Cedar River Seafood is located in the stand alone building on US 19 N in Crystal River that use to be Rivera Mexican Cantina. The outside isn't much to look at and I found the handicap parking and access a little strange. The parking spot isn't located near the wheelchair/handicap entrance. You have to walk further down the building to get in and that might prove difficult for disabled people who use a walker. One would think they would have thought this through a little better. Once inside however things improve for the better. The restaurant is clean and nicely decorated with different decorations of marine life. The dining room we were seated in was large with a choice of tables and chairs or booths. We were greeted and seated as soon as we walked in by a hostess. Our waitress was Kayla who was efficient and sweet as can be. She took our drink and appetizer order as soon as we were ready. For drinks my husband and I ordered unsweetened ice tea with lemon slices. The tea was deliciously fresh. Their menu is a nice size with plenty of choices to choose from and not just seafood. Land lovers have some dishes to pick from. Our appetizer of choice was their Conch Fritters. They came out six in a serving, very warm and delicious with an accompanying sweet sauce. Loaded with conch meat - these were a treat! For our main dish we chose their AUCE shrimp meal and two sides. You can have your shrimp fried, grilled or blackened and can interchange with each serving. I started with the blackened shrimp. I was served a generous portion of the shrimp. Nice sized and piping hot they were delicious! They have squeeze bottles of cocktail sauce and tartare sauce that they bring you for the table. I found that I didn't need any sauce because the flavor was perfect. My choice of two sides were macaroni and cheese and collard greens. Both were very tasty. The macaroni and cheese had a spice that I believe was nutmeg. Not overpowering but just a hint to make you think - this is different but scrumptious. The macaroni was perfect and not mushy. The collard greens were also very good. Nicely flavored and went well with my meal. We were also served two nice sized hush puppies. Very nice flavored with a onion flavor. My next portion of shrimp was the grilled shrimp. Very good but not as flavorful as the blackened version but I still enjoyed them. I did use some cocktail sauce with these. And my last portion of shrimp was their fried shrimp. These were fantastic, I mean who doesn't love fried shrimp? These were my husband's favorite. All three versions of the shrimp were wonderful so it depends on your taste buds as to what you chose. You can't go wrong on any of them. The AUCE shrimp special is only on Mondays through Thurdays. They also have AUCE Flounder on those days too. We will definitely go back again and again! read more

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Everything went well! Our server Aubrey was excellent. She was very busy but was able to keep up with all her tables! The four of us had 2 senior platters with 4 sides each. One was fried and one was broiled. It was all delicious! We were in a very comfortable booth but we can see how it can get packed. It was casual & typical of a seafood restaurant! Hope we don't sink the kayak tomorrow! read more

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We were looking for someplace new for lunch and found Cedar River Seafood. We were immediately seated and our drink order taken. Our lunch order of the pick two (I had shrimp and clam strips, while hubby did stuffed crab and the upgraded oysters. We both chose fries and slaw as our sides). EVERYTHING was fresh, with a light batter! Our servings were huge and more than we could both finish!!! We truly enjoyed everything and will be back read more

R​estaurant is now permanently closed. It wasn't the greatest as I have previously posted. This is the Crystal River location. I drove quite a ways to their Inverness location. It is worse. The dishwasher from Crystal River was the cook at Inverness. Sent raw shrimp back twice before just taking dinner home to cook myself. Waitress was apologetic and nice. Won't be going back. read more

Lobster and shrimp was fantastic. Gator tail appetizer was delicious. Destiny our server was very friendly and did a great job. Highly recommend. read more

Cedar River Seafood - Lobster dinner with shrimp and two sides. Garlic mashed potatoes and Mac and cheese. - Seafood Near Me - Crystal River, Florida

