Fun Place to take people that are new or visiting, very cute vibes. Go when it's nice outside so…read moreyou can enjoy the river and the views! I ordered a weekly special - it was a bbq brisket cheddar melt, it was ok, nothing I would say is different from anywhere else, I also got an order of calamari, basic frozen stuff. Good music! Seems to get busy for their live music nights! Service, Food were basic

Food great grouper bites excellent Service waiter fast and…read moreattentive Ambiance river front setting excellent !!!! Live music... cheered us up for our road trip ahead!

We finally tried this burger joint and so glad we did! It has an old diner vibe. Super cute…read moredecor. We ended up seating outside next to the ice cream to go window. Btw there are so many flavors! Service was great! Food was on point for burger and fries. The milkshake was delish too! Just plan to come hungry!

Great food, classic style dinner that gives both varieties of food and shakes. Place is usually…read morepacked due to the size, but the wait is not crazy. You are seated upon entering the place. Ice cream, burgers, veggies, all fan fare favorites. Tv and music is entertaining the inside gives a cool zone with AC keeps you cool from outside heat. They have seating outside too. Large parking. Gone twice and the food is amazing. I recommend if you are looking for a classic style food. There are events too.

So much nicer to be here when the snowbirds are gone! IFKYK…read more... Kayleen was our server, and she was very friendly and attentive. Hubby got his usual drink, and I got my coconut Mojito, but this time in a fancy tiki glass. Learned that they're only served indoors, as we have only eaten at the bar or outside by the beach. Got our standard ahi tuna poke nachos, Yum, and a dozen chargrilled oysters, Yum Yum! Hubby and I shared Joe fish tacos, grilled, and they were delicious as always The change in tonight's meal with Jenna "parading" ( ok, not exactly true...) through the restaurant with HUGE brownie sundae s--3 if I recall correctly. Now, I am not a big chocolate fan at all, in fact, I avoid chocolate, yuck, and hubby has to watch his sugar, but when she told me about bananas foster bread pudding-- well, you can see where this is headed! We have never had room for dessert before, and tonight was no exception, but I was enticed by Jenna, and then Kayleen , so...OMG! Absolutely delicious! A bit sweet, but we finished the ice cream and the bananas and a little bit more than that, and got the rest to go. So glad that this is literally about a mile and a half down the road from us, so maybe next time. ;) Also, love the cute merch: jewelry, stickers, T-shirts, caps, stuffed animals, lotion, etc., etc.

A group of 8 of us came in for an early dinner. WJ's is right along the Manatee River. It has…read moregreat views of the water and the 75 bridge. It's a large place with a lot of outdoor space including a large outdoor bar as well. Since we wanted to enjoy the view, we decided to sit outside on the deck. Since it was early, we were the only ones outside. The music was really loud; so loud we had to shout, so we asked if it could be turned down. The manager agreed and it was turned down. A little. We still had to shout a bit to talk with each other, so we asked again, but they wouldn't turn it down any more. So, not very nice for us, the only customers on the deck. Our waitress was hustling, perhaps she had too many tables assigned to her. I had the Jambalaya, which was OK, not great. It seems like the ingredients were cheap. Don't think we'll be back.

Consistently great casual seafood spot that's held its quality over the years. Food is always fresh…read moreand well-prepared, with solid portions and friendly service. Reliable go-to when you're craving seafood without the fuss.

Service even at the bar was lacking. There was a few folks at the bar but, every time we needed…read moresomething, flatware, tartar sauce, malted vinegar we had to wait for the bartender Nicole to buzz by us. We were never asked if our order was ok , if we needed anything. We were never asked if we wanted another drink. Nothing. We sat in the middle of the bar with a couple to our left and to our right at the end of the bar. The food was good but could have been better if we had not had to run the bartender down. The setting was fine the dinning room was not busy but there were folks. It's too bad that we are still sitting here and yet nothing! Probably not a got to for us

Went to Ruby Tuesday in Ellenton for lunch on a Tuesday... entering the restaurant it appeared they…read morelike so many other places were short handed....no one at the front and the bartender taking orders in the front of the restaurant. Sat at the bar which had menus already placed which was pretty smart I thought. The bartender returned and took my drink order before scurrying off to take more orders and clean tables for a slow steady stream of customers entering the front door. Sitting at the bar looking around the restaurant looked old. The bar was rough possibly needing new finish and everything else inside looked like it was installed 20 years ago and hasn't been refreshed. On the third dash by where I was sitting the bartender brought the beer I ordered, took my food order and with the waiting area full - help from the back came out and then things seemed to calm down a bit. It wasn't too long before the burger and tots came out and honestly it was a really nice burger. Tasted good, cooked right and presented well. Maybe it was the second beer talking? (Beer is two for one - FYI) Anyway - very busy place - driven possibly by the inexpensive Tuesday specials but regardless - good food, rough restaurant and stressed employees trying to keep it all moving. 3.5/5

Complete Disgrace to the chain. Probably best to Level this place…read more The entire interior was Sticky & quite frankly disgusting. What used to be a really nice salad bar is No longer. Service entirely sub-par. I'm honestly considering calling the health department. I can't even imagine what the kitchen looks like. See pictures & definitely look elsewhere...

