I never wanted to got to the Benihana Japanese Steak House on South Roosevelt but my wife did, in a half hearted way; a reminder she said of childhood. Now of course I regret my intransigence on the subject of dinner-as-theater, because all that's left is the sign and the shell of a building next to the former Martha's, a restaurant that captivated me for years. Martha's was an old fashioned steak house of the kind our parents used to treat themselves to, and they offered prime rib and baked potatoes and all that sort of robust fare that these days one treats oneself to with one eye on the food groups. 
The reason Martha's left a hole in my life wasn't just the occasional prime rib, it was the view I got as I rode by at night looking in the panoramic windows and seeing the diners warmly illuminated by the glow of the lamps on their tables, all set at different levels inside the restaurant, with a back drop of swirling fish tanks. It always looked warm and inviting. Now it too, like its erstwhile Japanese neighbor, is just a shell, not sold in time to capture a portion of the real estate bubble, yet as closed as closed can be, and useless. I'm told the numerous stray cats who hung out in back and were fed on table scraps have been kept nourished by anxious neighbors... spay program anyone?
Key West enjoys Cuban food and there are tons of outlets for the peculiar Latin/Caribbean cuisine, but one that lived only a short while and died used to sit on a corner of a large empty lot on White Street, kitty corner to Glynn Archer School and its painted orange tiger. "Chicharrones" it was called, the dream of a Cuban housewife who opened the restaurant as a labor of love, what she wanted to do, not the job she had to do to earn her living. The food was excellent and varied, the interior decor was earnestly kitschy mixed in with lots of pictures of old time Key West, family mementos surrounding the red and white chequered table cloths. I expect the property owner will make a nice increase in rent from the new building filling the space to capacity, but I miss the eatery.
Old timers in Key West can be desperately superior and annoying as they dredge up memories of a time that is so long gone it seems buried in the Pleistocene Era. Old memories have the value of currency in this town, so here is my contribution to my old timers crotchetiness. This cafe on Duval used to be "El Cacique" (Spanish for the chief) and it was my pleasure to eat breakfast here. It was so long ago I don't remember much about it, but it was where my circle of dock rats would break their daily fast. 
On a more modern note the Coppertone kid on top of this building, the old Dennis Pharmacy has gone. I was not a great fan of the place but I ate there now and again. The pharmacy has moved to New Town in the Professional Building and the cafe has I think found a home on Petronia Street, and now there is a crisp clean modern bank on the corner of United and Simonton. So be it, even though I liked the look of the old place better.
The great heart break for my wife and I is the closure of the old Sands Beach Club, a delightful nook on a small strip of sand with decent food, outdoor tables, dog friendly and they even had Guinness on draught. Now there are what appear to be condos, more condos going up. Of course I have no pictures of my wife myself and our Labrador enjoying the Sands. The past is gone.
Across the street the Reach resort is back all blandly spiffed up and Shula's, a steak house named for a sporting figure I believe, has gone and not come back. My colleagues liked Shula's for a splurge and I was happy to join them in formal celebrations, as formal as Key West allows. They grilled a really delicious vegetable at Shula's, as much as the meats I thought.
What to say about PT's? Lots of people loved the sports bar ambiance in wood panelling and television screens. It was conveniently close to the dinghy landing for liveaboards, and the food was fried okay. I am no fan of television in my restaurants and people chasing balls even less so. But PT's had a lovely slogan "where locals eat," and it wasn't totally a lie. Until one day, suddenly it was closed. Half Buck Freddie's, the department store, cut-price overflow, is there now still with the "#1 Local's Spot" sign above the door.
This little shack on Eaton Street used to be a bakery, called Cole'z Peace, and it was a wonderland of breads and pastries. 
I'd stop all the time riding my bicycle or my scooter down to my job on the waterfront and my wife would order mango bread loaves which we would eat as dessert with butter. The bakery closed after the founder (Cole'z father as it was) sold the operation to people unable to sustain it. However the restaurant store up the street still sells some of the bakery's products so the logo (at the top of this page) is still hanging on in the city. This location became an art gallery for a while ironically (I thought) named Poison, and now? Now its just another in the myriad inconvenience stores that seem to thrive on every street corner in the city.
The Lemonade Stand sounds like a convenience store but it wasn't. It too has gone the way of all flesh and the building across the street from Blue Heaven restaurant is now for rent.
The Lemonade Stand was an art gallery and the artist had lots of innovative artistic ideas, marathon painting sessions and she made a large number of portraits of local figures illustrating if you like a slice of local history. But its gone. The housing bubble was cursed by a lot of people but I don't think everyone appreciated how much money was made available (even if temporarily) by easy credit and an appearance of prosperity. I dread to think what will come next on Petronia at Thomas.
In the also ran category I put the next photograph. A few years ago the original owners of El Siboney Cuban restaurant put the place up for sale for three million dollars and that looked like the end of that. Cole'z peace disappeared after its sale, after all.
Instead the new owners at 900 Catherine have absorbed the cost of their mortgage somehow, kept the same enormous band of red shirted staff and they sell the same high quality, high quantity Cuban food at amazingly reasonable prices. Their salads continue to be so-so, but their main dishes are easily enough for two. And the place continues to be packed day after day. Cool.
In the honorable mention category I put this next place, happily operating on Upper Duval. I love this joint, honest food in the middle of tourist chaos, a ring side seat on the streams of humans tramping Duval's sidewalks. And if you like felafels this is the place to be.
I put it in the "honorable mention" category because I fear for its future. Its there today but who knows tomorrow? And there in a nutshell is the truly crappy thing about change. You just can't tell.
