I like this place my wife not so much the conch fritters were hot and good and the dipping sauce interesting. My wife had. The fish sandwich and it was huge the seafood platter was good but not too many shrimp and scallops and the fish was supposed to be haddock, I know when I eat catfish and it was catfish. I like the breading and food was good but for the price I expected more food. read more

It was a total accident we stumbled upon Crystal River Seafood and happy we did. I had the catfish and fried shrimp, both delicious. Our waitress, Tabatha, was terrific. Probably will never be back in this area but if we are we definitely will eat here again. read more

Great experience at this place. Food was very good and service was right on point. To bad we live so far but will make a special trip.

Why drive into Jax for a steak...best ribeye I've gotten...nice price too.... Kinda leery about ordering steak at a seafood restaurant..but my ambivalence proved me wrong.. Highly recommend this place...Seafood is good also... read more

I give Sam"s a five star rating for it was that good great staff, very friendly and service with a smile . That's what I like . Had the shrimp and scollips and was a killer , going after the gator tail next trip down read more

Sam's Crystal River Seafood - This is going to be great mmm you should be here - Seafood Near Me - Macclenny, Florida

We visit here when passing through town, and were really bummed by a recent visit. With most of the food always hot and good, we were surprised to find the side dish of Mac N Cheese is straight out of the Kraft cardboard box. Not a lush, big-noodle casserole Mac N Cheese, but the economical kind you feed kids after school when you're on a budget. Two bites, and I was done. Ironically, this restaurant considers it a premium side dish and actually charges Extra for it. Since I don't like paying a premium for something that tastes like a cereal box after a cheese spill, I mentioned the gross factor to the waitress. She didn't suggest an alternative, didn't offer to take it off the check, or seem to care much. With the other food rarely a disappointment, Management needs to change the price, or better yet, ditch this garbage and make some real macaroni and cheese. read more

Amazing! I'm so happy I stopped to eat here! The servers were friendly and quick, the atmosphere was comfortable and the food was great! I recommend the Gator tail, it was delicious! read more

I love eating at this place it is my favorite place to eat at in Macclenny they have great food great servers and the prices are great also

We were passing through on our way back to Gainesville and looking for some healthy food. Sams had good reviews so we stopped in. For the appetizer we tried the crab stuffed mushrooms and they were delicious! Lots of people seem to come for the fried food but we went with broiled red snapper. Now I'm a Louisiana native so I'll usually avoid the Cajun recipes outside the state because they are rarely up to par. The hush puppies were some if the best I've had and the vegetables were nicely done. The fish, however was dry and rubbery. We asked the waitress whether it was frozen or not and she brought the manager to our table. The sheephead was fresh caught, he said and he recommended it blackened. It was worth the wait and served with additional hush puppies. Overall we were very satisfied; they worked hard to make it right. We'll now try the location in Jacksonville! read more

Great place to grab a nice fried fish dinner. We ordered fried pickle chips for an appetizer. My mom likes their gator tail. It can get busy at times. The service is always good and the restaurant is clean. Lots of parking. read more

Always has amazing service, the food is always top notch, and the atmosphere is the best. I love this place and everyone else should to. Definitely better food and service than Pier 6 and Woody's combined. read more

Wow! What a great little find! We were just passing through and looked at the Yelp reviews for this place. Thank you, YELPERS!!! Very fresh seafood, very clean & not "fishy" tasting. Reasonable prices, great sides & apps, too! Very friendly service, albeit a bit slow. Perhaps just small town charm :) Definitely give it a try. If we come back through here, we'd definitely stop in again! :) read more

I came in at noon on a Thursday and was seated immediately. I ordered two appetizers: broiled blue crab claws and fried green tomatoes. It took nearly 30 minutes to get my food, and I was starting to wonder. As soon as I took the first bite, I realized the wait was worth it. The crab claws were fantastic and the tomatoes were the best I have ever tasted. After I finished the crab claws, I went back through them to make sure I had gotten every morsel. They were that good. There were 7 big, thick, juicy tomato slices. I took 3 of them home in order to save room for key lime pie, which was also excellent. The total bill was $20 including tax. read more

Ate there this afternoon. Usually better than Pier 6. Today I decided to order fried shrimp, a baked potato, and grilled corn on the cob. The shrimp, and hush puppies were hot, and were good. The baked potato, and corn were both cold. The waitress brought another potato, and corn out. This potato was under cooked, and the corn lacked flavor. They were hot though. Ordered the stuffed Crab appetizer. Looked better than they were, had a fishy aftertaste. Service was good as usual. Bad when you have to drive 40 miles to get decent restaurant food! read more

More like 3.5 stars. Atmosphere: Rustic country, wooden benches, family restaurant. Service: Server was okay, nothing special or over the top. Server was a tad slow for my liking. Food: Most of the food is fried. Fried catfish was okay. Fried baby shrimp was okay. Fried okra was okay , Hush puppies were okay, Grilled Mahi was my main dish, which was okay but a little overcooked for me. Cheese grits were a little bland for my taste. Cost: Prices were fair. Portion sizes were adequate. Overall: Considering there aren't many places to eat in MacClenny, I would probably go back if I was in the area. read more

Another great experience at this restaurant. My favorite. I had lobster. Reasonably priced and was great!!!

