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    El Gran Patron

    3.2 (48 reviews)
    Closed 11:00 am - 10:00 pm

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    EL GRAN PATRON ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Dogs allowed
    Outdoor seating

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    Skinny Margarita

    Starting at the beginning, with the salsa and chips. The salsa had no flavor whatsoever and looked like thick tomato juice. I ordered the fried chimichanga with taco meat. When I cut into the chimichanga, the meat looked grainy and mealy. I only ate 2 bites. The refried beans had no trace of any beans and the guac and sour cream were about a tablespoon worth. I visited on a Friday night and the restaurant was nearly empty with the exception of my party and a larger (over 12) party. Our waitress was not very tentative as we had to ask for her to get our order in and the other waitstaff were busy putting up holiday decorations. Customer service was poor. I did have a skinny margarita that was pretty good. That's the only positive thing I can say.

    Taco salad
    JoAnna C.

    Busy place with friendly staff, large portions, and tons of drink options. A little disappointed in the sopapillas (not pictured) as they had chocolate drizzle rather than honey and were a bit crispier than expected, but the other food was very tasty and served hot. I enjoyed the rum chata colada and taco salad (no tomatoes). My friend also enjoyed the dinner as prepared and we had another plate to go. Kids options, indoor and outdoor seating with a nice view. Will return.

    My $15.99 margarita which was nothing special...print drink menu prices - it's good business
    Natasha M.

    I like the idea of a new spot at the lake - but it was a turn off to see that drink prices were not listed in the menu and my basic skinny margarita was $15.99!!! The margarita was one shot of tequila, fresh squeezed lime and garnished with lime, orange, and cherry......if I had know the price - I would've ordered a standard tequila club soda. It was just a bowl glass with nothing special about it. I saw other reviews mention the drink prices being high....food prices average. I will visit again but definitely ask questions about drink prices - print them on the menu like everyone else!

    Gerald V.

    New Mexican Restaurant with a Lake front view. Tucked at the end of the lake near the Dam, this place has amazing views. Dropped in on a Saturday eve , this place was super busy. The inside is typical wooden tables and booths with colorful mexican flair. The inside is quite large with many many seats. We were quickly seated by the host and hostess. They started us with drinks and baskets of chips with salsa.the salsa is flavorful and mild, we quicky emptied the first bowl and was given another. They offer a full bar, we opted for Mex Beer and Jumbo Margaritas The menu is colorful and full of pictures. Lots of options and several specialities to choose from, they even have a build your own combo, 2 or 3 items. We tried that. I ordered the burrito, enchilada and tamale with rice and beans ( beef) and we also orderee a 2 item, quesedilla and chile rellano plate. Wow-! Serving sizes were large. The food - served piping hot and oh so delicious. The tamale was outstanding! The enchilada sauce super tasty. The chile loaded with cheese and oozing out all iver the plate into a red sauce and the beans!! Yummm. Everything we saw pass the table looked great. Be hungry if you order the 3 item combo- i couldnt finish - so I had a box to take home. Once issue about this new place is parking- the signage is small and you have to go through the mariana boat area and a gate( get a token to get out) its free but a little confusing if it is your first time here. Food prices are good - bar prices seemed a little high but nothing to outrageous. Check this place out - its off the beaten path but well worth the trip.

    Sunset at the Restaurant.
    Debbie K.

    The food is really good! Service is awesome! Ambiance is relaxing. Wonderful restaurant! Highly recommend!

    Mixed Fajita's

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    6 days ago

    It's good! The location is nice and I got some good food here. Service was good as well

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    14 days ago

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    2 months ago

    They have awesome ambiance,service, and food. Their margaritas are unbelievable. They also have an amazing lunch menu.

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    3 years ago

    For Mexican food, this is your place. My wife loves it and is her go to for family get togethers.

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    2 years ago

    Really good location. Run of the mill Mexican food. I do love their friendly service.

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    2 years ago

    Huge portions and authentic tasing food. Staff is also very friendly and welcoming. Would go there again.

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    Review Highlights - El Gran Patron

    We really needed a restaurant on this end of the lake but now we have a really good restaurant on this end of the lake!

    Mentioned in 9 reviews

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    Tim's At Lake Anna

    Tim's At Lake Anna

    3.1(303 reviews)
    13.2 mi
    $$

    Customer service alone from our waitress, Fin, deserves 5 stars! She was friendly, attentive, and…read moremade our experience enjoyable. The food, however, was closer to a 3. I probably wouldn't go out of my way to visit again. Unfortunately, they don't offer jumbo crabs--they sell them as #1 or #2. We ordered two dozen #1s, and on this visit they were small to medium at best. They were still tasty for what was available, just not what we were hoping for. The view was beautiful, and I imagine it's even better around sunset or at night. Overall, it's not a bad spot to stop for seafood if you're already in the area, especially if you're looking for a nice waterfront atmosphere.

    I went to Tim's at Lake Anna's on Good Friday. The service…read morewas "ok". Our server was very friendly however the wait time was kind of long and when we came it wasn't that crowded. I ordered the oysters casino, they weren't that good, they were lukewarm. For my main meal I got the stuffed flounder and that had no taste whatsoever the crab was burnt, my side was corn (which they forgot to bring) the corn tasted like they just poured it straight from the can. My daughter's meal had a long strand of hair on top, it was baked into her meal. Another person in our party sent her food back twice, the first time it had hair on top (second time with hair in the food) and then after she was almost finished with her meal there were bugs on the bottom of her plate. Overall experience for my first time dining here kind of sucked.. not gonna lie. I don't recommend this place. Happy Easter !!

