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

Nice place, down home eat and chill on the river , fried seafood good. Worth the drive.

Restaurant is moved, not on the river anymore. Ate there twice because I was giving them a 2nd chance... Not impressed .. will not return.

Great food. Great little salad bar. My husband and I love coming here whenever we can. We personally prefer the restaurant downstairs over the bar upstairs. I recommend this place. read more

we had a boat full of 9 people...had the best food and drinks ever-----the service was the great , everyone friendly. will be back again read more

Not even sure where to start with this place. Management on the day we visited was non-existent to say the least. We arrived at this restaurant and it was about half full. We sat ourselves as we were told. We were greeted by a nice server and she got our drinks and order quickly. My wife ordered the Open Face Prime Rib which was the special for that day. I ordered a double cheeseburger. Both were recommended by our server. This is where things went terribly wrong. After waiting twenty-five (25) minutes for our food we asked our server what the status of our food was. She advised she saw them making it and it would be very soon. Okay great no problem. By this time, the restaurant started filling up. After forty (40) minutes of waiting we still had no food and no sign of our server. Finally, our server was taking food to another table by ours and we were able to stop her. Once again, she told us she saw the cooks making the food and it was coming up next. Yet again another lie and still no food as promised. After fifty minutes (50) and still no food I stopped the server again and she stated she has no idea what is taking so long and she was very sorry. I asked her why she kept telling us it was coming when that was not the truth. She walked away and got what we were told was the manager. If this man, with a beard was the manager then that explains anything and everything one needs to know about this restaurant and its poor service. This so-called manager was disrespectful to my wife who was trying to explain the issue to him. As she was telling him about the wait he interrupted her and stated "this is not a fast food restaurant and we have a full house." My wife advised him she is aware this is not fast food especially after waiting fifty (50) minutes for food. She then advised him we arrived before the restaurant was full and that is why we don't understand why it was taking so long. I asked him why it was taking so long and he was not able to answer me. It was not as if we ordered special requested items. This managers attitude throughout trying to speak to him was unhelpful and disrespectful. He did nothing and didn't even try to assist us. He didn't even bother go to the kitchen to find out where our food was or how much longer it would be. The manager then walked away from out table and next thing we know our server put our bill on our table for the two drinks we had. We asked her what this was and she stated the Manager canceled our order. Both my wife and I said What? Why? She stated she had no idea why she was just doing what she was told. I then asked to speak to the Manager again and he came over and said we canceled our order. I looked at him and stated we did not such thing! I advised him if anyone made that decision it was him not either of us as we have already waited fifty minutes. My wife and I paid for our drinks and walked out. Do not waste your time on this place. This is the type of place that gives Mom and Pop restaurants bad names. It is my intentions to make contact with the owners regarding this person yes person as no true manager would conduct himself in such a manner. He refused to provide me his name and when I called the restaurant they would not give it to me either. Lastly, this place has an issue with the servers touching the prepared food sitting in the window to be delivered to the table with their bare hands right after cleaning up tables. This is both unsanitary and is a violation of the health code. We will for sure avoid this restaurant based on this visit. read more

We stopped by Castaways for lunch one Saturday while out for a drive. Before eating we needed to use the "common area" rest room which is not inside the restaurant. I was shocked to see stacks of Styrofoam cups, paper products, crock pots, etc stacked and stored in the shower stall of the bathroom. Figuring this a health risk, we decided to drive on a short distance and had a GREAT meal at a new restaurant new to the area, The Roost. Great choice!!!!! TS read more

Great food, good view staff is friendly they even have a resident alligator. Prices are a little high but well worth it

Food is great. Service level depends on who you get. Some are good...others not so much. Good atmosphere, especially when on the floating dock. read more

Excellent food in a relaxed environment. Good for the whole family. Music on weekends is fantastic. They have moved from their original location, but the food is just as good and atmosphere got more family friendly. One of my favorite eat outs in the area read more

We ordered soup for starters. My clam chowder was lukewarm to cold. Waited about 30 min for soup to arrive. Server Tiffany chatted with other employees while much food piled up in serving window. My wife ordered corn chowder and server brought her a spicy crab bisque, saying "the board was wrong". And offering no apology for knowingly bringing her the wrong order. I got the bacon wrapped shrimp which was cold and underdone. The grouper fingers were hot but dry and fishy tasting. We wondered if it was really grouper? That was our first and last visit. read more

We really enjoyed the afternoon on the floating deck. Beautiful setting, wonderful food, great waitress! Very pleasant, peaceful atmosphere. Fun place to go and relax! read more

Just drove out there today only to find the doors closed. There was a barely legible sign saying closed for remodeling and that the lease was up. I hope that it isn't permanent. read more

we visited on Aug 16th to have a late lunch. The restaurant wasn't busy at all ... two other guest. The service was very slow; food was just ok; we had to track down the server for our check. The check came to $20.22 so I signed the receipt and left $3 cash for a tip. Checking my account they charged me an extra $2.02 for a tip. Guess my $3 wasn't good enough for poor service. Will NEVER go there again. read more

