Category Three Bar and Grill

Great service at the bar. Owner and manager clearly visible and interacting with customers. Lunchtime on a Saturday had about 13 people eating. Place seems clean. Didn’t ck restoom. Good sports bar type atmosphere with a keys flare. Disappointed with food. We ordered category V stuffed burger med. The burger was large and stuffed, but largely underdone more raw in center prob. Because of thickness. I didnt eat my burger which was split w my guest. He ate ¼ of his. Bun seemed frozen and reheated. Coleslaw was crisp. Frys were ok but not really crisp enough. We will try this place again because we want to like it and rate it higher! Next time category 3. :)

Love this little place! This is definitely a small local restaurant. My husband and I had just driven over 2 hours to get to Key Largo and we dropped our bags at our hotel because we were absolutely ravenous. We found category three and thought it looked perfect for some simple burgers.
The restaurant was empty when we got there (it was a little early) except for one other family. Our server was very attentive she was able to read when we needed her and when we were good. She had a good knowledge of their beers and was helpful with selections. They have some interesting beers and I was excited to see cider on tap. Good happy hour specials!
The burgers here are stuffed with your cheese and fillings and both my husbands and my burgers were very good. Everything was seasoned well, including the fries.
This is a place that I will definitely come back to the next time I am back in town.

Our family took a quick trip to key largo and found this restaurant. What a find! Great place the staff is awesome cook is totally awesome. The cliental is warming and the food yummy :-) priced just right! Definitely be back.

Stopped for lunch at Cat 3 on recommendation from a friend. We all had the Catch of the Day sandwich and everyone loved it. The fries were really good also. And service was friendly and attentive!!!

Such a surprise! As many times as I’ve driven past, I thought this was just another seedy bar on US-​1. (It might be, but I went for lunch.) These are the best burgers I’ve experienced in the Keys, and probably in South Florida. They are stuffed — meaning that ingredients are put into the meat. It didn’t occur to me that’s what it meant when I saw it in the menu. Bacon is part of the burger. Or mushrooms. Or jalapeños. Or whatever it is your heart desires. And with a decent bar, really good fries, and really excellent appetizers, I’m truly impressed. The guy in the kitchen never looks very happy, but the service is very good. Just doesn’t look like much from outside! Though I haven’t used it as such, probably also a fun place just for drinkin’.

First time at this location and i cant say i was disappointed. The food was great i had the Dolphin Sandwich which i enjoyed. and as an appetizer i tried theie bacon wrapped jumbo shrimps. The Shrimps where my highlight. Everything about the place was just right. Staff was very professional and nice.

We dined at Cat 3 on based on other Unilocal reviews and it did not disappoint. Place is a total dive, but the service was great, the price was very affordable, and the burgers were world class. How can you say no to bacon-​stuffed anything?
Bf had the Perfect Storm — crazy spicy, but delicious. I had the Sunset. Here in the Keys for a week and will for sure eat there again.

We have been to Category Three twice — several months apart because we only visit the Keys occasionally. On our first visit everything was top notch and our memory of our first visit is what made us return earlier today for a second visit. That memory of a better Category Three experience is also what is keeping me from giving a one star rating today.
We arrived at 11am and were there first customers of the day. Soon after we arrived more people trickled in and by noon they had a very good crowd going. The problem was — we were still there at noon and not eating yet as this crowd was trickling in. All in all, we spent 1.5 hours in here for lunch — way too long for what is supposed to be a casual hamburger joint.
I ordered the Category IV burger, which has an onion ring, chili, and cheese on it. My fiancée ordered the mushroom burger that has mushrooms and onions both inside the burger patty and on top of the burger.
After 45 minutes (a full 30 minutes after we put our order in), our burgers arrived. Unfortunately, they must have spent the entire 30 minutes on the grill because, even though we ordered them Medium, they came out so far beyond well done that there was no juice left in the meat whatsoever. They were solid gray inside and crumbly.
We don’t like to return food, but we sent them back because they would have been inedible without copious amounts of A-​1 sauce to cover them up. 15 minutes later (an hour into our lunch), they brought out two new burgers. This time, mine was on the high side of Medium-​Well and hers was again well done, but at least there was some juiciness left and we were able to eat them. Thank goodness, because I’d never send something back twice — you’ve seen the movie «Waiting», right?
When we sent the burgers back, we heard a bit of a heated discussion ensue in the kitchen and I don’t know whether they were angry with us or they were arguing with each other about a lack of communication in the first place that we had requested Medium. (By the way, they asked us up front how we wanted our burger done — so it’s not like this is one of those restaurants that never cooks burgers differently… They asked! We said «medium». We got «shoe leather»).
After the border-​line argument in the kitchen, it seemed like we were getting stink-​eye from the servers from there on out. They were friendly to our faces, but it just felt like they were mad at us for sending back the shoe leather. The owner was in the house, and I recall him being a very nice guy who cared about his business a lot. We were thoroughly impressed with him on our first visit. But this time, he didn’t come over and say Hi and he certainly didn’t come over to make sure our burgers were good after we had an issue with the first ones.
The burgers we ended up eating were far from perfect. My Category IV came out on the high side of medium-​well and had so little chili on it that I could hardly taste it – maybe a tablespoon. The Onion Ring that was put on it was small and soggy. They did do a good job of melting the cheese on it, but they forgot that I asked for Cheddar instead of American and sent it out with American.
Her burger was worse than mine. Hers was still well done but at least not completely void of juice this time and so it was edible. The onions that were mixed inside the burger were still raw — not sauteed. I’m not sure how they accomplished raw onions inside a well-​done burger, but they did it. They need to soften the onions before mixing them into the ground beef.
The saving grace was that we had some lychees in the truck, so when we left unsatisfied and her with the flavor of raw onion on her taste buds, we were able to cover it up with some great fruit that we had. I only wish we had just eaten the fruit for lunch and skipped Category Three as we headed out of the Keys. This was not a great way to end our long weekend in paradise.
Unfortunately, I don’t think they will get another chance from us.

