We were on vacation in Islamorada in mid-January and had dinner at Marker 88. We came from the south, so even though the sign was clear, the entrance wasn't. My husband had to walk around to find the entrance. When we moved the car, it was evident that northbound traffic would realize which building it was.

We were seated on the outside patio area, and had a lovely view of the sunset. There was live entertainment: a one man band - he play the keyboard, sax, and sang - and was really good!

Our dinners were very good: I had macadamia encrusted grouper with a light cream sauce. My husband had grilled grouper, and that too was delicious and very fresh. The owner was nearby, and takes pride in his wine list. He was watering the grass nearby, and when he saw me looking over the wine list, came and asked if we had any questions. I asked about a certain wine, and he agreed it would be excellent with the grouper.

Marker 88 was having an all-you-can-eat of the stone crab claws. Two big he-men sat near us and said they were going to take the restuarant up on it - $41.99 per person. By watching them, I think they got their money's worth.

My only complaint was with our server. He was adaquate, but my husband had to ask for bread (which is delicious, make sure you get yours), and he really didn't check on us. Besides that, it was a lovely evening at Marker 88.

Looked for to eating here after reading many good reviews, but ended up very disappointed. It is on the water, but so are many much better establishments in the area. The menu seems very interesting and my blackened tuna app. was good, but not great. My wifes conch chowder looked good but was overpowered by salt in the broth. My grilled fish was again ok, but uninspired. My wifes grouper(special onion encrusted) was flavorless and probably the biggest disappointment of all the fish we had in town. My 8 year olds cheesburger, was burnt to a crisp(we had simply asked gor it to be cooked through) and her ice cream a sad display of freezer burn, should not have been served. The ambitios wine list, seemed overpriced as ageneral thought, and the Grigich chard we ordered was not to be found-they substituted a"better" bottle at the same price and it was ok. Our waiter was bored an unmotivated, the bus boy loped and yawned his way by out table throughout the meal. And the 80's rock blaring from the bar area was not my taste.For $200+ skip it. Try the Island grill or morada bay or even lo-e-lei(bar) much better.

So, what does one say about a restaurant? Hmm..

We sat on the deck that stretches onto the water for our sunset dinner. The view was spectacular. Our appetizer of brie was very nice as were our fish dinners. The only slightly bad thing was that the service was average, but we'll give the staff the benefit of the doubt as our server was also working a post-wedding dinner party of about 15. I'm sure that under other circumstances, the service would have easily been above average.

So, moral of the story is that there is a reason the 88 is highly recommended. If you are on the upper end of Islamorada or even as far up as Key Largo, this is a place you'll want to check out. We drove 16 miles from our hotel to get there and were very happy to do so -- the drive was beautiful too!

We just returned from a vacation to Islamorada. Marker 88 was reccommended by our Hotel and we were glad we went. We ate there for Dinner on Valentine's Day. We had a romantic table on the water. The service was friendly, prompt and attentive. Tom is a real wine affecionado and helped us select the perfect wine for our meal. Everything was perfect from appetizer to dessert. We had Oysters Moscow and the Spicy Crab Roll which was out of this world. My Yellowtail was delicatley sauteed in a white wine, butter sauce and lighly spiced as to not overwhelm the fish. The Tropical Salad was outstanding and the Baked Alaska was fantastic. We had lunch there the next day as it was the best Restaurant we had visited during our stay in Islamorada.