From a trolley to a table in Old Town.
A story about fire, craft, and the spirit of Key West.
It started on wheels.
Before there was a dining room, there was a trolley. A wood-fired oven mounted on wheels, rolling through the streets of Key West with a simple idea: that great pizza — real Neapolitan pizza, made with Italian craft and American heart — could belong to this island.
The fire was always the center of it. Not just for cooking, but for gathering. People would follow the smell of charred crust and bubbling mozzarella down the street. Something about an open flame draws people together in a way that nothing else quite does.
Rooted at 516 Fleming.
The trolley found its home at 516 Fleming Street in the heart of Old Town Key West. The wheels stopped, but the fire never did. We brought in an Italian-imported wood-fired oven — the kind that burns at 900°F and turns raw dough into something extraordinary in under two minutes.
The space became a place where the energy of the street and the warmth of a real Italian kitchen could coexist. Exposed brick, the glow of the oven, the sound of dough being stretched by hand — it felt right from the first day.
Scratch-made, every single day.
Every morning, the dough is made from scratch. We use 00 flour, a slow cold ferment, and a recipe that has been refined over years of making pizza in this climate, in this heat, for this community.
The sauce is San Marzano DOP — nothing else. The mozzarella is whole-milk fior di latte. The pasta is house-made. These aren't marketing claims; they're the decisions we make every day because we believe the difference is real and the people eating here deserve it.
Come as you are.
Key West has always been a place that welcomes everyone. Locals in flip-flops next to visitors in sundresses. Families celebrating milestones next to solo travelers eating at the bar. We've always wanted Clemente's to feel like that — a place where the food is serious but the atmosphere never takes itself too seriously.
The trolley is still part of who we are. It reminds us that great things don't always start in the most conventional places — and that the best meals are the ones shared with people you love, wherever you happen to find yourself.