Gator’s Riverside Grill

Great lil spot atop the St John’s river serving an array of burgers, seafood and some of the best corn fritters.

Great service cold drinks and fantastic fish. The view was amazing. Will definitely be back soon.
Was here on the off season, service was great. No problem with mosquitoes but it was cold out.

Very disappointed great atmosphere and location but the worst food and service I’ve had in years. I am in this industry in a different state and was on vacation trying a new place. Bad choice…

It’s a casual and laid-​back outside restaurant. They are located on St John’s River. You can enjoy a nice view of the boats going up and down the river and occasionally see a gator.
They serve huge portions. I ordered the Chicken Philly and I loved it. I also tried the burger and it’s superb.
Service is okay but kind of slow. The best time to come around is during the day. They get busy at night and mosquitoes are everywhere during the evening.

OMG!!! Taken over 45 minutes to get an order of corn fritters! Bar tender is gonna comp them but really!!! Still don’t have them. Ugh.

We always love the layed back and relaxed feel of this place, service is sometimes slow but that is the vibe… Cold Beer and typical waterfront Florida eats… always a smile from the staff!
just needs a little deep cleaning and some updates… frequently visited over the last 5 years or more

Gator’s is a solid three with me for having one of the best burgers in Central Florida. I don’t know how they do it, but they do it. What a fun rustic spot to kick back and have a few beers with some of the best views of the St. Johns and Lake Monroe conservation area behind you.
Expect slowish but friendly service and the occasional raucous and foul table of revelers. Hidden in the marina where the 415 bounces over the St. Johns.

First time there open atmosphere plenty of space. Sits right by the water foods was just ok. Probably won’t go back.

Being generous with the star… first had no napkins or utensils. I had to ask for them. We ordered sweet teas, no straws. We ordered the gator combo basket and the shrimp basket. The gator was chewy. The onion rings were cold in the inside, the catfish was ice cold. The shrimp was ok. When we told the waitress, she said she would adjust the bill. She took his eaten food and supposedly threw it away even through we asked for boxes and I told her this. Her adjustment was talking off the sweet tea, not the $ 22 gator combo. Total bill was like $ 55 with «adjustment» Bitten by mosquitoes. We will not be back.

A great riverside place to sit and watch the alligators float by. Friendly staff keep the drinks coming.
Serves a lot of fried things, but what do you expect? It’s bar food! Grab a cold one and a stool by the river.
It gets warm in the afternoon, but in the shade, with a nice breeze, it’s alright.

Gator’s has a great location & our server was very friendly. The food is not so great. We ordered the jalapeño poppers, which were really good. I ordered the shrimp basket which has plenty of food, but the shrimp is processed and the onion rings weren’t homemade. My husband ordered the Bleu cheese burger. He commented that the burger was good, but no other toppings were included with the burger. The prices aren’t outrageous, so if you’re just looking for a relaxed place to get some food this would work. Also, there are no non-​smoking areas, so if smoke bothers you I wouldn’t recommend it.

Great place, perhaps not the best restaurant in the world, but that’s just not what matters. You come here to see Florida. The real Florida, the one with swamps, and birds and rivers. The view from the deck is spectacular, you’re right over the St. Johns river overlooking a marsh, got to watch a heron fish, and saw an Osprey fly over. Then, like clockwork, the gators showed up. Seems like they know this is the place for tasty burgers and fries, and they were not afraid to beg for it. Definitely worth a stop if you like wildlife, and appreciate solid pub type food. If you’re in it for a culinary experience, or are in a big rush, you should probably try somewhere else. As a bonus, they’re very dog friendly, brought ours a bowl of water and some treats right away.

We have been eating here once a week for the past month. Love the onion ring tower, Jalapino poppers and there hamburgers are awesome. We like our burgers rare and they do a rare burger. The view is as close to the Keys as we can get in the area.

great place and great food. cold beer! what more could you want! oh and a great band. fun place!

Always friendly and good food. Nice to sit on the river and watch the world go by. We’ve been here several times and had everything from Burgers to salads and never had a complaint. This is a great place to have a few beers and pass a summer afternoon.

This place is great. It has this true Florida feel. Right on the river. Everything is out in the open. You consistently see alligators crossing the river. The food was really good and the price just right. Ordered two baskets of grouper (fried vs grilled), basket of shrimp, basket of crabs, steak sandwiches and a lot of beer. It was all great. Beware of the beers though. It resulted in a swimming race across the river and back.
Giving 4 stars because service was slow. we had to chase down the waitress several times but she was a sweetheart.

I have now been here twice even after the despicable service the first time around I am sitting here after an hour and not even the appetizers I ordered have arrived.
My family and I have seen the waitress three times in the hour and at this point we are closing our tab and leaving only having had drinks.
Don’t come here for food unless you’ve got a day to kill.
No third chance for this place fool me once shame on you fool me twice shame on me.

Gators has the worst service i have ever seen. Food is Ok but service is lousy. They are very pet friendly. I have been there several times and the service is always bad unless you are a favored regular.

I grew up in Sanford, just down the road about a mile from Gator’s Riverside Grill.
If you’re in the area– this is by far the best place in Florida to get gator meat! Pretty much anytime my wife and I drive down to visit my family we stop by to eat some gator!
Only con is that all their seating is outdoors– during the Florida winters it’s perfect weather, but during the summer and fall/​mosquito season it’s not that great. They have mosquito spray and candles to battle the mosquitos, but even so make sure you wear long pants and a long sleeve shirt after dusk.
Tip: On Friday & Saturday nights they usually have live music. We’ve been there a few 3 or 4 times when they had live music and only 1 time was the singer kinda terrible– off key, bad song choice for her voice, too much beer before singing! The other 2 or 3 times the music was pretty good and enjoyable!

Gators is located off of County Road 415, just East of Lake Monroe in Sanford. We usually hit Gator’s via boat, but friends who live in Sanford head here via car for a festive beverage and some noshes. It’s a bar on the water, if you are a boater, you are used to this type of joint. The service is friendly, the food is good (tastes better after you’ve been on the water all day) and the beer is cold.
We’ve enjoyed some of the fresh seafood, wings and onion rings. You’ll know the onion rings, you order them by the ½ foot or foot. They are at most tables when we visit. Oysters and shrimp have been good. We ask what they just got in local and usually go from there.
Some of the allure may be arriving via boat, tieing off and heading up to grab a picnic table on the large outside deck. Music has been live when we were there on the weekends, during the day.