables entry; inspection severity is elevated at 1.2x the peer alert threshold.

$$$ · Late-Night & No-Frills

POP'S SMOKE SHED

31251 Ave A, Big Pine Key

Website

Late-Night & No-Frills notables entry; inspection severity is elevated at 1.1x the peer alert threshold.

$$$$ · Late-Night & No-Frills

BOONDOCKS GRILLE AND DRAFT HOUSE

27205 Overseas Hwy, Ramrod Key

Website

Late-Night & No-Frills notables entry; inspection severity is within the typical peer range.

$ · Casual & No-Frills

MOS CARRIBEAN SOUL FOOD LLC

1116 White St, Key West

Website

Casual & No-Frills notables entry; inspection severity is within the typical peer range.

$ · Casual & No-Frills

LICK IT BBQ & WOOD FIRED PIZZA

65651 Overseas Hwy, Long Key

Casual & No-Frills notables entry; inspection severity is within the typical peer range.

$$ · Modern Casual

DOCS ON DUVAL

708 Duval St, Key West

Modern Casual notables entry; inspection severity is within the typical peer range.

$ · Casual & No-Frills

MAROONS SEAFOOD & SMOKEHOUSE LLC

1000 Eaton St, Key West

Casual & No-Frills notables entry; inspection severity is within the typical peer range.

$$ · Fast-Casual Chain

KENTUCKY FRIED CHICKEN/TACO BELL

6501 Overseas Hwy, Marathon

Fast-Casual Chain notables entry; inspection severity is within the typical peer range.

$ · Casual & No-Frills

MIKES BBQ 101 LLC

101900 Overseas Hwy, Key Largo

Casual & No-Frills notables entry; inspection severity is within the typical peer range.

$ · Casual & No-Frills

OCEAN REEF BBQ

35 Ocean Reef Dr Ste 200, Key Largo

Casual & No-Frills notables entry; inspection severity is within the typical peer range.

Methodology and Audit

Entries clear the FRI cascade on DBPR status, closure vetting, and cuisine attribution. Identity enrichment (DBPR/OSS/Sunbiz name agreement, geocoded address, city/county consistency, plus cached Google/Foursquare/Yelp verifier context) refines a listing but is no longer a publish gate: a DBPR record that fails only enrichment is still shown rather than dropped. A record that cannot be matched to an identity is marked "Unverified DBPR Record" and its unverified corporate/website/social attribution is withheld; a record that cannot be geocoded is recorded as un-located. Failures and enrichment levels are written to output/cuisine_essay_audit.parquet for operator review.

14 of 14 candidate evaluations published (100.0%); 0 marked unverified (no identity match), 8 recorded as un-located (no geocode). Audit log: output/cuisine_essay_audit.parquet.

Data sources: FRI Cuisine Essays. Built from DBPR public inspection records, Florida Sunbiz business filings, and Foursquare/OSS location data. All counts are derived from public records — no estimates or projections unless labeled as forecast.