This is my first time reviewing some where I didn't eat, but it's not because I didn't try. I have always wondered where they find the restaurants on Kitchen Nightmares, and now I know. We walked in, and there was only 1 party in front of us. The hostess seats them and then says, "Hold on, the kitchen told us not to seat anyone else until they aren't backed up... that's about 8 minutes?" 8 minutes doesn't sound terrible, and I'm really done trying to find a restaurant, so I sit. During the next five minutes, it seems like every server walks by complaining about another server doing something wrong. Then another server comes and says, "I'm so sorry. Let me sit you down and get drinks." We sit, and ten minutes go by. Finally, another server comes and says listen I'm going to tell you now so you aren't mad later it might be an hour before you get your food... and that's when we left. Apparently, the owners are in Belize this week? The food coming out of the kitchen looked good, but I think I would still be waiting for it. read more

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Overall unsatisfactory. Walked in about five minutes before a six top ( just my husband and I) were sat. Waited about four minutes for server to approach us. Ordered drinks and dinner with side salads. Tea was delivered in a timely manner. Salad delivered ten minutes later, lettuce a little on the brown side, the spicy mustard honey dressing was good. Waited and waited for a fried flounder and shrimp fried dinner. Six top was served before us. We continued to wait five more minutes. Ended up throwing a twenty on the table for two teas and two side salads. It used to be so much better! read more

We had gone to Cedar River Seafood a few times for their fried fish lunch. The last time we went ( which was the last time we went ) we ordered the same fried fish lunch. The service was not good. We waited much too long. When the fish plate arrived we were stunned at how thin the fish ( haddock ) was sliced. With the breading it was not as thick as a piece of cardboard. We remarked that we were the victims of "shrinkflation" We picked at our food for a bit and walked out. We never returned, nor will we ever return. Charles B read more

Had the blackened cod and it was very good, service was great as well. Nice and quiet place to enjoy your meal. This meal was about 4 weeks ago. I plan to go back tonight. I live in NC read more

Food was terrible the mens room was flooded and noone did anything about it. Service was terrible took over 2 hours Couldnt give 0 stars read more

I read the reviews and I was afraid to try this place. We walked in and the place was busy but not full. They met us at the door and seated us. We we're asked what we was drinking and we ordered drinks and I asked for the Ahi Tuna appetizer. The drinks came out quickly. I waited a bit and asked about the Ahi and they went and got it. I ordered 3 pounds of snow crab legs and that was a lot of legs. The food was great the service was good the place was clean and fresh. I will be back. read more

Cedar River Seafood - Ahi Tuna - Seafood Near Me - Crystal River, Florida

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Food, prices and serving sizes were all great! We will be back! Our waiter was very kind and attentive.

Terrible food. Nothing is fresh I am giving it one star for the waitress who was sweet. Absolutely awful

Went to Cedar River Seafood for a birthday celebration. Ordered the double lobster tail and it was delicious. Banana peppers for appetizer were good. Friendly efficient staff. read more

We went back for another try and they had Clams and Okra on this visit..service was great as usual and the Clams were excellent...Shrimp and Okra needed to be cooked longer but the Clams were perfect..will make sure to ask for Shrimp and Okra to be cooked crunchy another time...looking forward to trying all their other dishes that look and smell wonderful .. read more

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What a disappointment this was. To start the Service was horrible but sadly the food was even worse. We ordered the fried shrimp and the oil it was cooked in was old and left a bad taste in your mouth. French fries were some type of processed food. Lima beans only thing that were decent. This used to be such a good place to eat. I should have known the moment we walked in and it smelt like old fish. Sorry to say but we won't be traveling here to eat anymore. read more

This is a local restaurant in our area with a few different locations, this particular restaurant is a newer one and you can tell by the cleanliness and decor. The staff were friendly but our party of nine seemed to overwhelm them, even though it was past the lunch rush and before dinner. It didn't help that when we first arrived there was no hostess or staff to be found, we hunted them down after waiting some time. The food was 50/50, bottom line stick with the seafood, which is their jam, and avoid the other menu items. Not the worst experience, and we will probably try them again read more

Food was amazing! Shrimp and oyster dinner is so good! Well worth the price and more definitely go again

