We had a great time at Big Deck this past Saturday night! We arrived shortly before a live band (Under the Covers from Ocala, FL) began which seemed to be the perfect time to show up. This little restaurant and bar has an open air dining area in the bay side of Dock St. in downtown Cedar Key. I was craving peel n' eat shrimp and this was top notch shrimp here - seasoned lightly with Old Bay and served with drawn butter. My husband got an awesome blackened grouper sandwich and curly fries. They had some special beers on draft and my husband got a terrific oatmeal pecan porter on our waitress's recommendation. It was a great night of yummy food and a great band - perfect Florida night on the water. read more

Fresh seafood at a good price. No frills with this place. You eat on paper plates with plastic forks, but you don't need anything else to eat fried oysters. Our food took a little longer than expected to come out, but was worth the wait. read more

Great casual place with good service, good food, and great draft beer! Nice view of the water. I had the Black and Bleu Burger with curly fries.....scrumptious! read more

Awesome food. Not many people there but it's the middle of January. Great nachos and burger!

Great service, casual atmosphere, typical bar food but not much of a food selection. Outside dinning, decent scenic view, all around an enjoyable time. read more

Just stop by for a beer. waitress was great. Food looked great. Everything you would expect from a big deck bar and Grill. Wish I had one back home. read more

Best Cajun peel and eat shrimp I have ever eaten! Very entertaining bartender too! Thanks for a great Cedar Key visit...

I almost was steered away by the appearance of the restaurant but the live music drew us in. At first I felt crowded on the deck but before you knew it I couldn't help but have a blast with everyone else so close by. The grouper sandwhiches were delicious. I had mine blackened and it def tasted fresh. The drinks were well made and I have to give props to the one waitress who served the whole deck (about 10 tables). She brought our food and drinks in a timely manner and made us feel important. I give it 4 stars for being the best "where the locals go" bar and grill. It would earn 5 stars if it was fancier but fancier wouldn't have given us the "let loose" feeling we really enjoyed read more

We were looking for a non tourist place to have a nice lunch and found it. Small, good service and good food. Had the shrimp and oyster poor boy and they very very good. We know we made a good choice when we saw some locals come in. read more

Great place to chill. Dog friendly, great staff, and music. Met the owner and he was super cool!. He has a big DECK. Can't wait to come back!! read more

I hope you like sucking down cigarette smoke while eating your food. Had to move locations twice as our waitress and the cook came outside to smoke cigarettes right next to our table. Besides that the grouper sandwich was ok. And the steamed clams were pretty good. The sandwich would be a hundred times better if they put some inspiration into it. The buns are just plain ol white doughy bland buns from the grocery stores. Not toasted, nothing fancy. Fries right out of a frozen bag. Tomato, iceberg lettuce raw onion and pickle. Basically what you'd expect at a family BBQ. Even comes with plastic forks. Had to wait close to an hour to even get this mediocre plate of food. So if you want to pull up your motorcycle, crack open a Miller lite, light up a lung dart and eat some pretty good clams, this place is perfect for you. read more

Great cold beer and the wait staff is very laid back in a good way. Our waitress had us laughing and having a good time. The wings and fried oysters were excellent. read more

