Please note that eating options actually in the Park are limited, the only places to buy food and drink are Flamingo and Everglades City. The other visitor centers have vending machines which can be very handy for a cold drink but of limited use if you are looking for a nice lunch!

We tend to pick up a picnic lunch where ever we are staying and take it in with us. If you enter the park from the easterly entrance, Homestead and Florida City have plenty of places to acquire a picnic. Subway can be very handy & will wrap sandwiches in an extra bag if you ask. There is one in Florida City off highway 1 just south of the junction with West Palm Drive where you turn off the 1 to head for the Everglades. If you are coming in from the west along the Tamiami Trail, Naples is your best bet. The last sandwich shop I am aware of before you get to the Park is Blimpie (another sub sandwich chain),  most of the way out of town, just off the Tamiami Trail, south down Collier Boulevard (the 951). If you are coming from Naples itself try Larry’s Lunchbox (absolutely not a chain), it’s in East Naples, just to the north of the Tamiami Trail at 2650 Airport Road South, opposite the Courthouse.

We do not bother with a picnic if we are headed to Everglades City. There are a number of places to eat there. We like the Camellia Street Grill and City Seafood.