We left the bar next door and came over to Category 3. We should’ve gone to Category 3 from the start.
Attentive wait staff, good service, nice beer selection and excellent food.
There is a sign that says to be patient that food is made to order. I do not mind waiting for something made fresh that tastes great — and that is what I had here (enjoying a good beer while waiting is nice too).
I would not hesitate to return and would highly recommend.

This place doesn’t look like it from the outside but it is fantastic. Great selections of burgers and variety of fries (tater tots, curly fries, sweet potato fries or regular fries). I had the Cat II which was a burger stuffed with pulled pork. So so good. Staff is friendly and professional. The only reason this is not a 5 star is the service is a little slow with regards to the food coming out. But drinks and such are brought fast and maintained well.
Must try for lunch if passing through key largo!

Seriously big burgers. Tasty! Friendly service. Nice vibe and cool hurricane décor. If you’re looking for burgers, look no further.

Great little shake in the keys! After a day of kayaking we decided to grab a burger and we chose this place. Well the service was GREAT as well as the food! I had 6pc HOT wings which were really really great. My hubby went for the sunrise burger which was a Angus beef stuffed with bacon and a fried egg and he devoured the whole thing. I had the mushroom lover and it was phenomenal! If you’re craving a good made to order burger with flavor and great service — don’t think twice. You may thank me later :)

Ok, we were a little skeptical about this place because of how run down/​divey it looked from the outside. But we put our trust in our fellow Unilocalers and gave it a try…
…fantastic. The inside was surprisingly adorable. Small with that perfect Key Largo charm.
We decided to order the bacon burger which is stuffed with bacon and also topped with bacon and Swiss cheese. It was incredible and cooked to perfection. The meat was definitely very high quality. We also ordered medium spicy wings which were ok, nothing spectacular but definitely not bad.
I’m really knocking off one star based on the food taking forever to arrive. I know they make everything fresh and that’s why it takes long, but waiting over 10 minutes for a side order of onion rings seemed like a bit too much.
We’ll be coming back again for those burgers. Yum!

This place is great – good beers and juicy burgers dripping with fatty deliciousness. They have almost any option you want – and I think you can make your own – stuff your burger with another burger if you want to watch the world burn. The one I ordered was full of shrimp, which felt sacrelicious and probably earned me some bad karma for my next life. But it was worth it.
Décor is quintessential Key Largo dive bar – it’s what Key West ought to be. All sorts of quirky tchotchkes and hurricane memorabilia. We were here for an early bird Sunday dinner, so we nearly had the place all to ourselves. If you’re tired of impossibly gorgeous sunsets, sit in the backyard patio and admire the unromantic parking lot and broken down car or tractor in the neighbor’s yard.

