As I scroll through, I see a lot of mixed reviews about this place. I can see some points, but I guess this is why it's important to visit and make your own decisions about a particular place. Is this a high-end establishment? No, but it's a steady and reliable sports bar that offers solid specials, good prices, and to me, good food for what they are offering. Recently, I had one of their burger specials, and it couldn't be more fresh and juicy, with great flavor. I believe it was a Blue Cheese burger with Bacon Jam, sautéed onions, cheese and cooked medium? Again, it could be just me, but that burger was slappin and I always felt the food quality (maybe recently) has been tasty, hot, quick, and portion sizes that are great. Could the facility use more of a "makeover"? Yeah, and I see why some say it's filty but I can tell that there are transitions happening, and those details are starting to come. I also believe it is run by a new manager (I have seen this person at another establishment and did fantastic), and it seems like it's all moving in the right direction. I would even say if they continued with the blue on the walls throughout the place, that alone would make it have a bit more of a vibe to it that doesn't look so "interesting". The color palette of the pink, blue, and other colors can make it seem less attractive. The flooring and blue walls or maybe a solid color could make this feel like an entirely different place. Bottom line is that this is a local sports bar, and I feel the food has been great (especially when they had the Friday Specials) for what you are getting and the price. Come and visit for yourself as to what you feel because it's not perfect, but it's not terrible either. Keep working on it, AJ Gators, because you are still reliable in our eyes. read more

AJ Gators - Menu - American Near Me - Virginia Beach, Virginia

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Second time I've been here and second time I have seen a pet sitting at a table. Cleanliness is not a focus for them. read more

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Under new management- place is very welcoming - food is great and consistent- great specials throughout the week!

I've driven past AJ Gators several times and finally decided to stop in and try it out. We arrived a little before 9pm and the restaurant was empty so we were able to sit wherever we wanted. Autumn, our server, quickly greeted us and welcomed us in. She shared her drink recommendations since we were unsure of what to order. The Pungo Punch Cocktail was great, it was very fruity and refreshing. Since we wanted to share some apps, we decided on the AJ's Gator Tail, Crab Dip and Filet Mignon Steak Bites. The food was served fairly quickly and of course, we had to try the AJ's Gator Tail first since we'd never had gator before. It was seasoned and fried very well but I can't compare it to anything I've had before. The texture was a mix between chicken and calamari lol! It wasn't bad but trying it once was enough for me. The Crab Dip was served with toasted bread and tortilla chips. The dip was a bit runny and lacked some flavor and the tortilla chips were stale so it's probably not something I would order again. The Filet Mignon Steak Bites were alright. They were cooked Medium, per our request, and seasoned pretty well but the first piece I tasted was mostly gristle and I couldn't even swallow it. In fact, most pieces had gristle in it which was disappointing. I did order the Seaboard Starburst Cocktail and it was amazing as well! Overall, the best part of the night was our server, Autumn. She was great and very personable! The drinks she suggested were great but the food was subpar at best. If I do return, it'll be solely for the drinks. read more

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Purchased a cheese burger last evening no sides where Included. It was a small nothing burger and cost $16.00. Ordered fries with it and there where 10. Won't be back there. read more

Dirty and the food was disgusting. Ordered game day nachos and they were stale. The tater tots were beer cooked and I ordered old bay wings and received lemon pepper. Waitress was friendly but the establishment is gross frankly. Vents are loaded with soot and the bathrooms stink. Stay far away read more

