After 52 Years, the Captain's Tavern in Pinecrest Remains a Family Affair

In much the same way as a lighthouse beckons ships in the night, the beaming, weathered sign of the Captain's Tavern in Pinecrest welcomes diners from far and wide in search of friendly service, a cozy atmosphere, and very, very fresh seafood.

In 1971, Bill "the Captain" Bowers opened the doors of his seafood restaurant in the boondocks of southwest Miami-Dade. Bowers had a vision beyond the boondocks, and the area evolved into what is now Pinecrest, where the Captain's Tavern remains an institution for locals and tourists alike.

When Bowers died in 2020 at the age of 91, his wife, Audrey Palomino Bowers, and their son, Dale Palomino, who has worked at the Captain's Tavern since he was 16 years old and now serves as head chef, took over. So it has remained a family affair, and the patriarch's presence remains very much in evidence.

"He helped a lot of people," Palomino says of his late father. "He always looked out for the people who worked for him and took care of anyone who was down on their luck — people don't forget that."
To say Bowers was beloved in the community is an understatement. Whether you are seated at a table in the dining room or bellied up to the bar, you'll be hard-pressed not to overhear a loyal patron excitedly guiding a first-timer through the menu, recommending their favorite dishes or sharing an affectionate anecdote about "The Captain."

In addition to building loyal relationships with his customers and staff, Bowers built trusted business partnerships with seafood suppliers around the world, allowing him to offer fresh, abundant seafood to his clientele at fair, affordable prices.

Likewise, the restaurant's vast and varied wine list is a testament to the many close, personal relationships Bowers and his wife built over the years with winemakers from California, Australia, and Europe. Don't be fooled by the kitsch: The Captain's Tavern boasts an impressive wine selection, one that won so many "Best of Miami" awards for "Best Wine List" over the decades that New Times finally had to cut 'em off and recognize some other places.

The Captain's seafood market, adjacent to the restaurant, ensures a consistent, available inventory of fresh seafood that customers have come to depend on. And crowds come in droves during stone crab season. It's even been said that, until his health declined, Bowers himself could be seen hauling crates of stone crabs into the market and through the dining room as hungry patrons cheered him on. He made a point of being at the restaurant every day, inspecting each delivery of fresh seafood, helping the kitchen staff, shucking oysters, or simply mingling with patrons.

Bowers ran the Captain's Tavern with a simple ethos carried on by his wife and son to this day: Offer a quality product at a fair value — when customers trust you, they'll keep coming back.

The Captain's legacy lives on in the wood-paneled walls of the restaurant. 

Warmly illuminated by a lantern-lit glow, the dining room is a rustic, sailor-chic menagerie of model ships and nautical nostalgia, transporting you back to the swinging, seafaring 1970s. According to locals who have dined at the Captain's Tavern for decades, the place is a veritable time capsule.

"We're a family restaurant," Palomino says. "The best feeling is to see kids who grew up eating here bring their own kids in to eat. We want our customers to have the same experience today that they had coming in with their families back in the day."
The menu, the apotheosis of a seafood lover's delight, continues to offer the tried-and-true staples that made the Captain's Tavern famous: cracked conch, oysters Rockefeller, and, of course, a Tuesday two-for-one Maine lobster special. The restaurant also offers a full raw bar and sushi menu. Pretty much everything at the Captain's Tavern is housemade, from the sauces to the desserts. 

One of the iconic dishes on the menu, the Jamaican yellowtail, pays homage to Audrey Bowers' native Jamaica. Served whole or filleted, the fish is simmered in orange, allspice, and thyme and served with plantains atop rice and peas.

A cheesy seafood risotto comes with tender scallops and shrimp, crisp asparagus, and shiitake mushrooms.

Other crowd favorites include coconut shrimp with housemade circus marmalade; conch fritters with a sweet, curry-kissed barbecue sauce; and the clam chowder, a rich, classic New England version loaded with clams and herb-seasoned potatoes.

As the Captain's new captains, Audrey and Dale's goal is to continue to offer their beloved customers the same great food and honest service they've come to expect over the decades. If you haven't dined at the Captain's Tavern in 20 years, one visit will assure you that little has changed. And in a transient city where flash-in-the-pan restaurants come and go as quickly as the last social-media fad, the Captain's Tavern remains a constant port in the storm.

"We have the most loyal clientele," Palomino tells New Times. "As soon as you come in and sit down, you see and hear that everyone knows each other."

They also know what they like — and it's exactly what the Captain's Tavern has been serving up hot for 52 years.

"If there's one thing we hear more than anything else from our customers, it's, 'Don't change a thing,'" says Palomino. And they don't intend to.

The Captain's Tavern. 9625 S. Dixie Hwy., Pinecrest; 305-666-5979; captainstavernmiami.com. Tuesday through Saturday 4 to 10 p.m. and Sunday 4 to 9 p.m. Seafood market (305-661-4237) Monday through Saturday 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.