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✔️Breakfast ✔️Brunch ✔️Lunch ✔️Dinner ✔️Dine in ✔️Take out
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This long-standing, low-key bar & grill offers seafood & American grub in an oceanfront setting.
Address and Contact Information
Address: 12431 SE 135 Ave, Ocklawaha, FL 32179
Phone: (352) 288-3100
Website: http://www.gatorjoesocala.com/
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Related Web Results
Gator Joe’s Beach Bar & Grill – Ocklawaha, Florida Restaurant
Gator Joe’s is a family friendly, beach bar and grill near Ocala, FL on beautiful Lake Weir, with a laid back restaurant atmosphere and island cuisine.
Gator Joe’s Beach Bar & Grill | Ocklawaha FL – Facebook
Gator Joe’s Beach Bar & Grill, Ocklawaha. 30598 likes · 338 talking about this · 104447 were here. Call us today to learn more!
Gator Joe’s Beach Bar & Grill | Ocala / Marion County Florida
Established in 1926 on the water’s edge of Lake Weir, Gator Joe’s is a family friendly restaurant with a laid back atmosphere and island cuisine.
Reviews
Moe Kaye
Great place! Our server Ernest was the Best!!! He made drink recommendations, food recommendations. The Gator tail was fabulous. The place is small but has alot of atmosphere. We sat out on the deck that over looks Lake Weir and the sunset was Fabulous.
Put this place on your to stop for Great food and Atmosphere.
… morePut this place on your to stop for Great food and Atmosphere.
Kevin Groff
I really feel like they missed the mark last night. There was only a half dozen tables when we were there so they were not busy. We wound up moving tables because the far dock doesn’t have lights and it got to be too dark to eat. When we moved tables, the tables are bolted to the floor, they can’t be moved and I tried to squeeze behind another couple and it didnt work. Both me and the wife sat on the same side of the table. We watched as table after table got their food and left. A family walked in the same time as us and ate and left a good 30 to 45 mins before we even got our food. The waitress admitted we were forgot about. The fries came out cold and the steak was not cooked as we asked. The best part of the meal was our appetizer because it came out hot with our meal. We try to get here every vacation and have for years but today they really missed the mark. This is not the kind of service we remember. On the plus side, sitting lake side was certainly peaceful after being on the go every day. It was a nice night to spend by the water for a late valentine’s dinner.
… moreCaytee Simmons
We had such a great time at Gator Joe’s! The food and atmosphere were awesome, but the best part of our visit was our server, Faith. She was super friendly, attentive, and made us feel right at home. You can tell she genuinely cares about her customers—our drinks were always full, and she had great recommendations. Faith really made the experience memorable. We’ll definitely be back because of her!
… moref86sabjf
We tried this hidden gem for the first time . The staff was friendly and welcoming . Kelly was our server and she was awesome!!!!!! A great staff can keep you coming back for sure . The food was excellent . All cooked nicely . I had the fish and gator tail basket . The gator was perfect not overcooked . The fish filets were also properly cooked and overdone like so many places do .
The wifey had a shrimp basket and side salad . She already wants to go back . 70 miles each way and we can’t wait to go back .
Well done everyone
… moreThe wifey had a shrimp basket and side salad . She already wants to go back . 70 miles each way and we can’t wait to go back .
Well done everyone
Sponge Bob
We had lunch at Gator Joe’s on a weekend during the summer of 2025. We arrived shortly after opening (approximately 11AM). Our quick lunch turned into a two and a half hour marathon lunch. They were pretty quiet at first, but the customer crowd grew somewhat rapidly as the time went on. Our server quickly became less and less available. Although there were other servers around, it seemed like our server was very quickly overwhelmed with other tables.
We were seated and ordered beverages before we ordered. Our drinks came, but then we had to wait to order. For some reason, it took about another half hour before we were able to order. I attribute that to the other tables that came in after us. Our server even admitted that the influx of additional tables overwhelmed them.
Once we ordered, it did not take long for another person to drop off our order. Our order consisted of one shrimp basket, one chicken finger basket, one soft drink and one water with lemon. I cannot comment on the food as a whole, as we only had fried food. But the fried baskets were pretty good. Not the best we’ve ever had, but good. I will point out that the chicken fingers kind of tasted like fish. I figure that there is probably a good amount of fish type orders fried in the grease. So it’s not out of the realm of possibility that the fish taste was induced from frying in the grease. But I want to point out, that I personally thought it tasted good. Some may be less enthusiastic. Anyway, we did find the food decent.
The building itself is kind of the large room food shack one would expect with the name “Gator Joe’s Beach Bar & Grill”. You have your choice of inside or outside on the deck. It was a hot day and full sun when we visited, so we opted for inside. The room had a fitting and fun decor. It seems like there is little to no insulation with a fairly high ceiling in the center. So there is a very loud echo. Yes it is pretty loud. It also doesn’t help that there does not seem to be any AC. So the many fans also contributed to the noise.They did make the very warm room seem a little cooler, but also cooled my food quickly as well. So it was either hot food to join the hot “me”. But I opted for the quickly cooled food, to have a cooler “me”. I would not want to eat inside without the fans.
Our server only visited once shortly after our food came out. Thankfully the person delivering the food refilled our drinks that had been empty for quite a while. Then it took for ever to get our check. When it came, it was wrong with beer added on. Probably a innocent mistake. But then it took forever to get the server to come back so it could be corrected.
Once our bill was corrected, we decided to pay with cash as we didn’t want to waste more time paying with credit. All in all, we walked in at approximately 11AM. When we walked out, it was after 1:30PM. And this was for a quick shrimp basket lunch. We then altered the rest of our day, since we lost too much time for our quick lunch.
