Blue Dog Bar & Grill — Restaurant in Florida

Came in with a party of 9 last weekend to celebrate my sisters birthday. We called multiple times throughout the day and spoke to a male who reassured us that we would be seated as fast as possible as they do not accept reservations (which we totally understood). We came at about 8:00 at night to allow dinner rush to leave. Upon arriving, I checked in with the rudest hostess I’ve ever come across. I simply stated that we had called earlier and let them know we were coming with a party of 9 under the name Sam. She responds with “well, it’s not a guarantee that you will be sat. We don’t take reservations”. I told her that I knew that we didn’t have a reservation, I was simply just checking in and letting them know we were there. She rolled her eyes in response and said she “would let us know, but it would probably be a while”. Ok, no problem. We went to wait outside. 5 minutes later, a “manager” (sad excuse for one, really) came out demanding to speak to a Sam in a very rude tone. We all looked at each other very confused and she says “Well, apparently he knows the manager. I’m standing right here. Where is he?” He happened to be in the bathroom at this moment. We were very taken back by her rude and aggressive behavior over simply asking if we could be sat to dine at your restaurant. The manager never gave her name, but she was an older, heavy set female.

Funnily enough, we were sat within 15 minutes and the restaurant had no other people waiting outside. So I’m very unsure as to why the hostess made a huge deal out of the fact that we were there with a bigger party.

Once we were seated, the rudeness from the staff continued. We were sitting at our table for all of 10 minutes and the waitress, Heather, had been to the table 3 times asking to take our order. We explained to her that we needed a few minutes to check out the menu and her response was “Well we are running out of everything so you should put your food in soon”. Hm, weird because neither the hostess or the “manager” let us know that you were running out of everything while we were being berated about wanting to eat at your restaurant.

When we tried to put in our orders, this FISH restaurant was out of everything except grouper and mullet…why the hell weren’t we told that upon arriving and waiting for our table??

Whatever, we make it work and put our orders in. We receive the calamari appetizer as a starter and the calamari was a joke. It was swimming in grease, breading slipping right off because it was so wet! My sister tried one and immediately spit it out because it just tasted of old oil. We asked to speak to the manager and her response to us was “So you want it crispy?” in her same condescending tone we had the pleasure of enduring when we arrived. …..isn’t this a seafood restaurant??? Obviously we don’t want soggy and greasy seafood. At this point, after dealing with the unpleasantness of the staff and the lack of anything available on the menu, we asked for the checks to leave.

The manager comes up to me after my family left and even admitted that she “came out a bit rude in the beginning”. Uh, yeah and the fact that you’re a manager belittling customers is absolutely ridiculous! This was one of the worst experiences I’ve ever had in a restaurant and I am honestly baffled by how the staff treats their costumers. What was supposed to be a fun birthday celebration for my sister ended with her in tears because of how we were treated all night. We will never be returning and you should be ashamed of the manager you have representing...

Blue Dog Bar & Grill 2-11-24 Arrived on Wednesday at 11:55 am and the place wasn’t packed, but it had a bunch of people inside. Once again, the place was clean and neat. This is our 2nd time here and just wanted to try it again since it was so good the last time there. Our waitress Neci came over fast took our drink order and food orders. I ordered the Mahi Mahi Sandwich and fries with Coleslaw. The wife ordered the Clam Strips which they have on Tuesdays when available. It came with Fries and Coleslaw. She also ordered a House Salad with Blackened Chicken. Our Friend ordered BBQ Wings. Our food came out fast, it looked amazing. The Salad had plenty of Chicken and filled the entire plate. Everything on the Salad was fresh and the Chicken was perfectly done. All our food was hot and all very good. All the lettuce and tomatoes on my Fish were fresh as was the extra Lemon for the Fish. Even the Coleslaw was good. My wife’s Clam strips were fried to perfect and she being from Maine stated they were the best she’s had in this area. All the Fries were seasoned Fries and tasted great. Our friend loved his Wings and the BBQ sauce that was all over them. All of us were full and some of us could not eat everything we ordered which a doggy bag was filled when we left. Still one year later this place is one of the better places to grab a bit to eat. Another 5 Star review for the Blue Dog. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Follow me for More Reviews. Gulf Coast Terry

Blue Dog Bar & Grill 1-16-24 We strolled into this place around 5 pm on a Saturday which was very busy and A small line outside the door. We gave them our name and phone number inside as they will call on your cell when a table is available. We managed to find 4 empty seats at the bar and were handed a drink menu immediately. The bartender was very busy but friendly and helpful with the drink menu as we did ask a couple questions. She served us fast and my beer was very cold which I loved and very seldom get down here. Within 15 minutes they seated us and Phyllis our waitress took our drinks and food items we wanted. I ordered the seafood shepherd’s pie, and my wife ordered the Shrimp with a bowl of clam chowder as the appetizer. Our appetizers came out fast for a place that was that busy and boy was I surprised that our clam chowder was that good in fact it was the best clam chowder we had since moving down here. Our main courses came out in reasonable time and once again the seafood shepherd’s pie was hot, filled with seafood and very flavorful. To tell you the truth I was shocked at how good everything was. Phyllis brought us the warm brownie with ice cream which we ordered for dessert and let me tell you it was enough for two and very good. I can’t tell you the last time we went out to a restaurant, and they hit it out of the ballpark on all courses of the dinner menu, but this place sure did. We will be back and now are telling all our friends about this place. Hats off to our waitress Phyllis and all the questions we had about the menu being it was our first time there she was the best. We can’t wait to get back. Remember you can park to the right of the building or in the rear near the park. I give The Blue Dog a 5 out of 5 stars. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Follow Me on FB For More...

A Comfortable Eatery With Great Seafood Matlacha was devastated when Ian visited and we were glad to see Blue Dog was back in business, sporting the artsy colors that the area is known for. We had no problems getting a seat on a Friday night and our server, Kelci, helped steer us to some great eats. Numerous beers on tap. I tried a Guiness $7 and a Yuengling $4.75. Diet Coke fountain runs $3.25.

For starters, we tried the Smoked Fish Dip ($11.25). It’s more of a spread than a dip. They smoke mullet in-house and I suspect their ‘dip’ has cream cheese and just a few other ingredients to create a wonderfully tasty, not really fishy, not overly smokey fish spread. It’s mostly fish. The ‘dip’ goes well with the in-house pickled jalapenos, fresh cucumber slices and crackers. Excellent.

The menu has great variety, but we love our seafood. I think every one of the seafood dishes has a half pound of the fish, and the fish is fresh daily, cleaned and prepped right outside the restaurant every morning. Kelci steered me to the Blackened Mahi Tacos ($19.50). My wife got the Coconut Shrimp Dinner ($20.25). Just a short wait and out came two fish tacos that screamed ‘you’re in Florida’. A half pound of Mahi fillets, split between two warm flour tortillas, sitting atop shredded cabbage, Old Bay remoulade and topped with homemade mango salsa. The aroma screamed tropical seafood is here! These were incredible. The blackened seasoning had some heat, but was well balanced with the sweet mango. And the fries that came with these tacos were twice fried, crunchy outside, soft inside – perfect. After our appetizer and the fries, I ended up bringing home one taco for the next days lunch. My wife really enjoyed her Coconut Shrimp Dinner. It came with nine very nice sized butterflied shrimp coated with shaved coconut and lightly fried; served with house spicy sweet Pine Island sauce and fries. The shrimp didn’t have too much coconut and were more savory than sweet. She loved them and brought a few home for the next day. Kelci was super personable and shared her thoughts on her favorites so we have to go back. Ask for her and she will steer you right. We’re looking forward...