I was really impressed with the food at this sports-themed bar for a later dinner with my dad. It's only 5 minutes from home and I've had takeout from here once before years ago so I didn't know what to expect and thought it would be greasy spoon type food mostly. We arrived a little after 8pm and they close at 10pm so there was still some time. It was a Thursday night so there were probably about 3 other tables inside and it was pretty quiet and slow so we chose our booth and sat down. Tons of televisions all around for sports watching and they have a pool table and some arcade games as well for bonding and killing time. Quickly greeted by a sweet waitress who took our drink order and let us browse the menu. They have tons and tons of appetizers. They have so many they have "mini" versions of like 10 of them which are probably the most popular, like nachos, chili fries, etc. with smaller portion sizes for about $4-6. We chose the fried pickles and jalapeños app. So delicious. They were out in about 5 minutes or so, fresh and hot and just-made, and the best part were the jalapeños with ranch for dipping. They were perfectly breaded and cooked and had just enough heat. So good! I chose the garden salad with crispy house-made chicken tenders. The salad had cucumbers, tomato, red onion and was supposed to have croutons and eggs but didn't so I had to ask. The chicken tenders were supposed to be made in-house but they weren't that great. A little overcooked - still OK - but just not amazing. The salad was good and did have the extra cucumber and tomato I requested. My dad chose a bacon cheeseburger that was a huge size and he liked it - he actually ended up taking half home with him so that tells you it's big - he can eat. My boyfriend chose a chicken quesadilla as his entree and it was also a huge portion. He had about 6 giant slices of quesadilla on his plate and he ate half of them and took the rest to go. Also said it was good. We didn't wait long for the check to arrive and be taken and we were on our way out the door. This was a pleasant and easy experience with a large menu. I'll be back for sure. read more

We actually heard that 1 of the chefs from the old restaurant we used to part take in BIG WOODYS , Now works here. If u had a pleasure to have a meal cooked by CHEF MIKE. Hes a popular chef in the red-mill area and VA beach alone. We rushed right over and the food was gooood. We have never ate at AJ GATORS before till now , But where ever Chef goes we are going to follow. We will be returning. And side note the steak bites,she crab soup and the burgers. WOOOOW read more

The worst AJ Gators of them all. The waitress could care less about us. The food you could tell each item was cooked one at a time. Onion rings were cold, cheese sticks a little warmer, potato skins warmer and then finally chicken tenders warmest. Then the waitress is picking up our plates without asking and we weren't even done. The same local drunks at the bar. The ambiance is none. Cleanliness no where to be found. read more

We happened upon this restaurant accidentally and decided to give it a go. When we walked in, there were about 3 other people in the place, and I was a bit worried. We were greeted by a very friendly bartender, Jane. We enjoyed a drink while we waited for lunch. I had a Ceasar salad with grilled chicken and my husband had the chicken salad special. Both meals were well prepared and tasty. Jane made sure we had what we needed and checked back a couple of times. One way I evaluate restaurants is the cleanliness of their bathrooms. Gators bathrooms were immaculate. When in the area, I would definitely stop in again. read more

Literally the worst food I've had in years. Ordered filet steak bites for an appetizer and they were fatty, chewy, and way overcooked. Got potato skins as a meal and they were burnt to a crisp. Would never come back or recommend it to anyone. read more

I have visited here many times over the years and multiple locations. Really good for watching the games. I endorse the burger or wings on the regular. My oldest is addicted to the spud mountain. The pile of fries with cheese and bacon. My youngest, has a thing for the chicken bites and tater tots. I vary on my choices. I love their tater tots, but tonight I was being good and had the tuna steak and broccoli. Tuna steak was slightly less done than I typically like it, but it was still pretty good so I didn't bother with it. read more

Great bar and grill food, much made-from-scratch. Great service staff and all through one of the toughest service industry times during the pandemic! read more

Ask how many people are working in the kitchen before you sit down!! Was told to seat ourselves and waited over 20 minutes to even see a waitress. Two waitresses approached us and unfortunately the one we got was awful. She had an awful attitude the whole time, which we attributed to being busy however the place wasn't even half full. It took 35 minutes for her to even approach us to get food and then another hour for our appetizers to even begin coming out. While we waited on food, we were served water with dirt in the glass and TWO dirty plates that were crusted with food in multiple places. We had to ask twice about our food and it then comes out that they have "big parties," with us being the second largest ordering food/eating in the entire restaurant. The first round of appetizers were room temperature to warm at best, with the second round coming out 5 minutes later... which is all it would take to make them. Once our food came out we immediately asked for boxes to leave because we had such a terrible experience and the boxes the waitress brought us were DIRTY again. After asking to speak to a manager four times about the dirty items we had to flag her down and she offered us nothing. We asked about compensation for our bill due to the multiple issues and she ignored us. Our bill came and the waitress started to talk to us for the first time all night other than asking us for our order. Obviously she was starting to be nice to us because the manager had spoken to her and she wanted a tip. If I could give 0 stars I would. Worst. experience. ever. read more

Great food, friendly service and some Gator. Had a great selection of food even for a late night dinner . read more