All in all, Gator Joe’s had nice views for a nice lunch. The prices didn’t seem overly expensive. But like most places anymore, not inexpensive either. Peoples opinions will vary on this. Although we will probably avoid visiting on the weekend next time.
… moreWe were seated and ordered beverages before we ordered. Our drinks came, but then we had to wait to order. For some reason, it took about another half hour before we were able to order. I attribute that to the other tables that came in after us. Our server even admitted that the influx of additional tables overwhelmed them.
Once we ordered, it did not take long for another person to drop off our order. Our order consisted of one shrimp basket, one chicken finger basket, one soft drink and one water with lemon. I cannot comment on the food as a whole, as we only had fried food. But the fried baskets were pretty good. Not the best we’ve ever had, but good. I will point out that the chicken fingers kind of tasted like fish. I figure that there is probably a good amount of fish type orders fried in the grease. So it’s not out of the realm of possibility that the fish taste was induced from frying in the grease. But I want to point out, that I personally thought it tasted good. Some may be less enthusiastic. Anyway, we did find the food decent.
The building itself is kind of the large room food shack one would expect with the name “Gator Joe’s Beach Bar & Grill”. You have your choice of inside or outside on the deck. It was a hot day and full sun when we visited, so we opted for inside. The room had a fitting and fun decor. It seems like there is little to no insulation with a fairly high ceiling in the center. So there is a very loud echo. Yes it is pretty loud. It also doesn’t help that there does not seem to be any AC. So the many fans also contributed to the noise.They did make the very warm room seem a little cooler, but also cooled my food quickly as well. So it was either hot food to join the hot “me”. But I opted for the quickly cooled food, to have a cooler “me”. I would not want to eat inside without the fans.
Our server only visited once shortly after our food came out. Thankfully the person delivering the food refilled our drinks that had been empty for quite a while. Then it took for ever to get our check. When it came, it was wrong with beer added on. Probably a innocent mistake. But then it took forever to get the server to come back so it could be corrected.
Once our bill was corrected, we decided to pay with cash as we didn’t want to waste more time paying with credit. All in all, we walked in at approximately 11AM. When we walked out, it was after 1:30PM. And this was for a quick shrimp basket lunch. We then altered the rest of our day, since we lost too much time for our quick lunch.
All in all, Gator Joe’s had nice views for a nice lunch. The prices didn’t seem overly expensive. But like most places anymore, not inexpensive either. Peoples opinions will vary on this. Although we will probably avoid visiting on the weekend next time.
Sue Bruzdziak
A hidden gem in Ocklawaha that has gator tail, seared Ahi and so much more! Enjoy a cold beer and beach front views on beautiful Lake Wier. Great for an afternoon with the kids, family or a girls day.
… moreNyla Wills
I was actually surprised with this place.
Restaurants in Ocala and surrounding areas have not been up to par the few days I’ve been here. I was looking for restaurants not local up north and this place came up during my search. The drive here was shy of an hour after work but it honestly didn’t feel that far away.
I was a bit uneasy walking in but I sat down and my server came over and I felt a bit more comfortable. It’s off a lake*, you can see the fish, and there are lounge chairs on the “shore” along the water- there was a family and personally, I would not recommend getting in that murky water. Oh- and be prepared for the flock of birds outside.
Decent menu options. I had the burger and it was GOOD! Cooked as I requested but still juicy. I can say, I wish the bun was buttered and toasted. I’m sure it was an out the package bun and it was a bit thick and hard. I ordered a drink with rum, it was a bit weak (to me) but still good.
I would definitely recommend this restaurant and if I’m back in the area, it’s definitely on my return list!
… moreRestaurants in Ocala and surrounding areas have not been up to par the few days I’ve been here. I was looking for restaurants not local up north and this place came up during my search. The drive here was shy of an hour after work but it honestly didn’t feel that far away.
I was a bit uneasy walking in but I sat down and my server came over and I felt a bit more comfortable. It’s off a lake*, you can see the fish, and there are lounge chairs on the “shore” along the water- there was a family and personally, I would not recommend getting in that murky water. Oh- and be prepared for the flock of birds outside.
Decent menu options. I had the burger and it was GOOD! Cooked as I requested but still juicy. I can say, I wish the bun was buttered and toasted. I’m sure it was an out the package bun and it was a bit thick and hard. I ordered a drink with rum, it was a bit weak (to me) but still good.
I would definitely recommend this restaurant and if I’m back in the area, it’s definitely on my return list!
John Buckingham
Cool spot. Indoor and outdoor seating. Great food. Good service. Definitely worth a stop.
… moreIain Poll
Visited around 1pm on Frbruary 26th. Party of 3. We sat on the back deck close to the outside bar. Business seemed brisk but it wasn’t overly busy on the deck. We waited 20 minutes and we ignored by several servers multiple times. Finally I gave up and went inside and ordered drinks from the very friendly bar tender. Over the next two hours not once did a server come to our table. Behind us an older couple with limited mobility sat themselves and were similarly ignored. The wait staff seemed more interested in shooting the breeze with each other than attending to their actual work. We ended up eating elsewhere as we never got a menu. This was a really disappointing visit as it is a 30 minute trip for us and we were looking forward to it. We have had good experiences in the past.
… moreLorraine Crews
We sat outside atmosphere was great until a family across from us thought it would be fun to feed the birds. PLEASE POST SIGNS DO NOT FEED THE BIRDS.
… more