The story of a really bad lunch. While on vacation we stopped in thinking it was a local seafood restaurant. Turns out it's a chain restaurant. The facility was clean. The server had no idea of what she was doing. The menu had southern shrimp and grits, we asked her what it was and she said she didn't know. We asked her to go ask and she responded "they wouldn't know either". The food was terrible. The mushrooms stuffed with crab meat were watery and had no taste. The crab cakes were dry (mostly filler, the crab was barely visible), they had no flavor other than the flavor of being fried and we left 1/2 on the plate. Out of curiosity we ordered the southern shrimp and grits to see what was (we are pretty adventurous with food) and it turned out to be shrimp and grits with a ladle of gumbo on top. The gumbo overpowered everything else on the plate. We left 3/4 of the plate. The grilled grouper filet came out as six small pieces that were so over seasoned the I ate one and left the rest. We spoke to the server and she confirmed that they didn't make much of the food and that they get most of it frozen in boxes and that they just heat it up. She seemed proud and told us that they did make the grits from scratch. Not once did the server offer to fix any of the issues that we were referring to. We definitely won't be going back and I wouldn't recommend this place. If I could give no star I would. read more

While the food was very good and the prices were reasonable, the waitress we had was very rude, and her service was terrible. She was very short with us from the time we sat down. It seemed like we were bothering her. When we complained we were told they were short staffed. That was not our fault, and we didn't deserve the service we received. We would not recommend this restaurant read more

We were happy they opened a second restaurant near us. Our server was friendly and helpful. Our salad was good. I had the flounder and shrimp and it was very good. Our baked potato's were over cooked and yellow. My mother got the whole catfish with sweet potato mash and it was good. My wife had the mahi-mahi that was overcooked and so dry she couldn't even eat it. It also was over salted. I should have returned it. We will try them again. Hope the cook gets better. read more

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The crab legs as expensive as they were not that we minded the price but were drowned in old bay seasoning and were full of water. The green beans were canned. The sweet potatoes were gooey. Our waiter was not pleasant or personable. Almost to the point of being racist. read more

We had a great server. As a family of 6 I was happy with the prices and the portions were generous. There was no wait and we were quickly seated and greeted. Overall great experience. Nice and clean as well. read more

Second time for lunch and the waitress was a nightmare! The food came out cold and we were sat in the back room with the makeshift bar. The waitress sat behind the bar and drank beer with the bartender throughout lunch. We arrived at 1 pm on a Tuesday. Must be nice to get drunk at work while giving customers grief. Will never go back. read more

The Inverness restaurant is rather good. The Crystal River location isn't. Inverness definitely has better service and better food. The quality exceeded the Crystal River location. The CR location had wobbly tables, slow service and a cafeteria atmosphere with mushy fish and tasteless sides. read more

Two dinners that were very unsatisfactory: Dry salmon when diner requested rare and tender and the other dinner served with excessively seasoned fish in fish platter which made the dish inedible. When diner called restaurant the following day to state it was extremely disappointing, the assistant manager said a new chef was at the helm. Was told one of the owners would call to discuss but no call was ever received. This is poor customer service not to reach out to a diner who had previously visited the restaurant but now will not be returning. read more

Clean and new restaurant staff is friendly. Food is weak. The seafood gumbo and one shrimp in the bowl with almost ground up sausage. I mention this because the picture on the menu looked full of yummy shrimp and chunks of sausage. It did have a little bite but it was a a bowl of mushy sauce for the most part. The flounder sandwich I asked for was blackened that was fine but that was all then halfway through the sandwich they brought a tomatoes and a little lettuce. This isn't going to me by spot. read more

Going with an OK after our 1st visit. The place was OK enough that we will be back, it deserves a second visit. We were here for lunch and ordered off of the lunch menu. Crab Stuffed Flounder was good. Deviled Crab Lunch was good. Oyster po-boy was very good. Tried the Clam Chowder "with a kick" - there was no kick unless salt was the promoted seasoning. No spice at all, and a bit too much salt. Cole Slaw was bland, disappointing, not much dressing. Fried Okra was very good, fries were pretty good, we had one order missing from a lunch plate - kitchen error not server. Hush Puppies were standard fare, nothing too special. Beer menu was limited as they were out of quite a few selections. The same for some food items. Service was very good, didn't wait too long to be seated, orders came out at a comfortable pace. Normally we wait until a new restaurant works out the grand opening kinks. Thought that since this isn't Cedar River's 1st restaurant they wouldn't have any issues, but with the supply issues maybe they have a little bit left to work through. Worth the visit though. read more

