A secret garden and hidden tiki hut highlight this Palmetto Bay seafood spot
Palmetto Bay has a hidden tiki hut surrounded by a landscaped rain forest complete with waterfalls and koi pools — and they conceal a seafood restaurant worth finding.
Golden Rule Seafood’s secret garden, adorned with coconut palms and banana plants, was a vacant lot for years, adjacent to a general store opened in 1943 before the Flores family transformed it. The Puerto Rican-born Walter Flores and his wife, Pamela Mullins, took it over from his father-in-law. And now their kids run the daily operations of the seafood market and restaurant. Son Taylor is a commercial fisherman and supplies blue runner crabs and stone crabs. Three years ago they had a massive tiki hut built. And inside is an oasis of old Florida. Get fish, crabs, clams, mussels and more from the market with seasonings and sauces to take home afterward.
This is a down-home restaurant, run by a family who survived Hurricane Andrew crammed into the restaurant’s 10-by-10 walk-in cooler.
Start With These Dishes
You can’t go wrong by starting with the smoked fish dip with jalapenos, banana peppers and capers, served with tortilla chips and roasted corn pico de gallo. The fried Buffalo shrimp with ranch dip are another solid starter.
Seared scallops are served on tomato slices gilded in garlic butter. Naturally there are Gulf oysters on the half shell with crackers and house cocktail sauce — or try them fried with tartar sauce. The Captain’s Fried Sampler brings two each of conch fritters, cobia strips, fried shrimp and coconut shrimp. There’s also conch ceviche salad in Key lime juice.
Share These Dishes
Order stone crabs for the table from large to small claws, served with coleslaw and mustard mayo. They may resemble dark stones in the beds of Biscayne Bay but the sweet, succulent claws turn bright orange when cooked. Another messy option is a basket of steamed blue runner crabs with drawn butter. There’s also snow crab, Dungeness and king crab or Maine lobster steamed and drenched in garlic butter.
The Reuben here features grilled or blackened cobia. Courtney’s Mess, named for the owners’ daughter, is a fried snapper on thick toast with American cheese and caramelized onions. Georgia-born chef Generric Kyles likes to highlight the creamy Cajun spiced shrimp and mushroom grits with bits of bacon. The slow-roasted baby back ribs are made with a brown sugar rub and brushed with the smoky house barbecue sauce.
Save Room for Dessert
There’s classic homemade Key lime pie with a perfect balance of sweet and tart. And the brownie in a skillet is baked in a cast iron pan, topped with a cookie slab and vanilla ice cream.
Golden Rule Seafood
Address: 17505 S. Dixie Highway, Palmetto Bay (at the corner of Evergreen Street)
Contact: 305-235-0661, goldenruleseafood.com
Hours: Monday 10 a.m.-7 p.m., Tuesday- Thursday 10 a.m.-9 p.m., Friday and Saturday 10 a.m-10 p.m., Sunday 9 a.m.-9 p.m.
Prices: Appetizers $8-$13, stone crabs, sandwiches $13-$19, entrees $15-$30, desserts $7-$11
F.Y.I. Beer and wine, free parking and live island music Thursday and Sunday nights
This story was originally published February 11, 2020 at 5:27 PM.