Can I give this place half a star? I always always look at reviews before I go places, but since key biscayne has limited options - we decided to give it a chance. The service is terrible - the waitresses are not friendly or helpful. We waited an hour for chicken fingers and shrimp. How can that possibly take that long? Don't go here. read more

Want to know how it feels to be invisible? Just go to Lighthouse Cafe. My family and I basically had to seat ourselves since the hostess failed to acknowledge our presence. Then after waiting 15 minutes to be waited on, we decided to just leave. In those 15 minutes two tables got their orders taken and drinks served... Those two tables were seated AFTER us. The restaurant wasn't even that busy. It was slow enough for the waitress to chitchat with dishwasher in an attempt to avoid serving our table. It was just a horrible experience that put a huge damper on what was supposed to be a fun day at the beach. read more

I can't say anything for the food because I've never actually sat down and eaten here. However, this is my husband and I favorite place to stop after a breezy bike ride and get a couple of fresh squeezed juices. I mean they actually take a sugar cane and squeeze it through this great machine and out comes the sweetest freshest juice you've ever had. As far as the service, very nice! read more

Waiter was Raul. Friendly and helpful. Decent breakfast. Exactly what you would expect from a beachside cafe.

Very nice state park beach reataurant. Good food, diverse menu and very fresh seafood. Not gourmet but better than any park restaurant in any state I have visited. Would definitely eat here again. read more

Third time we've been here, but this time a waitress told us to order by the register first and then we go sit down. I come back to this place because it's so close to the beach and their apps are good. If they had a better place with better management I would def go there instead. Oh and the view of the beach is nice. read more

Worked a catering event and I can honestly say that the owners are slave drivers. They stood around and watched 4 women move tables while she stood there and yelled orders. I have never had such a bad experience working at event as I did today. read more

Hi, I would like to send my cooment about the lighthouse restaurant experience. Food was ok, it was tasty however food would be more pleasant if. i would not have found 3 , not one, but three pieces of hair in my yellow rice. It was grose, I gave it to the raccoons, although it tasted really good. Another thing I would like to add , people who work there were not nice at all, just one of the chef and one of the waiter, a young man. All the rest of the people there were not very helpful or nice at all. It is sad because the lighthouse trip and experience is very fun, but my lunch made me have an umpleasant moment. read more

Fantastic place to spend your day. Beautiful beach. Great lighthouse views. Amazing food. I highly recommend giving it a try. The area has so much to offer. We typically hit the beach and then fuel up at the cafe. read more

I would give no stars if I could. This place was horrible. Never got service. Go to the Boaters grill. Same menu. Little more expensive but worth the wonderful service. read more

We stopped here after our beach morning. We had great service and the food was fantastic. Great seafood and rice dishes. So much flavor! We plan to come back often. read more

This place needs to be avoided at all costs. Although the setting is beautiful, overlooking the beach and the lighthouse, the quality of the food and cleanliness of the place leave a lot to be desired. The wait staff was friendly and accommodating but there is only so much they can do with the food the have to offer. We ordered a filet of sea bass special for $12.95, it was advertised as being a small 5 oz fillet, when we got it it was more like 2 oz. and so thin that it was almost translucent. We also ordered the fried breaded snapper, that was a more generous portion but it tasted just like a giant fish stick. We complained to the waiter, who was very apologetic, yet nothing was done to better our dinning experience. Needless to say the manager was nowhere to be found. In conclusion, pack a lunch and enjoy the scenery from one of the picnic areas around the lighthouse. read more

Food was horrendous! Ordered Palomilla Steak w/ rice and beans. Pre cooked, tasted days old. My wife and I took one bite, and decided not to risk getting sick. I wouldn't give this food to a dog. Service was friendly and nice. Conch Fritters were decent, but four pieces for $11. Little pricey. Avoid this place at all cost. read more

I had the best fish of my life. It is a beautiful place with an amazing view. The beach in front of you! You will have a great relaxing time. It is located in the Bill Baggs State Park in Key Biscayne. Very kind service, fresh food, great ambient to be at the beach. Definitely will be back. read more

Terrible food and less than average service. My husband and I and our 3 kids spent the day at the beach and decided to have lunch. The atmosphere is very nice but that's where it ends. The servers were not very friendly even though they were not busy. I ordered a caesar salad and I can say that it was the worst caeser salad I ever ate and definitely not worth the $13 I paid for it. My son ordered a cheeseburger that tasted like a cheeseburger I was served in elementary school. My son and daughter ordered smoothies that were more of an icee or slushy not a smoothie. This is a terrible place to eat and it is worth the time to pack a lunch or plan to eat outside the park. For such a nice place and a hot spot to eat lunch you would expect better food and service especially at their prices. If I could give zero stars I would. Also don't order the hot dogs. They are grey in color and pink on the inside. I have never seen a hot dog like this. It was so disgusting that my husband kept making himself sick thinking about for the rest of the day. read more

Cafe? More like a joke. Let me start off by saying that the food was overly greasy and it was extremely expensive for what it was but you know what that isn't why I'm giving this joke 1 star. The reason I'm giving it one star is because my mother who is cancer survivor and suffers from crippling fibromyalgia muscle pain was with me when we went and she had her emotional support service dog who is registered and a legal service dog in the United States . We were given a horrible attitude by the waitress's who said dogs were not allowed and then we explained it was a service animal which seemed to only piss her off even more and then said we must be seated outside even tho there was ample seating inside. It's good to see establishments treating disabled customers like second class citizens and be so disrespectful. P.s my mom cried on the way home saying she's sorry that she needs a service animal to feel ok, so thank you for the discrimination against handicapped people. read more

