My wife and I along with my brother and his wife ate there on Sunday. The food was good , the entertainment was good but made it very hard to talk with people around you.Service was excellent. Then all of a sudden a table of four people light up , cigarettes , the smell was hurrendous , I thought that really rude ,but I guess in Florida that's OK ! Ruined the whole experience.In NY that's a NO,NO ! Parking is a hassle ! read more

We went to eat after a long day under the sun with my 70 year old mom and 3 year old son . Waited for the table for 20 minutes.,we walked in and the server showed us a table under the sun . We kindly asked for a table in shade and said we have my mom and 3 year old . There were 4 tables empty Instead of yes sure they let the group behind us to the table in shade and the host asked us to line up again cuz we did not like the table under the sun . Terrible , I have not seen something like this In my life . Waste of time I can't believe how people do business with this attitude Line up , wait and sit under the sun Don't waste your time guys pls I hate to write bad reviews about a business But these people , unbelievable and so disrespectful! read more

Great coconut shrimp, killer blackened grouper fingers, spicy cocktail sauce, cold beer... and none of the covid bs. Sooo nice to be around normal people who aren't playing charades in masks. read more

We just ordered takeout for 13 people. Not only was the food amazing (especially my fried grouper dinner, from how it was perfectly cooked to the great coleslaw and hush puppies) Everyone got what they ordered and it was ready as they said despite being packed at the restaurant. Great Job and we will come again read more

Wasn't sure where to eat after Rainbow Springs but Yelp suggested this place. It's always great to find an awesome hangout spot in what seems like the middle of nowhere. Dining on the deck overlooking the rainbow springs river was awesome. In addition, service was great and the food was delicious too. My son is still talking about his ribeye steak sandwich. read more

The Blue Gator - Leaving the testauranr - Seafood Near Me - Dunnellon, Florida

Called in an online order and was told 20 minutes (we live 13 minutes away). Got there and waited patiently, after some time I was told that right after I called my food in wait time jumped to 40 minutes, I get it, it happens. Except we waited nearly 1 hour 15 minutes for a burger and order of sliders. During this time a table of 3-4 people were seated, ordered, served, paid, and left. Ridiculous for my wait time to almost quadruple from what I was told when ordering it. read more

The food was impressive. I dropped in for lunch on a cool Florida afternoon and was pleasantly surprised. Stop in here and grab a bite, you'll enjoy the food and the atmosphere. There is a good selection of beer. There are also a few drink specials. I had fried green beans as an appetizer. I figured any establishment that has fried green beans as an appetizer must know what the hell they are doing. OMG. They were delicious. My lunch guest also ordered crab cakes. The cakes were really good. I ordered the scallops for my entree. I was pleasantly surprised at how well they were prepared. The hush puppies are about one step from heaven. Win. I enjoyed sitting on the patio watching the crystal clear blue water flow past the deck as the air moss swayed from the live oaks. What a great place to drink a few cold ones. Our server went aloof a few times. Attentive on the front end but was slow on the main order and a refill. I can't look past this since it wasn't very busy. Selling drinks generates revenue. She missed a potential round. This is a dog friendly establishment. There were three canines visiting on the patio. All well behaved but beware if you have canine paranoia. I'm a dog whisperer so it works for me. There were a few smokers on the patio. Not my thing but I still believe its a free world. I'm already over it. Be prepared for it. The restroom is a hell hole. Sorry to be so blunt, but it is. Although it's a smidge better than a few places I've seen in Central America. Shake it, run, and don't touch anything. Bring hand sanitizer. Your time has value. I thank you for checking out my review. Please click a button below to tell me what you thought of my review. Thanks! read more

The Blue Gator - Grouper sandwich - Seafood Near Me - Dunnellon, Florida

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First, the girlfriend wanted to come here because it reminded her of the Adam Sandler movie, the water boy. Hahahaha!! We arrived and sat outside by the river. It was a slow night(Wednesday). They have live music from from Thursday-Saturday and the waitress said it gets packed. We started with gator bites that were so delicious!! Not to chewy and the perfect amount of breading. I couldn't get enough! We also got a crab cake that was also great. For the meal, the girlfriend went with steamed shrimp that were seasoned with an old bay type spice. Loved them. Seriously some of the best. I decided on grouper tenders that came with tater tots and hush puppies. Great food and good service. Mama said(Adam Sandler voice) this place can cook some good food! read more

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Got a Parking spot! They'll shuttle you if there's no spot :-) Great location right on the beautiful Withlacoochee River, live music Thurs.- Sun , awesome ambience and very friendly staff. Very chill vibe at outside Tiki Bar, the place to be! The house made Crabcakes were delicious. Blackened Grouper delicious on salad or as sandwich. Great prices, too! If you are on the river or just in the area, or taking a River tour with Cap't. . Mike- stop in ! read more

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Service was very slow and we didn't get things we ordered. Food was good but again really slow. Other tables got food before us and ordered after us. I don't see myself going back because of how slow it was to wait for the food. read more

