About Rusty Pelican
Rusty Pelican is a useful option when the plan calls for a waterfront reservation near Key Biscayne. The restaurant describes its food as contemporary American and seafood, and provides a direct reservations page. The practical detail to get right is the island: despite the Key Biscayne postal address, the restaurant is on Virginia Key. This is a planning guide built from sources, not a scored restaurant review.
Location: Virginia Key, not the Village
Use 3201 Rickenbacker Causeway for the restaurant. Its own contact page writes the postal locality as Key Biscayne, while the tourism bureau identifies its physical location as Virginia Key. Those descriptions serve different purposes; our directory labels the island separately so a postal address does not become misleading travel advice.
If you are meeting someone coming from Key Biscayne, share the exact restaurant entrance rather than a general marina pin. Gramps Getaway is another restaurant in the same marina area, but it has a different street number. A booking at one is not a booking at the other.
Sources: therustypelican.com ↗ · miamiandbeaches.com ↗ · rmimarina.com ↗
Reservations and choosing a table
The operator recommends reservations. Its booking page offers a standard OpenTable option and a Tablz option for selecting certain seating. Read the terms shown for your chosen date before paying for an upgrade; the existence of a waterfront restaurant does not guarantee a particular view from every table.
Our recommendation is to decide which matters more for your visit: the time, the seating area, or keeping the booking flexible. Ask the restaurant about accessible seating, large parties and weather alternatives if those affect your plans. We do not display live table inventory or claim that a reservation is available.
Sources: therustypelican.com ↗
What the published hours do and do not mean
The schedule below comes from the restaurant's contact page and was checked on September 5, 2026. It is a restaurant schedule, not a guarantee that every menu or service is available throughout the day. Before a brunch, late meal or holiday visit, check the service you actually want with the restaurant.
A scheduled-open label is calculated from saved information in Eastern Time. It is not a message from the kitchen. If the saved check becomes too old, the directory stops treating it as evidence of current service. A same-day operator update should take precedence over this page.
Sources: therustypelican.com ↗
Arriving by boat or planning another stop
The tourism bureau points boaters to adjacent Rickenbacker Marina and advises calling ahead for availability. Confirm the marina's arrival instructions and any charges separately from the restaurant reservation. Neither a table confirmation nor this guide grants permission to dock.
For a day that also includes paddling, use the specific PADL location on your rental confirmation. The Marine Stadium station, Beach Club and Lagoon & Trails are different stops, not interchangeable names for one counter. The linked Virginia Key guide puts those entrances alongside the marina comparison so you can plan the journey before booking.
If you would prefer to stay on Key Biscayne itself, use the island filter in the same restaurant directory. It keeps the choice simple without sending you to a second collection or mixing Virginia Key addresses into the island's neighborhood guides.
Sources: miamiandbeaches.com ↗ · rmimarina.com ↗ · padl.co ↗
Best for
- a waterfront reservation
- a meal with visiting friends
- comparing dock-and-dine options
Hours
- Monday12:00-22:00
- Tuesday12:00-22:00
- Wednesday12:00-22:00
- Thursday12:00-22:00
- Friday12:00-23:00
- Saturday11:00-23:00
- Sunday11:00-22:00
Hours change — call ahead before driving over.
Where
3201 Rickenbacker Causeway, Key Biscayne, FL 33149 · Rickenbacker Marina neighborhood.
Physically on Virginia Key along the Rickenbacker Causeway. The restaurant uses a Key Biscayne postal address; it is not in the Village.
Sources we verified against
- www.therustypelican.com/ ↗
- www.therustypelican.com/contact-us ↗
- www.therustypelican.com/reservations ↗
- www.miamiandbeaches.com/restaurants/dock-and-dine ↗
- rmimarina.com/ ↗
- padl.co/ ↗
Last verified 2026-09-05.