I was in the mood for a big, fat, juicy burger, and apparently this place has some good burgers. Pulled in the parking lot at 5:30pm on a Thursday. There were more people than I anticipated at such an early dinner hour. I think all of them were locals. The owner of the place was walking around with a Coors Light talking to everybody so I assume they must be regulars.
I bellied up to the bar to order some food. I wasn’t promptly greeted, which is okay I guess. Seems like a laid back attitude kind of place. I chose the Okee burger, which had onion rings, BBQ sauce, cheese, and bacon. Kind of like a cowboy burger. I asked for it medium and it came out slightly overdone, but it was still delicious. Also had the mozzarella sticks, and while they were a little salty for my taste, they were still pretty damn tasty.
Decent prices and they had some decent beers on draft besides the usual macro heavy rotation most places have. I would definitely come back. If I was a local, I would create my own club where I try every burger on the menu (they had like 15 different ones) and after that feat is accomplished, I receive a trophy with a burger on top and a necklace that looks like an onion ring. I call it the «Fat Boy Burger Club», member of 1. Oh, and I also receive at least one free burger per month, for my dedication.

On the Bayside heading south at mile marker 99.2 in Key Largo. Category Three is the quintessential Fla Keys restaurant and bar. Hand lettered signs lead you to the funky restaurant bar inside.
Bar itself is laminated with icons of Florida hurricanes. The burgers are labeled Cat I for basic to Cat V for burger stuffed with jalapeño bacon, pepper jack and jalapeño topping.
The burger came out and I gulped. As high as it was wide. Amazing tasting beef, freshest condiments. So dang delicious.
I can only speak for the burgers but everything else looks fantastic. Make this a stop on the way to Key West.

Okee burger and sweet potato fries for the win! Price is right and they’re open on Christmas! Great happy hour deals with $ 2 mugs. Great place to stop!

We were rolling six deep on our way back to Miami from The Keys. It was a wonderful trip but it was getting late and we were getting hungry. We passed a ton of places, lots of places that were closed, and lots of places with piss poor Unilocal reviews. Finally the people in my party trusted us to let Unilocal decide where to eat. We settled on Category Three Bar and Grill and all the naysayers became believers.
They have craft beer on tap, fresh made burgers, and delicious hot wings. I would like to tell you our obnoxious party didn’t scare off the other patrons. I would like to tell you that.
It didn’t matter. They knew we were about to drop coin in this joint and then the party started. We all ordered a variety of things. From burgers, to wings, and even, wait for it… a friggin’ pierogi! (also spelled perogi, pierogy, perogy, pierógi, pyrohy, pirogi, pyrogie, or pyrogy)
The owner came out and starting shooting the breeze with us. He mentioned catching a lot of stone crab that day. Since I was the new guy who never had it before — they were gracious enough to cook me one. That little sucker is definitely made of stone. Wow it was tough to crack, I made a big mess. It was worth it though. That little guy was delicious.
During our visit my shithead friends pressured me into trying the Category Six hot sauce chicken wing. Uhhhh yeah. That was pretty damn hot. My lips were on fire. They don’t mess around with that one. The favorite was the medium buffalo & garlic chicken wings and I think we took 48 wings to GO.
Like I said, we were a rowdy bunch and even took a cell phone pic of the back-​tattoo the waitress was rocking. Falkor from The Neverending Story, she is basically PERMA-​AWESOME with that one. We had a blast and thanked the owner profusely. He was a really cool cat.

So I was in the Keys for the weekend and wanted a good quick burger for takeout. I read the reviews here and figured I had to try it! I’m so glad I did! I went in rather early around noon on a Sunday so the restaurant was empty but seemed clean and organized. I ordered the stuffed Cat 3 burger which was stuffed with Bacon and Y. American. DAMN, was that a good burger! I thoroughly enjoyed it and would definitely stop back in next time I’m down there. The fries also had a great seasoning on them and were not just your average fry.
Next time I’ll stop in to eat it for dine in with a nice local beer as I noticed they did have them on tap while I waited for my food by the bar. All in all great burger in paradise!

I have to say I am prejudiced, they make their burgers with the cheese on the INSIDE, which is how my Mother made them. The place is a little history lesson on the Keys hurricanes, with each table having photos and a storm track from the big ones. Since there is no land mass other than Cuba to slow down the storms, the Keys get hit pretty hard when they get hit. This place is just south of the MM 100 split. Be careful because the road in front is one way south. Don’t try to park in the back, people have to turn around back there.
Oh, the food was fantastic, the people were very nice, and the place is frequented by locals and travelers alike. Good bar prices, well lit, and fairly quiet. There are some low tables as well as some high-​tops. There were some children in the non-​bar area so I think they allow children too.
So remember, after the split, look right.