St. Johns Seafood and Steak Reviews

I would leave my job to come run this place! There's so much potential I don't even know were to start. I would leave it at this...POOR MANAGEMENT.

Great food, that salmon with rice and vegetables was fantastic, thanks Margie for take me and my daughter for dinner at this great place

The setting, service by Selina, and food were perfect for a birthday celebration

Amazing service and the food certainly was on a par with a 5-star restaurant I recently visited. All in all an excellent experience.

Terrible experience. Saturday lunch on the river. Snobby bartender, Kimmie, barely listened to us, failed to ask my husband what he wanted to eat before walking away. Ordered the Cajun Crusted Oysters and they were bad. Told her, no apology nor did she ask her f I wanted anything else. Won t be going back. And I m generally too lazy to write reviews, but wrote this while we waited for the bill.

I did not like the outside and decided not to enter.

The food was excellent! This was our first time for us... decided to go for Valentine s Day , they had a special menu because of the occasion. We had the bom bom shrimp (the best so far) for appetizer and for dinner we had surf and turf and seafood combo.

I am going to start by saying that I am a steak connoisseur. I have been all over this country and ate at many so called 5 star restaurants. The CHEF at the St. John's River Steak & Seafood is phenomenal !!! I ordered the fleit steak medium rare, and blackened. 1st of all it came out medium rare, which most other restaurants can not get right... 2nd it was the most tenderest cut, in which I didn't really need a knife, and the flavor, well there is no words to describe. This CHEF also make a gumbo that Cajuns would be envious of. The atmosphere and services is great as well. I rate this restaurant A++++++.

Food was great, service was on top notch. I've found a new place.

Great food, great service, great view! We came here as a couple and then came back with the family. Had a great time going to the bar for a couple cocktails & going for a riverside meal with the kids. They have many nights of live music & several different seating options.

Excellent and relaxing place in front of the beautiful Lake St Jhon's River ..... excellent attention and divine dishes is highly recommended

Beautiful spot, the food was great our server was outstanding too. We were there at an off time 3pm...so it was very quiet but I can see the potential. Nice little riverwalk too. Plus the Rivership Cruises are right here too.

The place was nice. The food was good, but the service was horrible. We wait 45 minutes for the drinks and another 45 minutes for the food. Really sad

Gumbo soup was delicious. Calamari were particularly underwhelming and had no seasoning at all on them.

Food good, nice view of Lake Monroe.Found staff to be very friendly and helpful.

We recently stayed on a houseboat in the Monroe Marina, so the location of this restaurant was just a few hundred feet from our pier. We had such a delicious dinner the first night, that we went back 2 more times. We sat on the screened-in patio with a beautiful view of the lake. Lovely atmosphere inside, as well. Excellent service on all 3 nights, from Gabe who took our reservations and seated us, to our waiters, Ricky, and another gentleman whose name I've forgotten (sorry!) Over the course of dinners on 3 nights (one was take-out) we had the Mussels, Don't Call 'Em Nachos, Key West Chicken and the Pan-Seared Sea Scallops, Caesar Salads, plus Key Lime Pie, Bailey's Cheesecake and Chocolate Cherry Cake. HIghly recommend everything we ordered. We had planned to try a few other restaurants on our visit to Sanford, but after walking around town earlier in the day and checking them out, we opted to stay with St. John's River because of the ambiance, great food and service with reasonable prices. What a great team of employees you have! We wish we had this restaurant in Leesburg, FL!

We had no idea that this restaurant has been there on the Sanford Lakefront for three years.

Well we know now!
What a wonderful dinner we had last night.
Nikki did a wonderful job of reserving a table for us on a very busy night.
Maria helped us to decide on which table we were going to eat at.
We usually do not like hightop tables, but the tables here are steady and the seats extremely comfortable and strong.
Martha, our waitress, really helped us.
We decided to have lots of appetizers and soup.
You gotta do the gumbo and the clam chowder. Both were incredible.
Clam strips, frog legs, crab cake and peel it yourself shrimp really were wonderful with unique flavors.
Patricia & Paul Andrews

The gumbo was not a real Gumbo more like a meat gumbo they charge too high for the lobster tails $18 for 5 oz that is ridiculous don't waste your time coming to this place the silverware was dirty.

Good and service fantastic ...bartenders were wonderful

Very good food, had the catfish very fresh. Good service!!

Amazing view of Lake Monroe and St. Johns river. Even more exceptional is Kimmie's service! Attentive and really friendly. Makes the entire experience worth the trip.

