The End Zone Sports Grille — Restaurant in Florida

WARNING! As of 2/5/14 this is not the same restaurant that is was when the other reviews were posted here!

I've been a frequent visitor to the End Zone since moving to Florida in 1990, and until recently it was my favorite local place to dine out. However, about a year ago the business was sold to new owners who have sent the establishment into the toilet. Even the veteran staff (servers and bartenders) whom I knew by name have left for various reasons. All of the recipes are the same as before, as they must have been sold with the business, but the execution by the new cooking staff is horrendous.

I just arrived home from my most recent (and FINAL) visit to this restaurant; the food was a shadow of what it used to be, the portions are smaller than they were yet still priced the same, many ingredients are of lower quality, the service is not friendly at all (don't expect any smiles). One of the servers even boldly lied to my face stating that they had changed a particular menu item many ago when I had just eaten it there in November (3 months ago)! Oh yeah, and we waited about 30 minutes for our appetizers to come out, then another 45 minutes for our meals. To put it into perspective, if a football game had just kicked off when we arrived, we would have started eating our entrees at around half time.

To top it all off, the owner's teenage children and their friends were just hanging out in the restaurant; being loud, walking back and forth to the kitchen where the food is being prepared, and even going behind the bar (which is ILLEGAL in Florida for minors to do). None of this behavior necessarily bothered me personally except for the fact that they were making regular, unnecessary trips to where my food was being prepared (note: they were not working). The real issue is the simple fact that since this was going on at all, it is a reflection of how the standards of this restaurant have changed. It's a Wednesday night, and responsible business owners would not allow their teenage kids to illegally chill behind a bar at 10 PM, most likely getting paid just to stand around.

DO NOT eat at this restaurant. The original owners who took pride in the establishment have sold it to these new proprietors who only saw it as a possible cash cow. They do not care about the food, their customers, or...

As a family, we have driven past The End Zone for years, never thinking to stop in because we made the assumption it was more of a bar than a restaurant. But in Englewood, finding an open restaurant on a Sunday is a challenge, so we decided to stop in here — and we immediately fell in love. There were 11 in our group and we were seated quickly at a nice long table with Ariana M as our server — when you check this place out, sit in her section! Ariana was friendly and attentive, happy to answer questions, and never let our drinks run empty. The food was INCREDIBLE. I ordered the grouper tacos and they were divine — the grouper fillets on each taco were perfectly seasoned with blackened seasoning, topped with lettuce, cheese, and pico, and served with black beans & rice + salsa & sour cream. I will absolutely be ordering this again. At my end of the table, other family tried the chicken & waffles (my husband couldn’t stop raving about them and loved them so much he forgot to offer me a bite 🤣 + the fries were a unique style and we all kept stealing them from his plate), chicken burrito bowl (out of this world tender chicken cut into a ton of tiny pieces so you didn’t feel like you had to cut the chicken for each bite), boss hog burger (bacon jam…need I say more — burger cooked perfectly), and the hot honey chicken sandwich (perfect fusion of sweet and heat on crispy chicken 🤤). I’m not sure what all the other end of the table had, but I can say we all loved our meals and stood outside chatting about what we will try next time after dinner.

Whether you’re looking for a relaxed, family-friendly atmosphere or to enjoy drinks and a meal on their big patio with friends, The End Zone is the place to go. You’ll be met with the friendliest service, excellent food, and a relaxed spot to share a meal. Highly recommend stopping in — try the grouper tacos if you can’t decide between the other awesome menu offerings — they...

Don't know why others are saying bad things about this place, our first experience here was great! My husband and I came in for dinner and we sat at the bar. The bartender was great and attentive. He kept the drinks coming and gave honest opinions about the menu. We ordered the Asian wings basket and Gyro. Everything came out perfect and fairly quickly. Gyros are usually hit or miss, this one was fantastic! I got it with the seasoned fries and I can honestly tell you guys this is the best meal I have had in a very long time! They have happy hour Monday through Friday 12-6pm $1.75 domestic draft beer and $2.50 well liquor. Very large selection of liquor and a large bar area with about 30 seats! Daily lunch and dinner specials and they also have live music as night. There is a nice tiki bar outside as well with fans to cool you off in our hot summer climate. This place has a lot of TV's so it lives up to its Sports Bar name. Great place to watch sports and have good food and drinks. The establishment is huge and can house large parties. Local place and many locals absolutely love it here. Quaint, quiet and clean. The atmosphere is very relaxed and we felt right at home from the moment we stepped in. Will absolutely come back and bring my kids as well, as they have a little arcade area to keep them occupied. This place has a juke box too, and room to dance....