The salty donkey — Restaurant in Crawfordville

We were very pleased with our visit to The Salty Donkey. The restaurant had been updated and cleaned up from the last proprietor and it had a welcoming, cozy atmosphere. The view goes without saying and the bar had ample room, so we sat there. Our experience overall was excellent.

Kenzi (sp?) at the bar was very courteous and accommodating. She approached us almost immediately and had our drink orders (Jim Beam and Coke and a Painkiller) ready quickly...and they were very good. We order a dozen raw oysters which came to our seat in about 5 minutes. They were a little small which isn't necessarily the restaurant's fault, but market price was $24.99. We felt that was a bit steep for the size of the oysters but again, most likely not the restaurant's fault given prices today of just about everything. We were given plenty of crackers, cocktail sauce, horseradish and hot sauce for our order and they were fresh and yummy.

My wife ordered the shrimp and grits, and I ordered the lobster mac and cheese. Three words...OH...MY...GOD! Both dishes were plentiful and very tasty, and came to our seats in about 10 minutes, very good timing. We highly recommend those two dishes. The only thing we would say about the shrimp and grits is maybe taking the tails off of the shrimp to make it a little easier to eat, but the size, taste and quality of the shrimp was excellent. And the lobster mac and cheese had fresh lobster in just about every bite.

As note, we truly enjoyed our experience, and it was really nice to see the "old" tiki hut spruced up and fresh. Bravo Salty Donkey's, and thank you to the staff, excellent all around, we will be...

This place is no Seineyard! Lunch on a Monday and the first time we tried The Salty Donkey and probably the last. Unfortunately, even though it was not busy the service was VERY slow. Took at least 10/15 minutes to be acknowledged by the server and just as long to get our drinks. Waited probably 30 minutes for a margarita and it wasn’t even drinkable (tasted like straight lime concentrate) and my drink was pretty weak. KTs Oysters took way too long but they were tasty. Husband said his cheeseburger was tasty but it was served dry (missing the mayo and mustard and almost half eaten before we could get some) and his side of grits was tasteless and runny. My side Caesar was ok but should have been tossed in the dressing and not served on the side. However, there is potential because the menu is good, prices reasonable, view is great, and staff were mostly friendly (I had to take the terrible margarita to the bar because it was like an hour and nothing to drink and asked for a different drink in its place and she just said she will have our server put in a ticket instead of simply making it and caring, not friendly). Who knows if the place will last a year without...

Had some of the best oysters six years ago passing through so I wanted to try them again. I seem to always be passing through early in the week when they’re closed m-w. So this was yesterday, Thursday, and the restaurant has changed hands since then. Looks exactly the same, same quaintness and waterside ambiance. But man were the oysters a disappointment, as were the fried shrimp but I’ll get to that later. That area has some of the finest oysters in the entire Southeast, straight from a local lease on alligator bay. Too bad this place has no clue how to serve them. Six years ago I got a dozen raw oysters swimming in their salty liquor, fresh and easily slid right down my throat. Yesterday I got a dozen raw oysters that were mostly mangled by the shucker and dry as if they had been previously shucked and placed in a walk-in. The fried shrimp were had thin moist batter coating that immediately fell off once dipped in tartar or cocktail sauce. Too bad because they were beautifully plump and juicy, just no...