We went on a Sunday around 3:00 down home kind of vibe. Plenty of choices to pick from. I definitely enjoyed the view of sailboats and the riverboat passing by on lake Monroe. Live music playing some fantastic music. I had a great meal and plan to return soon. Service was too notch

Took nearly 45 minutes for us to be seated and nearly 20 minutes for us to have someone asked us what we wanted to drink. I understand today was the 4th of July and restaurants tend to be much busier. However, there was 6 open tables, no one waiting and the poor hostess was losing her mind. Coming from Arizona and having serving experience in a very busy bar and grill I know exactly what it feels like to be slammed during holidays. I ordered a beer and by the time it got to me it was warm. The fireworks started and I decided to do the restaurant a favor and ask for my check. I was super disappointed with the service, there was a total of 3 servers, 2 bus boys and a hostess on hand tonight. I would highly recommended being better staffed to handle any type of holidays or events. Hopefully I can convince my husband to give it another chance so we can both enjoy the food that everyone has reviewed about.

Nice view of the St Johns river if you have reservations.

Not only was the food sneezing, but so is the service! I believe every person that works there spoke to us as we entered, say down, throughout eating, and as we left. This was not intrusive, but very friendly and helpful. I had a grilled pork chop (seasoned just right, and so juicy!) with hush puppies (wonderful flavor, probably the best I've ever had) and sweet potato fries (very yummy) and it is the best combination I could have had!.

Wow! Great ribeye steak. Awesome coconut shrimp. Awesome Gumbo! Great drinks. Friendly staff. Nice location. Will come again.

Interesting dishes and always excellent service. The view ain't bad either! My favorite place to eat so far..

Food was good nothing spectacular, the waitress was on the slow side.

Nice views, plenty of parking dining and bar area were clean, bathrooms however not so much.

Was there at 1pm Saturday afternoon & they were out of tenderloin, scallops & baked potatoes. Not sure what else. We were not told until we went to order. Food we did get was good, service lacking a bit but view was awesome.

Everything is fresh. Fish N Chips and Conch Fritters are amazing.

I enjoyed the view here and, if it had not been too cold and windy, the outside seating would have been great.

My overall experience was disappointing though and this is why: My soft shell crab sandwich, usually one of my favorite choices, didn't taste good and I think it was not fresh enough to be healthy. I told our waitress as much and her reply was that she had been serving there for some number of years and "no one else ever complained". The implication therefore was that I am wrong, but she allowed me to choose something else.

I have enjoyed a good gumbo for many years, even made it myself many times. I've eaten it in Louisiana several times. So I chose that. It turned out to be a mistake! It seemed to contain more black pepper than seafood and was made with converted rice. If you like a really hot gumbo that continues to burn the back of your throat, then go ahead, but I didn't like it.

My overall experience was not good, nor was that of my husband, and we will not return. You may have a better one if you go.

We had a surprise 60th b'day party for my sister.. I flew in from Missouri. It was FANTASTIC!!! The food was great, service was very good, & DJ was AWESOME!!! (DJ .. Paul Vernon) If I lived in FL, I would be a regular customer!

Delicious crab cakes, hush puppies, and twice baked potatoes and a gorgeous view of St. John's River.

Food was cold when brought to the table not worth the money

We walked into a freezing entryway and immediately asked to be seated outside. They were full outside and that was probably because the inside temp was about 10 degrees too cool. We got a seat by the window. The seat by the widow was warmer because we were by the door letting the warm air into the restaurant. For a brand new restaurant I would not have expected to have to deal with an extremely wobbly table. That was an annoyance throughout the whole meal. We ordered the Spinach and Crab dip; thinking it would be to the table fast. It showed up after about 10-12 minutes and when it was delivered the waitress dropped half of our chips on the table. Said sorry and walked off. It cosisted of approximately 2 cups of cooked spinach, 3 ounces of crab meat and 2 ounces of shreaded cheddar cheese melted on top. I think they forgot the cream cheese because the dip was very dry and had little crab in it at all. My wife ordered fish and chips with vegetables. Her plate came out with a lot of potato chips, about 6 ounces of (what appeared to be) previously frozen veggies and 6 fish fingers. The fries were the stand out dish of the evening. I ordered the clam strip dinner with mashed potatoes and cole slaw. The clams were great, the potatoes were a generous serving of lava hot garlic potatoes and a side of overly seasoned brown gravy. The slaw was very wet with a mayonnaise based sauce. I enjoyed it, but I doubt that most will. Words to the management team... 1) Tell the servers not to chew gum on the floor, it's unprofessional and tacky. Ours showed up chewing gum, trying to hide it. 2) Taste the food. If you did; have someone else taste the food. 3) Section the restaurant out to servers and keep them there. 4) Sit in every chair at every table. If they wobble..... fix them!

Nice view of Lake Monroe. Our waitress was not very familiar with the menu. We were told they were out of Mahi after we ordered.

Waited 40 minutes with one drink so many people work there but ran around doing nothing, seafood tasted like it was on the verge of going bad..paid bill and left full plates of food...yuck!

It was incredible and it's right on the water...the food was delicious and very plentyful.big portions.and our waitress Pam was incredible.i would recommend this place...

Great food and drinks! Sydney was a excellent server!

We discovered this place after an airboat tour right across the street and I must say as NYC foodies we were very impressed. Nice and attentive service, the menus is just right and really well executed. The crab cakes is a must try, and the cocktails are great. And all that for very reasonable Florida pricing!

