Blue Gator Tiki Bar & Restaurant

The restaurant has you seat yourself. Apparently we sat ourselves in a station of a server who clearly didn’t want to be working. The table happened to be still dirty from the previous occupants but we were a table of 5 so our options were limited. We used napkins to clean off what we could while waiting for someone to acknowledge us. When she did come over she stood over us and squirted cleaner all over the table and us. She mumbled hello and looked like she would rather be anywhere but there. This is where we should have just left. Unfortunately there’s not a lot of options in Dunnellon after a day on the river so we stuck it out. After drinks were delivered a different server came to take our order. She was much friendlier but when our food arrived she ordered us a totally different meal. Just a disappointing experience from beginning to end. I know for next time to just wait at Swampy’s, this was not worth it.

Must be under new management. We are snowbirds and Blue Gator is our favorite place to eat but very disappointed this time. They no longer have the coconut shrimp with chili sauce 😕 We ordered the blackened shrimp & Grouper which was so greasy we couldn’t eat. Sure hope they go back to the way it used to be

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 3

Service: 3

I got food poisoning here Saturday night!!

Atmosphere: 2

Food: 1

Service: 2

Came to Blue Gator on a Saturday night. The waiter forgot to put in our order and then when we did end up getting our food. It didn't seem like it was freshly made. 👎👎👎👎👎 The table next to us also had issues with getting their food in a timely manner.

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 1

Service: 1

Waited too long in the hot sun to be acknowledged. Finally got a server for the drink order. Ordered all the food. Been 1 hr and have not received the spicy creole as an appetizer. Server never came by to refill the ice tea or let us know how much longer. The excuse from another server was the “tiny kitchen couldn’t handle the rush”. The advice I would give them been retired from food service industry for 30 years is either explains the kitchen or don’t have swath for all the customers. I have seen others walk out. The people that was next to us came in after we were seated and was served first and got their food. I tip constantly at 20 percent going to be lucky to get 10. Will we return? Most likely Not! They should not be in business. The reviews are mixed but too many are bad. $2 upcharge for Mac and cheese not worth it

Atmosphere: 4

Service: 1

Waited over 30 minutes before we could order. Server was very unattentive. Then waited over an hour for our food to come out. Most of the items were hardly warm and mediocre at best. A few items were also forgotten, like the French fries on a child's chicken finger and fries plate. Drinks weren't refilled either. All around a poor experience. Would never go back. The guy transporting customers back and forth from the overflow lot was very pleasant and the only positive part about this dining nightmare.

Never again the the wings were terrible dry and very hard not to mention I had ordered my food and my friend order his food and we waited 30 minutes and he still had to wait about 10 or 15 more minutes after I got my food which I was almost done with whatever that was good on the plate to eat Everything was fried extremely hard. The service was extremely slow. They took 20 minutes just to make a margarita daiquiri never again I would not recommend anyone going here sorry but not sorry disgusting.

We attempted to eat at this restaurant last evening. There were no lone tables available but we noticed a table that would seat about a dozen people (with only 6 people seated at it). Apparently a separate party of 2 or 3 had shared the end of this table as there were empty cups and plates there. We asked a server if it would be ok for us to sit there. She said sure. We sat there for 15 minutes and no one came by to clear the table, offer a menu or ask about a drink. In the meantime, a few tables came empty and new customers sat at them and were immediately given menus and brought drinks. Finally, a short brunette server with glasses and a pony tail came to the table next to us. As she came by us my husband asked her if she knew who our server was. She rudely responded that she was and she’d be back in a few minutes. Another young server came over to clear the dirty cups and plates and said the other server would be with us shortly. Another 15 minutes went by. We saw the rude server coming our way with two menus and thought she was coming to our table. She completely ignored us, walked right by and went to the counter where two people who had just sat down and gave them the menus. She obviously knew them. We got up and left. We’ve eaten at this restaurant on past trips to town. The food was just ok before. We thought we would try it again because the atmosphere on the water is nice. But obviously that didn’t work out. We left and went to Swampys. We would highly recommend it over this place!!

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 1

Service: 1

I wish I could give this place 0 stars. Served us drinks and never saw the server again for over an hour. When I finally found the server I found out that our food order was never even put in. The people who run this place are incompetent.

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 1

Service: 1

No inside dining and horrible hostess awareness. 6:30 on a Tuesday in March and we couldn’t even talk with someone in over 15 minutes. Hard pass

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 1

Service: 1

Went for lunch at 1pm. Took exactly 42min to get our food. It was ridiculous! Service was not good at all. Food is mediocre at best. Will not return.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 1

Service: 1

Good food. Great waitress service. Very busy. Kitchen must have been swamped. Food took a while.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 4

Service: 5

The Blue Gator Tiki Bar and Restaurant in Dunnellon is an exercise in frustration disguised as a dining experience. From the moment you arrive, you're met with chaos. Parking is a nightmare, a chaotic free-for-all shared with swimmers, boat renters, and hotel guests. Prepare to either circle endlessly or risk a death-defying dash across a four-lane highway if you opt for the 'convenient' across-the-street parking.
Upon entering, you're greeted by… nothing. No host, no direction, just a sea of occupied tables and the daunting task of finding an empty spot. We managed to snag a table, only to be completely ignored for a solid 20 minutes. When a server finally deigned to acknowledge our existence, it took another glacial 10 minutes for our drinks to arrive.
And then, the wait. An hour. An entire hour, for a hamburger. When it finally arrived, the burger was cold, a testament to the kitchen's apparent disregard for basic food service. As for flavor? It was utterly absent. Bland, unseasoned, and utterly forgettable.
The service was abysmal. Our waitress was a phantom, rarely seen and seemingly uninterested in attending to her tables. This establishment clearly operates on the principle of 'serve when we feel like it,' which, in our case, was never.
Avoid the Blue Gator Tiki Bar and Restaurant at all costs. Your time, your taste buds, and your sanity deserve better.

Atmosphere: 2

Food: 1

Service: 1

Very pleasant, great food.

Atmosphere: 5

Gator bite was not done correctly my Cuban Sandwich was done wrong and the steam shrimp have no taste because all the seasoning was on the shell not the shrimp the place looks very good but the food is not worth the price at all

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 3

Service: 3

Recommended dishes: Cuban, Fried, Gator Bites Alligator