Is a grouper sandwich grown in Florida costing $32 too much?
I think so is FL Governor Ron DeSantis.
Local seafood professionals ask for something different.
His recent remarks from the governor at Santa Rosa Beach’s Shank Garry Oyster Bar last month appeared to push back prices on eateries offerings to sign Walton County Beach Access Act.
“I know this is a great place to visit. I know there are a lot of people coming down. I’m looking at this sign, $32 for a grouper sandwich. They definitely make those tourists ponies,” DeSantis said. “I don’t know if I’m going to pull the trigger for $32. I love the grouper sandwich. I don’t know if I can pull the trigger for $32.”
DeSantis isn’t the only one who responds.
Not to mention business costs for local fishermen, several factors, including inflation and climate change, have steadily increased the costs of local seafood, adds Micrombardi, who founded Lombardi in Winter Park in 1961.
The battle for local fishing is a topic close to his heart.
“For local boats fishing in local waters, it’s extremely difficult to compete with the price of imported grouper,” says Lombardi. “It requires a large investment that fishermen need to catch the grouper.”
Most consumers, he, and many seafood-only restaurateurs in this town agree, and are not aware of the cost required to bring Florida local grouper (a fish that are highly demanding and difficult to catch) to the market.
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“(Fisherman) needs to pay for tackles, bait and fuel. In addition, they need a Gulf Reef permit that could cost up to $30,000,” explains Lombardi. But that doesn’t end there.
Each year, the Fish and Wildlife Committee and NOAA Fisheries set catch restrictions.
“Sustainability is good…” Lombardi says. “…We all hope that the fish will be there in the future.”
Therefore, fishermen adhere to the quota. And he explains that people in business are lucky enough to have stocks in it for a long enough time, commonly referred to as “allocation.”
“One fisherman could have an allocation of 3% (of the annual total). Another fisherman could have a 2%. Another percentage, half.
This means that fishermen spend more than their allocations on additional costs and much less in their haul.
Lombardi explains: “You can get $6 per pound in the grouper on the market, but you have to pay $3 per pound for the right to catch it.
That’s a lot of numbers, Tim O’Leary admits.
He and his brothers opened the seafood from Lake Mary Lighthouse in 2003 as a wholesale and retail fish market, adding the popular No-Frill Café in 2020.
At the time of the press, it was a black grouper and was caught off the coast of St. Augustine, but O’Leary, like many other restaurateurs, is offered based on what is available.
“It’s a gag grouper. Grey or yellow edge. The average person can’t taste the difference.”
Lombardi agrees.
“You’ll have to be a very sophisticated grouper consumer,” he says. There are over 150 species.
Lombardi, whose business is 80% wholesale, sells a lot to many local restaurants. These include fresh species from the same Gulf coast as Florida, but come from the Mexican waters.
“Their laws aren’t that strict,” he says, “often it can be sold cheaper and sold. Florida grouper now runs between $23-25 per pound. Mexico may be in the $18-20 range.”
Lombardi’s also sells frozen grouper imported from Asia to many customers. This could run for $10-12 per pound, allowing the facility to reduce the cost of sandwiches. According to him, everything is a great, high quality product.
Mike Smith, the current seafood restaurant family owner (seek to open his new Sanford and Orlando opening soon), will have a fresh freeze for almost all of his stocks. Notable: His sandwiches were most recommended when the “best grouper” question popped into the Orlando Sentinel’s “Let’s Eat, Orlando” Facebook page.
“Everyone wants the best at the lowest price and we found a Nexus of quality and price,” he says.
The current second seller, the fried grouper sandwich, is $16, the cheapest restaurant voted for.
“Finding the ground between them was my secret sauce,” he contemplates.
Accessibility is also the trick of Brennan Heretic at High Tide Harry’s, with Houper Sandwich, which costs $21.99, about to get a $2 price hike.
“We get as fresh as possible black grouper.
Heretics are often bought from Lombardi.
“I always want to make everything as much as I can as America and hyperlocal…but we have a lot of retired people who may not go to the $28 place for grouper sandwiches.”
So many places make little profits with sandwiches and appear elsewhere to keep grouper on the menu.
“Because of public perception, you can’t charge a grouper sandwich that much,” says Drew Weisner, co-owner chef of the park, co-owner and executive chef of Imperial.
Now it’s Florida Black. Buy the whole thing fresh and costs $22.65 per pound.
He does mathematics:
“Let’s make that fillet $12. Divide it by $28. You’re making 42.85% food expenses. It’s on the raw fish. I want to keep that in perspective for people like the governor and generally be about 32%.”
Patrons often tell Wisener that the sandwiches are too cheap. But that’s exactly the strategy: have a regular.
“They said, ‘Sandwiches should cost $49!” And in reality, we’re going to be victimized in some areas.
Perhaps the governor, whose reported net worth exceeded $2 million in 2024, will be willing to pull the trigger at $28, but Lombardi has five ships in his market, while DeSantis says he can do a lot to make the local fisheries more competitive.
“That’s a big tax revenue,” admits Lombardi. “However, the degree of accountability for catches is much less. I am a recreational fisherman too, but every time I decide to take more from the commercial and give it to the REC, the price of the fish gets higher and higher.”
The lighthouse sandwiches have yet to reach $32, but O’Leary says most customers opt in for $29.95.
Some people choose cheaper options, but the cost is not a line. A recent piece of seafood sauce cites the price of its shank garry sandwich as “normal… not price gouging.”
Lombardi and others in this town agree.
“Governor, $32 isn’t that much for a local grouper sandwich in Florida,” he says. “If you want to support local fishermen, that’s what’s costing.”
Find me on Facebook, Tiktok, Twitter, Instagram @Amydroo, or Osfoodie Instagram account @orlando.foodie. Email: amthompson@orlandosentinel.com, For more food fun, join Let’s Eat and Orlando Facebook Group.
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If you’re going
Current seafood counter: $16 for fried grouper sandwiches, with old bee fries. Edgewater Drive, 2425 Orlando. thecurrentseafoodcounter.com
High Tide Harry’s: $21.99 grouper sandwich, baked, fried, baked or painted black in two regular or one premium side dishes. Prices will rise to $23.99 by the end of the month. 4645 S. Semoran Blvd. Orlando, 407-273-4422; hightideharrys.com
Imperial On Park: $28 for a fried grouper sandwich with fries. 136 S. Park Ave. in Winter Park, 321-972-9294; ImperialWinebar.com
Reelfish Coastal Kitchen + Bar: $28 for a fried grouper sandwich with fries. 1234 N. Orange Ave. In Winter Park, 407-543-3474; refelfishcoastal.com
Lighthouse Seafood: $29.95 in grouper sandwich, fried, flame-broking, black, grilled, coleslaw, fries and hush puppies. 101 N. Lake Mary Country Club Road, 407-330-2425; lighthouse-seafood.com