Arrived in Sandbridge for our week at the beach a enjoy AJ Gator's for a quick dinner after checking in. What a fun place! Lots on the menu, great drinks and yummy wings! Everything we had was delicious and if you visit, don't miss the Red Mill Rum Runner drink. It is delicious! Great family place with excellent service and prices. read more

Awesome service! Waitress was friendly and super attentive. Came as a group of 13 and 2 little kids and she handled it like a champ! They had a ladies night special for $3 martinis and they were yummy! I got the philly steak sandwich with sweet potato fries & they were both good. A few of our group tried the Carolina platter and thought it was a little lackluster. It's basically just a plate of pulled pork, but it didn't really have much flavor. My boyfriend says, however, that his macaroni and cheese that came with it was really good. Also- they have gator bites. Tried this for the first time and they were actually quite tasty! The buffalo chicken dip also got some serious praise around the table. Definitely a good first stop on vacation! read more

Best burger I've had in a long time, with nice crunchy tots! Excellent meal for the price. Really good service and chill setting. Lots of good menu items. Comfort pub food. read more

After a hot July day on the beach we stopped in for a bite to eat about 5pm on a Sunday. The air conditioner had just stopped working in the restaurant so it had just began to warm inside. I understand that can happen anywhere. So we stayed. We each ordered a burger; she had a Whiteclaw, and I had a Lagunitas draft. What we got were $12 burgers of average quality served on paper plates and a my $7 beer served in a plastic cup. At those prices I expect a little better. I will not be back. read more

Excellent experience with 11 in our party coming in at 10:30pm on a Friday night. Fresh food, great service, and the gator bites were a hit with everybody. read more

I will never return to this location!!! Probably the worst service I've ever seen. Bartenders cared more about their rent payments than the guests at the bar. HEATHER,HEATHER,HEATHER, is by far the worst bartender I've ever encountered in the 15yrs I've been in the hospitality industry. Who is managing this place? Servers walked by and was extremely rude as well when she was trying to squeeze past me. This place is definitely Falling off the map!! I can see this place going out of business soon. As a local, I will be telling everyone about this experience!! She ripped me off in my tab too. Charged way more than what we drank. RIPOFF!!!!!! Was with my wife, and father in law, who will be telling everyone they know as well. Will not be forgotten. read more

My family was looking for a late dinner and we happened to stumble upon this joint. We were skeptical at first but were impressed by the food. I got the fried shrimp and they were very good. My cousin got the Mac n cheese burger and she said it was fantastic. The broccoli and cheddar soup was good and so was the she crab soup. Our waitress was polite and friendly. All in all it is a hidden gem of sandbridge Virginia. read more

First, the waitress brought us our waters in plastic cups, apologizing and explaining that they were out of clean drinking glasses. After that, we noticed a string of ants marching across our table. We left before ordering. read more

Very inattentive staff right from the walk in. Then we waited for over an hour for our food for a table of 8 (on a quiet Thursday night) until we ultimately walked out without any of the food we ordered to which the staff stated that they were understaffed and there's nothing else they could do.. we just paid and left to a nearby fast food place with a much cleaner and respectful environment. I DO NOT recommend this poorly managed restaurant. I wish I could give less than 1 star.. read more

My husband and I love this place! Great food, decent prices, and good service. Our "go-to" place when we want to go out to eat! Five stars and two thumbs up! read more

This was the first time I didn't leave a tip at a bar. I just moved to the area and was looking for a good sports bar to watch mainly World Cup games. So I went here for USA/Portugal (6pm start time) and had a decent time. There was nothing too special to mention but there was nothing bad either. So I came back for USA/Germany (noon start time). This was a horrible experience. The bar was mostly filled so I took a seat next to the regulars near the bartender's station. The TV screens in front of me were playing the Food Network and the local news. I counted 5 people that day who asked the bartender to change it but to no avail. She was getting agitated and finally bitched out the last person saying that one of her regulars likes to watch that and he's going to continue to come here and tip her. And that she didn't care about everybody else. She chatted with her regulars about how much she hated soccer and how she couldn't wait till the World Cup was over. She joked about cutting all the TVs off in the last 5 minutes "just to piss everyone off." At one point I heard "I don't give a fuck about them." It felt like a poor attempt to talk shit about me behind my back. I wanted to wave my hands and remind her that I could hear her. I don't mind dedicating a TV to Food Network. I do mind the attitude and rudeness. read more

The service could have been better considering they were almost empty. Soup was barely warm.