Our family went to Cedar Key for the day, and we were looking for a place to cool off with a meal and some live music. We started off with 3 iced teas (NOTE - they conveniently forget to tell you that there are no refills on tea. It comes in a can, and you are charged for each tea). After 45 minutes of waiting for our 3 hamburgers , we asked the waitress when our food would be ready. "Not much longer", she said "I think yours is up next". It was quite warm and the waitress kindly stopped by the table several times to check on our drinks (after they were empty). She was very quick to bring our refills (and add them to the tab so we could be charged for each drink). We inquired at least two more times about our food and after an hour and a half, she offered to provide us with a "complimentary" nacho appetizer. I use quotes because in reality we paid for that appetizer and one or two more with the profits they made on the 14 iced teas they charged us for. Finally, our food came, after nearly two hours. The burger wasn't quite as tasty as a McDonald's hamburger without the catsup, mustard, and onions, but it was a strong second. We ate because we were starved, and shortly after our food arrived, the appetizer came. On our way out, I took our check to the manager and explained very nicely that we waited nearly two full hours for the meal, it was hot and they charged us for 14 iced teas. Is there something you can do for us on the bill? I would have been happy with "we'll remove the drinks from your tab". Instead, his response was "She didn't charge you for all your refills and gave you a free appetizer. There is nothing else we can do." I wasn't rude or demanding and certainly feel that they should have done something. The appetizer came AFTER our meal, and we didn't even eat it. Maybe 4 bites total, leaving more than 4/5 of the plate untouched. We felt cheated, so we stood out front for about 10 minutes and spoke with everyone who walked up to look at the menu posted outside. None of the people we spoke with ate at the Big Deck that day. Everyone walked away. The power of word of mouth - you don't have to be mean and rude to feel vindicated! We visit Cedar Key at least 4-5 times per year. This was actually our first time eating at Big Deck, and it was our last. I won't recommend any restaurants specifically, but we've never had a bad experience at any of the other places we ate. Perhaps Big Deck will change management at some point (or change their attitude toward customers) and have some hint of customer service, but we are not likely to go back - ever. It's almost like they don't WANT to provide decent service. Hmmm.. maybe they want this to be a locals place only and tourists just aren't welcome! Service aside, the music was great! I'd recommend going across the street to grab something to eat or drink, then walk over and listen! read more

Best grilled grouper on the island by far! Great service and nice outdoor seating for any kind of weather. Good beer prices but not much to choose from. Nightlife is happening here! read more

Nice casual atmosphere, excellent clam chowder. I had the grouper and it was two small pieces with no flavor. Not sure it was even grouper. The potato salad and cole slaw was just plain bad! Disappointed with the dinner. read more

Open air deck and basket food. Had the grouper wrap. Full of flavor and cooked perfectly. Wife had peel and eat shrimp. Nothing special. I do a better job at home with Old Bay and Stripes beer served over ice. After four meals on the short strip on Dock St., this was the best. read more

Thursday Oct 6- Great fried shrimp. Not made for bad weather. Waitress Candice had foul mouth using profanity, S*** and Mother F*****. Unacceptable. Bartender polite and personable. Don't recommend this establishment. read more

It's taken me a year to write this review because my experience at this restaurant was so upsetting. I went with my husband. Our waitress was new and had never waited before. She mistakenly gave us a wrong dish, and told us it was a side of some sort that came with our main order. We ate several bites before she returned to tell us it was not ours. As we had already taken several bites she could not take it back, and told us it was fine and she would let us keep it. We assumed that as it was her mistake, we would not have to pay for the dish. In fact we did not eat any more of it, because our main dishes arrived. When she gave us the bill, it included the wrong dish. We told her to take it off. At that point the owner came over and pointed at the wrong dish, still on our table, and asked if we intended to pay for it. We said we did not. He then told us to get out of his restaurant. We were shocked and dismayed. Our waitress felt even worse. We paid, making sure to leave her a good tip, and left as quickly as we could. Unfortunately I am a sensitive type and we didn't even make it to the car before I was crying. I'm afraid to say it ruined our evening. There was nothing to do but go home, where I spent the evening crying (yes, I know, an overreaction, but I am just a very sensitive type). We did not let it ruin the rest of our trip, but suffice it to say it cast a pall over our visit and we have yet to be back to Cedar Key. The atmosphere at this restaurant is nice, and the food was average. The owner is cruel, a bully, or both. Please don't frequent this restaurant if you, like me, dislike meanness. read more

My husband and I have been here many times; the staff is always friendly and the food is always good. I LOVE the fried pretzels and the burgers are really good too! read more

