So this was my first time here and the staff made me feel like it was 1,000th time here. I started with the U Peel Em's and they were cooked to perfection!! Cold, and crispy!! Whoever cooked them put em in an ice bath immediately! Well done Chef Anthony knocked it out of the park! I then saw Escargot and had to try it. Best I've ever had and I order it wherever I go. Then had the backed French onion soup and it had a special twist to it. A great one at that!! Johnny was a very knowledgeable guy and took great care of me for a solo dining at the bar. Well done staff!! I'll be back soon!! read more

Great little place. Very good food, awesome service from Bobby our waitress. Happy to find this little gem in the backwoods. First night we Got the crab cake dinner, delicious. Second night we got a blackened shrimp poboy sandwich and blackened grouper sandwich. Both were excellent. Will be back the next time we are up there. Thanks Bobby! read more

On a moments notice, took in a party of 14 less than an hour before closing...and stayed open an hour late for us!! They greeted us openly and ensured we had an absolutely great time celebrating our birthday girl. Food was spectacular, everything came out perfectly timed, not a single mistake and just an overwhelmingly amazing experience! Bobbie and Johnny were freaking awesome! We will come to Castaways every visit to Astor from now on! read more

Food was so good. My burger was huge and tender and my nieve had a tuna melt and it was delicious. Definitely give it a try. Great vibe with locals and tourists. read more

Great fun restaurant with nice atmosphere and good food! Go by boat! It's so much fun and they are great in helping with whatever is needed.

If you're looking for a great burger, this is the place. One of our favorite places to stop after hiking Ocala. Be sure to try their strawberry lemonade. Servers are friendly and attentive. Parking is ample and they are biker friendly. read more

Castaways Restaurant - Seafood Near Me - Astor, Florida

Will not get better service anywhere else. Food is gas and the entire place is just a great time.

Wow! What amazing and friendly service and the food was so unexpectedly great for being a restaurant in the middle of Astor! Had the conch fritters which were 100% on point! Husband and I both had burgers and literally had to tell the cook it was the best burgers we've had in forever!! Cooked perfectly to temperature requested and juicy and fan-freakin-tastic!! I'd leave 10 stars if I could I was so impressed with this restaurant, food and staff! Come to Astor often, first visit here and definitely will not be our last!! read more

I had their special tonight which is spaghetti meat sauce pretty good lots of room to sit a bar lots of room to park Friday and Saturday nights bands come and visit read more

We were thankful to find this gem on a Sunday night while traveling back to Daytona from the villages. Extensive menu, so we went with recommendations for our awesome waiter, John. Boom Boom blackened shrimp, Rib Eye Cobb Salad and a fantastic Burger. Great food, friendly service. Glad we ended up off the beaten path!! read more

Love town bars. This place is greatly. Great customer service, great food, great price. This place is just straight up good.

Let me start by saying this is one of those places you wish you could give 10 stars!! Our server was Johnny and ya'll he is amazing! His food recommendations were spot on. Everything we ate was nothing short of amazing! Great food and great atmosphere. Prices were beyond reasonable. We will absolutely be back again! read more

I have only eaten the lunch such as; grouper sandwich and mushroom burger. The grouper was old, extremely fishy smelling. I say boarder line bad. The burger was ok but lots of bun. Fries this depends on your taste but I don't care for limp stick type. The remodel is good and service was good. I think I will try the steaks one time based on everyone's reviews; I hope this is better. read more

Service started out slow but waitress came over and was very friendly. Outside deck is a floating deck built on an old boat so the rocking back and forth is pretty cool. Menu varied but we decided to go with 2 dozen steamed oysters, 1# steamed shrimp and an onion blossom. Should have taken the other reviews about service more seriously. 1 hour after ordering all we had gotten were our drinks and they were never refilled, although they did offer to several times. When we got up to leave I approached one if the wait staff to inform them that we had waited for an hour and still no food or drink refills and they said they had been a little hectic today. The place wasn't even close to being filled and there were other tables that ha been seated when we walked in that still had no food either. Asked for a manager and was told they were busy. Can't recommend this establishment but I did have hopes that this little spot on the river was going to be a nice place to come to and enjoy. Not sure I will give them another chance. read more

