If you're looking for an honest Hot Tin Roof Key West review, this waterfront restaurant delivers something that can be surprisingly hard to find in Key West: a sunset view that's matched by the quality of the food.
Located inside Ocean Key Resort at the edge of Mallory Square, Hot Tin Roof is known for its harbor views, waterfront location, and front-row seat to the nightly Key West sunset. After hearing it recommended repeatedly while researching waterfront restaurants in Key West, I knew it was a restaurant I wanted to try for myself.
The good news? The food was just as impressive as the view.
Here's what my experience was like, what we ordered, and whether I think Hot Tin Roof is worth the price.
If you're still planning your trip, start with my Key West Travel Guide for First Time Visitors for everything you need to know before arriving.
Before our trip, Hot Tin Roof kept showing up whenever I searched for the best waterfront restaurants in Key West.
Between the harbor views, the location at Ocean Key Resort, and a menu that looked a little more creative than many tourist-heavy waterfront spots, it seemed like a restaurant that could deliver both a memorable meal and a memorable setting.
That's exactly what I was hoping for.
Hot Tin Roof is located inside Ocean Key Resort right next to Sunset Pier.
Walking through the resort immediately sets the tone for the evening. Boats fill the harbor, the water is right in front of you, and everything feels a little more elevated than many of the casual restaurants nearby.
At the same time, it never felt stuffy or overly formal. It felt special without feeling intimidating.
If you're flying into Key West, my Key West Airport Guide for First Time Visitors covers what to expect when you arrive.
If the weather cooperates, I would absolutely recommend requesting outdoor seating. The outdoor dining area is one of the biggest reasons to visit Hot Tin Roof in the first place.
We had a table overlooking the harbor and spent most of dinner watching boats come and go while the sun slowly dropped toward the water.
If you're planning a sunset dinner, timing matters. When we visited, sunset was at 8:08 PM. We made our reservation early enough that we could settle in, order dinner, and enjoy the entire sunset during the meal. For most visits, I would recommend booking your reservation about an hour before sunset. For us, a reservation between 7:00 PM and 7:30 PM would have been perfect.
Just check the sunset time for your travel dates before making your reservation.
The sunset views were incredible. From our table we had a direct view of the harbor, boats moving through the marina, and the sun setting over the water.
There are plenty of restaurants in Key West with water views, but this location gives you a particularly nice combination of harbor activity and sunset scenery. You get something interesting to watch throughout the entire meal rather than simply waiting for sunset itself.
If sunset is a priority during your trip, you may also enjoy my guide to Best Sunset Dinner Spots in Key West (And the Best Places to Watch Sunset).
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For dinner we ordered:
Apparently we took dinner very seriously.
We're at Hot Tin Roof, and we ordered bread. Excellent decision honestly.
The ciabatta itself was fantastic. It had a slight zing to it. Not spicy, just a little extra flavor that made it stand out from standard restaurant bread.
The butter was salty and delicious, and the bread had just enough char on the crust to create a slightly smoky toasted flavor.
Simple, but very well done.
I don't often leave a restaurant thinking about the salads. This time I did.
Both the Baby Iceberg Salad and Tender Greens Salad were fresh, balanced, and much more interesting than I expected them to be.
The Baby Iceberg Salad came with chorizo, pickled red onion, tomatoes, cucumbers, and jalapeño ranch. The chorizo added a nice savory element, while the jalapeño ranch gave it just enough flavor without overwhelming everything else.
The Tender Greens Salad was probably the more unique of the two. It included tomatoes, pickled blueberries, strawberries, radish, cucumber, crispy quinoa, and a citrus-champagne vinaigrette. I'll be honest, pickled blueberries aren't something I see on menus very often, but they worked surprisingly well with the strawberries and vinaigrette.
When a salad becomes part of the meal you remember afterward, that's usually a good sign.
The Petit Filet Mignon was the standout entrée for me.
It was cooked perfectly and served with a caramelized shallot sauce that was absolutely incredible.
The Tuna Tacos and Crispy Mojo Chicken were both excellent as well, and neither felt like an afterthought on the menu.
Every dish felt thoughtfully prepared, which isn't always the case at restaurants with prime waterfront locations.
We finished dinner with both the Cuban Bread Pudding and the Key Lime Pie.
No regrets.
Both desserts were excellent and ended the meal on a high note.
As someone who spent a large portion of this Key West trip evaluating key lime pie, I felt fully qualified to order dessert.
If you're trying to find the best slice in town, see my Best Key Lime Pie in Key West guide.
Yes. Honestly, this was probably what impressed me most about Hot Tin Roof.
A lot of waterfront restaurants rely heavily on their location. The view does most of the work while the food simply comes along for the ride. That wasn't the case here.
The sunset initially brought us in, but the food is what would bring me back.
The service throughout the evening was friendly and attentive.
My one critique is that at this price point, I appreciate when servers can really walk guests through the menu and help guide decisions.
Our waitress was very nice, but it didn't feel like she had a deep knowledge of the dishes or much personal excitement about the menu.
I always enjoy when a server can describe a dish in a way that makes you immediately want to order it. That may not be true of every server at Hot Tin Roof, but it was my experience during this visit.
The service was good overall, but that's the one area where I felt the experience could have been even stronger.
Yes. When I look at the overall experience—the quality of the food, the sunset views, the harbor setting, and the location inside Ocean Key Resort—I felt like we received good value for what we paid.
You're certainly paying for the setting, but unlike many waterfront restaurants, the food actually lives up to it.
