Alabama Jack's

Description:

• Anything goes here and usually does. In fact, anything's been going here for more than 50 years. An eclectic crowd populates this spot in Key Largo, and a similarly eclectic crowd drops in to watch the eclectic crowd. They are a mix of retirees, boaters, kids...well, just about everyone who is near. Locally made Key West Lager and Sunset Ale are popular, abetted by conch fritters, steamed shrimp and similar munchies. The fare is light, as is the atmosphere.
  
  Built on stilts over the water channel next to the road with no air conditioning, Alabama Jack's is an airy place - you can even see the water below as you peek between the slats of the floor. The menu is all about seafood, beer, and various types of fries. Most folks recommend the crab cakes, Key West Sunset Ale and sweet-potato fries. Down-home kind of place.
  
  There's something about resigning yourself to being hot and sweaty all the time that beats darting in and out of air conditioned little buildings that seems to be right for that place. Almost every restaurant and bar on the island has A/C now, so maybe Alabama Jack's is more Key West than Key West?
  
  The Cardsound Machine Band plays country music (with the occasional obligatory Jimmy Buffett tune thrown in) Saturday and Sunday afternoons. You'll not be disappointed. The hours are a bit funky: the band quits at 5 pm, and the whole place shuts down an hour or two after that. Odd for an open-air place that you'd think could do good business with folks coming back from the Keys late on a Sunday night, but there it is.
  
  
  
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