After waiting for over an hour to get served the food was too salty and extremely mediocre!!! Nice setting. Awful service. Nice menu...but what does that matter if the food isn't that good? One comment "worse Cuban sandwich I've ever had". Will not go back!! read more

Did not enjoy this restaurant, we only went because it was the only option nearby. The food was bland and the portion size was very small. The fish tasted dodgy. The staff here was not friendly at all, they glared at us while we ordered our food. read more

I had a great experience here. Brought my mom to the lighthouse and then to grab a quick bite here. The menu is simple and the atmosphere is very beachy some it's right in the beach. It reminds me more like a clubhouse...you come off the beach, there's a deck with simple plastic chairs, and you get a sandwich. No booze. No straws for drinking because of wildlife regulations nearby. Anyway, good and service were good and I had a great time with Mom! read more

Place is way overpriced! Spent $115 on 3 sandwiches, 2 tuna salads, 2 beers, 2 juices and 4 croquets. The service was really bad! Our waitress took over 15 minutes to even bring us our drinks. A simple snapper sandwich (which had no flavor at all) took 25 minutes to be brought to our table. We also witnessed the table behind getting very impatient with how long they were taking to bring their checks. To top it off, the service was so bad that we decided to leave a $5 tip when we shouldn't have left anything. And as we walked out our waitress, (Aliuska) sent another waitress (Yami) to confront us about leaving such little tip. We could see the waitress talking bad about us flaunting her hands up in the air in a very rude manner. I would definitely not recommend this place, and if I could find a way to contact the owner of this place I will gladly do it. read more

Not at all what I was expecting. Walked in and the place looked like a dump. The food is very over priced for what it is. The burger and fries were just frozen and reheated. Nothing had any flavor. On top of everything, the service sucked. I do not recommend. read more

I ate at this place twice over the last two weekends while with family and/or vendors planning various wedding details. The food is pretty delicious, especially for being a beach restaurant. I had fish croquetas which you can tell were fried fresh and the special, tostones with crab enchilada. I loved the tostones. Crispy the way I like them and served as the perfect "chip" to layer on some crab (not imitation by the way). If you come here, I suggest getting what they do best, cuban seafood. As far as service, exactly what I expected at a beach restaurant in Miami, it's not fast food but it was timely and perfect for enjoying the beautiful scenes (beach and lighthouse!). read more

Vaca frita, cheeseburger, mozzarella sticks, grouper sandwich, some of the great things on the menu!

Terrible food, terrible service. Guaranteed every time. Just bring your own food to the beach and have a picnic. Avoid this place at all costs. read more

Absolutely the worst service ever. The manager- Gladys- treated us horribly and was not able to answer why our food took over one hour and half to serve. She even challenged and spoke back to other customers . Obviously not somebody to be running a place where service is needed. The server was very nice but he could not do anything to help out the situation. The kitchen is very dirty, the staff very rude and not a very welcoming place. More like a kiosk than a Restaurante . If you come here is because you have no other options at all. read more

Growing up on Key Biscayne, the Lighthouse Cafe (and its sister-restaurant, Boater's Grill) were always a perfect stop for a good meal and one of my favorite places to take guests from out of town - great food, local feel, and wonderful atmosphere... the natural, beautiful setting made Lighthouse Cafe my first choice as my wedding venue and it truly was the most amazing and perfect night we could have asked for. The restaurant was all dressed up, exactly how I wanted: casual elegance! And all of our guests told us the food was the best they'd ever had at a wedding - fresh and flavorful! Thank you to Reina and all of her staff for making this special night so beautiful and memorable! read more

I've been coming to this beach since I was 5 years old. (I'm 33 now)Always stop at this cafe on the way to the beach. Decided to take my friend there yesterday. We approach the worst customer service inclined individual at around 3pm, she was at their cash register. We didn't receive a greeting or anything so after waiting for a bit I decided to say "Hi, can we get a menu, just want to order something to take to the beach " she barked back " we don't sell anything to take to the beach!" I am thinking this must be a new policy bc last summer I spent it ordering stuff to eat at the beach, like about 5 times. I said "ok you can't sell me not even a cviche?" She tells me "just pick whatever is on this side " & completely dismisses us. I'm there staring at the cviche trying to figure out the difference. She doesn't seem to want to help us so eventually I told her "ok I would like this one " & I point & this starts apparently an argument. She was like "that one is only just shrimp!" I said "yes give me that one" & she's like "it's just shrimp!" She's like yelling at this point. I turn to my friend confused... Im like "yes can I buy that one?" It was the worst experience I've ever had there. I actually tipped zero for the first time in my life to "cashier #4" I hope she wasn't using another cashiers Id number bc I've never seen that lady there. Usually it's a red haired really nice Cuban lady but yesterday she wasn't there & we experienced this nightmare. I just feel like if you can't treat people how you would like to be treated - with respect /politeness then you should not take a job in customer service. I work at a hotel... 14 years of service... & to witness the way this lady was raising her voice at me, I'm literally still in shock. Considering I didn't treat her badly. Most people in my situation would've told her "since when do you not sell food to the beach??? I know alcohol is a no but you always sold food to go..." But I didn't even argue with her. I said "ok can you at least sell me a cviche?" Like honestly... Dunno what that woman was on but now I'm thinking of purchasing my food prior to getting to el farito & never going there again bc she had such a negative effect on our trip read more