Angela! Girl has got it going on-I came with my family around 3pm on a Saturday. Angela was superb, when I saw attentive and pays attention to detail. A PLUS PLUS. When we come back, we will ask for you read more

Cute little place on the water! Staff was friendly! We had the peel and eat shrimp, jalapeño poppers and fried okra for appetizers, all were really good. Ordered fish tacos and upgraded to Grouper for $7.99 upcharge. We did not get grouper, it was a slimy thin piece of fish, with no flavor. Waitress insisted it was grouper and manager insisted it was grouper but not a quality grouper. Manager was very friendly and offered another option, to which we ordered Philly cheesesteaks, which were fine. We didn't go out to eat cheesesteak, we went out to eat fish. Wouldn't recommend the fish tacos for sure! Drinks were extremely light on the alcohol. The chunky monkey tasted like a watered down milkshake. Definitely not my first choice of a restaurant and we won't return. read more

The Blue Gator - Seafood Near Me - Dunnellon, Florida

This place is awesome ! Great Outdoor patio on the river ! Service is excellent ! The Gumbo is amazing and the chowder ! This is a Must to eat at ! Oh and the Keylime pie great ! read more

So this is off the beaten path impossible to park "gem" right in the water. Part picnic area atmosphere with some very good seafood choices. Menu has many options for non seafood people. Service was good and consistent. As I mentioned parking can be an adventure in itself. read more

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Experiences with the blue gator has always been pretty good. The service is standard. The food is OK. Every time we have company, we always bring them to the blue gator however, this last time it just wasn't a pleasant experience. It seems like the prices have doubled. Maybe it's me. I don't know. read more

Place is a joke. I was giving a 5 star review for my dining visit until my to go order is taking over an hour/ in my car waiting while my grandson waits for the food- move on! Plenty of places better I'm sure. read more

We decided to try the Blue Gator with out of town friends for the first time in a year or more. We had stopped going as the prices went skyrocketing after Covid. I get all places raised prices but they were overboard. We arrived about 1 pm so there was not a crowd. Self seated. We ordered relatively quickly. The food Took forever to come out and when it did....fish was cold, cold limp French fries, cold Gumbo soup,cold fish tacos. Had it not taken so long to come out we would have sent it back but everyone was hungry at this point. I would not recommend this place at all. The ladies room was disgusting as well. Save your money and eat somewhere else. read more

We love this place. Our drinks and food was spot on. Just delicious. Every staff person we spoke with was very friendly and seemed to be happy with their job. I love that about a place. A gentleman (I assume a manager) was walking around checking on people and being very personable. Definitely a place you want to visit often. The Frog Legs and Gator bites were so good. Oh, and the green drink, a long island with melon liqueur instead of orange liqueur with no sour mix or coke. You're welcome. lol read more

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The Blackened Fish Taco special was excellent. Everyone at the table gave the coleslaw 2 thumbs up. Even my husband who usually won't eat coleslaw loved it. Sit outside on the deck. Watch the River go by. Usually a few dogs on the deck basking in the sun. Always a challenge to find a parking space. You will pay a surcharge if you use a credit card. That trend seems to be really catching on around Florida. read more

The Blue Gator - Blackened fish tacos, hush puppies, fabulous coleslaw and salsa - Seafood Near Me - Dunnellon, Florida

The service here has greatly declined. This place thinks it's ok to serve food they brought and left at another table. I guess they don't care about health codes. After refusing the food they prepared a new meal and got it wrong. The manager obviously doesn't understand the difference between blackened and grilled and even argued with us. I believe the owner needs to take an active interest in what's happening here or a long time favorite won't be around and current reviews are reflecting these issues. read more

would definitely recommend! the customer service is amazing and the food is just as good. if i visit florida again i would come here.

