The Commander's Shellfish Camp — Restaurant in Florida

Visiting from Maine, stopped in for lunch as it looked like we might dine with a view of the intercostal waterway. We walked into the main restaurant which looks like a basic diner (booths, counter seating, no music). There’s an outside porch with tables as well. We told the hostess we’d like to be seated on the porch & didn’t mind waiting if it was full at the moment. She said we could eat out on the deck located away from the restaurant with a Food Truck….we had no idea what she was talking about but could see “the deck” might be the place with a nice water view. We proceeded to the back door per her instructions (the deck is located away from & behind the main restaurant towards the water). The only view from the restaurant and porch was the parking lot, a dumpster & a dumpy garage/out-building. Without understanding what to expect, we proceeded to the deck. We ordered our food & drinks at a little counter before the entrance to the deck. I ordered a Margarita (plastic cup), hubby ordered a Beer. We ordered the Lieutenant’s Boil (Market Price) & continued to the actual deck to find a table & wait for our food. Turns out there are only metal picnic tables for seating & no sun…the deck is covered & completely shaded (windy & cold). Yes, we could see some water, but that didn’t seem all that important once we saw the picnic tables. We wanted to enjoy our meal chatting with each other but shortly after sitting down, another couple decided to sit with us even though there were other empty tables. Their chatting & reviews of their vacation experiences began (complete with cell phone photos) & then the dirty joke happened. My husband gets up & leaves me there knowing how much I dislike this kind of “visiting “. I could have killed him! Finally, he returns & has arranged for us to move to the porch. My hero! Now I need a shot of Tequila. We move to the porch & we’re told they only serve wine & beer when I ask for the shot of Tequila. WHAT? But the Margarita. Our waitress asks if we were told that when I ordered the Margarita. Ah, no. Turns out, it was made with wine (that’s not a Margarita!). Our meal arrives from the Food Truck. It was warm, but certainly not hot. My husband enjoyed the meal (I did not but we ordered it knowing it was something he really wanted to try so that’s on me). When he saw the bill & saw the meal cost ~$65, he was shocked. He said he never would have ordered it if he had known (hey…we could have asked and…..it’s seafood). We left a $16 tip for a total of about $105 for lunch. Considering the setting, not worth it for us. We won’t be back, just...

We arrived as a party of 8 after spending a day at the beach. Upon entering, we were presented with two choices: to take a seat just inside direcyly by the door or to sit outside. We opted to sit outdoors and were informed that a person at the bar would guide us to our seats. We are standing here, waiting and waiting, and nobody has recognized our presence. One of our group members inquired about the seating arrangements. They provided menus and instructed us to jot down our orders on the paper she gave us. We take our seats and begin to review the menu. Many items on the menu are indicated as "Market Price," and there was no one available to inquire about the prices. There was no one available to inquire if we wanted water or any other beverages. Two of us returned to the bar and needed to inquire about the prices. The bartender had no idea and was attempting to glance at the notes where she had recorded the prices. For a seafood boil priced at $135, it claims to serve 2 to 4 individuals; however, after seeing the portion size beforehand, I realized there was no way it could satisfy even 2 people. We submitted our orders for food and drinks.

My White Sangria was mostly ice, consisting of 90% ice and no fruit at all, while my friend who ordered a Bloody Mary received the same, with 90% ice as well. The meal took approximately an hour, if not longer.

We requested a dozen raw oysters and received perhaps a quarter cup of garnish alongside them. My son ordered a pound of crab legs, and I regret not taking a picture. For $35, we received six very slender legs. The crab legs contained very little meat. The dishes arrived at different intervals, and my salad ended up being the last item served, despite me inquiring about it multiple times.

This place is managed very poorly, and that's being polite.

There is one individual at the bar handling drink orders and preparing them, taking food orders, and performing cashier duties. The cost of the food was outrageous and excessively high for such tiny servings. I will never return to this place nor would I suggest it to anyone.

Regardless of who owns the business, strive to improve not just for your customers, but also for your employees. You should never rely on a single individual to handle a task meant for three, leaving your customers to manage on their own. Frankly, it's disgraceful how you manage this...

We vacation here every year we are Florida natives from Tampa. My sister who is from California recommended this place and so we stopped in for an early dinner. Service is great. The server was very attentive. Made sure that we had everything we needed and was very timely and bringing our drinks and food, the inside is very small but clean fresh bright they have quite a bit of outdoor seating. The bathrooms are are just outside on the backside of the restaurant. We ordered two seafood boils, a Poboy with oysters and some shrimp. Everything was delicious. The seafood was cooked well tender, moist, and fresh and I emphasize fresh because everything was very tender and moist. Nothing was dried out. All of the crab was succulent. The shrimp were jumbo and delicious potato and sausage were a nice addition not the best potato and sausage I’ve ever had in a seafood boil, but nonetheless, they definitely enhanced the meal, we also came with another group and we got to smoke fish dip which was very good and they got an order of the steam shrimp. The only thing that I will say is that I had a strong for some grilled or chargrilled oysters, which they do not make, they only make them steamed Nonetheless it was a good experience however I will say it was expensive. We had six people our total bill with gratuity came to just over $300. I know seafood is expensive and I do feel that the serving sizes were good seafood boil split between two people and we still had some to take home. I believe we got two or three clusters of crab, shrimp, clams, and lots of potatoes, corn and sausage. I think for a once a year visit, we definitely will be back. Thank you for your hospitality and great food and also by the way, the beers are cold and cheap. A cold Stella goes great with...