    Photos
    Tim's At Lake Anna
    Tim's At Lake Anna
    Tim's At Lake Anna - Bloody Good Mary!

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    Bloody Good Mary!

    Randolph's On The River - Warm crab dip

    Randolph's On The River

    4.0(244 reviews)
    30.8 mi
    $$

    Everything was absolutely amazing, the flavors, the level of freshness. Great spot to eat and enjoy…read morethe view! Good service.

    We loved Randolph's On The River. It was clean and nice with a wonderful view, nice people, and…read moregood food. Yesterday was different. Sadly, very different. Randolph's is expensive. It is a seafood restaurant and we expect to pay more for good, fresh seafood. We cannot do that often and it had been a year since we had been there. Our experience yesterday was so disappointing, I doubt we will be back. First, little things: there was no beer on tap, the cold cases were not labeled correctly with dessert names holding wine and other unknown items. The sign outside with the name of the restaurant is long past time to be refreshed. It was barely readable. The number of tables had been reduced and there were pieces of tables outside and in the dining room. It appeared that there was only one person in the kitchen and the TV blared some "reality" show instead of music playing. It still was cute and clean but it felt like something that was nearly ready for the final lap. Second, the food: the pictures shown here are "before" pictures. The crab cake sandwich, for example, was the cheapest crab meat you can buy (yes, bordering on "goo") breaded and fried. It had more binder than crab. Unlike the pictures, you could not see pieces of crab and you could not taste crab. Let me recap in order. We ordered steamed spicy shrimp. They came out and looked great. Something was wrong. I've never needed so much effort to peel a shrimp. Husband used a fork to split the shell off of the shrimp. I ended up chewing a lot of shrimp shells because I could not get them peeled off. We also ordered the Captain's Platter to share. It is huge and that's the best thing I can say about it. They were out of scallops so we substituted fried oysters and picked catfish and our two sides. The catfish, oysters and hush puppies were fine. The crab cake was, as mentioned above, terrible. Not 'disappointing.' Not 'not good.' Not 'room for improvement': terrible. Embarrassingly terrible. Our meal came out without the sides. Our waitress was busy with the one other seated table in the place having a long conversation about tattoos and tattoo places in Fredericksburg and was heading back to the kitchen when we flagged her down. By the time our sides were out, we had finished the main course. The mac and cheese and the twice baked potatoes had just come out of the oven so the were blazing hot. Let me be clear: they cooked our main and sent it out and then started firing the sides. Actually they probably cooked some else's food and then fired our sides. The mac & cheese was fine, the twice baked potato skin was so charred, it was inedible and the inside of the potato was, well... mush. It looked like they had put it in a blender resulting in a tasteless paste consistency. And then the too-hot-to-eat food was presented to us after we had finished the main. Hubs ordered iced tea, I ordered water to drink. They were nearly the same color. To describe his tea as "weak" is a kindness. Something nice: The person who waited on us was very nice and did her best. Here's the best part: we dropped $60 for two people sharing app and entree. For $60, we could have had a nice meal served in proper order that had texture and taste. Instead we got unseasoned, tasteless gruel (with the exception of the catfish) that was way below "not good." Randolph's On The River will now just be a fond memory and not a special place to go. That makes me very sad.

    Photos
    Randolph's On The River - View

    View

    Randolph's On The River - Hush puppies

    Hush puppies

    Randolph's On The River

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    Public Fish & Oyster - Warm Lobster roll (Connecticut style with butter) and fries

    Public Fish & Oyster

    4.5(640 reviews)
    42.1 mi
    $$$

    WOW! The hype is real!…read more Manager fit us in when our res did not show up! I mean it was packed and she made it happen. Literally why I am writing this review! John behind the bar is you're go to guy! He asked our names and then remembered them throughout the whole night (2hrs on a sat night)! Ordered the Mussels in white sauce-which was light & huge-yum. 12 raw oysters-4 different kinds, loved all 8 options! Had the special-trust the chef or John. We had the crab cakes which were delicious-as expected! The main room or bar is ideal but the covered patio is worth the wait! Oh yeah, and the free fries they brought us-delicious!

    Small restaurant with ample sitting outside. We did not have reservations but able to get outdoor…read moreseating. It is under a tent with fan blowing for hot weather. I got the clam chowder to start. I was not use to the sourness of the chowder. It was like someone squeezed too much lemon into the chowder. Not a lot of clams either. I would not say that is a New England Calm Chowder. For entrees, we got the Rockfish and fried oyster Po' Boy. The only miss on the Rockfish is the corn. They were not sweet at all so do not match well with the clams. The fried oysters Po' Boy has a generous portion of oyster and fries. The dipping sauce was really good with the fries. Only miss is the pickle onions is really sour. To end the night, we had the key lime pie. It is a good ending to the night. Interestingly, I had sour tasting in all my food.

    Photos
    Public Fish & Oyster - Inside

    Inside

    Public Fish & Oyster - Crispy Fried Fresh Calamari

    Crispy Fried Fresh Calamari

    Public Fish & Oyster - PFO Bloody Mary

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    PFO Bloody Mary

    El Gran Patron - mexican - Updated July 2026

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