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America's Best Fishing Bars

By John Taranto

Oct 18, 2007

Best Place to Bring the Kids
Half Shell Raw Bar, Key West, Fla.
305-294-7496
Finding a bar or restaurant in Key West that hasn't been taken over by blind-drunk college-age kids can seem impossible. While the Half Shell Raw Bar attracts its fair share of out-of-towners, they're mostly families and they dine and drink with a coterie of colorful locals. It's not unusual, for instance, to see a grandfather playing shuffleboard with his grandkids in the back room, says manager Marlene Johnson.

The Half Shell is an open-air joint on the Gulf side of Key West Bight, with picnic tables made of hatches from old boats and a large shucking station-stocked with oysters, stone crabs and more-that provides great entertainment as the shuckers do their thing.

Being near the water and the docks, the Half Shell gets its share of fishermen coming off boats after a day at sea, and the staff is always happy to cook up any fresh catch. "Some nights we'll cook five hundred dinners," says Johnson, "and a full twenty-five percent of those will be BYOCs-bring your own catch. We'll cook it however you want it. Fried, grilled, blackened, you name it."

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