The Cove Resort and Pub — Restaurant in Florida

We’ve been loyal Cove customers for about two years and have always enjoyed the atmosphere, food, and service. Unfortunately, our visit on August 30th was disappointing.

When we arrived, we were coping with the unexpected loss of a family member and simply wanted a low-key meal together. We had a table of four adults and my two-year-old daughter, who became a bit restless. For about ten minutes she walked with me or my sister in the open walkway behind the bar leading to the restrooms. She was always within my sight, not disrupting other guests, and not interfering with staff.

A manager, Noelle, approached my sister and told her that my daughter could not walk there because food was being brought through and she needed to be “out of the way.” While we completely understand the importance of safety in a restaurant setting (my husband has managed restaurants himself), the interaction felt unnecessarily harsh and unwelcoming. A simple, kind request to keep an eye out for servers would have been met with full cooperation—we were already doing so. Instead, the approach left us feeling unwelcome on what was already a very difficult day.

Afterward, I stepped outside with my daughter. When Noelle came outside and I commented that she is outside and we are watching her, she responded antagonistically with, “Are you talking to me?” Later, when I mentioned my distress to a server, she again approached in a confrontational manner, asking my sister, “Do you need to speak to a manager?” These interactions felt more about asserting authority than providing good service.

I want to acknowledge that the rest of the staff were wonderful. In fact, one server who wasn’t even assigned to our table went out of her way to engage with my daughter and even brought toys for her. That kindness made a world of difference.

While I recognize I could have handled the situation better, I hope this feedback is taken as a reminder of the power of compassion and empathy in hospitality. Leading with kindness, especially when guests may be carrying unseen burdens,...

This is a long one so sit tight…we stayed at The Cove campground for 5 night in March 2024. It was probably the most miserable camping experience of our 10+ years of camping. Upon pulling in we immediately noticed a horrendous sewer odor emanating from the septic tank immediately adjacent to our site #3. I texted “Tee” who was listed on our information sheet as the contact. She did apologize to her credit and told me “they thought they had that fixed” and that she would contact the owner and plumber the next morning and let me know what they find out. She told me we could move to an overflow site which we looked at behind the cabins and which was total garbage. Anyhow that was the last we heard from Tee. We smelled crap for 5 days and nothing was done. For that reason alone I would never return as they do not keep their word.

There’s more…the sites are about 3 feet apart and offer no privacy. Our site was less than 50 feet from the restaurant. All night long the outside speakers were blaring loud music and we were hearing loud cackling beer drinking patrons. They managed to install a large playground so the beer drinking parents could let their little tikes scream at the top of their lungs unsupervised all night long. This went on until 10pm on weekends and 9pm weekdays.

There’s more.. apparently a restaurant, campground, playground and cabins all stuffed into a tiny little area wasn’t enough. Let’s add AIRBOAT RIDES. This happens about every half hour and the noise is literally loud enough to cause ear damage.

We did try the restaurant one night with relatives and spent 2 1/2 hours ordering some wings and a few salads. The service was practically non existent. The food wasn’t bad but after that experience we never returned. We spent as much time as possible away from the campground

We stay in this area every year but will never return to...

If you're just driving by, with no signage letting you know it's there, you won't be able to find this establishment without a map app. It's tucked behind a horse farm and a small cove on the lake, almost looks like it shouldn't be there. This is definitely a locals bar. The outside is lacking in curb appeal, looks a little run down and dirty. Two entrances, one in the front where their sign is and another in the rear. Entering from the front you're greeted with a large dining room to the right with floor to ceiling windows and a reverse C shaped bar to your left and pub seating just beyond that. There is some outdoor seating, (see photos) and not very inviting. Walls consist of quite a few state license plates and various beer brand posters, signage, etc., including local breweries. Mens bathroom could have used some TLC, paper towel dispenser just about falling off the wall. Staff is super friendly and welcoming, this was a plus for me. Quite a bit of beers to choose from and their samplers are a great way to taste them and choose your favorite. Service was great, my drink order was taken right away and arrived quickly. I ordered the Copps Flight beer sampling and it was well presented with a card showing the kind of beers they were. My meal was the Rueben with onion rings and it presented well and was quite tasty but the corned beef was a little dry and overcooked. The onion rings were most certainly frozen. Food order arrived in 14 minutes. This place is really cool and the owner is hands on, showing up at our table and asking if everything is alright and thanked us...