My husband & I had a non-traditional Christmas this year. We went nature viewing & hiking in the Ocala National Forest. On our way there, we noticed THIS restaurant off the side of the road around 2pm on Christmas Day...packed with cars in the parking lot! After sunset & on our way back home we noticed the restaurant again & I asked The Hubster if he wanted to stop here for dinner. Luckily for the both of us, he said yes! We got to the restaurant on Christmas evening around 6pm & they were still fairly busy! Who knew that people went out to eat on Christmas day?! While I was reading their rather extensive menu, The Hubster was checking out the little table placard that had Christmas dinner specials on it. I think there were 4 or 5 choices on there. My husband went with the turkey, mashed potatoes & gravy. I went with the Meat Lovers Lasagna. Now, I'm a big eater. Really! But when I was served my lasagna I was in awe of how big the portion was. It was served to me in a individual ramikin-type dish, overflowing with melted cheese on top. It had beef inside, pork sausage & I'm pretty sure, some pepperoni. OMG! It was home-made & I could tell! So much flavor & so much cheese & so much meat! My lasagna was also served with a small side salad & 2 pieces of garlic bread, all for only $8.99!!!!!!!!!! My husband enjoyed his dinner & kept remarking how incredibly good the gravy was. My meal was very impressive! Service was very friendly & efficient. The owner came over to say hi & to ask about our meal. The place was doing an excellent business. I WILL BE BACK!!!!!!! Their prices are also relatively inexpensive. They also have a good-sized bar that's in the middle of the main dining room along with a dining area out back for smokers. Go! You will be glad that you did! read more

Great staff. Great food. Great service BUT, apparently they make so much money and have such a monopoly on employees and customers they can make you suffer through unbearable heat INSIDE. The AC has been inadequate for months and in spite of employee and customer complaints (even from locals and regulars) they refuse to either fix the AC. It's beyond uncomfortable. Don't go if you wanna escape the Florida heat you will only be disappointed. read more

Not sure why this place has such varied reviews. We stopped here on the way home on a busy Saturday night. The place was pretty slammed, but the service was friendly and reasonably fast. Seafood was good, the sides were mediocre (don't bother with the salad unless you like white iceberg), the view on the river is great and the atmosphere is very casual. Overall a good stop for a quick meal in a local waterfront setting with reasonable prices. read more

This place is on the river just over a bridge. People can dock their boats and have a meal. We sat outside on the water which had a very relaxed atmosphere. I have mixed feelings about the food. I went with my family and we all tend to share everything we order so I can say the following: the burger is delicious and has that cooked-over-charcoal-in-the-back-yard taste. If you have one of their burgers I'm sure you will agree. Their fries are a terrible attempt to make them fresh (cutting their own potatoes)....they were all soggy and sitting in a puddle of oil. The fish of the fish n chips was great. The bloomin' onion was okay but the base of the onion was filled with uncooked flour which spoiled the appetizer. My mother in law says the frog legs were dilicious but I did not try those. I ordered thier special prime rib dip sandwich... It was pretty much all fat and I only had one bite which nearly made me vomit. Overall... Order a burger... Sub the fries for anything else...and sit outside. I will go there again knowing what is good on the menu. read more

Good delicious food. Normal prices. A really nice place considering your on the edge of a forest. Very popular. Service is a whole different story. Service started out fair but somewhat slow. I just assumed is was because it was busy or our wait person had a large group. But service deteriorated from there to painfully sluggish. I think it was just our waitress (Linda) because all the tables I could see around us, that did not have our waitress, appeared to be getting very attentive service. More disturbing was the manager who was checking on everyone, he was either non sympathetic or just going thru the motions and oblivious to our plight. People that came in much after us got drinks, food, refills, any special requests and left way before us. We RV all along hwy-40 in this area and it will be awhile before I return to Castaways. read more

First time we ate there was today and we drove from Ocala to eat there. We ordered the clam bellies as a starter and they needed to be cooked more. Breading was falling off and they were cold. My sister ordered the grilled chicken and it tasted like it was frozen chicken,. I ordered the fried fish platter with cole slaw and french fries., The fries were the worst I;ve ever had...wilted and not crispy at all. The fish was not cooked all the way through. Sent it back and the the fries came back in a basket soaked in grease and still not crispy. The fish was still not cooked well so I sent it back again and didn't try anything else. I think their oil was not hot enough for the food to get cooked through. We won't go back there. Our server was good. read more

The bartender is the only helpful employee at this restaurant. Our server Donna came to our table once and we never saw her again. I had to go inside to ask the bartender to take our order. After waiting an hour and a half for our food we find out our order was forgotten/"not printed". Speaking with the manager did nothing, we never got our food and they charge just for our drinks. Will not be coming here again. read more

4 of us ate here on Oct 10, 2015, our bill was $96.00 we left a $20.00 tip on the table, and payed the bill with a card, we have our receipt showing we signed for $96.00, yet when we got the bank statement the restaurant took it upon themselves to add another $14.00 on for what I don't know, possibly a tip or a service charge? If it was for another tip I think $34.00 was way too much. read more

OK We went to Castaways today just on a whim, it is about 1 hour from where we live but we were looking for somewhere new to try, The service was good we placed our app order & drinks, I had the oysters rockefeller and it was pretty good-the oysters could have been a bit more done but I love raw oysters so this was not anything major. I also ordered the Conch Fritters, this is something I love if done correctly, but these came out under cooked so I sent them back to remake--I think they just put them back in the fryer, which you cannot do--they came out way too crispy on the outside and not hot inside-plus about a min after they came back out someone brought 1 more out to the table and said here is the other one--and it was not cooked as dark and it was hot inside---My wife ordered a Hamburger & home made fries, she said it was great a very good burger. I was told by the waitress that the Crab Cakes were amazing -home made and since I love good crab cakes I gave it a shot--As for amazing they are not--They are good but not great--they hide the crab cake under a sauce and diced tomatoes, An amazing crab cake can stand on it's own it needs nothing to enhance it--My sides were just coleslaw & fried Okra --coleslaw was average and the okra I would not order again-tasted like prepackaged frozen. So Overall the food was average nothing special-It may be the best food in Astor but then there seem to be few choices, Would I drive an hour again to go back?? Probably not, If I were in the area and hungry I would give it another try. read more

today was our first visit it was our 19th anniversary i can say that we will not return seafood was very water logged crabcake was imitation crab , not great at all read more