Introduction

Key West's cafe scene leans heavily into its Cuban cultural influence, alongside a genuinely distinctive lineup of local roasters. We checked six below, all confirmed currently operating.

Sandy's Cafe

A walk-up window Cuban and Conch cafe attached to a working laundromat, where customers order cafecito and Cuban sandwiches through a service window facing the washers and dryers — genuinely distinctive rather than a marketing gimmick.

• *Hours:

• Daily 5am-10pm.

• *Reservations:

• Walk-up window only, no seating.

• *Good to know:

• Two ordering windows; ample parking at the laundromat lot, genuinely useful given how scarce street parking is elsewhere in Key West. Known for its Cuban sandwich, which won "Best Cuban Sandwich" at the 2024 Key West Bubba Awards.

Cuban Coffee Queen

A local Cuban-coffee roaster founded in Key West in 2009, roasting its own beans on-site rather than sourcing from an outside chain, with several walk-up locations around town.

• *Hours:

• Waterfront location (284 Margaret St) 6:30am-7pm daily; Duval St, Downtown, and Clinton Square Market locations all 7am-7pm daily.

• *Reservations:

• Counter service at all locations; the Clinton Square location has dine-in seating, the others are grab-and-go. Online ordering for pickup/delivery available.

• *Good to know:

• All locations share the same roasted-bean sourcing.

Date & Thyme

A health-focused neighborhood cafe and market with an organic, vegetarian and vegan-friendly menu of wraps, bowls, smoothies, and juices.

• *Hours:

• Cafe open Monday-Saturday 8am-2pm, closed Sunday. (The attached health-food market keeps longer hours, 8am-5pm Monday-Saturday, but that's retail, not the cafe.)

• *Reservations:

• Counter-order cafe, no reservations.

• *Good to know:

• A genuinely differentiated menu for travelers with dietary restrictions, with an organic grocery and supplement market attached.

Glazed Donuts

A donut shop describing itself as the southernmost in the continental US, notable for roasting its own coffee on-site under its own house label alongside tropical-flavored donuts like key lime and guava.

• *Hours:

• Wednesday-Sunday, 7am until sell-out (nominally around noon, but can close earlier); closed Monday-Tuesday.

• *Reservations:

• Walk-up counter only.

• *Good to know:

• Popular flavors sell out early — arrive at or near opening for full selection. Street parking on this Old Town block can be tight. Known for the Key Lime Pie Donut and its in-house Red Buoy Coffee roast (started 2016).

Moondog Cafe & Bakery

An all-day cafe and bakery next door to the Hemingway Home and Museum, named a Bib Gourmand in the 2026 MICHELIN Guide USA — a genuinely current, verified distinction.

• *Hours:

• Daily 7:30am-10pm.

• *Reservations:

• None — walk-in only, with a routine wait of around 20 minutes at busy morning and lunch times.

• *Good to know:

• Gluten-free and vegan-friendly menu; known especially for burgers, breakfast, and key lime pie.

Kermit's Key West Key Lime Shoppe

Worth cross-referencing with our restaurants guide: this Key West institution, founded in 1993, is most famous for its frozen key lime pie slice dipped in Belgian chocolate on a stick.

• *Hours:

• The retail Key Lime Shoppe runs 10am-9:30pm daily; the attached Kermit's Kitchen Cafe (breakfast/lunch) runs 7am-3pm daily — two different schedules worth distinguishing.

• *Reservations:

• Walk-in/counter order.

• *Good to know:

• The cafe entrance is through a garden gate on the Greene Street side, with seating in a shaded koi pond garden. Smaller Kermit's dessert-only kiosks exist on Duval Street with different hours — don't conflate those with this full cafe location.

Practical Tips

• Sandy's Cafe and Cuban Coffee Queen are the two strongest picks specifically for authentic Cuban coffee culture.

• Moondog Cafe & Bakery is a convenient stop if you're already visiting the Hemingway Home next door, and now carries genuine current Michelin recognition.

• Kermit's is worth a stop for its signature chocolate-dipped pie slice specifically, not just as a general cafe.

• Key West International Airport (EYW) sits right in town — see our travel guide's "Nearest Airport" section for current carriers.

Sources and Verification Notes

Each cafe's operating status, address, and character were checked against its own site and cross-checked against Yelp or TripAdvisor.