It's a sports bar, a good one. Better than hooters. No problem finding games here. The fish tacos are good, service is great, perfect for sandbridge residents. read more

Used to go here for football on Sunday, but now, simply not worth it. The good news is they have a new menu. The bad news is their prices shot up, and just not the same value for ambience, etc. In fact, it was mentioned to me on my most recent visit that they've done away with nightly specials between 6-9pm. Great wings, but for the price - not so much ($25 for 20 wings.) During football games: Buffalo Wild Wings cheaper Big Woody's ($.59/wing) Rudees ($.69/wing) read more

Group of six went to watch Sunday night football. Unfriendly. Not one TV in this sports bar was showing the game and practically empty. Seemed put out to change the channel...after several minutes and the game still not on, we left. this is a sports bar? AVOID read more

Coldest draft beer around. Good food. Great place to watch football, eat wings & drink a couple beers. Yes it's loud. Cheering the teams!

We are from out of town, and always make this our first stop coming into town. We won't be coming back. There were only two other tables when we arrived at 430. The service was horrendous. The waitress was not attentive at all. Two waitressses on duty, they should have been all over the tables. Chatting it up with the bartender, talking to the cook, and just not paying attention to the customers. Drink order wrong, food order wrong,had to wait for her to stop fixing her hair to get subsequent drinks, food servers should have their hair pulled backand walked by with my daughters order and kind of tossed her food on the table without looking or saying anything and kept walking. Asked for more of something, had to ask again. This place is a disaster!! Close, or try getting all new help!! read more

Decent atmosphere and cold cheap beer but wings are below average and they charge $19 for 18 wings which are average size. If you want wings go 3 miles to lendys. Only other negative was if you don't like cig smoke. You have to exit through the gauntlet of smokers sitting outside. Service was average. Bartender was nice but not talkative and unless we engaged her she was busy checking her cell phone. read more

The main problem with this place is that it is 2017, this is a sports bar, and their TV's don't have HD. I can get a better picture at the TV in my RV. The old bay wings are really good, they have some good beers on tap, but it seems the owner thinks saving $15 on the monthly cable bill is a good business decision. Watching a big game with a poor quality picture does harm the experience. I'm sure if they ponied up the extra $$ to fix this it would be positive for their bottom line read more

If you want a place with poor food, mediocre service, and a disgusting atmosphere, enter AJ Gators. Our party of 18 sat down at 8 pm on wing night. Another table of 6 was finishing up and some stragglers were at the bar. There were 3 waitresses on hand, none of them looking excited to be there. Our party showed up in groups but we were immediately sat at a long rows of tables. There were ants crawling on the tables, food under the tables, and a sticky feeling on the chairs and table. Two chairs were covered with a mess so I pulled them out to make it known to the waitress the chairs were dirty. After walking by them twice I had to verbally point out the mess. She cleaned them eventually. We ordered some wings extra crispy to start. Thankfully we ripped into them before biting. The meat was pink and warm. We asked for them to be put back in the fryer. They came back browned but were to our liking. The party of six left, leaving just our party and the stragglers. Our waitress was running around while the two others stood at the register in plain site and never lent a hand. Our food came out two plates at a time from our waitress while the others continued to ignore us. We asked for napkins and silverware twice. We ended up going to the register area and grabbing it ourself. When she got to the end of the table she realized she never punched in the last three orders. Our dishes piles up, now we had to put them on an empty table behind us while the two other waitresses stood around. The food was mediocre bar food. Chicken tenders, wings, bites, sandwiches etc all sub par. This was our last straw after getting the same experience for the last three years. read more

Go here a lot with my brother and my son to watch sports, eat and drink. It's a great place and I love the sampler platter. Potato skins are awesome. Wings are really good as well. A lot of the locals go here and makes it enjoyable. It's just down the street from where I live and very convenient. Good prices for good food. read more

Went in to watch the au miss game and was told to quite down.. There was all of 3 people in there not counting the 6 of us.. I thought we went to a sports bar but guess the bartender felt different.. Will spend my money else where read more

Food is awesome! Very friendly staff and I love the outside seating available. Also they have excellent drinks. Definitely one of my favorite places to eat. read more