I have never written a one star review before, but I felt compelled to because our visit last night was really that terrible. It started with the hostess telling us the wait was 20 minutes when no one else was waiting and there were several empty tables & servers wandering around too. Five minutes after giving us our wait time, she called us to go to our table. She then proceeded to sit us in a booth that was empty when we walked in the restaurant (I noticed because the table top was being wiped down as we entered), then dumped sticky menus in front of us and said our server would be right with us. Our server did come over within a minute or so (one of two bright spots from our visit) and took our drink order. He was back in another minute with our drinks, and then he took our food order. My husband ordered a gyro with onion petals & six breaded wings, and I ordered 10 wings. This order was not very complicated in my mind since Gators Dockside is known for their wings, so I thought we would eat rather quickly. Well, I was way wrong - it took more than 30 minutes for us to get our food! The entire time we sat there wondering what was going on because our server never once came to check on us. We watched him handle tables on either side of us, but he didn't even look our way. Once we got our food, each thing dumped unceremoniously on a plate, our server did stop to ask if we needed anything, but we declined. My wings (5 honey mustard, 5 medium buffalo) were on two separate plates that were warm so I am most positive they had been sitting under a heat lamp. They were not evenly coated, and on the small side too. My husband's wings were served the same way, and his gyro was small - he said it was the worst gyro he's ever eaten, and that says a lot because he gets them whenever they're on the menu at a restaurant. The only other bright spot was when we were done with our meal. Our server no longer had other patrons in his section, so he seemed to step up as he asked if I wanted a "to go" cup for my iced tea. I said no, so we paid the check and left, vowing never to return again. read more

Gator's Dockside St. Johns - Honey Mustard wings, dumped unceremoniously on a plate - Chicken Wings Near Me - Saint Johns, Florida

I'm going with five stars because I know how difficult it must be to run a restaurant right now , I know they are short staffed. Our waitress was great, very sweet and concerned that we were ok. The food is average. What do you expect? We had boneless wings and I had a pulled pork sandwich. Was better than I could make at home. My tap beer was super cold and fresh and the highlight of my meal. We waited 45 minutes for our food, and entrees and apps arrived at once. So that wasn't great. But we still had fun. And I would go back because I know it will only get better. Definitely check them out!!!! read more

We had a mixed experience at Taps Bar and Grill. My friends and I sat outside. We ordered a couple of beers, an appetizer, and some wings. First, let me start by saying our waiter was great! Unfortunately, there were some hiccups outside of his control... Our wings arrived luke warm, at best. My friend brought that to the attention of the waiter and he genuinely did everything he could do to make it right. They brought him a new order of wings out and they looked dramatically different from the first batch of wings, and came out hot. The manager was the one that brought them back, and I don't think he offered so much as an apology or really even said anything at all. My friends said he's always been kind of rude. I'm always reluctant to send food back to the kitchen, personally, so I just continued eating my room temperature wings and hoped for the best. They were pretty decent grilled wings, but nothing special. Honestly, this place was so so overall, and the waiter is what made it an enjoyable dinner. There was nothing really bad about anything I ate or drank, but it also didn't leave me feeling like it left much of an impression on me and I'm not sure if I would go back or not if it weren't so convenient to where my friends live in St. Johns. I think a three star rating is more than fair, honestly. read more

Not bad for day 2 of their soft opening. Gator's is just what Fruit Cove needed. It's a much better version of any Miller's Alehouse (I don't like Alehouse to begin with) and you don't have to drive into Mandarin for it. It's definitely going to give the other local favorite, Hurricane Wings, a run in the competition. This place has tons of TVs; anywhere you look you could be watching 6 games at once. Some of the servers are young and inexperienced but you have to be patient! They're all sweet and getting their bearings going. This place has food and drink specials every day, a large square bar with seats at all 4 sides with a bunch of high tops and booths from you to choose from and lastly, a huge outdoor patio with plenty of tables and perfect view of any TV with a sports game on! If you're in the Fruit Cove area, go check out Gator's and welcome them to the neighborhood! read more

