The Quest for the Best Key Lime Pie in the Florida Keys
When we reached southern Florida as a full time van life couple with no set schedule and a love for desserts, we decided that we had a duty to our fellow sweet tooths of the world to try to find the best key lime pie in the Florida keys. We started in Miami and travelled into the keys tasting a total of 7 slices of the sweet and tangy dessert for comparison.
We took the assignment seriously, sharing each piece and carefully making notes along the way to bring you the most accurate list, complete with rankings on our epic quest to find the best key lime pie in the Florida keys. It was a tough job but somebody had to do it!
Disclaimers:
1: We did not consume all these pies in one day, we shared three pieces on day one and ate the others over the next couple of days because we didn’t want to do too much damage to ourselves or to completely turn ourselves off key lime pie forever.
2: The following “research” is just like, our opinions, man.
Where did key lime pie originate?
Key lime pie, or an iteration of it was first concocted by sponge fisherman in the 19th century. Fisherman traveled with sweetened condensed milk (less likely to spoil at sea than regular milk) and had access to key limes that grew in abundance in the keys and were super handy in fighting off scurvy. These two elements were combined with eggs and sugar and then poured over old bread to make a sweet dish to enjoy on their journey.
Thankfully today’s version of the dish is way more appetizing than a mix of random things poured over stale bread. All the slices we tried on our quest for the best had a custardy filling made with key limes and sweetened condensed milk, a buttery graham cracker crust and a bit of whipped cream. It is clear each establishment has dialed in their recipes over the years and put in a lot of effort to create the best key lime pie in the Florida Keys.
Pro tip: A real key lime pie will never be green, key limes make a more pale yellow filling, so if it’s green, there is a problem!
Places Visited
The Blonde Giraffe
We shared a classic slice topped with whipped cream. The whipped cream was not “real” heavy cream which Eric felt detracted from the pie. The consistency of the filling was perfect and the overall taste was a very nice balance of sweet and tangy. The graham cracker crust was evenly thick with a good consistency, however, Eric would have liked it to be a little more buttery.
Slice: $9.60
S.S. Wreck and Galley Grill
The slice here was a mile high, literally the tallest piece we got anywhere. It had real whipped cream (I am lactose intolerant and definitely needed a lactose pill for this one), super thick and creamy filling with a balanced but slightly sweeter flavor and a thick buttery crust. It had a very homemade feel to it with the ultra rich real whipped cream, thick filling and uneven butter soaked graham cracker crust. It was a huge, easy to share slice that would be difficult to eat by yourself in my opinion (Eric disagrees, he would definitely smash it on his own).
Slice: $11
Keys Chocolate & Ice Cream
We both really liked the balance of flavors, it was just the right amount of tart and sweet. The crust was a little wetter than I would prefer, however this “con” for me was a “pro” for Eric. Eric detected a hint of graininess in the filling which greatly affected its overall ranking and it also had artificial whipped cream.
*We did get a bonus piece that was frozen, dipped in chocolate and put on a stick. This couldn’t be compared to the others which were all traditional slices but it is their claim to fame according to the worker we spoke with so we had to try it. It was alright but definitely wasn’t better than our top ranked traditional pieces*
Slice: $7 (chocolate dipped on a stick: $7.50)
Trading Post Grocery Store -The Key Lime Pie Lady
This grocery store is apparently open 24/7 and has been family run since the 30’s. There is a small case just inside the door filled with the cutest little mini pies made by the “Key Lime Pie Lady”. This piece came frozen in a tiny little container with possibly real whipped cream. Once thawed, the filling was very runny, the flavor of the filling and crust was great but the texture was all wrong which was a big deciding factor in its final ranking.
Square slice: $5.99
Publix- grocery store
This was a weird one, we never would have thought a grocery store pie would be on a quest for the best key lime pie list, but here we are. The presentation was the most different of all the “slices”. We grabbed a mini pie (which was probably the equivalent of two slices found elsewhere) from the bakery cooler at this popular grocery store. It had artificial whipped cream and the addition of some slivered almonds around the edge that made it unique. Eric raved about the crust balance, not too wet or dry with just enough sweetness and it also had an impressive flavor and consistency, all points I agreed with. A real contender, from a grocery store no less! Love how the white chocolate lime decoration matches Eric’s shirt.
Mini Pie: $6.49 (best value)
Mrs. Mac’s Kitchen
The pie from this location was the coldest we got, aside from the frozen ones. It wasn’t frozen but the filling was so thick you could stand a spoon up in it. The flavor was entirely different, if we had been blindfolded I don’t think we could have identified this as a key lime pie, it was almost floral in flavor and the thickness was to the point of excess. The crust was good and did have a little more buttery flavor to it than others.
Slice: $6.99
Fireman Derek’s Bake Shop
This establishment is the only one that isn’t in the keys. Even though it’s on the mainland, it was actually my first ever taste of key lime pie so we felt like we had to include it. The bake shop is located in the art district of Miami (Wynwood) and offered a very tasty piece of pie. Eric liked the buttery crust and we both noticed a little more tart/bitter taste to the filling as opposed to sweet, but we both really enjoyed it. The consistency of the filling was perfect and the mainland pie really put up a fight.
Slice: $10
Who did it best?
We will include a brief synopsis of our preferences on tastes so that the following rankings can be understood more easily. Eric tends to enjoy real whipped cream, buttery crust that isn’t too dry or crumbly and a nice thick filling with a balanced taste.
I (Jo) don’t really have a preference on real or fake whipped cream, I don’t like a super wet crust and I also enjoy a balanced taste maybe leaning towards tangy and away from anything too sweet and I want a thick custardy texture.
So without further ado…drumroll please…
| Eric’c Final Rankings | Jo’s Final Rankings |
| 1. S.S. Wreck and Galley Grill | 1. The Blonde Giraffe |
| 2.The Blonde Giraffe | 2. Publix |
| 3. Publix | 3. S.S. Wreck and Galley Grill |
| 4. Fireman Derek’s… | 4. Fireman Derek’s… |
| 5. Keys Chocolates… | 5. Keys Chocolates… |
| 6. Key lime pie lady | 6. Key lime pie lady |
| 7. Mrs. Mac’s Kitchen | 7. Mrs. Mac’s Kitchen |
Our top four differ slightly as you can see which is entirely based on our slight differences in preference. We agreed that the bottom three really tied but if forced to choose a numbered ranking, this is for science after all, this is where they would land. Although we were dying for something savory by the end of the day, it was a super fun self imposed challenge.
If you are looking for an easy way to go on your own mini tour to compare the best key lime pies in the Florida Keys for yourself, look no further than a guided tour through Tripadvisor.