Gator's Dockside Windermere — Restaurant in Horizon West

If I could give Natalia’s service zero stars, I absolutely would. My experience at Gators Dockside was completely ruined by her unprofessionalism, lack of basic hospitality, and outright rude demeanor. The only saving grace? Aiden, who went above and beyond to provide exceptional service—something Natalia should take notes on.

From the moment I walked in, Natalia made it clear that she had no interest in doing her job. No greeting, no eye contact, just a cold and dismissive attitude as if I was inconveniencing her by walking into the restaurant. When I asked for a table, she sighed, barely looked up, and took an unnecessarily long time to “find” a spot, despite the restaurant not being busy. Even worse, when I politely pointed out an open table, she shot me a condescending, “That one’s not available,” without any explanation.

Her attitude only got worse from there. As I sat waiting, I noticed multiple parties who arrived after me being seated and helped immediately while I was completely ignored. When I finally got the chance to ask a simple question about the menu, she responded in the most uninterested, monotone voice—no effort, no courtesy, and certainly no sign of wanting to make the dining experience enjoyable.

Now, let’s talk about Aiden—a complete 180-degree difference. The moment he stepped in to help, it was like I was in a completely different restaurant. He greeted me with a warm smile, checked in regularly to ensure I was comfortable, and actually made me feel like a valued guest. He answered my questions with enthusiasm, gave great recommendations, and even went out of his way to make sure my order was perfect. His professionalism, friendliness, and efficiency turned what could have been a completely miserable visit into something worth remembering.

If management at Gators Dockside cares about quality service, they should take a long, hard look at Natalia’s approach to customer service—or lack thereof. If you’re dining here, do yourself a favor and hope Aiden is working because he’s the only reason I’d ever consider...

Arrived and ordered drinks from the bartender. First was a Moscow Mule Apparently people do not know that this drink does not work unless It is served in a copper cup because that’s what makes the Moscow mules lime activate and gives it its unique flavor. First fail. Second ordered wings double rolled in scooter sauce. This is where they fry dip and fry them again it is the peak of eating at a dockside for wings. Second fail. Next I ordered the lobster roll I informed the bartender if there were onions in the roll I could eat them but not if they were not cooked. I have a bad allergy to the raw acids in onion enough so that Benadryl cannot solve and I have to go to the hospital if i happen to ingest. The bartender brought over the manager and asked me specifically I informed him as well. I was told I could not order the lobster roll as it is a premixed blend. Opinion almost Saved. So they cannot remove the onions or cook it. So I asked again for a menu. I order the po boy. No where on the po boy does it mention onions. They po boy was served. I cut it in half. I see a suspicious piece of what I believe is lettuce ...thinking now they knew I had the allergy it must be. Wrong and the third fail. I threw up in my drink after taking the piece and putting in my mouth .... in my defense I smelled it first and it smelled like shrimp and not onion. However it was a piece of raw onion, I fled the bar to the back of the building and out comes the horrible miss severed Moscow mule right by the dumpster. My girlfriend who is in complete disbelief gets handed a bill for $30 and is told i can come back and order whatever I wanted. I will never eat at dockside anywhere again. Your company clearly cannot handle a simple allergy responsibility, it is reasons like these that I rarely eat out. It’s a shame too. I love food and can afford to eat out often. I will never have another business meeting or promote Gators to my out of state guests. What a...

We have ordered from this location so many times I've lost count. Pre-pandemic we stopped dining in because the service and wait time was always atrocious (the last time we dined in was April 2019. Food took over an hour to come to our table. Waitress didn't refill drinks. Took an additional 20-25 minutes to get our check and subsequently pay resulting in an almost 2.5 hour dining experience). However, we've always enjoyed their food. We supported them through the pandemic and up until today but after today's experience I don't think we will be ordering again. The sauce from the Buffalo wings we ordered was all over the inside of the bag, including all over both to go containers. After getting it all over my hands I asked for few napkins. The manager came over to assist. When I opened our Gator tail to make sure the Buffalo sauce had not leaked into the box I saw that the box was half empty. At a price of $12.99 I felt we should get a little more then this portion. They have drastically cut their portion size. The manager told me it was a "corporate" decision and the pieces are "cut larger than before so it's the same amount just bigger pieces". This is not true. I told him we would not have ordered it if we had known the portion size was so small. No discount or refund was offered. Additionally when I got home with the food (we live .5 miles from the restaurant) the food: Buffalo wings, fries, onion petals, and Gator tail were all cold. We ended up trying to warm the food in the oven and microwave. It's a shame this location has gone...