7 Old Florida Restaurants Floridians Still Drive Hours For
The Mai-Kai reopened in November 2024 after four years of renovations.
Floridians who missed it had been waiting a long time, and it’s not the only old-time spot they’ll drive a long distance to visit.
Here are the old Florida restaurants Floridians still drive hours for.
1. Columbia Restaurant
Columbia Restaurant celebrates 1905 as its founding year, and the Observer describes the Ybor City landmark as established in 1905.
The restaurant fills a full city block, with 15 dining rooms and 1,700 seats.
Your table could be in any one of them.
Casey Gonzmart Jr. is a fifth-generation owner of the 1905 Family of Restaurants.
If you visit, you’re stepping into a family business.
Why Columbia Has Two Birth Years
Columbia Restaurant originally opened on Dec. 17, 1903, as the Columbia Saloon, according to the Observer.
Columbia says the saloon became Columbia Restaurant in 1905.
The Tampa Bay Times reported in 2008 that a University of South Florida historian found a newspaper item dated Dec. 17, 1903.
Gonzmart never changed the restaurant’s anniversary or the name of its signature salad.
2. Joe’s Stone Crab
Joe’s Stone Crab began in 1913 on Miami Beach as Joe’s Seafood Restaurant, serving fish sandwiches and fries.
Joe and Jennie Weiss had moved from New York because of Joe’s asthma.
Joe’s says the couple bought a bungalow on Biscayne Street in 1918 and set up tables on the front porch.
If you’ve never cracked a claw, here’s the story.
Public radio station WLRN quoted Joe’s great-grandson Stephen Sawitz saying a Harvard ichthyologist brought crabs to see if they could be cooked.
The ichthyologist arrived with a sack of live stone crabs, and Joe Weiss tried boiling them.
If you’re planning a trip, the 114th season starts Oct. 16, 2026.
3. Pepe’s Cafe
Keys Weekly called Pepe’s Cafe the oldest restaurant in Key West and the Florida Keys when it reported the cafe’s sale in 2021.
The new owner called it a 112-year lineage, a count that points back to 1909.
It started in the 200 block of Duval Street.
It has been on Caroline Street since the 1950s.
If you’d like to eat where a president did, Harry Truman ate there when in Key West.
Key West locals Danny and Maura Hughes bought the cafe in October 2021 and said its essence wouldn’t change on their watch.
If you’re driving down, Pepe’s website lists hours of 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. every day.
4. Ted Peters Famous Smoked Fish
Ted Peters opened his smoked fish restaurant in St. Petersburg in 1951, according to his 2003 Tampa Bay Times obituary.
If you were driving by, he would rush to the smoker as traffic approached and lift the lid to release the aroma.
He smoked mullet and mackerel.
If you’re picturing a long menu, only two menu items had changed from the early days by 2003.
A chicken sandwich appeared in 1992.
Tampa Bay station FOX 13 reported in September 2025 that the restaurant is now run by the fifth generation of the founder’s family.
5. Yearling Restaurant
Visit Gainesville says Yearling Restaurant was first open in 1952, just down the road from Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings’s home in Cross Creek.
It was named after her novel, The Yearling.
Visit Florida says the restaurant has been a fixture for more than 70 years, serving the traditional cuisine of rural Florida.
The current Cross Creek page still sends visitors there for a Southern-style meal.
Some locals make a day of the drive out to Cross Creek.
If you’re driving out, it’s at 14531 East County Road 325 in Hawthorne.
It’s less than a mile from the Rawlings house, which is now a state park.
If you’d rather stay the night, Visit Florida says the restaurant also offers pet-friendly rental cabins.
6. Mai-Kai
The Mai-Kai restaurant reopened on Nov. 22, 2024, after what Miami New Times called four long years of renovations and restorations.
The Fort Lauderdale landmark was founded in 1956 by brothers Bob and Jack Thornton as a Polynesian restaurant.
It now has eight themed rooms, and the renovation aimed to maintain the original design.
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2014.
If you love a theme, you’ll want to see the rooms for yourself.
If you’re booking the Polynesian show, guests had to present a booking confirmation from maikai.com at the November 2024 reopening.
Psst! How much do you know about Florida’s food history? Take our quiz and see if you can ace it.
Quiz
Florida Food Trivia
Answer these questions on Florida food history and the state’s official symbols. We bet you can’t get them all right. Prove us wrong?
In 2012, why did a Tampa city councilwoman drop her plan to trademark the name Historic Tampa Cuban Sandwich?
7. Capt. Anderson's
Panama City Beach restaurant Capt. Anderson's says it has served diners since 1967.
Brothers Jimmy and Johnny Patronis pulled alternating shifts virtually every day for nearly five decades.
If you're bringing a big group, the restaurant's site says it has more than 725 seats and serves more than 250,000 guests each year.
Panama City station WMBB reported that Southern Living placed it on a statewide list of 17 restaurants.
If you arrive early, you can watch fishing boats unload their catch.
Dinner starts at 4:30 p.m., Monday through Saturday, with an 11-month season.
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