“Cheeseburger in Paradise” begins as you climb 15 long and wide stairs to the legendary Cabbage Key Restaurant.
rumor, and brilliant marketer that he is, he neither confirms nor denies its authenticity as his kitchen serves up one after another. “Jimmy Buffet’s sister had a place on Boca Grande, and Jimmy would occasionally fly his seaplane in to Cabbage Key. Well, one trip Jimmy was playing a concert in Lee
One step inside, and you immediately feel transported to a different place and time — a
more casual, rustic, lazy, unpretentious, welcome- all destination where it’s perfectly okay to enjoy a delicious meal, laugh loudly and, if you dare, margarita the day away.
County and was nice enough to invite some of our staff members. At the concert, he gave a shout-out to our staff as he dedicated the song to them. So, does that make
“Our goal is to have you experience true ‘Old Florida’ the way it was.”
There’s clearly no stress about the place, no hurry, no one’s expectations to meet and no timeline to adhere to. You can dine indoors in two screened locations front and rear, outdoors overlooking the beautiful marina andUseppa Island, or simply park yourself at the very intimate (maybe six seats) and very dark bar in the middle of it all. Stay an hour, or stay the day, but be sure to enjoy every moment. Amust-do at Cabbage Key for thousands of patrons is a tradition begun in the early days of Southwest Florida fishing— and watering holes. The tradition saw fisherman scribble their name on a dollar bill (on a good day) and tape it to the wall of said watering hole; should the next day’s catch be poor, at least they’d have monetary reserve to purchase a beverage. Today, visitors continue the tradition and have papered every square inch of wall space in the Cabbage Key bar and rear restaurant with dollar bills and masking tape. All the dollar bills that fall off are donated to local charities. Full disclosure: the COASTE team is made up of pecto vegetarians, so no cheeseburger whatsoever (unless veggie, not on the menu) will be had on this excursion. As substitute, the smoked salmon, peel and eat shrimp and mahi-mahi were superior. But Rob Wells is well aware of the cheeseburger
it us? Who knows? Now, it’s grown to countless ‘rumored to be’ locations around the world, from the Caribbean to Gainesville.” At publication, Mr. Buffet’s agent would not comment on the location inspiration of the song. “We think a trip to Cabbage Key takes you back to an earlier Florida,” Wells says. “Our goal is to have you experience true ‘Old Florida’ the way it was. We want parents or grandchildren to bring grandparents here and have them remember their once-upon-a-time vacations, and discover that they still exist.”
} { Cabbage Key (239) 283-2278 www.CabbageKey.com
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