I went to Upstairs at Louie's with my friend Sofia recently. For those of you who aren't aware of it, Louie's Backyard--Key West's most famous dining room--has opened its upstairs (a former private party room) as a wine room. There is a separate “small plate” menu (more on that in a moment), seating indoors and out, and very attentive, friendly staff. Two points I have to make are that one, there are wall-to-wall French doors, and there is balcony seating, so you perch over that famous Louie's Backyard view and two, you get all the luxury of Louie's at a fraction of the price. Don't get me wrong: Louie's is a wonderful place for a memorable, special occasion dinner. But a writer (me) and a yoga teacher (Sofia) can't always afford that when we're just two girlfriends needing to catch up and one of us is flying to Nepal in two days (Sofia, not me, alas).
Between Sofia and myself, we know a lot of people. She's been here even longer than I have––like 22 years to my 16. Upstairs at Louie's, well, we knew 98% of the people, including the staff. Louie's Backyard is a local's hangout (especially the Afterdeck), but the upstairs wine room is ALL locals. Stuart and his wife, Josephine, the Nine One Five owners, were there. My dentist was there. Parents of my son's friend. Former co-workers from Antonia's.
Upstairs at Louie's, well, we knew 98% of the people, including the staff. 
We made our way to a table on the porch and…wow. What a view. You feel like you're on a cruise ship, on the Lido deck (if that's the best deck? I don't know. I've never been on a cruise ship). The server comes right away and when we can't decide what wine to order, she brings us three to try. We end up with a white Rioja. Then we order blue cheese on walnut pastry bread, roasted olives with onions and lemon peel (roasted olives?? Yummy). We had the boccarones (fresh anchovies, FYI), and we had the chickpea fries (they taste kind of like a donut, with protein), and every single thing was delicious and special. At the end, our bill was $60. We'd had a bottle of wine and everything we could eat. How was this even possible? I will be back to this little secret that clearly isn't a secret.
On my daughter's birthday, the family drove up to Bahia Honda State Park for swimming, and then we dropped by No Name Pub for lunch. I've been meaning to go there, having ridden there once on the back of a Harley for my birthday one year and not since. We wound our way into the far extremes of Big Pine Key, saw four Key deer on the way just walking around like they owned the place (which they do, since it's a refuge). It was a late Saturday afternoon, late summer, and we had to wait 20 minutes for a table! Who are all these people? The No Name has become famous, and it's not just because of the 10s of thousands of dollar bills fluttering from the walls and ceilings. The food is the best bar food you can ask for, from the smoked fish dip (chunky, fresh, lemony, not a lot of mayo), to the grouper fried in a crunchy cracker crust and served with their dollar fries, which are really just small sliced potatoes, to the pizza. Really, really great pizza (they have one with shrimp, but we didn't get it because kids don't eat that). Cold beer and super-quick refills. Love No Name Pub.
Now you, along with everybody else, knows about these two not-secret gems.
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