Great view, delicious food and awesome service. The price points were spot on and the food portions were just right. read more

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Our first time to Dunnellon, Florida. I must say, my family and I were looking for a Restaurant, that was located on the River, Blue Gator was exactly the type of dining experience we were looking for. From the moment we got there, we were greeted from the parking lot, by one of the employees (showing us where to park) such an organized Restaurant. We got there around 330pm, the place was packed. Dining for a party of 6, was such a breeze. We were immediately seated, the moment we walked in. We were greeted by Miss Brandy our server, she was so friendly and accommodating ( with us having two kids ages 4 and 6) She immediately, took our drink order and brought water's over to our table. Talk about prompt and speedy service within less of fifteen minutes of being there. Miss Brandy, shared her highly recommended options for us, and helped us with ordering for the kids. We ordered a bit of everything from The Admiral's feast, to the shrimp basket, wings, Alligator bites, and a side of Fried Calamari. Even dessert was amazing. I highly recommend stopping by for Lunch or Dinner. The staff is very accommodating and friendly, the atmosphere and vibe is 10/10, Food is also 10/10, definitely kid friendly open air atmosphere. Food and Drink prices are very reasonable, especially for big parties (6 and more). Absolutely loved that The owner , Mr. Greg, comes around to each table to( greet and ask how everything was) , to me that's the icing on the cake. What a personal touch, to a perfect end of the meal. Had an amazing time and will definitely be back, thank you again for such a great overall dining experience, even at peak dining time. read more

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Beautiful air conditioned indoor seating now available. Great food. Great prices! Great service. read more

The Blue Gator - Me and my new buddy... - Seafood Near Me - Dunnellon, Florida

I had a great experience at The Blue Gator! All of the employees were very kind. Jenny was my waitress this evening and she was very kind and respectful. The food was DELICIOUS! I mean I wasn't even able to eat it all and still completely wanted to. I got the fish tacos and felt like two was enough to make me full but they gave me 4 tacos! My boyfriend got the Spicy Ranch Cheesburger and loved every bit of it! I will definitely be returning here. read more

We were seated, given menus, but sat there and were never asked for our order. The food servers were present and knew we were there. They weren't busy. We left. read more

We had a great lunch experience here during our visit! Amazing waterfront location. Had a very local, friendly atmosphere. Our server was attentive and friendly, as was the manager and everyone else we interacted with. Very much enjoyed our meal after a morning on the water. Highly recommend including on your itinerary if you're in the area! read more

Good food, cold beer, great service! ... what more do you need to know about a restaurant? They only have outside seating right now, but the deck is great to hang out and watch boats pass on by up and down the river! read more

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Having lunch in Dunnellon FL right by the River. Excellent fry chef - tasty breading with a quick fry producing perfect crispiness & moist on inside on perfectly cooked gator tail, huge frogs legs, hush puppies & tater tots. Grilled grouper, scallops were grilled beautifully. Washed down with a couple of Stump Knocker ales! Everything was surprisingly great. read more

We decided to stop here after having a few drinks at a different establishment - this decision was based on me having booked marked this place long before arriving in the area. We walked in around 1:00 PM and fortunately we were able to grab a few seats at the bar, it's a step down bar (two levels) each step being a little more than a foot wide with shorter stools. I guess it's adapted for eating, kinda weird but I'm not reviewing the bar - there were three guys drinking beers and laughing and talking loud, locals I assume so it's acceptable I'm sure they drink here a lot or maybe dating a few of the staff. Speaking of the staff there must have been eight or ten of them on the payroll most were watching NFL Rewind and playing grab-ass behind the the bar it was kinda annoying to be honest it's Monday afternoon not Friday night. We ordered our drinks a "Salty Dog" with Tito's and a "Strawberry Daiquiri" while looking over the menu. Steamed Shrimp for me, oops sorry sir the steamer is broken - my second back up was a dozen charred oysters on the half shell with garlic and butter mmmmm, oops sorry sir we are all sold out I looked at my wrist like I was looking at a watch this place is dead and you already sold out of fresh oysters- five people counting the two of us and the boys at the bar - a woman and two kids under the covered patio and three or four others in the sunny courtyard - I guess there was a run on the oysters. I was offered fried oysters (meaning they come from a jar) - no thanks I'll have a bowl of gumbo and she's playing it safe with a ten piece shrimp basket then we wait and watch the staff hangout. The kitchen sets the food on a table outside the kitchen but no one notices so the food sits - the temps are in the lower 70's and our food is sitting and cooling down, finally by happenstance another server notices and it's obvious it's our and she drops it off. If this was a Vichyssoise it would of been at the perfect temperature but being serving lukewarm gumbo is a cardinal sin and after my first taste I realized this thin watered down soup with a few cold pre-cooked cocktail shrimp and some type of oddly favored sausage wasn't like any gumbo I've ever tasted - Frank's Red Hot didn't improve it by any means. Thankfully she ordered the shrimp basket and didn't mind sharing - the shrimp were nice as was the outer crust of the hush puppies, it was a mediocre meal at best and even having empathy can't improve the experience here. Times are tough and restaurants shouldn't think past business success is indicative of what's going on in the world today - this place failed miserably today, if this is what the management team thinks is a recipe for success during these hard times I'm afraid this place won't be an option for very long. I feel bad for the staff, but no the owner they need to reevaluate what's going on here and step it up I guess it's really not all about location, location, location anymore - good food and service is what's required to make it going forward - I can't do this one again sadly... read more

