Lazy Gator — Restaurant in Amarillo

I don't get the hype for this place but "to each their own". Maybe both times I've eaten here I've went on a bad day? Either way, this isn't a place I'll be quick to go back to based on MY experience. The first time I ate here, I tried the fish sandwich. I love a good fish sandwich and the description on the menu sounded promising. When I got my order I soon noticed the sandwich had little to no tartar sauce on it and the fish was so moist it was impossible to eat because it easily crumbled and fell apart. My waitress never came back to the table to check on me and yeah I could have flagged someone down but I didn't. My second time eating here I went for a lunch special I had seen the first time I ate there. When I went in there was no lunch specials anywhere to be seen. The waitress came to take my order and I asked her if they still had lunch specials and she asked me what time it was. I told her and she got a menu with their lunch specials so clearly they either didn't put them out or they pulled them off the tables early because I was well within the time frame to order off that menu. I ordered the gator bites with fries. I was less than pleased with the gator bites, they seemed over cooked and I didn't care for the sauce that came with it. I've eaten gator in Florida so perhaps that was my fault expecting a similar taste. Not sure if I'll give this place another try but everybody else out here seems to like it so don't let my experience here detour you from trying...

My wife and I visited the Lazy Gator for the 1st time last night - and we left full and impressed! The restaurant was packed (7:30 on a Friday night) but the wait was only 25 minutes for two. A group of 5 came in shortly after us and their wait was also 25-30 minutes. Lazy Gator has a bar, so if you're not a weirdo you could grab a drink while you wait.

We tried the Fried Gator + Fries for the appetizer - only one piece of gator was too fatty to eat but the rest of the gator, the sauces and cajun fries were tasty.

For entrees my wife ordered the shrimp Poboy and I had the Carl's Creole w/ grilled shrimp. Poboy was flavorful - shrimp cooked well, bread was perfect. Carl's Creole was nice - spicy (but not too spicy) tomato-y sauce on rice with shrimp. I ate every bit. I will say that the shrimp came out a little burnt/charred, but it was still great when submerged in the sauce.

Our server was on point and the manager was very attentive. There was one miscommunication with a beer I ordered - it took 5 minutes for them to realize the beer I was offered wasn't actually in stock. But once the error was caught, I had a new beer within a minute. Good service.

For dessert I ordered bread pudding with vanilla ice cream. I ate it all because that's how I roll but the cinnamon/nutmeg was overpowering. Whoever prepares that needs to lay off the spices.

Overall, I liked it and will be back. Pictured - Carl's Creole with...

I tried the lazy gator for the first time. I was really going in with high expectations due to the photos and amazing reviews. I got the jambalaya, tenders for my kids, the bayou pasta, and fire sticks.

The Jambalaya stated that it came with vegetables, we thought they meant as a side, given that most we’ve had has never had any vegetables other than the holy trinity (onion/bell pepper/ celery) however this Jambalaya came with carrots/cauliflower/ broccoli. The flavor was also lacking, too much tomato base and not enough Cajun seasonings.

The tenders were so salty that even my toddler wasn’t touching them, (he eats practically anything.)

The Bayou Pasta was subpar at best, the catfish was ok, however the salt was strong. The pasta itself was stuck in clumps and the Alfredo sauce was creamy however again it lacked in flavor. The shrimp was so over cooked it tasted like chewing on a balloon, there were zero scallops, and there was about 2 crawfish. For a 20$ meal I expected better.

The fire sticks were not worth the price. They may be better when they’re fresh out the fryer however mine were rubbery and incredibly salty. The spice was there but the seasoning and texture was not. We spent about 70$ and unfortunately we...