Gator's Dockside O-Town West — Restaurant in Dr. Phillips

So... we love Gators! Let me start there! We just moved back to town and met up with friends to catch up. We ordered two apps, full meals per person, and approximately 1 (maybe 1.5) drinks per hour for the duration of our visit. As mentioned, we were catching up with friends, so we spent about 5+ hours in the nearly empty building. Again, the service was good, and the bartender was kind.

However, we were cut off without warning. I am a bartender, and from my training, the first steps are to serve water, offer more food, and talk to the clients to check their tolerance/intoxication level. Had the management done so, she would not have cut us off.

I respect cutting people off when necessary, but the disrespect from the manager is the issue here. She did not say anything to us, and when addressed, was so disrespectful and rude! She also cut off the entire table rather than just those she felt were too intoxicated. This was especially frustrating because, although I was not planning on drinking anything else for the night, I had been drinking water for the last two hours, so it seemed unnecessary to cut everyone off. Additionally, one of our friends who was nowhere near intoxicated inquired as to why she was being cut off. She asked if she was being loud, disrespectful, or slurring, and the manager said "no," but proceeded to cut her (and the rest of us) off. She claimed we had been there for hours longer than we were, and that she "had receipts" to prove that we drank too much. Additionally, we ordered drinks for friends who showed up at the bar, so although our check may have shown additional drinks, they were not all consumed by our party.

I rarely post negative reviews because I respect people and understand that things happen, but I am appalled. I would be embarrassed as a company to be represented by the disrespectful manager that we spoke with this evening. Gators... do better! Needless to say, we will NOT be back to...

Went to lunch 👍with a friend and it was a very enjoyable dinning experience. I had went to Gaters before and had a very unpleasant experience so when I my friend suggested this I was like I am only going because it’s your favorite restaurant but I decide to go to a different Gaters and get it another chance and I was very surprised and it was pleasant and this time around the customer service was very good . I guess it was just location location location . Our server was very nice and so was the rest of the staff . Very professional and helpful . They had a bar and that was nice 😊. Plenty of parking and they even had street parking as well . We parked in front if the restaurant so it was very nice . Front row parking 🅿️ and that almost never happens in Florida so that was very nice . I ordered the sliders 🍔 and taters fries 🍟. Very good . My only problem with restaurants and my haters say they hate me for me this but restaurants have to clean there bathrooms more . There was pee on the floor and toilet paper 🧻 also on the floor . If I manged a restaurant I would have an employee clean the restroom every two hours . This looked like it had been cleaned in days but it’s important I think that where you should have clean bathrooms . That’s why I gave it a 4/5 . But besides that it was a wonderful dining experience and I would still totally recommend this place to anyone and everyone

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Great Gator Bites, But Limited Variety

We visited this location specifically to satisfy our craving for alligator meat. While the food itself was quite good, I was a bit disappointed by the limited menu options. For a restaurant that prides itself on serving gator, having only 1.5 gator-based dishes felt underwhelming.

We started with the Gator Tail appetizer, which was perfectly fried—crispy on the outside and tender inside, not chewy at all. I followed that with the Gator Smash Burger, a blend of gator and pork (hence the “0.5” gator dish). The patty was juicy and flavorful, and the fries were hot and crispy—just how I like them.

The ambiance was interesting—almost like a resort vibe. The bar area felt like it could’ve been a swim-up bar with a pool just beyond it. Personally, I found the interior a bit uninspiring and quite noisy, though the decor did have its own charm.

Our server was very friendly and welcoming, but service was on the slower side. It took a while for her to come to our table, take our order, and bring out drinks and food.

Overall: I’d consider returning to this chain, especially to see if they’ve expanded their gator offerings. The food quality is there—it just needs more variety to match the theme.

My Rating: '4 Stars' = Very Good, '5 Stars' = Way Above...