This was one of the most common questions I received after sharing our dinner.
For a full breakdown, read Latitudes vs Hot Tin Roof for Sunset Dinner in Key West where I compare the food, views, atmosphere, and overall experience.
I would especially recommend Hot Tin Roof for:
If sunset views are important to you, this is one of the better reservations you can make in Key West.
Hot Tin Roof Key West was one of the most enjoyable dining experiences of our trip.
The harbor views were beautiful, the sunset delivered exactly what we hoped for, and most importantly, the food was strong enough to stand on its own.
That's what separates Hot Tin Roof from many waterfront restaurants. The view may get your attention first, but the food is what makes the reservation feel worthwhile.
I would absolutely return on a future trip to Key West.
If you end up booking anything for your trip, using my affiliate links helps support my blog at no extra cost to you. I spend a lot of time researching and writing these guides, so I really appreciate the support.
Sky Ranch Lodge, Sedona. Booked it for the location, stayed for the sunsets.
This is not a five-star resort with ten restaurants and a spa menu the length of a novel. It’s a family-owned boutique hotel on Airport Mesa that knows exactly what it’s good at: red rock views from basically everywhere and one of the best sunset spots in town, private, with maybe four other couples instead of a crowd.
We booked a Premier Rim Room and I’d do it again in a heartbeat. Watched the sunset from our own patio one night and it’s still one of my favorite moments of the whole trip.
✨ Six acres of botanical gardens to wander morning and evening
✨ Pool + hot tub that hit exactly right after a day of hiking
✨ On-site food truck for easy breakfasts and lazy room service nights
✨ Complimentary shuttle so you’re not fighting Sedona parking
✨ Robes, slippers, and a staff that felt genuinely happy to help
Two stays in and I’d book it again without a second thought. This is where to stay in Sedona if you want it to actually feel like Sedona.
Thank you to @skyranchlodge for having us, link in bio for the full review 🌵
Four hours on a train through a canyon you can’t reach by car — such a fun experience! We picked the indoor seats with unlimited access to the open-air viewing car, which honestly felt like the only right call. You’re not stuck in an assigned seat the whole time we bounced between the two, snacks in hand, chasing the best light.
The scenery is the whole point. Red rock cliffs, the Verde River, a 734-foot tunnel, historic trestle bridges views most people visiting Sedona never see, because you literally can’t drive to them.
The charcuterie box that comes with your ticket is shockingly filling ✨ so skip lunch at the Copper Spike Café beforehand, save your appetite for dinner back in Sedona.
Four hours with no stops did start to feel long by the end, but the trade-off for scenery like this? Worth it.
Would I ride it again? Yes. Would I buy lunch first again? No.
Link in bio for the full review cost breakdown, what to pack, and exactly how early to arrive 🚂
I ate chilaquiles while a Cessna taxied past the window, and that’s just a normal Tuesday breakfast in Sedona.
@mesa_grill_sedona sits right beside the Sedona Airport Scenic Lookout, so along with your food you get red rock views stretching in every direction and a front-row seat to tiny planes lifting off. Chef Mercer Mohr runs the kitchen, serving up Southwestern comfort food from breakfast through dinner, chilaquiles, elevated diner classics, burgers, steaks, seafood, all of it.
The view is what pulls people in the door, but the food actually holds its own. Good enough that this place stays packed with locals, not just tourists passing through on their way to the lookout. It also picked up the 2025 Tripadvisor Travelers’ Choice and OpenTable Diners’ Choice awards, so it’s not just me saying it.
Indoor seating if you want the AC, a pet-friendly patio if your dog’s along for the trip. Either way, get there before plane-spotting turns into a wait for a table.
Link in bio for the full Sedona breakfast roundup ✈️🌵
Confession: my newsletter is where the good stuff lives. Not the polished, edited-for-the-grid stuff, the “here’s the hole-in-the-wall I almost skipped” stuff, the packing lists I actually use, the “don’t book this hotel” warnings before you waste your money on them.
The newsletter is basically me texting you before a trip instead of after one. Sign up and you’ll be the first to know where I’m headed next, plus a few things I’ll never post here.
Link in bio if you want in. ✈️
Yes, it’s only July. Start planning anyway. Fall books faster than people expect, and a few of these destinations are worth getting ahead of. Here are five places worth putting on your radar right now.
Ireland: Cooler temps, moody skies, dramatic coastline fall was made for it. Tourist crowds drop, the green stays, and the whole country feels a little more like itself.
Great Smoky Mountains, TN/NC: Fall foliage in the Smokies is the real thing. The color peaks mid-October and the views from the ridgelines are hard to argue with. It’s also one of the most visited national parks in the country, so going on a weekday makes a real difference.
New York City: Fall is NYC at its best comfortable temps, the energy of the city shifting into a new season, and every neighborhood doing something worth showing up for. It’s also just a great walking city when it’s not brutally hot.
Japan: Fall foliage season is as good as spring cherry blossoms and somehow less talked about. The colors are dramatic, the temples and gardens are stunning, and it’s worth planning around peak dates by region.
Mystic, Connecticut: Small, walkable, genuinely charming Mystic in fall feels like exactly what a New England autumn is supposed to look like. Easy to pair with a broader New England road trip if you want to extend it.
Full guides linked in bio 🍂
Follow @travelwithwendyplummer for Beautiful Beach Destinations, City Guides, Foodie Spots, and Luxury Hotel Recommendations.