First time trying it out and wasn't disappointed. Customer service was one of the best for 2022! Had the fired shrimp was good wasn't a fan of the ford ocean wasn't fried enough. Friend had fried clams and as a Bostonian was picky and loved them! read more

I HATE giving this excellent place a one star because except for one thing it is amazing. Great food, great service, fair prices - the place is clean, staff is friendly. The thing that drives me crazy at this place is the booths are so flimsy that if the people behind you move AN INCH it moves you. It bugged the ever livin hell out of my during my whole meal twice now! You might ask - well just sit at a table ya Karen lol - and I would but I only go with my mom and she can only sit comfortably in a booth. Please sturdy them up as I'm sure I'm not the only one bugged by this and I'll change this to what y'all deserve - 5 stars! read more

My go to seafood restaurant, especially on weekends when so many are overcrowded. Always great service and clean, a little disappointed that prices on most did food went up another dollar since the new year. Still can get some great seafood, lots of choices, has lunch menu ,a special and all you can eat on certain days. This one also has cocktails, which not all of the other locations don't have. Like a chain, just hungry people trying to get a good meal. read more

Walked in, waited around 5-10 minutes for the hostess to show up. Ordered fish, meal took about 40 minutes to come out, it was not busy at all on a Saturday. None of the sides orders were brought out, they forgot about them, just the fish which was old and undercooked. Ended up sending it back and not eating anything. Everything else ordered for others was just barely cooked through. Would be better off ordering fish at McDonalds. read more

First of all, the service was absolutely terrible she seemed so annoyed, which i can understand but we were there for a birthday and could've got better service at mc Donald's. Then tried to poison my husband with the rawest gator i've seen, THEN brings out more gator that's even more raw. And to make the experience even better it was 100 degrees in there. I pray no body comes here read more

Cedar River Seafood - Raw ass gator! - Seafood Near Me - Crystal River, Florida

Good food but service needs some retraining. The restaurant was clean and well maintained and decorated.

We were looking to find a nice new place for great seafood takeout! They did not disappoint. My friend said when he got there it is really nice inside...and everyone was friendly. We will most likely eat there at some point....but right now...we WILL be getting more takeout. The portions were HUGE! The salmon blackened and cooked about the best ever! I LOVE Lima Beans! and they have them here! My friend got the red snapper. ALL was great! Packaged to go GREAT ...so many places put thIngs all together and items touching and overflowing..They separate most everything...MUCH APPRECIATED! Their cocktail sauce is FANTASTIC!..and they put it separately..not the containers touching your food! Cannot say enough good...We'll be back! Next time....The Cobia! read more

Absolutely the worst experience. They got the whole entire tables food wrong. First it was the sweet tea (we ordered unsweetened) then they gave us a wrong appetizer(THEY WERE GOING TO MAKE US PAY FOR IT) we ordered platter for two blackened the whole thing was fried. They completely forgot about one of our peoples meal. The waitress was extremely rude and came out with an attitude when we canceled the order THEY FORGOT. The worst experience absolutely terrible if I could give them a zero I would. The food was not even that good. read more

Delicious! Try the fried shrimp and flounder. They have it on sale at lunch frequently. The shrimp are fried to perfection. I love their hush puppies bc they are crunchy in the outside and soft in the inside. Their seafood gumbo is almost as good as mine at home. I've had their flounder blackened as well but it's too salty for me so I stick with either broiled or fried. Definitely give it a try! read more

The batter they use to fry the food needs improvement. But the sides were not good either and they have no batter so ...... just not so good. Old fashioned booth restaurant needs updating and is very dark inside. Would not recommend. read more

It was really busy service was a little slow but the servers were really apologetic but when they brought the food out it was definitely worth the wait. I had the best lobster I have ever had ever one at our table loved their food. read more

Food was good, Service was phenomenal and the ambiance was great . I wish they had a phenomenal happy hour. I think they would do a lot more business because the food is fabulous. read more