MRS. MAC’S KITCHEN

SHADE-O-METER RATING

5 OUTTA 5 WERKS: “10s ACROSS THE BOARD – LEGENDARY STATUS”

What is Mrs. Mac’s Kitchen? It’s a seafood restaurant in Key Largo. There are two locations, but both of them are on US 1. The original location is on the southbound side of US 1, and the second one is on the northbound side. According to restaurant’s website, the original location is the longest-running restaurant in Key Largo.

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Was there an age restriction? No. Would you really expect Mrs. Mac to dare discriminate against children? What time did we go? At about 1:00 p.m. How was the maître d’? Pleasant. What was the décor like? Nautical-inspired, but with a flair of island artistry.

What was the seating like? They had a fair amount of counter seating. However, most of the seating was tables and booths. What was the atmosphere like? Low-key (no pun intended). What was the crowd like? Who knows what they’re like at night, but at this time of the day, people were there to dine, not to socialize.

How was the cruising? In this area, the only cruising that can be found is the kind that a boat does when it’s in the water. When’s happy hour? They don’t have one. What libations were ordered? Two “House Specialty” drinks. A Bloody “Mac” Mary for $7.50, and a “Macs” Muddled Margarita for $6.50.

Were they served timely? Yes. How were the drinks? The bloody Mary had a celery-salted rim. The margarita was muddled with lemon, lime and orange. They were both pretty good, but neither was excellent. Of the two, the bloody Mary was better.

What was ordered? A cup of Award-Winning Conch Chowder (it came with the entre for $2 more), a bowl of World-Famous Homemade Chili for $5.99, Caribbean-Style Grilled Crab Cakes for $12.99, A Fresh Fish of the Day for $12.99, a Seafood Pasta for $18.99, and a slice of Famous Key Lime Pie for $4.99. Was the food served timely? Yes.

How was the food? The conch chowder was superb and earned its title as “award winning,” spicy and with an aroma of fresh oregano. It was also served with sherry on the side. The chili was also excellent, thick and zingy, but it was a notch below the conch. The crab cakes were made of blue crab that came from a fishing pier that’s right around the corner from the restaurant, and I defy anyone to find crab cakes that have less filling than these ones did (everyone knows how restaurants love to pad them out with filling). The honey-mustard aioli that was served on top of them was excellent as well. The only comment is that the crust on the outside of the crab cakes could have been a bit crispier. The “fresh catch” entre, which is served how you like it (I opted for “blackened), was off-the-boat fresh. With fish of this quality—flounder, I believe—there was no need to pretty it up with a bunch of seasoning. It speaks for itself. The tartar sauce that is came with was also exceptional. Regarding the seafood pasta, the sherry-tinged alfredo sauce was decadent and delicious, and the copious amounts of seafood in it were cooked to perfection. As if all this wasn’t enough, the server said that the Key lime pie was the best he ever had (a woman comes into the restaurant every night and makes 70 of them). With a perfect amalgamate of ingredients, the pie itself was great, but the Cool Whip on top of it must be replaced with real whipped cream.

How was the service? Excellent. And the servers are locals, so they’ll chat with you, if you get them going. What stands out about the restaurant? The quality of the food! What could be improved? Other than that the drinks could be better, and the minor comments about the food, hardly any improvement is needed.

What was surprising? Although not quite surprising, it was certainly interesting to hear the server reminisce that his family would vacation in Key Largo every year, and his mother would “smuggle” 20 lbs. of blue crab back to Buffalo and ration it over the year.

Mrs. Mac’s Kitchen is located at 99020 Overseas Hwy., in Key Largo, Florida. They’re open from 11:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., Monday through Saturday. They’re closed on Sunday.