Drive past 3660 Overseas Highway on a Tuesday night and the parking lot at Florida Keys Steak and Lobster House is still full. Servers are still running plates of stone-grilled steak and cook-your-catch lobster to a packed dining room. What you would not know from the sidewalk is that, as Keys Weekly reported, the restaurant filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy this spring, listing $6.63 million in liabilities to 28 creditors.
That contrast, a business in bankruptcy but still seating tables every night, is the real story of Marathon dining in 2025 and 2026. The four names here are Lalo's and La Chapina, which opened independently, The Inn at Key Colony, which reopened, and planned Water's Edge; the Inn and Water's Edge are expected to share a kitchen once Water's Edge opens. The more useful version is that these recent openings and planned projects involve different operating arrangements: one operator plans to run two restaurants from a shared kitchen, while two independent owners opened their own restaurants.
The Restaurant That Filed Bankruptcy and Never Closed
The paperwork on Florida Keys Steak and Lobster House tells a specific story if you read past the headline. Owner Maria Ely, who took over the business with her late husband John in 2014, filed for Chapter 11 in Florida's Southern District Court this spring. The largest debts are not mysterious: $806,583 owed to U.S. Foods, $1.761 million to business financing company Uptown Fund LLC, three separate balances over $300,000 to alternative lenders, and $85,498 owed to the Florida Department of Revenue. Those figures show substantial obligations to food vendors and lenders; in the Keys, everything from Certified Angus beef to sushi-grade tuna arrives by truck over a bridge.
Chapter 11 is not a closure notice. It is a request for time.
"The Debtor filed this Chapter 11 case to reorganize its financial affairs, preserve asset value and address creditor claims through a court-supervised restructuring process."
That is the case management summary's own language, and it points at something the debt totals obscure. The restaurant's building carries a $3.23 million appraised value against just $1.8 million owed to local developer Bruce Schmitt. There is real equity sitting under the operation, separate from whatever the restaurant itself owes to food vendors and lenders. The business can be underwater while the real estate under it is not. The restaurant, first opened as Florida Key Lobster House back in 1980 and renamed under Ely's ownership in 2014, is still serving dinner.
One Kitchen, Two Restaurants
A few miles away in Key Colony Beach, the Inn's reopening and Water's Edge plan show how two restaurants may operate under one owner.
According to Keys Weekly, the original Key Colony Inn closed abruptly in July 2025 when its previous owners left town. The building sold for $3 million to new owner Jim Figueroa, who was already in the middle of building a second, brand-new restaurant called Water's Edge along Sadowski Causeway. Figueroa had hired Michael and Amanda Lordi, newlyweds who had just moved back to the Keys, to open Water's Edge. Then the Key Colony Inn came up for sale, and the plan changed.
"You're gonna be a lot busier, we got Key Colony," Figueroa told Michael the same morning the couple returned home, according to Michael's account in Keys Weekly.
The Lordis reopened the property in December 2025 as The Inn at Key Colony, an Italian-driven, from-scratch kitchen with a rotating menu. What makes this more than a simple reopening is the plumbing behind it. The Inn's kitchen was rebuilt with enough prep space to also function as the commissary for Water's Edge, meaning both restaurants will run food out of one back-of-house operation once Water's Edge opens. Amanda Lordi's own history threads through the same small circle of Marathon restaurants: she worked under the Inn's previous owners, Sergei and Lena Proudnik, back in 2013, then managed fine dining at Plaza Grill before returning to run the front of house at the Inn.
The Inn and Water's Edge are two restaurant names under one owner, with a shared kitchen planned; their staff has largely worked together or across the street from each other for over a decade.
Independent Openings
Some recent openings in Marathon have different ownership structures.
According to Keys Weekly, Lalo's Bar & Restaurant opened quietly at 11399 Overseas Highway in late 2025, running for months before its formal ribbon-cutting on January 21, 2026. Owners Eduardo Sanchez and Yerima Yera partnered with chef Giovanni Cardona to bring a sushi-forward menu, tempura, gyoza, and fried rice alongside the raw bar, into a stretch of Overseas Highway that hadn't had a dedicated sushi spot. Yera had spent a decade managing restaurants for other people before this.
"Being able to open Lalo's with my husband and chef Giovanni is a dream," she said at the opening, as reported by Keys Weekly.
Six days later, on January 27, La Chapina opened with a mariachi band welcoming diners to a Guatemalan menu Marathon hadn't seen before. Together, Lalo's and La Chapina add two independently owned options to Marathon's dining scene.
What Actually Changed, By Address
| Restaurant | Location | What happened | Who's behind it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florida Keys Steak and Lobster House | 3660 Overseas Hwy | Filed Chapter 11 this spring, dining room still open nightly | Maria Ely, owner since 2014 |
| The Inn at Key Colony (formerly Key Colony Inn) | 700 W Ocean Drive, Key Colony Beach | Closed abruptly July 2025, sold for $3M, reopened December 2025 | Owner Jim Figueroa; GM Michael Lordi and Amanda Lordi |
| Water's Edge | Sadowski Causeway, Key Colony Beach | New build; planned to share a commissary kitchen with the Inn | Jim Figueroa, Michael and Amanda Lordi |
| Lalo's Bar & Restaurant | 11399 Overseas Hwy #1 | Opened late 2025, ribbon cutting Jan. 21, 2026 | Eduardo Sanchez, Yerima Yera, chef Giovanni Cardona |
| La Chapina | Marathon | Grand opening Jan. 27, 2026, Guatemalan cuisine | Independent ownership |
Why This Matters If You Eat Here Regularly
None of this changes what's on the menu tonight. The openings and ownership details show different ways of operating. The Steak and Lobster House filing and the building's reported value describe separate parts of its financial picture. At Key Colony Inn, the new owner was already developing Water's Edge, and the two restaurants are planned to share a kitchen; their staff has largely worked together or across the street from each other for over a decade. The planned shared kitchen may streamline operations in a place where delivery trucks cross the Seven Mile Bridge.
Lalo's and La Chapina are two independently owned additions to Marathon's dining scene. This cycle also includes a planned shared-kitchen operation.
Whether you're weighing a move to Marathon or you've called Key Vaca or Grassy Key home for years, that distinction is worth knowing before you pick a favorite spot to root for. The Steak and Lobster House building has reported real estate equity; the other restaurants differ in their ownership and operating arrangements.
If you're thinking about what it actually looks like to live and buy property in a town where the restaurant scene turns over this fast, Talk to a Lower Keys real estate expert today with the Karen Haack Team. We've watched Marathon's Overseas Highway reshuffle for decades, and we're happy to walk you through what's actually changing here, on the water and off it.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
