Steps from the baggage carousel, there’s a bar.
First Call Beach Bar sits landside in Key West International’s arrivals area, literally beside baggage claim at EYW. You don’t need a boarding pass, just walk over from the carousel and order while your bags roll out. It’s in the Main terminal arrivals hall, not past TSA, so anyone meeting a flight can use it.
Expect basic drinks and airport pricing: mostly standard domestic beers and simple mixed drinks, nothing like a craft cocktail list. Multiple reviews mention “the usual bottles” rather than anything rare or fancy. Figure roughly mid-tier $$ pricing, a few dollars higher than Duval Street happy hour. Card is widely accepted, and tabs are quick when it’s quiet.
Hours aren’t clearly published, and that matters if you land on the late Silver or Delta arrivals. The bar shares a phone number with Conch Flyer, 305-296-6333, and regulars actually call ahead using that number to make sure someone’s behind the bar before a 10 p.m. pickup. If no one answers, assume it may be dark when you arrive.
Use this place exactly as intended: kill 15–30 minutes with a beer while you watch the belt. One Google reviewer joked you can “literally get a beer while you wait for your bag at EYW,” and that’s the move. Locals picking up friends often grab a draft and stand by the screens instead of circling the tiny parking lot.
Watch out for two things. First, several reviewers call the drinks overpriced for what you get, especially compared with bars a $20 taxi ride away in Old Town. Second, service can bog down when a full flight dumps 70 people into baggage claim; there are occasional mentions of the bartender vanishing for a smoke or taking a while to catch up.
Practical tip: if you care more about timing than drink quality, hit First Call for one beer while bags appear, then save your serious cocktails for Duval Street once you’re out of the airport.