Gator's Dockside Lake Nona — Restaurant in Conway

We came here on Friday night after my son's football game. We decided to wait out the storm and eat at a familiar place with good wings. The first thing we noticed was how clean and bright this location was in comparison to their Casselberry location - the difference was night and day! We were greeted by the bartender Mimi. Se was super friendly and attentive all night. I was impressed by the fact that she had a relatively full bar yet kept up with our requests. Our beverages never ran empty. My oldest son (the football star rode home with the team) had wings tossed in two sauces - all flats. I had the cheesesteak with a side of kettle chips. Both my wife and brother in law also had meals. The reason I brought up these specific items, is because the wings were not all flats and my side was fries, not chips. Not a big deal right? Well, the manager sure treated us like it was! He apologized profusely and immediately set to work correcting those two errors. I felt like we were the most important people in the place and he was horrified that we didn't get exactly what we expected. We were not left waiting very long. I asked the bartender the name of the manager. She told me "Bacon". Interesting. I asked if Bacon was an owner and was told no. Well, in my opinion its rare to find an employee who believes in the company, what it produces and how it operates. Its refreshing when someone takes so much pride in the business they work for - its not just a job to them. Personally, I think this location is worth the drive - I will definitely be...

I do not post many reviews. This one, I felt obligated to do so. I have a Gator's Dockside near me at home, and don't get out there because it's about 20 miles away. This one was close to my hotel, they happen to have all you can eat wings on Mondays. LizMarie was my server. I was so relieved that a restaurant concentrates on customer service, quality, and atmosphere. All the wings I had from the grilled, traditional, different sauces, and french fries.... Were incredible.... They had a food runner bring out every order to the table and they knew where everything went by seating order. You only see that in a well organized restaurant nowadays. The reorders were always fresh, crispy, and delicious. Now let's talk about my server.... LizMarie.......

What a calm, cool, and collective person she is. The table behind me had a few kids, and let's say, the father was being quite the *. I heard the conversation that they had after the server walked away..... The wife was not happy because her husband was trying to get away with something for free.....

All I'm saying is..... Thank you for an enjoyable experience and reassuring my faith in the restaurant industry.... When I told the manager I had a complaint....lol (None at all) she pulled me aside, and I notified her of how awesome of an experience I had. Thank you Gator's Dockside...

My wife and I decided to try our hand at Gators. Well, you can't really experience Gator's without trying their fried Alligator tail nuggets. We ordered 1 plate of the tail nuggets to share between us and our own separate meals in which she had the fish tacos and I had the steak quesadilla. Everything was fine as for the taste of the alligator meat but her fish tacos had a slight rancid smell to it. She said it was possibly the salsa that it came with. I told her to try a small bit of it anyway. It might just be one of those dishes that don't smell too good but tastes awesome. Anyway, she tried it and she said it was tasty. As for my quesadilla, it tasted like it should. Hard to mess that up. Anyway, fast forward, towards the end of her meal, she said her stomach wasn't feeling too good and off she went to the bathroom. The moment we got home, she wasted no time heading right to the bathroom again. A few moments after that, my stomach also started acting up. What the heck is going on??? Did we get Alligator meat Diarrhea or what? Something ain't right. Well I guess this is our first and last time in this restaurant. Good luck!

Side note: In defense of our server, he was awesome...but the food just...