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The place has a nice waterfront view. The place wasn't that packed when we came but it was still a little busy so I understand why the service was slow. It took awhile for someone to come take our order and even longer for our food to come out. I had the gumbo. Sauce was good but could have used more rice. I felt like I had to fish for the rice considering how flooded the plate was. My friend had the hot dog and it was so bad she didn't finish it. The clam chowder was good. read more

Awesome vibe. Sweetest staff!! Good food. Had a burger..a Philly...sweet potato fries were yummy. Just chill.. enjoy the dog friendly, kick back vibe..with a ride.... Yep. Right out front... offers customers a ride no questions.. long kitchen wait times. Don't come hungry. Look at the grill wait time on the entry board. Just relax & enjoy, they have a small kitchen so food took 30min-1hr. To come out. But was good. read more

The Blue Gator - The sunset view. Memorial Day 2023. LP - Seafood Near Me - Dunnellon, Florida

We finally got to go to this Restaurant. Always Packed!!! The Food was Delicious and the staff was Were Great! And you can Rent boats to go on the River!! Great Service!! read more

We were visiting Dunnellon to check out the springs and decided to order food to go. The prices are completely different between the website and the restaurant so just a heads up. The lady who took my order was friendly on the phone and the food was ready in about 15 min. The parking lot is an absolute nightmare!! It's tiny and packed and very difficult to get in and out of. We watched several people making 10 point turns trying to get out of spaces. I ordered the grouper fingers with fries and hush puppies. For $20, I was expecting enough food to really fill me up (I'm a small girl, doesn't take much). When I picked up my food, I asked for extra tartar and ketchup. I'm glad I asked because they hadn't included any sauce at all! Not cool. I was bummed when I saw the tiny strips of fish. Maybe 3 or 4 really small pieces. The fish was delicious, lightly fried cornmeal type breading. I was so hungry I forgot to take pics. The fries had great flavor and were perfectly golden. I ate all the fish and fries and gave my brother the hush puppies (never been a fan) and I could've easily eaten another couple pieces of fish. The food tasted great but really small portions for such a high price. read more

Let me start by saying the location is beautiful. You sit outside and get a nice view. They even had live music tonight which was a nice surprise. Unfortunately we didn't even get the chance to try the food. We sat down and not a single server greeted us or came to see if we needed anything. After 30 minutes we decided to just call it and leave. Im not sure if we sat in a spot that wasn't being taken care of by any of the servers or if they were just confused because our friend got a drink at the bar and then joined us. Either way very disappointed in this experience. read more

Best thing is the shuttle service to the parking lot across the street. Waited over an hour just to get our appetizer. We saw other people seated after us and get their food sooner. The food was ok. Not worth the wait. read more

My family mostly enjoyed our meal here tonight, however, the batter that is used in primarily everything fried was over salted. This kind of overwhelmed my taste buds & then it becomes all you can taste. The last time I came here things weren't overly salted & I enjoyed the seafood (shrimp, fish , calamari) but not really tonight. The positives: it's nice waterfront location, the ranch dressing, & tartar sauce is homemade & there is a full bar. But the cons besides the overly salty food there's a state highway which although not very busy (2 lane road) still is annoying when loud obnoxious cars go by. Not for sure if I'm going to revisit. read more

The Blue Gator - Shrimp & fish basket w a nice hush puppy - Seafood Near Me - Dunnellon, Florida