It was a toss up between St John's and the Swamp and we stumbled upon this nice little restaurant with a view of the river. I had a great time here and the live music was a great added plus. Lastly, everything was delicious but I must say being from MD and knowing what a crab cake is it was the only thing that FL needs a little work on...

Nice menu
Nice people

I had grilled grouper and it was okay. Sidewinder fries were hot and fresh, but i wondered why they were an upcharge from home made potato chips. Husband liked his fish & chips. Oyster appetizer had too much parmesan (too salty) topping. Was hoping for that new Orleans charred oyster experience. Disappounted. Also, i had upset stomach when i got home. Staff was friendly and attentive though.

Its good for ambiance that is the river but the food overpriced and very unappetizing

Not thrilled, why? Because we sat and ordered our appetizers. 10 min later we get notified that the kitchen was not accepting new orders because they had "new cooks and we're backed up". So, we asked when would we get our appetizers and our main course...sorry, can't answer that as we don't know. So now we are sitting here unsure of when we will get any food and are stuck with drinks that we have to pay for instead of going somewhere else. (Should have been told food orders were on hold before we ordered drinks).

Food was really good the view was better. Waiter was a bit impatient but overall nice time.

Was told they couldn't accommodate our large party even though there were numerous empty tables. Employee was very rude and actually told us to go to another restaurant (which we did and thoroughly enjoyed lunch elsewhere).

Great views and food. Will definitely be coming back. Recommend the grouper, portion sizes were great and priced just right.

I do like the food and the place... the view made it perfect

Went here to watch the Lake Monroe boat parade and was not dissapointed. Live music and a large patio full of outdoor seating. The fried gator tail was fantastic and so was the service. Priced appropriatly for a seafood restaurant. If you are going later in the evening I reccommend bringing a sweatshirt as you may get a chilly breeze coming in from the lake.

Good food, nice view of the lake, nice waitress, we will return again.

We celebrated the 4th of July at St John's River Steak and Seafood. I have to say It was one of the best decisions we could have made. This was our second time dining there. The food was excellent even on a reduced holiday menu. Our server Martha was excellent in service and in personality! We will certainy be returning often. By the way their normal menu is huge! Something for everyone!

Fantastic shrimp & grits. Great service also. Looking forward to returning!

This was our second time eating here. The first time we went a few weeks ago, we had a fantastic time and really enjoyed eating there. We decided to go again a few weeks later, on Sunday February 2nd, 2020. This visit was very different from when we first ate here. We had put in an order for an appetizer a few minutes after being seated, filled by entree orders about 10 minutes later. We received our side salads that came with our meals about 10 minutes after that, and the appetizer still Hadn t come out. Only after we informed our server and finished our salads did the appetizer come out. Only minutes before the entrees came out. Definitely a first for me. My salad was a Cesar salad and it was essentially a bowl of lettuce was a clump on dressing on one Side of the bowl and clump Of cheese at the BOTTOM of the bowl. Terrible. There were issues with 2 of the 4 meals we ordered. One of us had ordered a ribeye steaks, medium well (which we had ordered last time as well and was fantastic), except, it wasn t a ribeye at all and was completely well done. Cooked all the way through and barley any pink at all. Wrong steak and wrong cooking temperature. One of us had ordered the Parmesan crusted chicken, which was disgusting. Covered in balsamic vinegar and brown sugar making is very sweet and hard to enjoy. Very bad experience and I doubt we ll be coming back

Had the gumbo, delicious! Accommodated our large group for baby shower extremely well!!

Great location, great atmosphere, great service and staff. Love coming here!

Excellent service and food! Kind owners and servers with delectable seafood. New favorite spot on st johns river!

The food was good, the portions were a nice size, the outside entrance could use a bit of sprucing up. It wasn't very inviting when I first walked up to the place. the staff was friendly.

The service without a doubt the best I've had in a long time.
Ricky is awesome and the food was better then we expected.
This will be our new to go to with friends and family.

The best salmon sandwich I ate in my whole life, the view was a great surprise, I m in love , perfect view!

Great ""fresh"" seafood!! ""All""" food items, drinks, fabulous, very friendly upbeat service. Affordable prices for such great food!!! Fabulous ambiance on Lake Monroe!!

Food was way over cooked. Took 2.5 hrs to get our food. Very disappointed.

Beautiful spot. Good food. Great service. Will go back soon.

My parents and I came in and sat outside our waitress hannah and waiter justin were very kind, attentive and the food arrived fast and fresh large portions for the price and the view was beautiful the music was in good taste and not to loud. Enjoyed my food. Want to come back again and try something else I was eyeing on the menu

Very good experience food was good with huge portions

Food, drinks, service and atmosphere was great! The gumbo was OUTSTANDING!!!

So, my wife and I just had dinner there for the first time tonight. The service and food are absolutely amazing! Atmosphere is very pleasant. Live music on the covered back patio. Will definitely go back! Recommending to everyone we know! Ask for Chance! No, we don t know him. He was our server this evening and was spot on on everything!