Terrific fresh fish! Enormous portions! Friendly service. We stopped in while traveling from one coast to another and got much more than we expected. read more

Great food and service. Crablegs are great. Grilled Shrimp very tasty. Blacked blue crab claws as an appetizer is a must.

I really enjoyed my dinner here. Food was fresh and bountiful. Thank you Lacey for exceptional customer service. read more

Sam's Crystal River Seafood - Seafood Near Me - Macclenny, Florida

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I finally got a chance to eat at Crystal River yesterday. I know.. there's so many restaurants in Macclenny it's not shocking it took so long! I was really surprised how good it was. It's a small restaurant just like most restaurants are in Macclenny. The restaurant has comfy wooden benches and a bunch of large screen tv's on every wall. Our waitress was very nice and efficient. They were having an all you can eat fish or shrimp meal for 9.99, but being it was our lunchbreak from work, that would have been way too much food for all of us. Great deal though! The menu has a lot of options and even if you don't care for seafood, there's plenty of chicken and steak choices. They also had frog legs if that's your cup of tea. My friend wanted to start with mozzarella sticks. I wouldn't recommend them. Honestly, there were so many great looking appetizers to choose from, like stuffed mushrooms and fried green tomatoes. Mozzarella sticks just didn't cut it. The cheese tasted like generic, poor quality cheese. It didn't have that stringy quality where you bite into it and pull it away and the cheese is still attached to your mouth. Basically, the cheese just disintegrated on your tongue. The marinara sauce was a little watered down as well. It wasn't enough to ruin our meal though because our entrees were really good. My friend and I opted for the grilled salmon lunch plate. This came with a large piece of grilled salmon and two sides and with tax it came out to 10 dollars and change. What they don't tell you is not only do you get two sides, but with the lunch plates the meat comes on a bed of rice and you get two hushpuppies. So really, we got salmon, 3 sides and hushpuppies for 10 bucks. It was a great deal. I got mixed veggies and green beans (gotta watch the lbs!) The mixed veggies were nothing special, but the green beans were just how I love them -- full of bacon and smoky flavor! The salmon was delicious. My friend said she felt it was a little overcooked, but I actually don't mind having the crispy edges. The yellow bed of rice was alright. The hushpuppies were off the chain good. They were hot, crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. Two of my friends got the cheese grits and they said they were outstanding. I would definitely eat here again and with the all you can eat specials, this is a great place to bring a family to eat cheap and to eat a lot! read more

We enjoyed our lunch here. The food was good and fresh. I got the blackened haddock and it was seasoned well and not too hot. My wife had the fried shrimp. It was lightly breaded and not greasy. I wasn't a huge fan of the cole slaw, but it wasn't bad either. This is a definate do again when we are in the area. read more

Understaffed but the waitress was a trooper and the food was excellent. Had stuffed mushrooms (A++) and some fried green tomatos . . . wife had a fish sandwich, all bery enjoyable. read more

Came here for a family get together the atmosphere was amazing. Upon being seated we ordered our drinks and appetizers it took over an hour to get the appetizers I wish we could have enjoyed our meal but our time was limited it was a very unpleasant experience read more

Very clean nice restaurant. Great staff and super food! Gator tail, snow crab and I agree about the stuffed mushrooms...mmmmm

Dead on football Sunday. Servers do not have good "Server Etiquette" We walked in and they took a while to decide whose turn it was. We also requested to sit in a particular area for the game we wanted to watch and our server had an attitude about it. Like I said in the beginning, the place was dead so why would it matter? I've served before and if the place was dead then let people sit where they want. When she came back with our food, which came out pretty fast, she served me last (the female) and she "accidentally" served me Kids Meal. I'm sorry, but how do you mistake that? The food was ok. Portion size was fair to price. It was clean when we were there also. read more

Stopped in for lunch on Thanksgiving Day and was blown away by the excellent service and food!! This may be some of the best seafood offered on the east coast and 10x better than any chain restaurant. The owner's are super-friendly and went out of there way for me and my fiance...highly recommended!!! read more

Delicious fried shrimp, hush puppies, green beans, and baked beans. The food and service were both superb. Good salad.

Had the shrimp.Very fresh,hot and delicious.Side orders were good also.Service was super.Will definitely go back.

Disappointed they didn't accept a $5.00 off coupon on a $65.00 bill for two people, but was told if I ordered off the menu which would of made it much less expensive they would of accepted it. Doesn't make much sense to me, but I can and will spend my money elsewhere.... read more

The portions here are HUGE! The half order appetizer is bigger than a regular order anywhere I've ever been. I love the blackened shrimp salad and they have some of the best ranch dressing out there. The wait staff has always been super friendly and we've never waited for more than 3 or 4 minutes for a table. Great place to eat! read more

This is the restaurant my out-of-state family always wants to come to when in town. Great service and great food. Never had a bad experience. Would love to see caesar salad added to the menu.- read more