Provided by Lorelei Restaurant & Cabana Bar
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If you’ve driven through Islamorada even once, you know her. The enormous blonde mermaid lounging just off the Overseas Highway has welcomed generations of Florida Keys travelers to the Lorelei Restaurant & Cabana Bar. It’s where cold drinks, live music, fishing boats, and some of the best sunsets in the Keys have been part of the scenery for decades.
Now, this iconic Florida Keys watering hole can be yours for a cool $18 million. Lorelei Restaurant & Cabana Bar, located at 96 Madeira Rd. on the bayside of Upper Matecumbe Key near mile marker 82, is currently on the market. The news was first spotted by Ted Lund of the “Above The Fold” Substack, which incorrectly reports the listing price.
However, before Keys regulars panic, Lorelei is not closing. The beloved restaurant remains open daily, and neither the listing nor the property’s real estate representatives indicate that operations are changing while its owners search for a buyer. Still, seeing a place this deeply woven into the fabric of Islamorada with a $18 million price tag attached to it is enough to make any longtime customer do a double-take.
Provided by Lorelei Restaurant & Cabana Bar
The price includes a private beach, two boat slips, and more
The waterfront landmark is listed for $18 million by The Lindback Team within Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Keys Real Estate – Islamorada. The property and business are held under the family’s corporate entity, La Siesta Sea LLC. The team publicly announced the offering in October 2025 as the first opportunity in decades to purchase the landmark restaurant, business, and real estate. The Lindback family has owned the property for decades.
But this isn’t exactly your average restaurant sale. According to the listing, the offering includes not only the operating Lorelei business but also an enormous chunk of prime Islamorada waterfront real estate with more than 1,000 feet of frontage along Florida Bay and roughly 500 feet of exposure along U.S. 1.
The property itself includes a 250-seat open-air restaurant with private event and fishing tournament areas, a full-service bar with a valuable 5-COP liquor license, dockage, a private beach and a boat ramp. The offering also comes with two boat slips in the neighboring Islamorada Yacht Basin and four on-site residential building rights that could allow a future owner to expand the property. There’s also a concrete building constructed around 2015 or 2016 containing the gift shop, bathrooms, laundry facilities, prep kitchen, and storage. A new parking lot, lighting, and drainage were completed in 2020.
The Lindback Team is pitching it as both a turnkey hospitality business and a long-term development opportunity. They note the potential for additional dockage, private events, weddings, and future expansion.
Provided by Berkshire Lindman Team – Lorelei Photo
More than a waterfront bar
Anyone who has spent enough time in Islamorada knows Lorelei isn’t just famous for being an exceptional spot for sunset-watching and fresh seafood. Its marina and docks are deeply connected to the area’s legendary sportfishing culture, serving as home base for charter captains who head out in pursuit of bonefish, permit, and tarpon across Florida Bay and into Everglades National Park.
Right next door at 104 Madeira Rd. is another piece of that history: the Islamorada Fishing Club. Founded in 1950, the private club has counted fishing pioneers, tournament anglers, and world-record holders among its members. Its nearly 70-year-old building was demolished in 2023 and replaced with a new three-story clubhouse that opened in November 2025, breathing new life into one of Islamorada’s most storied fishing institutions.
Together, Lorelei and the Islamorada Fishing Club occupy a small stretch of Florida Keys shoreline with an outsized place in Keys fishing history. That’s part of what makes the potential sale so significant.
Provided by Lorelei Restaurant & Cabana Bar
Over 70 years of Keys history
The Lorelei’s roots date back to 1952, when it began as a simple gathering place for anglers before growing into one of the Florida Keys’ most beloved waterfront restaurants.
Known as “The Pulse of Islamorada,” it’s famous for its nightly sunset celebrations, giant roadside mermaid, laid-back open-air atmosphere, and longtime traditions like its “Cook Your Catch” program, where anglers can bring in the day’s fresh catch for the kitchen to prepare. For generations of locals and visitors alike, the Lorelei has become as much a part of the Keys experience as the sunset itself.
This is what makes the news worrisome. The property’s representatives make clear that they see its value extending well beyond the restaurant currently operating there. With limited developable waterfront land in Islamorada, they’re marketing the property as what they call a “generational investment opportunity.”
That raises the biggest question surrounding any eventual sale. Will the future buyer continue operating one of the Keys’ most recognizable institutions? Or, will they envision something entirely different for the valuable stretch of bayfront land?
For now, though, there is no indication that anything is changing. Long live Lorelei Restaurant & Cabana Bar.
Lorelei Restaurant & Cabana Bar. 96 Madeira Rd., Islamorada; 305-664-2692; loreleicabanabar.com.
