Whiskey Joe's | Manatee River — Restaurant in Palmetto

2020 - The food is always good here. I would even suggest have multiple appetizers for the entire meal. Their calamari, called "Whiskey Joe's Calamarty" are the biggest calamari I have ever had. They are great! You must try them. Their oysters are definitely worth trying if you are an oyster person, I prefer their Rockefeller style. Their food isn't to spicy, but rather flavorful. The atmosphere is fun and friendly. The view overlooks the manatee river. Boaters and jet skiers hook up to the pier and come right in. The wait staff are all friendly and work as a team. I love it. Josh was an excellent waiter. He was fun and professional. We had friends from out of town and they simply loved it there. They do social distancing here, so wear your mask going in. The entire staff wear their masks. I would definitely recommend this restaurant and we are definitely returning to try more off their menu.

On 8 April 2022 we visited again. Ryan was our server. He did an excellent job taking care of our needs. He was very attentive and fun. The food was great. We will be back again...with friends.

29 October 2023 - We should have known something was going on when it took us over 5 minutes to be seated at a table. When we finally sat down, one person of our party of 3 had to ask who our server was after an additional 10+ minutes! Seriously, I was about to walk out instead... Nobody even acknowledged that we were there after 10 minutes. I was going to give them about 3 more minutes and just leave. The waitress apologized...

Others around us were noticing our wait time, and I will never make a scene, but I will quietly walk out and leave a very bad review.

I believe it was a mix-up in table assignments, because I did overhear another waitress ask if we had been served to another staff member...but not to us.

We ordered ginger ale...the machine was broken. They have boxed tea... 😞 Our appetizers (gator bites) were really good. Jess, our waitress, went above and beyond and had to make the ginger ale. She was awesome! I could continue to rave about her attentiveness and table-side manner. She made the evening fun.

I ordered the fish tacos... The fish was a little overcooked (aka hard), but tasted good. The jambalaya was really good. The service from our assigned waitress was excellent! I think she was just dealt a bad hand...or the food that was served. They do have a military discount of 10%.

They used to have Banana Foster as their best dessert. We would come here just for the Banana Foster... Please bring back the Banana Foster!!!!

Their prices are more $$$, but they do have a nice view and a boat ramp/pier.

It wasn't that busy either. I can't say that I'd leave a positive recommendation at this time, it seems compared to their own self, their quality is declining over the years. Maybe I'll check back in 6 months.

If you are looking for a cool place to drink and socialize, you may prefer this location, then I would have given a higher review. Sorry, and I really liked this Whiskey Joe's in the past. We'll see you in the Spring. Hopefully it's...

By far one of the worst dining experiences we have ever experienced. If you go, plan on a long night with sub par food a lot of atmosphere and overworked employees. But the view is amazing (as long as you're looking down the river and not up it at the 95 overpass).

It took us thirty minutes for our party of 8 to be seated indoors, while the outside wait was 1 hour 30. Not unexpected for December 28. However we noticed that the one hostess also had to seat people and check for empty tables, leaving a lobby full of confused customers.

Once we were seated, our waitress (all of whom we're in unnecessarily skimpy outfits for December, by the way) was nice enough. She took our drink order, but then took over 10 minutes to return them. She then promptly took our food order, which then took about an hour to be returned. Finally, we waited another 45 minutes or so after we were finished eating too be handed the check by another waitress supposedly because our original waitress was too busy.

The icing on this too long baked cake is that when the manager was informed of our distaste for the evening, he made excuse after excuse, with the primary one being that we are in Covid times. All while our waitress was laughing at us behind his back.

All I can say about the food is that it took too long to arrive and was bland. I had a Shrimp Cocktail, a dish I'm sure you would agree is hard to screw up. The shrimp was fine, but the cocktail sauce came in a plastic cup that was clearly sitting in the fridge for a few days evidenced by the water texture. And it was served on a plate with ice on waxed paper, which melted by the end of the meal and spilled on my lap.

I would suggest steering clear of Whiskey Joe's. I can't say you'd have the same dreary experience, but I'll wager the best you'll get is a mediocre one. There are plenty of other options up and down the river, for the same price, same views, but with better, more courteous service and...

I reserved this online for Christmas Eve for dinner after church service. I live near the one in Tampa and have never gotten there yet. Not sure I will after this experience. I received a vcm mid day stating that they close at 8pm. If I could come early the server would appreciate it, but if not, they would still honor the reservation.

When arrived, it was 7:30 on the dot since we were coming from church. I told the hostess we had a reservation and she told me we’ll need to sit and order quick because the kitchen is closing. I explained that my message earlier was that they’d be happy to serve us still, even at 7:30. We immediately felt unwelcome. In every restaurant world, open til 8, means serving until 8! We watched the hostess go right over and get in the servers ear to inform her. What she said, I’m not sure, but it was very clear.

We felt extremely rushed when she came to the table. She rushed the order and when the food came out, she pretty much threw it down on the table. No check to see how things were or did we need anything. We had to ask for anything we needed.

Christmas Eve is a day I would like to tip heavily, instead we found ourselves tipping just 15%.

I do understand that is was a holiday eve, but if everyone was going to hurry to close up shop, perhaps the company should consider closing earlier. I would have chosen something else if I knew I was going to receive this level of disappointing service.

update At the same time I posted my review I received an email from the restaurant manager that was following up on our 👎🏼 review when checking out for our bill. He discovered it when closing the days checks. I received another response from him after responding. Both responses very prompt and demonstrated true care about our experience. He of course wants to make things right. He showed me that this was most likely a one...