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I wish I could give no stars. You can tell management has changed in the last year. It gets worse every time I come. It was at one time decent and I return in hopes it goes back to that. If you even get it, the service is poor. The last few times I've gone I have to track someone down to take my order after waiting 30 minutes of being seated. I've witnessed on two separate occasions a waitress get into fight with customer, one of the times police were involved. The food is only barely edible. The cleanliness is probably the best and that's pretty terrible as well. I think I have officially stopped giving them another chance in hopes things have changed. read more

Its been about a year since we came here. Now i remembwr why.....Got the Egg "Roll" only one for 5.99. WOW. Tasted really good but for 5.99 they should serve two!! Philli Cheese Steak is awsome and so are the baby backs and chicken were warm to cool. Food needs to be "Hot" when it comes to the table. The potato salad is horiable too much mayo and a weird taste and so is the coleslaw, it had an extremely sour taste. Mac and Cheese is dry......Tasted old.....it's average at best. read more

Gator's Dockside St. Johns - Chicken Wings Near Me - Saint Johns, Florida

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My husband and I go here often. Although their menu selection is not my favorite, my husband loves their wings. I typically order an appetizer, their fried mushrooms are really good; however just slightly warm my last 2 times I ordered (that kind of disappoints me) I also like their spinach dip. The staff is always nice and the service is quick. In my opinion their prices for what they offer is a little high, in comparison to their competition. Also, they do not offer pitchers of beer, or at least not at a reasonable price. If they did, I would consider 5 stars. Think about it! It's a bar environment with a million TVs...why not offer more reasonable beer/drink specials. As a side note, one day a week they have a clown making balloon animals ( or something like that)so the place is packed with screaming kids. Now before I get backlash from all the mommies of the world let me just say I love kids, I have 2 of my own (now grown) but when I'm looking for a bar environment to watch the game, ect....screaming kids is not what I want to hear. Personally, I find this a good tip for those wanting to enjoy a good meal and relax after a long day at work. read more

Gator's Dockside St. Johns - Gators, where the beer is always cold and college football is on the TVs. - Chicken Wings Near Me - Saint Johns, Florida

Come here for the wings and the TVs, good place to watch the popular games. Service is usually good, unless on a big game day and then you want to get certain seasoned servers. Overall a good time... read more

Absolutely terrible service from the bartender with braces. Some people she knew came in and she couldn't stop talking to them long enough to take care of anyone else at the bar. Her friends were even telling her other people needed help and they were interrupting her to tell her to take people's payments and refill drinks. read more

Avoid this place. They can't get a dietary request correct so now I might be ill later due to their negligence. When I asked the waitress didn't seem to know what happened. I even said I would be sick later so you would think a manager would come out but nope. read more

Never going back again. Manager said these were done but a little "soft". I'm not sure what that even means. Chicken is done or not done. Awful service. Wish I could give zero stars. read more

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Came here for dinner. We were skeptical due to the reviews but a friend of mine said she goes all the time for happy hour. I was very pleased with the service and prices. The food was fresh and good. I will definitely be back. read more

Sucks sucks sucks!!! Wings were cold didn't get my sauce out on time, no flavor taste like ass. I've never seen wings this tiny. Even the beer was warm how hard is it to keep cold beer???? The hot sauce is good. So good I decided to steal it, after all I gotta get my moneys worth read more

Gator's Dockside St. Johns - Chicken Wings Near Me - Saint Johns, Florida

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We love this place. Best wings around and awesome service majority of the time. Great place for wings, cold beer, and football. Love the outdoor area, especially if you like to bring your well behaved dogs. Not sure how long the current manager has been here, but it's obvious he wants you to have a great experience when you're here. read more

This makes the second Gator's location I've been to and they both SUCK. Rude waiters, un-attentive, slow as all get out, food mediocre, etc. In a military town lots of people don't have local id's... to say you shouldn't serve them is ridiculous. A military ID plus a state ID should be fine. Just because you got in trouble recently is not an excuse to hound someone and make them feel like they owe you something for serving them. Then at the end of the night after waiting 20+ minutes to place an order plus another 30 for your food to arrive half cold and saying "oh I was so busy no one else wanted to take tables" just to save your tip. That's not going to work. I understand being busy. But at 9:20 at night with very little people in the location.. no excuse. Will not recommend. Will not be coming back. read more

