Old Key Lime House: Dining Inside a 19th-Century Waterfront Landmark in Lantana

Old Key Lime House occupies a wooden house built in 1889 on the Intracoastal Waterway in Lantana, a building where the Lyman family once sold fish and oysters before the town was even incorporated. Today it bills itself as Florida's oldest waterfront restaurant, a claim rooted in that 19th-century structure still standing at the water's edge.

A Landmark Rebuilt and Run by One Family for Decades

Wayne Cordero purchased the property in 1986 after it sat closed for two years, and he has operated it with his family ever since, with son Ryan now serving as manager. Two full kitchens turn out hand-made specialties daily, including a Key lime pie based on Cordero's grandmother Agnes's recipe and crabcakes that have become house signatures. After Hurricane Wilma damaged the roof in 2005, the family rebuilt using traditional chickee-hut roofing made from cabbage palm fronds.

Five Bars, One Waterfront Complex

The property has been described as "five restaurants in one," with indoor and outdoor spaces spread across five separate bars and a sprawling waterfront deck overlooking the Intracoastal. Historical photographs and family memorabilia line the walls, giving the space a lived-in, storytelling quality rare among South Florida restaurants.

Good to Know

Old Key Lime House is located at 300 E Ocean Ave, Lantana, FL 33462. For diners drawn to waterfront history alongside their seafood, it remains one of the county's most distinctive dining destinations.