On my recent trip to Key West, I ate key lime pie five times. One night, I was too full for dessert and on the last night, I succumbed to the siren call of a chocolate lava cake with vanilla ice cream. But every other night I felt a certain obligation to try a different version of the island’s signature dessert.

Here’s where I went:

Key Lime Pie Bakery (Greene St)

Kermit’s Key Lime

Red Shoe Island Bistro

Salute! (Same owners and same “mile high” key lime pie that is served at the famous Blue Heaven restaurant)

Limes & Pies (Duval Street)

And the winner is: Red Shoe Island Bistro

The entire meal was so good, it’s no surprise their pie was perfect. It also happened to be my husband’s birthday, so the delicious pie was on the house.

And the loser is: Salute! (Blue Heaven)

The “mile high” key lime pie is basically regular key lime pie with a ton of meringue piled on top. It just doesn’t work well. It looks cool, but the meringue does nothing to enhance the flavor of the pie. Any of the many grab-and-go key lime bakeries (Kermit’s, Limes & Pies, etc) are better than “mile high” in my opinion.

There is one bakery I really wanted to try for pie, but they close early. It’s possible that Old Towne Bakery could’ve been the winner. We met the founder (and recipe developer) at his satellite location and really loved his pastries. He’s a Boston expat and professional baker who relocated to Key West years ago.

Next time…

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Farewell Key West