Whiskey River On The Water

I'll be honest, usually go to Whiskey Joe's or Hooters across the river but decided to go somewhere I haven't been. First impression walking up, typical Florida dive, not necessarily a bad thing. Interior appearance shows a good attempt, but if they brought in a designer, the setup they have could be amazing. On the edge of amazing, honestly. They had live music, and when I say live, I mean they had a man in front of a keyboard singing to canned music. Basic Yacht rock. He couldn't carry a tune if you put it in a bucket, just godawful, yet it was awesome. We sat in the outdoor covered bar area looking at the river, fantastic cross breezes, and watching boaters. Very relaxing. The wait staff was courteous. I had the banana bucket rum punch drink. It's really good. For food, we ordered appetizers first, the fried pickles and Gator tail nuggets. The pickles were thinning sliced, lightly breaded, and fried to a perfect crispness. The Gator tail came in a basket with fries and coleslaw. I had to call the waitress over to ask who made it, if it was done here, or if they ordered it in. I'll tell you that Gator is one of my favorite indulgences. I've had it all over Florida and in New Orleans. This was the absolute BEST I have ever had. The tenderness was nearly indescribable. Even the best prepared Gator has a little chew to it. This was melt in your mouth perfection. The seasoning was on point, not too heavily breaded and fried perfectly. I could have eaten my weight in it. Next up, the boom boom shrimp. Served on a bed of mixed greens, these little nuggets mirror their cousins bang bang shrimp from bone fish only better. Not overly spicy but a delicious sweet tangy flavor. Wrapped it up with the blackened grouper sandwich and coleslaw. It was the second serving of coleslaw, which was ok. Not great, not bad. The grouper, however, was simply amazing. Light, flaky, and not overly seasoned. Best Grouper I've had in a while. Next time, I'll just order the dinner plate instead of the sandwich because grouper that good doesn't need the bread. The downside is that the kitchen and service are a little slow, but once the food started coming, it was definitely worth the wait. They're definitely going to need more staff once people figure out that not only is the food fantastic, the prices are good too! I'll be back. A lot.

Mother, sister, and I stopped in for mid afternoon Sunday lunch. The place was hopping but not overcrowded since the weather was perfect for outside seating. We took an inside tall table.

We had Whiskey River Bourbon Pasta with shrimp and scallops and grolled crabcake dinner with rice and black beans. (See photos)

Our waitress was pleasant and efficient.

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We have been looking for a local hangout with good food, a laid back atmosphere and music. Friendly service, reasonable prices, plenty of seating options. Bang Bang Shrimp was very good.

That said, when they are busy just enjoy the music and lower your expectations for food, drinks and service. Especially busy during snow bird season!

I can't say enough about how much I loved this place. We were visiting and looking for a scenic place to have a delicious evening meal and great drinks. This had all that. The staff was friendly, great music, it was low key and felt like the local place to be. We had the ahi tuna appetizer, whiskey seafood pasta, and serlion steak. All was great! If we head that way again we are definitely going back.