Cool place to visit if you're in the area of Dunnellon. It's a small place but it's right next to rainbow springs and rainbow river. Perfect place for to sit down and have a drink after a nice day in the water. They have some outdoor and indoor seating. I pretty much stayed on the outside since it was such a nice day. There is bar seating and table seating for groups. The seating is ok a deck that is built around some tree. Some trunks of trees are used as tables with seating around it and some are carved into statues. Pretty unique idea and def gives a cool feel to the place. The servers here are nice and came pretty often to make sure we were ok. I really just came here for some drinks with friends and didn't get a chance to try the food. Next time I'll come in a little more hungry. All in all it really give a southern feel to a small town in Florida. read more

seafood mac n cheese was great! sandwiches are delicious! found it VERY weird that most of their seafood and frog legs are from Asia or elsewhere... mmhhh??? read more

Delicious. Best gator we have had and yes we live in Florida. Our server Sparky was awesome. Chowder was delicious, fish tacos were good, and the spicy ranch burger hit the spot. read more

If the service had been better, I would have given 4 stars. Maybe she was having an off day, but to get drinks refilled was a real challenge even though she walked past us numerous times, she would never stop or make eye contact. Nothing irritates me more than that. But I will definitely go back for the food. I ordered the ribeye steak sandwich and it was delicious...so full of flavor! My friend ordered the 1lb peel and eat shrimp. They were cooked perfectly. Great view of the river and a cool vibe. There is a small parking lot but they have attendants to help you maneuver through it and if the lot is full, they have shuttle service! All of the parking staff was super friendly. Great job guys! read more

Only gave out half our order, only 3/4 tacos, forgot our onion rings, forgot our chips, only gave us one chicken tender, after two hours of waiting. Manager was rude, waitress was rude, awful service, would not recommend to anyone. read more

no happy hour drinks also adds fee for credit card usage draft beer 14oz.long wait for food.

We come every year to Dunnellon from Tampa we enjoy it here and love Rainbow River go tubing fishing boating. We eat every time we come at the Blue Gator and it's usually pretty good but we ate there as soon as we got to Dunnellon. Our wait for server to come over to our table was 25 mins didn't even say anything to us. She came over got our drinks it was another 10 mins after we got our drinks she took our order our whole time we got there was 2 hours and the manager that's amount time for to order and be served then our food was terrible and 2 of my family members had to wait for there hamburgers 15 mins after we got through eating this is ridilious and we won't go there anymore. The manager was rude because we asked to talk to him. Oh yea we spent 300.00 and got nothing taken off our bills. So beware if you have a big party. I read more

Located at Angeler's Resort at the intersection of US41 and the Withlacoochee River (I just love saying that name for some reason). It is a completely outdoor Tiki bar and restaurant that you can get to by car or boat. The food is your typical bar food which included sandwiches, burgers, wings with more seafood options then your typical bar menu. I had the grouper fingers with fries which were made to order and very hot and good. The staff was very friendly and through the resort you can rent a boat, go on an airboat ride or take a river tour. The drawbacks are that since it is all outdoors you probably want to avoid it when it is really hot or cold, although they do have large fans and propane heaters, and the parking is very limited. read more

The Blue Gator - Seafood Near Me - Dunnellon, Florida

Stoped by on the way to Crystal River. It was ok for lunch. Outside seating is nice. Waitress wasnt happy to be there and it showed. Frog legs wasn't good everything else was ok. read more

What a great time! We have to thank our server, Ashley, for making our visit fantastic! We had the Gator Bites, Clam Strips, peel and eat shrimp, and Charbroiled Oysters. All were great...the oysters were unbelievable, smokey, cheesy, oysters goodness! Great beer choices, the Spiced Pineapple - bacardi pineapple, sailor jerry, and lemonade Dog friendly. Easy to get to, by boat or car! read more

It's ok. Kitchen is too small for the amount of people they seat. Service is always super slow. Food is ok.

I hear so many people talk about how great this place this is. I don't get it??!?!!? What in Sam Hill are they eating? Cause I ain't eating the same thing they are. It ain't nothing to write home about people. No a/c, it's outside with all the sand gnats and skeeters. I guess if I drink enough I might forget all about the sweltering humidity and carnivorous insects feasting on the very life that sustains me. But I gotta say that's a lotta Long Island Iced Teas to get me to that point...And I don't even drink anymore! Food is frozen and then fried. Maybe frozen and nuked or frozen and baked. It's not like it's farm to table or nothing. More like Sams Club freezer department to restaurant freezer. Actually...This is a drinking establishment more than a food establishment. But man do people love it. Meanwhile...I'm sitting over there confused as a termite in a yo-yo...Thinking to myself, "All y'all done lost y'alls day gum mind". I don't go here after being here a few times. Just doesn't do it for me. Maybe it's your dream restaurant. I dunno...But what i do know is this, "To each his own"... read more

They are the most accommodating people. I had to cancel twice and Joe was so helpful and always pleasant. A good place to do business with. Bill Venturi read more

Amazing food and great customer service. Don't pass up this gem, we will return on our next vacation. I had the ribeye steak sandwich, which was amazing. My husband had the 1 pound shrimp and he loved it! read more

The Blue Gator - Seafood Near Me - Dunnellon, Florida

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Food was really good! I wasn't sure what to expect when we got there but the parking lot is always packed so decided to give it a try. There were four in our party and all the meals were yummy and service was great read more

The food is great Dallise and Bob the Jewetts have always been so kind food is great place does get busy.