Been wanting to stop in and try this place and finally made it. Parking lot and exterior of the…read morebuilding wasn't anything special...that I'll take as a good sign because I'd rather see a smokehouse put their love into the Barbecue. When I entered I was immediately greeted and told I could sit anywhere I'd like. I sat at a booth and the waitress brought a menu and a wooden pig with all the available sides. Ordered the smoked turkey size large with collard greens and baby potatoes. The turkey was amazing - I could have eaten it without sauces but I tried both of their homemade barbecue sauces and they're both good...one tangy and the other one a little spicy. Waitress checked in a couple times, I cleaned the plate and was out the door. Great barbecue - can't wait to try some more.

Flew down to Florida for a quick weekend get away to celebrate my father's birthday. The first…read morenight in town he asked if I wanted BBQ for dinner, and suggested Hickory Hollow. Just a short drive from his home, it's apparently one of his go to spots. It's a small space, with limited seating, and when we arrived, I got a good laugh at the (2) goats in the a pen in the parking lot bundled up for the cold weather. There was a bit of a wait inside, but as tabled cleared, they re-sat new parties quickly. The menu had a good variety of options, their sides were listed on a seperate "menu", made with removable velcro items, so when they run out, they can remove it form the list. I went with the combo plate, getting baby back ribs with pull pork, and potato salad and mac and cheese as my sides. The food came out quickly, and the the portion sizes were pretty good. In addition to my food, it also came with a few huge corn fritters, which were tasty and super moist. The ribs and pulls pork were very tasty the mac and cheese was ok, but no better than what you'd get from the blue box, but the potato salad was a bit more authentic. Service was friendly, good portions and fair pricing. I'd visit again !

Stopped in for an easy dinner with my father while visiting him. As far as bang for your buck…read moregoes, this is a pretty good deal, and you can feed the whole family for a fairly reasonable price. I'm not going to BS that this is fantastic food, you get what you pay for, but for $16/adult, $11/kids, you'll get a containing a good variety of pizza flavors, a decent salad bar, a few pasta options, 2 soups, dessert pizza, and it includes your drink. The restaurant was fairly clean, and staff were friendly, came by regularly to clear dirty plates from our table, and bring fresh plates for our next visit to the buffet. Drinks are self serve at the soda fountain. As i mentioned, they had a good variety of pizza options, but the waitress let us know if there were any we didn't see on the buffet, we could have custom ones made up as well. It was a very laid back atmosphere, family friendly, OK food, but a good variety, and friendly staff. Wouldn't be top of my list to go back to, but it's an option

Ordered take out from Hungry Howie's - needed a quick bite and had a craving for pizza. Wasn't…read morefamiliar with the chain - just needed some food for the night. Local restaurant is just a couple miles away so places an on line order. Website was easy to navigate - completed order and headed to restaurant. Restaurant is set up for a pizza buffet and I didn't get a good look but basically it's about $16 currently for an adult buffet with a drink. Ordered garlic butter crust and it appeared to be overdone - oil ran out of the box all over the seat of the vehicle and soaked the box. Pizza was on par with other fast food places....middle of the road.

Simply awful service. They gave my friend and I some bullshit. I order spicy chicken sandwich with…read moretwo sides being Mac and cheese and mashed potato. I received regular chicken sandwich with rice and beans and Mac and cheese instead... DO BETTER

Popeyes is a fast casual chicken restaurant founded in 1972 in New Orleans in 1972 by Alvin…read moreCopeleand. He purchased a Tastee Donut franchise at the age of 18 and operated it successfully for several years. When he saw the business generated by a KFC next door he ditched the donuts for chicken. The restaurant was originally named Chicken on the Run before Copeland renamed it Popeye's after Gene Hackman's fictional detective character Popeye Doyle in the French Connection. Popeye's is a popular destination for their spicy chicken and buttermilk biscuits. They are also known for their limited time menu items that generate buzz. They have now grown to more than 2,000 locations all over the world including Korea, Canada, and Turkey. Seventy percent of the locations are in Texas, California, Louisiana, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, New York, Georgia, Virginia and Mississippi. We ended up having lunch from this Popeyes by chance. We were visiting the Gamble Plantation across the street and had just missed a tour which takes place every hour. Unfortunately you can't join it once it is in progress. With an hour to kill and having missed lunch we spotted the Popeyes and made it across the street (barely). The restaurant looked clean and there was a bit of a line but we waited patiently. As I watched other people get helped I could see this was not like other Popeyes I have been in. It seemed like it was being run by the most inept people. For instance they couldn't find a customer's large phone order and they kept a food delivery person waiting and waiting. While we were in line another customer started shouting obscenities at them. It was all rather humorous but time was ticking and our hour was drifting away. Finally it was our turn to order and we waited quite a bit longer for the food. When I opened the box it wasn't even right. They had to give me my tenders in another box but let me keep the 3 piece I didn't want. They also didn't have their signature menu item, rice and beans which my friend wanted. We ended up bringing the extra food for the park rangers at the Gamble Plantation. By the time we made it back across the street we only had a few minutes to eat before the tour. The food was tasty but I would recommend avoiding them unless you want a good story have a lot of time.