Lee & Rick's Oyster Bar — Restaurant in Orlando

Was told about this place by my boss. Finally got to check it out. Went on a Friday night. Place wasn't crazy busy when we walked in. There are multiple entrances. We walked in what looked like the back entrance where the main parking lot is. No signs anywhere to say take a seat finally a staff said grab any table you like. We sat down in the main dining area next to a larger group of folks who were wrapping up their meal. We waited what must of been 10 to 15+ minutes before being acknowledged by a waiter. Meanwhile folks who sat down after us at the oyster bar got served drinks and even appetizers before we were acknowledged. However our waiter did ask if our first time and we said yes he immediately went over the menu with us. Grabbed our drink order and came back. We ordered a crab cake appetizer. And then after a few more minutes we ordered our entrees. My father loves fried oysters. I got the steamer basket. Sadly the fried oysters only come with fries and coleslaw and couldn't switch anything out. My meal only came with the the items in the basket. Waited more time and finally waiter brings out my dad's plate of food a day a crab cake platter not the appetizer. And he walks away but he turned back and I guess seen I looked confused. He comes back and we explain we only ordered the 2 cake app and not a platter. He picks that plate back up and takes it back saying oh this must be someone else's order. We wait more time and finally he brings my actual entree out. It's a steamer bag cut down flat. Ok looks good. It lacked flavor something fierce. While it had the old bay sprinkled on the outside it wasn't cooked with it so the food was very bland. Also came with 5 or 6 shrimp, 5 or 6 mussels, 3 or 4 clams, cluster of snow crab, two small potatos, and a small section of corn on the cob. Didn't seem like much food for the price. Compared to other establishments in the Orlando area. I did manage to pick up some of the strands of the steamer bag with my food that had to pull off before eating. My dad didn't seem to thrilled with his order. The crab cakes came out shortly after my entree arrived. It wasn't good either almost seemed to be frozen and little crab meat in it. Place was clean but is older and it shows. Parking lot has a sign that they aren't responsible for damage or theft to vehicles so that kind of makes it seems like not a safe area. Overall...

So I have a large list of restaurants that win Best Of awards, and I'll RNG for where to eat on the weekends. One recent weekend, I rolled for Lee and Ricks! I had never heard of it, but when I got to exploring the website, I learned all about its rich history and how ingrained it was to the local community. Well, finding diamonds in the rough like this really get me excited, I was ready!

We pull up, see this shanty town looking shack, and my excitement turns up to 11. I always negatively correlate appearance to quality of food. Fancy places make be suspicious, but places like this, I know there's good food within. So anyway, we go inside and see a dining reminiscent of the inside of a tugboat. Dark and nautical and a bar lined with ice and oysters. Very cool.

We take our seat in a nearby booth, and start checking out the menu. I got some sweet tea to sip on while I browsed, and boy it was sweeeet. So be forewarned. Also, after we ordered, we got a whole sleeve of saltine crackers to munch on, which was very nice. Very Olive Garden and Red Lobster-like. It also went well with our entrees.

I ordered the Steamed Seafood Platter (Shrimp, snow crab, mussels, crawfish, clams, corn & potatoes). I had been craving a seafood boil for a longgg time, so I jumped on the opportunity. It was a very good seafood boil for the Orlando area. Everything was a little overcooked and a tad big rubbery, but the seasoning was on point.

I also got the chance to eat some of the Seafood Combination Platter (Fried shrimp, clam strips, krab cakes and fish. Captain size portions served with French Fries and ). In terms of seafood platters, this one was a much better example of a fried sampler. Everything was crispy and not oily or anything. Amazing shrimps. Definitely need that coleslaw to help break up all that heavy fried.

Overall, this place has all the bravado of being a local legend, and I'm so glad that's been able to stay open after all these decades. I had a good time, I had a good meal, and I'm...

I have lived in Orlando for several years now. I have always heard about Lee & Rick's and their amazing oysters. My husband and I FINALLY made time to come to this gem! You pull up to this massive boat of a restaurant. When you walk in, you feel like you are walking into a basement. There are no windows and there was no music. At first it was a little awkward. Everyone turned and looked at us when we walked in. One of the servers then told us we can have a seat wherever we like. We sat down at the bar....which was much like a well. I proceeded to tell the server that it was our first time there. She kindly went over everything and how they do things. We ended up ordering a pitcher of Blue Point Lager, a pound of spicy Old Bay steamed Shrimp and a bucket of oysters! The server during the day cooks your own food. So first up was the steamed shrimp. They were FANTASTIC! They bring you drawn butter for them and they also put out a sleeve of crackers, cocktail sauce, hot sauce and lime juice for every order! There are napkins placed above your head for easy reach and so its not in the way of your food on the table. Once we started inhaling the shrimp, she brought out a bucket of UNSHUCKED oysters. She then began to shuck them right in front of us! Placing them on the bar directly in front of us. Giving me one, then my husband one, so on and so forth. No plates here! The most unique thing about this place is that at the bar, there is literally a well that you just DUMP everything in. Oyster shells, used napkins, trash, skins of shrimp...ANYTHING you want to get rid of! It makes for easy clean-up for servers and for yourself! One thing that blew our mind was how CLEAN they shuck the oysters. There was not once speck of grit or sand in our oysters. Completely amazed. The bucket of oysters came with about 30! During the day they have a special price for them! Great value! We...