Food was great, Atmosphere was great and the service was wonderful. We loved sitting outside on the floating dock. We have found our new favorite place!! read more

Castaways Restaurant - The outside seating - Seafood Near Me - Astor, Florida

I was driving through Astor about 9:30PM on a Saturday night looking for some dinner and happened upon this place. If you have been to the area, you know there are not many choices. I actually stopped at Blackwater Inn first, but nothing really appealed to me and then I noticed this place across the water and decided to give it a try. It is a very casual establishment with inside and outside seating. Actually, visiting Astor is like traveling back in time and this restaurant is no exception. I wanted to try some steamed oysters, but they were out for the evening. After discussing what was somewhat fresh or actually made in the restaurant (swai - their fish sandwich is not) I settled on the fried shrimp dinner. It is supposedly breaded in house and my colleague had fish and chips, fresh breaded also. Their breading is panko-like and both entrees were cooked very well. My only issue was the thickness, but the taste and cook was fine. The sides were hot and prices were average. The two odd issues were the Coke was all carbonation and little Coke and the three butter packs literally shoved into the potato was odd (see picture). I could only hope clean hands held them before they were packed in. The service was reasonably speedy and attentive, and the waitress was exceptionally helpful with both descriptions of the food and with area information. I would not hesitate to stop again. read more

Castaways Restaurant - Fried Shrimp Dinner. - Seafood Near Me - Astor, Florida

I have eaten here for lunch and dinner at least 20 times in the past 2-3 years. The food is always very good and the service is excellent. This is a very popular restaurant with the locals and it can get very, very busy. But the staff seems to step up the pace and provides excellent service. I especially like their seafood selections. My husband says the burgers are excellent. read more

Good food and great service. Slightly high prices and typical pub/sports bar fare. It would be five stars if there was a bit more variety on the menu, and if the drinks didn't have that stale ice flavor. There's a little souvenir shop in the corner if you want branded shirts or hats. read more

Very good place. Good atmosphere and excellent food. We had peel and eat shrimp, raw oysters, boom boom shrimp, and grouper sandwich. All perfect and very good. Definitely recommend this place. read more

I led a group of over 35 bikers from the Southern Cruisers Riding Club to Castaways on April 12th. Prior to our planned ride, I had called a few weeks ahead of time to make sure a group of around 20-25 would be ok. The morning of the ride, the gal called me to confirm and I let her know it was going to be 35 at least. With some of the staff out sick that day it would be just 2 servers. I have to tell you, these 2 gals HUSTLED and did an outstanding job of taking care of our large group along with other customers that were there. The food all came out hot and everything was delicious! We will be back!! They deserve more than 5 stars!! read more

First time here. Traveling through and decided to stop. Fantastic food and friendly service. Prices were wonderful! Family of five ate and had two drinks for less than $70! read more

Tasty food, friendly service, and great live music! We enjoyed a variety of appetizers and a trio of soups, all delicious! If you are passing by, it is definitely worth stopping in! read more

I enjoy coming out to this restaurant. Little way out there hut always worth thr trip. Blackened blue cheese shrimp is the best.

We were passing by and stopped in for lunch. I ordered the grilled chicken sandwich. It was beyond inedible and possibly bad--guess we'll see later. The server took it back to the kitchen and replaced it with the black and blue burger. She told me that the "wrong chicken" was delivered and yet, they served it to me anyway. Here is my question--what does that mean?!?!? Wrong chicken? The black and blue burger had bleu cheese dressing instead of bleu cheese, and was...underwhelming. I would not suggest this place and my fingers are crossed that I don't get sick. read more

This is the second time I've been here and very happy both times. Service started out a little slow but Nicole made up for it in rapid speed. Excellent food, fries are cut fresh in shoestring style and not crispy but they are FRESH. Which is more important to me. We live about an hour and a half away and its a nice place to make a day trip to and someday we will stay in the hotel. Excellent atmosphere. Very relaxing. Eat drink and watch the boats idle by Great job to all read more

We've been eating here for 10 years, we're snowbirds. I've no idea what has happened, but this year we've quit going there. After 3 trys, with food that was never what we ordered, we talked to friends who have the same opinion. Also,the new menu has dropped our favorites. We're sad! read more

Biggest disappointment ever! Ordered food after seeing their menu online, which, first of all was completely outdated. We called to place an order and while the waitress was really nice we did not at all get what we asked for. The broiled platter does not live up to its name. Even after asking for extra fish and shrimp, because they were out of crab,we only got 6 small pieces of shrimp and 2 pieces of fish. On the menu the platter comes with hush puppies, the actual plate does not. Needless to say we had to cook some more food at home for a fulfilling meal. Charging 26$ for the plate is definitely a ripoff. Maybe we came on a bad day but we were highly disappointed! read more

The shrimp was fresh the French onion soup was the best I've had. Great service really enjoyed ourselves today.

