The foodie scene in Florida is impressive, as it boasts multiple restaurants with Michelin stars. In a state surrounded mostly by water, there are plenty of places to get great seafood like stone crab claws, lobster, snapper, and Key West’s unexpected signature seafood dish – conch fritters. Some of the best dining establishments in the state also come with interesting history to go along with scrumptious food, like Cap’s Place Island Restaurant.
This restaurant on Florida’s Lighthouse Point can only be reached by boat, and this Yelp reviewer enjoyed the journey to get there as much as the food, saying, “Best crab cakes that we have ever had, and we will be 70 years old this year! It is so so much fun to get to this rustic restaurant! You park your car in a big parking lot, and there is a water taxi that will bring you to this fun, amazing restaurant! Service, ambience, and food [are] absolutely fantastic!”
As if a boat ride and yummy food weren’t enough to make it special, Cap’s Place is also one of the oldest seafood restaurants in Florida. It opened in 1928 and was originally called Club Unique. It was definitely unique — serving up interesting meals such as turtle egg pancakes with seagrape jelly. It also served as a place where folks could go to gamble, although that was illegal at that time. Smuggling liquor in from the Bahamas during Prohibition wasn’t exactly lawful either, but Cap’s proprietor did that, too.
Even celebrities love Cap’s Place Island Restaurant
With a past this colorful, it’s probably no surprise that Al Capone was among its famous customers. Cap’s Place has also earned a place on the National Register of Historic Places, and has become a go-to spot for many celebrities over the years. Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, the Vanderbilts, the Rockefellers, George Harrison, Mariah Carey, and Joe Namath are just a few of the names you may recognize. Everyone gets treated like a star though, and reviews rave about the service. One Tripadvisor reviewer shared, “Everyone on the staff was extremely friendly. We arrived early so that we could explore the bar, but they sat us immediately. We had Bonita as a server and she made the evening. So friendly, and went out of her way to share recommendations and tell history stories.”…