My wife and I went to Gators Dockside for an early dinner with our dog, Tucker. I ordered the original burger and my wife got 8 wings. The service was prompt and the menu items were cooked just as we ordered. The burger is terrific and my wife's wings are cooked perfectly. Pricing is about the same as slot of like themed restaurant. All in all, we are very satisfied with the service and the food. Letting us sit outside with the dog is greatCheeseburger. read more

Gator's Dockside St. Johns - Gators Dockside, Julington Creek, Florida - Chicken Wings Near Me - Saint Johns, Florida

Awesomeness in every Wing flavor Homemade wing sauces Homemade spinach dip Great hand crafted burgers Great customer service to top it off TV are in every angle and any table you sit at Clean bathrooms and really nice patio Bring your friends bring your puppy and enjoy the Patio read more

I've eaten here a few times at this particular location and it's a lot better than the other locations in Jacksonville. On Mondays they have all you can eat wings and i would suggest going at 6pm before it gets busy. On Wednesdays they have all you can eat boneless and i wouldn't suggest going. Nothing against the restaurant, but i'm just not a boneless wings person. read more

Been a long time favorite of our family since it opened several years back. You cant go wrong with the grilled teriyaki wings and the prices aren't bad at all. Their .60 wing night is always a big draw and in the Mandarin-St. Johns area it's one of the only places open past 10! read more

Slow, unfriendly service. Waitress didn't know anything about the beers they carry. They don't carry anything local, besides one brand. Spinach dip was half full that we ordered for an app. Burnt chicken wings, wings don't come with celery. It's a .79 up charge. Chicken Sandwich didn't come with lettuce or tomato. It was half a chicken breast, thinly sliced. The glasses were dirty too. We used to come here a lot. Every time we have tried it again in the last several months, it just gets worse. We won't be back now. read more

Gator's Dockside St. Johns - Chicken Wings Near Me - Saint Johns, Florida

The food is meh. The service is friendly and decent. Good place to catch a game and have beers with friends, but I wouldn't come here for a dinner night. Decent trivia too, although I I'm fairly certain the people at the corner of the bar are just cheating off of the people who bring their answers up. read more

Covid 19. Waitress had her mask below her nose. Cook had mask below his CHIN. Sat down at 2:30pm. Very crowded at 3pm. Outside patio tables were not clean. Had old food on them the whole time we were there. They bring you bottles of stuff like ketchup from a station they have. When a diner left the restaurant, we watched the staff take the condiments off the table, put them in the station with all of the others but not wipe them down. When they brought us ketchup, we watched her not wipe it down. We started noticing all of this after we got our food (we waited outside until our food was on the table). Husband ordered a 13 dol double burger. It had 2 Krystal sized patties on it. My Philly bun was straight from the bag/not heated. Not sure why it says we live in CA. We live in Jax read more

It was ok. Server was efficient and attentive. Its very casual and is very much bar food. The location is big and can accommodate lots of people so not too much of a wait. A really good wing deal would maybe entice me back. read more

the wings were burned and the manager made me feel like a was a loser unacceptable.....!!!! I will be calling the owner

So I've been coming here at least once a week since they've opened. Let's just say it's been a new experience every single time. I still really like the chicken wings. I think I've had about every flavor they offer, including the hottest, three pepper suicide. It's comparable to a level 4 out of five on a spiciness scale (mild, medium, hot, extra hot, extra extra hot) and by far my favorite. They offer the wings in three different styles: Naked, grilled, or breaded. The secret here is to get the grilled wings, then ask them to retoss them in the sauce after they come off the grill. Seriously, I don't know anywhere else that does this, and it's so good. The reason I'm giving this place 3/5 is the service. Some nights, life after my first review, are great. Some nights, it's the most disorganized restaurant I've ever been in. It seems like there are no clear sections that server's work in. This isn't good for the customer and certainly not the server. The new business jitters should be worked out by now. It's time to tighten up. read more

This place cannot get their tv's right. Can't figure out what goes where. Everyone's complaining. One would think this stuff could be planned out ahead of time. 25 minutes later things start to calm down. read more

Can we do something about the smell in there? OMG! Smells like we're eating in somebody's toilet. It's DISGUSTING! Line one....Health Department! read more

The grilled teriyaki wings are our favorite. I can't bring myself to order any other flavor because I can't bring myself to to NOT eat the teriyaki. :) The ranch and blue cheese are both homemade and yummy - particularly the blue cheese. One of the few places in the mandarin-ish area that are open past 9/10 if you're hungry late or want a local night out. Love this place. read more

Decent food, not the best sauce. Medium sauce had no spice and got sauce was medium at best.