I enjoy going to this place and Blackwater Inn the food has always been good however at times the service here can be pretty slow they stay very busy though and overall it's a great place to eat. read more

We made the thirty-five mile drive over to Astor from Ormond Beach to eat at Castaways because we had heard it was good. We ordered the shrimp dinner at $13.95. As I ate my fried shrimp, it seemed tough and I figured it was a bit old, but I continued eating. On my fifth shrimp, the coating peeled away and I noticed a strange taste in my mouth, so I spit it out and discovered the poop vein had never been removed. I asked the waiter if they clean the poop vein from their shrimp and he responded they do not. That was the end of my dinner right there. I do not eat poop. Oddly enough, when he collected my plate and saw more than half the shrimp uneaten, he never offered to reduce our tab or even apologize for the terrible quality of the food. He simply presented us with a full tab. Will I ever try eating there again? HELL NO!!! read more

Food was good. Service was as good as their previous location. To bad we could not finish eating our meal. The staff did nothing to try to quiet a couple with a SCREAMING two or three year old spoiled child. read more

Very clean and relaxed atmosphere. Service was attentive and fast! Food quality was high and a lot of it is made fresh, in house! Great stop after exploring around the Ocala forest. read more

Castaways Restaurant - Seafood Near Me - Astor, Florida

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Great location however because of it servers are overwhelmed and they told us 1 hr wait for food. We opted for a round of drinks on the party barge and took off down the river for a more organized place. Lucky we know about Shaddy Oak Fish camp at the SR 44 bridge. Much more laid back fish camp with great food. read more

Quaint restaurant nestled along the St John's River with great, fresh seafood. I ordered the Big Bob Fish Sandwich, Blackened, and the portion was HUGE. It was delicious. My wife had the Lobster Bisque and it was very tasty as well. The outside seating area is on a floating dock and had a nice breeze. Thoroughly enjoyed the lunch and we will be back! read more

Friday night this is the place to be! It was pouring rain out and this place was still slammed. Live music, booze, water, decent food and good service. Their regular musician was playing acoustic and banjo. Very entertaining music selections. The place gets packed and you might have to wait a while for a seat inside but it is seat yourself out on the water. Food was what we expected but we saw some very good looking steaks go by that seemed to be worth trying. The young man that waited on our table was polite and friendly. Overall a great time. Only reason I didn't give 4 stars was because the food was nothing special. The scenery makes it worth the visit. read more

This is one of my favorite post-adventure dining spots. The food is solid, live music is fairly on point, staff is knowledgable and friendly. I keep getting the steamed snow crab and it's great. Friends love the fish sandwiches and it's definitely at a decent price point. Located on the water, we've seen aligators, boats, and fisherfolk while dining. I will say, if you are eating at duck, bring bug spray--it gets pretty mosquitoey once the sun sets. read more

Don't order the gumbo! Salty to compensate for flavor. No okra. Not the same Castaways it used to be when it was on the river.

Ate there once food was fair and service poor to fair. Went back and after 10 minutes of waiting and 6 other people who came in after us had there drinks and food ordered, we left. Waitress completely ignored us. Last time for us. read more

There is a wide variety of food to choose from and everything we tried was very good. The waitress was friendly and personable as was the owner. The one downside was that there was no draft beer available and the bottle selection was nothing special. This was our first time there and we would certainly visit again on our way through the area. read more

Great Food and Superb Soup ..... Love the Deck..... But the Problem is always Bad Bad Service and I use to eat there Once a Week or Twice with Friends and when 4 People Agree that Its Bad Service and Told the Management it was there's is a Problem and We Do not Eat there Anymore for that Reason but Miss That Soup ..... read more