I have lived here along time and have seen this place go down hill...Shitty food sucky service and management...Too many other places to go....Stay far away read more

Food was good. Enjoyed the smoked fish spread. Burgers were ordered medium but came well done. Fried shrimp were good. Took a long time to get our food, and our bill. read more

The Blue Gator - Bar area. - Seafood Near Me - Dunnellon, Florida

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The owner reached out to us via Google and clarified that it was a mistake and offered a refund. We very much appreciated him taking responsibility for his servers. He explained that some were newer and unaware of proper policies. It means a lot when an owner takes accountability and addresses the issue. read more

This place has definitely gone downhill over last few years. Food is taking forever to get out. I'm talking an hour at best. Service staff is not attentive and you have to ask for everything. They are now charging for cocktail and tartar sauce even if you don't ask for it. Bathrooms not clean and out of paper towels. Zero staff wearing mask for COVID19. We used to love coming here but this will likely be the last time. read more

RUDE!! We waited an hour and a half for our food but people who came in after us got their food and had already left. He was very rude about the situation, we didn't want the food anymore and he wouldn't give us a discount. We told him we would pay for our drink and he said 70$!!! No way! We walked out and are never coming back read more

Once a year I visit from Arizona. This year somebody suggested I try the blue gator. My shrimp was delicious my gumbo was outstanding. Can't wait to go back again next year. read more

As old as this company is they are disorganized. When the "crunch time" happens. The seaters don't effectively place people creating a seating situation that can be handled just by thinking effectively. You eat outside right on the water type of restaurant. They offer a rail option which works if you don't have a party, fans being in the way really make for no room. Now having that said next comes the wait. Which isn't bad at other places. Blue gator it's long as about an hour and a half. So inside. I guess. Right ?? Cool. Walk in. Quiet. Too quiet. You have outside music. Your on the water. Jam out. Whatever. Waiting for a seat. They say. Food isn't gonna be in front of you for about an hour and a half. Oh crap. Now we are really a cluster. The bar appears to be the only effective area in the entire business. But not practical for family. When seated no drinks we taken. Waited 35 mins. I finally I said screw it. If I didn't the food would be wrong. Given the experience so far. Dunnellon the river town it is has all great places to eat. Swampy's. Bubbaques, Gruffs. All of them effectively think, seat, and communicate as a restaurant giving you the customer a great experience. Blue gator has a lot to work on. One is thinking and strategizing during "crunch time". Your only as good as your weakest link. read more

Went there for the first time yesterday. I was very disappointed with my steak sandwich. A hotdog bun size hoagie roll with way over cooked meat. My wife got the fish and chips and she was not impressed with it. For $13 for the sandwich I had I would not go back. If I spend $60 on dinner for me and the wife I expect quality food not a burger joint throw together. I guess I should have taken a picture of my ugly sandwich and posted it here. read more

Food was absolutely delicious! Bacon was crispy, grilled cheese was melted on texas toast, cheese grits were on point during a painful morning, exactly what the doctor ordered for a day after drinking! read more

We passed this restaurant a couple months ago and saw how quaint it looked and wanted to come back. Today we decided to go for a drive because it was cooler outside and we are so happy we did! I had a cup of clam chowder and a salad with grouper and my boyfriend had the seafood Mac n cheese. Everything was delicious and we had a perfect view of the river. All of the staff were friendly and helpful! We will definitely be back! read more

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Nasty nasty and extremely nasty. It's a cool place to maybe hang out and drink, but don't go there for food. I seen the food prep station by the bar and it was dirty as fuck! I can't believe the health department hasn't shut this place down. Won't ever go back here again. The service was also horrible. Would not recommend. I'd rather go to Long John Silvers than this place. Well at least to eat. read more

waited 15 minutes after sitting to receive a menu and place a drink order. another 15 minutes to get drinks and place order. another hour to get our food. It was like our table was invisible. the food was fair, I was so hungry by the time it came I would have eaten anything. I will never go back there again and I will tell everyone I know not to go. read more

Great place to spend the afternoon. You can eat a great lunch, then take a airboat ride or rent a boat. I had the grouper tenders and my wife had the clams. Both excellent. read more

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We love the Blue Gator. It never disappoints! If you are lucky enough to get a seat on a weekend, the live music is a great background sound. We love their yellowtail, steamed shrimp, fried gator, and just about everything on the menu! This place started as a small little hole in the wall restaurant, and has expanded to a impressive restaurant on the water. read more