We went there at 4 on a Sunday. We ordered 10 wings, the Cuban, and a beer. Our tab was thirty bucks and was definitely not worth that much. The wings were fine (let's be real, it's hard to go wrong there) but the sandwich was blah. A Cuban should be full of flavor and this Cuban seriously lacked. Our service was terrible. Our server visited us one time because she realized we drank all of our water. She didn't ask if we wanted more beer (we found out after that it was 2-for-1). When we asked for our check we waited ten minutes because she waited on another table next to us, got their drinks, etc. We put the card on the table and after about 5 minutes, the manager came to finish her job. If the food is blah, then make up for it in enthusiastic service. Being nice or pretending that you care can make that 15% bump up to 20% just like that! read more

This place has an awesome wing special on Mondays. Definitely one of the best places in town for that. However, when this place gets slammed, the service becomes horrid and the general manager's lack of skill under pressure is definitely on full display (you can tell when he is struggling by his frazzled hair...). I can hands down recommend that you never sit outside at this place as you are completely forgotten and you are lucky if you get assigned a server at all. 4 out of 5 times this place is amazing. However, when it starts to get moderately busy, the staff cracks under the pressure and the general manager offers no relief to his overworked staff. I still recommend the food but avoid the place at all cost when crowded. read more

Probably my worst experience ever anywhere. We decided to sit outside to eat. Nothing but chain smokers. We ordered a Cuban, and others ordered wings. It took 1 1/2 hrs to get our food (by the way it wasn't busy at all) and order came out wrong. Came back out and everything was cold from obviously sitting. We all barely made it home before coming sick. I would love to speak to the owner.....please read more

Listen man. I thought service was good at the national harbor in Maryland where TOURISTS come to have a good time, ( if that says anything), I had the honor of having the exemplary service from Pete. What an amazing experience. We sat outside and when I needed a drink refilled or my order filled out he was there. Extremely polite and patient. ( my wife barely knows what to order at a TACO BELL). He gave us the time we needed to order our drinks and catch up with my friend I haven't seen since I've been on deployment. If you want some really fantastic wings and drinks please ask for Pete. He gave me a real at home experience. read more

It's been a while since we've been in but decided it was time today. The service is always awesome, fast, friendly, and the order is always the way we ordered it. Their menu and wing flavors are just so-so but it's close to the office and convenient. Without a doubt it's a pretty decent lunch spot if you want to sit down in a hurry. read more

The food is good however the service needs work I'm almost positive that the waitress forgot to put in our food, she also rang in the wrong order, and miss counted 11 dollars. read more

Food is usually good but the service is all very slow. Don't go if your starving as it will take a little time between ordering and the Kitchen getting the food out. We love the Pub pretzel and boneless wing. Lately they have been out of the pretzel both times we went. Could improve service for sure that would add a star! read more

Overpriced and terrible service. Inattentive servers who pay zero attention, disappear for long periods, and failed to follow up on the order. read more

45 minute wait for a mediocre meal. Multiple order errors. Food served cold. $14 chicken salad was only iceberg bacon bits and and a chic tender Not coming back read more

Very nice waitress but the kitchen was incredibly SLOW and my order - a spinach salad - came out with absolutely no dressing. No ketchup at our table or any other around us, took forever for our drinks.... We have tried to give them the benefit of the doubt and come back but this has happened way too many times! We're done! read more

My first time eating at Gators (after hearing about it for many years). I was extremely underwhelmed. My food seemed to have been sitting out for a while, and my sons French fries weren't hot in the slightest, and lacked any salt or seasoning. The real problem I had though was the service. 15 minutes went by between the time he brought our drinks and took our order. Then at the end of the meal he brought the check and then came back 15 minutes later to pick it up. I don't completely blame the waiter because they seemed understaffed. This could have easily been a rare occurrence, I wouldn't be opposed to returning. read more