This iconic Florida Keys restaurant has reopened after a full renovation. Take a look

When it opened in 1967, Marker 88 restaurant in the Florida Keys catered to the locals.

“Cook your own catch” was the motto. You brought your fish to the restaurant. Someone cooked it, and you reveled in the fruits of your labor.

Fifty-six years later, consumer dining habits are a bit different. In the decades after the rise of the Food Network, diners in the Florida Keys expect and demand good service, innovative yet comfortable cuisine and, if possible, sunset views to die for.

After an extensive renovation, the Marker 88 owners say, the iconic Islamorada restaurant is ready to provide all of those elements.

“We knew going in that every aspect of the restaurant is going to be looked at like it never was before,” said Charles Galvin, the owners’ representative. “Menu design, the physical menu, what’s on the menu, everything was looked at in terms of the total experience. People are going to take everything into account.”

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Galvin said the renovation of the waterfront spot, which began shortly after the ownership group purchased the property in 2019, was a complete overhaul (the owners declined to say how much it cost). The restaurant remained opened while the beachfront tikis were built and the deck area completed. This allowed the dining room to stay open until January of 2023, when it closed for the kitchen remodeling.

The work was completed by Zee Hopman Constructors, and the space was designed by Dailey Janssen Architects. Landscape architects Craigg Reynolds created a lush, tropical look, even bringing in mature gumbo limbo trees to the property.

“Not one original piece of the property is still standing,” Galvin said, adding that the new sign out front has been rebuilt in the same spot it stood for decades.

The 2.5 acre property includes two tiki bars, 18 craft beer taps, 10,000 square feet of beach dining, and two boat docks so that boaters and anglers can zip up for lunch, dinner or takeout.

Gone is the small inside dining area at the front of the restaurant and the original kitchen, which was torn out and updated. The restaurant seating is all outdoors, with 200 seats under cover and room for another 200 beachfront seating (all the better for sunset viewing).

There’s also 14,000 square feet of new event space that can accommodate up to 450 people. The restaurant is big enough to host an event and stay open for regular customers, Galvin said.

Chef Zack Sklar, also an owners’ representative, said that the restaurant’s iconic history made it easy for him to develop a menu.

“What’s cool about reopening an institution is when you open a new restaurant, you have to check 100 boxes. If you don’t get all 100 perfect, there’s a great chance you’re going to fail,” he said. “But with an institution, we get half those boxes checked for us. We have history here. We know people are going to eat fish sandwiches or salads on the beach. We know their favorite cocktails. We get to play off those things, which is a huge advantage.”

To design the menu, Sklar started with the classics and aimed to elevate them with higher quality ingredients, reimagining each one “through a chef’s lens,” he said.

“I don’t do subtle flavors,” he said. “The flavors are Floridian, Caribbean, with some French Polynesian. There’s not a lot of just salt and pepper. There’s chile, lots of lime and lots of Key lime, heavy acid flavors.”

You’ll find appetizers like snapper ceviche and a Cuban sandwich-style quesadilla. Sushi, raw bar offerings and salads are also on the menu, a nod to guests’ affinity for eating light under the tropical sun.

Main courses include burgers, fish sandwiches, lobster linguine, jerk chicken fajitas and prime ribeye, with — of course — Key lime pie on a brown butter and sea salt crust for dessert.

Sklar thinks the big hit will be the curry, which comes with chicken, snapper, lobster or vegetarian style. The curry powder is made in house with 30 ingredients, a testament to Sklar’s desire to make simple food special.

And there’s a good reason for that goal.

“Marker 88 is such a special restaurant,” Sklar said. “We get people who show up in suits and people in cutoffs and flip flops. We have this melting pot of people coming here. It’s why this place is an institution.”

Marker 88

Where: 88000 Overseas Highway, Islamorada

Hours: 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Thursday; 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday; 10:30 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturday; 10:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday

Information and reservations: www.marker88.net or 305-852-9315

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