Well we skipped Big Deck last trip and chose to go accross the street the first night back to Cedar Key. Both were a mistake. Big Deck Raw Bar is a open covered deck and bar on the creekside of mainstreet. If hosts loud crowds enjoying thier favorite beverages in the late night with festive lights. After a disappointing dinner I was bound and determined to enjoy some Cedar Key Clams before we left. What I found was a terrific well prepared Clam Chowder with bits of potatoe and celery well seasoned and lots of good clams. The Chowder was more like and broth of milk and very good when you added the amount of pepper and butter desired. The order of steamed clams were perfectly steamed, good size and tender. They were not overcooked one bit with served with drawn butter and cocktail sauce. I left Cedar Key knowing I would return for their clams and Big Deck raw Bar would be on my listr for lunch or dinner. Thanks for the bowl of water for Gus and allowing him to rest on the deck. Friendly service. Definitely a Keys kind of place on Cedar Key. read more

Comfortable locals restaurant with tasty clams and oysters. Jeff the chef cooks mouthwatering seafood dishes. Friendly staff.

Only four stars since Willie passed on - his ways behind the bar made it 5 stars. Great burgers, excellent curly fires, above average raw oysters (in season), but what separates them from your typical low-brow dive bar is their live music and top-shelf booze. They carry liquors I can't find in top-tier steak houses and always do a decent to overly generous pour. Cedar Key being a small, low-key version of Key West, it is always a nice weekend stop and this place has some of the better bar food/music/atmosphere in CK read more

How is the 'raw bar' even on here? Doesn't exist. No raw bar. People smoking a big fat joint next to us out in the open. Went through three of them. Sever just laughed. Slow, slow, slow service. High drink prices. Only place open past 10 in town. Redneck servers. Ugh. Get alcohol and go to your hotel. read more

First time coming here, came from out of town really excited to see what Cedar Key is all about. Immediately walking in the guy behind the bar was extremely rude to my girlfriend and I. We were asking where we could sit down and he said we better grab menus because we "can't just hangout". I have been working in the hospitality industry since I was 16 and I have never written a bad review before. I would not recommend this place to anyone. The music is good and the live band was awesome but that was it. All of the staff seemed like they didn't want to be there. We went to go have a couple drinks and hang out but left early extremely disappointed with how we were treated. read more

Enjoyed the outside views but mainly just bar food. Grouper sandwiches are good and the Philly cheese steaks are excellent. Great waitstaff some of the best in Cedar Key. Jessie is always fun, entertaining and informative about other local goings-on. If it's available get some of Brian's clam chowder as good as Tony's even though it's very different, curly fries are pretty good too. Also dogs are allowed outside on the deck, our lab mix loved this place to people watch. Good place to get your drink on! read more

Had a great time on the Big Deck this past weekend! Friendly people and good food!! The grouper quesadilla is fantastic! Drinks are very affordable!! With live music on the deck, you can't get much better! read more

Best price we could find for fresh cedar key steamed clams. Two dozen for $9.99.......wow. they were awesome. Waitress was the best.

NO STARS. WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE. VERY UNPROFESSIONAL. Told them we had a table of 15, they said they couldn't accommodate, so we told them that was fine, were seated, called and relayed the msg for them to go elsewhere. We then waited 20 minutes without a waitress attending our table, no drinks, no nothing. Mom then asked if we could order and the girl nodded. Another 5 minutes passed and they asked us to move so they could seat a table of 13, which we did with no problem. Then they proceeded to tell us they were putting tables together for us for our party of 15. My dad then walked down a few restaurants and gathered everyone. Once he was back he asked if he could order drinks and the waitress proceeded to talk over him about how it was the other waitress who didn't communicate and was arguing with my dad about the previous situation. Once two of our party arrived (within minutes) they told us the two waitresses were upfront arguing over the table of 15. We then decided we were going to leave and on our way out we told the waitress to cancel our drinks. She then sarcastically responded with "sorry we can't accommodate a party of 15 at last minute" which my mom then said that's not the problem. The waitress then followed us arguing when my mom turned around and said "you don't speak to customers like this" which the waitress put her finger in my mom's face saying "you don't speak to me like that" which then the waitress proceeded to argue and cause a scene in the entrance of the restaurant. VERY UNPROFESSIONAL. TERRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE. VERY IMMATURE STAFF, and no manger was ever seen. Will be contacting the owner. WILL NEVER COME BACK. read more