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We absolutely love the blue gator whenever we have to go down to Mount Dora for the day on our way home we stopped in to eat. The best gator bites we have ever had we've never been disappointed here yet and continue recommending it and stopping by when we get a chance. read more

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The Peel and eat shrimp were recommended by a local patron and they were really really good. We were lucky enough to walk and get a seat inside out of the heat. Food came out timely. Allison was a great server. However we never saw her again and when we did we decided to order the Keylime pie. It never came twice I had to go out to the back patio and find her to see what happened to the pie. Finally she walked in with me and at that point we had paid our bill to include the pie but had to go. They put our frozen pie in a to go container and unfortunately no whip topping-which made a sad. They do not have enough help to serve all the seats they have. That's too bad because these girls were working their tails off! Several tables that were there ahead of us were finally getting their food when we were leaving with our frozen pie with no whip topping. Get these girls some help!! read more

The Blue Gator - Peel and eat shrimp - Seafood Near Me - Dunnellon, Florida

The number one shocking thing about this place was ... the flies! Have you herd of the "Aussie salute" a gesture commonly deployed all across Australia to deter bush flies. No... really thousands of them on everything. It was outside, but it required constant waving. Maybe just bad timing, can't always be this bad. "Super Grouper" and Potato tots - $15.99 Could not tell this was grouper.. and the breading just slid off. Tarter sauce was just OK. I did eat it all. The best part was the tater tots. Hot and crispy. Located next to the beautiful Withlacoochee River. Great location, but limited view due to the bridge, docks and railings. Can't see me going back unless someone else is buying, Ha... read more

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The restaurant was packed but the food was amazing, and our waitress Barbra was amazing and went beyond what was expected

Dirty and poor service. Food was marginal. Would not recommend to anyone I liked or wanted to remain friends read more

A cute little spot on the water with big tables and great decor. We loved everything we tried!! Dustin was an incredible server and if I could give him TEN stars I would! They make all the sauces in house and we had ranch, cocktail, tartar; all 3 were SO good! The chowder is unbeatable! Our standouts for entrees were the grouper fingers, spicy ranch burger, and the fish tacos (upgrade to grouper!). I'm not even a seafood girl but it was such a fun place. I wish we had found it before our last night in town - they are a one-stop shop with a motel, pontoon rentals & airboat tours, bait shop, restaurant, AND tiki bar. Go & ask for Dustin! read more

Just overall excellent. My server-Jenny was spot on with great service and recommendations from the menu. I had the frog legs and they were very good. Manager came up and spoke to me to make sure all was good. Highly recommend. read more

The Blue Gator - Seafood Near Me - Dunnellon, Florida

ordered...sat there for almost an hour with no food...asked the waitress about the order...waitress stopped at three other tables and then returned and stated that the kitchen was backed-up...yeah sure...others that arrived after us got their food...i'll never go there again... read more

The service & the smiles plus location after 3 hours of paddling are on point. Seafood blackened grilled or fried your choice! read more

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My daughter's favorite place for grilled cheese and fries. Friendly staff and great food.

We had visited Rainbow Springs and came here for lunch afterwards. I almost didn't come here because of the reviews but I'm glad I did. My husband had been here before and he said it was good and he was right. The food was hot and served quickly. He had the fried shrimp 10 piece dinner and he enjoyed it (daughter had the same). I had the salad with grilled shrimp - salad was fresh and the shrimp were seasoned well. Great lunch! read more

Nice outdoor patio with umbrellas for shade. Enjoyed watching boats go by while we ate. Food was good! My husband had the frog legs. Large portion and cooked perfectly. The chips were cooked fresh and came out warm. I had fish with sweet potato fries. Parking is limited but they have a shuttle to bring you over the bridge if you park in the overflow lot. One suggestion: Take down the Bud Light posters!! read more

It was a rainy day but my friend and I still chose to sit outside! The waitress was very timely and brought our drinks and took our order. We didn't have to wait long and it was ready!!! I had clam strip dinner and it was amazing! My friend had shrimp dinner and she said it was amazing as well! The chips were the best I have had.... Fried good , not greasy and crispy and. Basket FULL! They were GREAT! Once again our waitress was so sweet and came back several times to check on us. Brought us refills and we hadn't even asked. It was a very good experience! read more