St. Johns Seafood and Steak Review

Our waitress, Erica, was terrific. Seven of us were very pleased with food, service and atmosphere. We each had a different entree after our appetizers of frog legs, gator bites and crab cake. Will definitely be back. I know they pay attention to their reviews so thanks again to Erica and all the staff for a great first experience.

A large group of us decided to go eat here party 14 had gone ahead of 6 of us .when we had to sit separately from our party. We asked if we could have 2 more tables United. Not only were we told no , when we noticed there were several other open tables. They refused to open the table for us. Told us we could go elsewhere with other table we were a party of 20 .They so called chef was rude and unprofessional. We left to another restaurant. Never going back to you guys again.

It was such a beautiful view, as the weather was nice enough to sit outside. The chairs are incredible comfortable! The service is slow. Most of the food was good. Didn't think the ribeye steak was that good but the hush puppies were great.

Freindly Staff - Clean Restaurant - Reasonable Prices - Good Food

Delicious as always & great atmosphere, the live music is a bonus!

Good food, great service and nice view of the lake sitting on the patio.

Good food! Good location! Great view of the river! Thank you Erica!

Loved the fish n chips and shrimp and grits!! Great service and fantastic live entertainment with customers dancing

Great atmosphere and great selection of entrees. Very pleased with the service. Enjoyed the outdoor seating area. Will be back again.
Went back again on 10/20/18, ordered the St. John's Burger and was highly disappointed with the preparation. I received it medium when I ordered it well done. The waitress took it back and the cook on duty burned it and sent the same burger back to me without the cheese. I told the waitress that this is not satisfactory, it wasn't edible and I wasn't charged for it but I hope the food preparation doesn't go downhill. This was the first time I've eaten here and was disappointed.

Great casual lunch or dinner spot with a fantastic view of Lake Monroe!!

Lake front view with outdoor patio or screened enclosure for perfect or not so perfect rainey days. Can get a tad busy at times so be patient with your wait staff. The drinks and food will make up for it!!! Great menu selection.

The restaurant menu has been redone since we last went there and they have a new chef and my wife and I went there for lunch. We had awesome service and the food was just as good. The manager Jeremie took awesome care of us. If you've been there before, you owe it to yourself to go there now.

Amazing food! First time here, food came out quick and delicious! And the manager was so attentive and even came at the end to see how everything was. Def will come again!

The food was good. The live music was great. The view is wonderful. The server was very friendly. The food took a very long time to be delivered.

Service with no smile. Prices too high for bland, flavorless food. Charged $12.00 for entre then 4 extra dollars to substitute the offered sides for a side salad. Small side salad was 2 tomatoe wedges, 2 thinly sliced cucs, some shredded cheese and some croutons on a small bed of lettuce. 4 bucks, really? Wow!!! We were wondering why we were the only customers there but understood completely when we were given the check. If this restaurant does not need repeat business, more power to them. They won't see us again. I promise that.

Our family had a delicious lunch today. Very pleasant waitress also. Gumbo is outstanding!

Jorge and Noemi Perez, on Thursday, July 30th 2020 530 reservation: celebrated our 29 anniversary. We usually travel out of state or go to our St. Augustine favorite restaurant Casa Monica or Columbia restaurant. This year we chose yours and we loved the customer service the food and the beautiful views, amazingly wonderful. We definitely will return. Terry or Kerry plus the assistance chef manager went the extra mile for us. Thank you all.

Nice restaurant right by the water. Liked the atmosphere a lot. Our waitress was a gem. The food was very tasty. I had blackened grouper w/ sweet potatoe fries. Yumm! It was a bit pricier than your regular restaurant but I loved the food ... so it's all good. The outdoor patio is screened. I plan on going back on a weekend afternoon for some dessert and coffee by the water. Apparently they have live music on Friday and Saturday. That'll be nice to check out while having a drink at their nice bar.

Beth was excellent! Our meals came out perfect! Great time had by all

The food was yummy and the view of the water was beautiful!

Best Lake view in Sanford! Always good seafood. The mahi tacos and gumbo are my personal favorites. Sure it gets busy and service isn t always great, but that s the case for almost anywhere in Sanford. Might as well have a great view while you wait.

Very pleasant decor, music and view. Prices reasonable. Rib eye grizzly and ribs just okay. I want to love this place so I'll try seafood and the pork chops. Kimmie was at first friendly but after our meal was served she ignored us and our sides were not correct.

Came for a work function. Had never been before but the food was good. I would definately come back! Live music was a bonus.

Very friendly staff, large selection and waterfront view....

We all agreed that this is the best restaurant we've been to in a long time. The service was superior, drinks were outstanding, and the food was superb. The overall experience was five + stars.

Fun night out with a beautiful sunset and moon rise. Food was good and reasonably priced. Drinks a bit pricey but a good pour. Band was good but would have preferred music we could dance to. Jackie and Ryan were great.

Good food , and atmosphere! Sat on the patio with a great view !

First visit first date great food great service. We totally recommend a visit.

45 minute wait; nearly an hour wait to get our food. Entrees were mediocre. Service was disappointing. Restaurant needs deep cleaning. View was lovely.

I like the menu, the location, etc. Sometimes there is live music.

Went there last night for our anniversary, never have eaten there before, ordered the St. J Oyster Rockefeller for the appetizer, It came out cold, and the oysters were very fishy tasting, The server doesn't bring out any appetizer plates puts drawn butter with the oysters no cocktail sauce. Then we ordered food with salads and ranch dressing She brings out the entree with the salads with blue cheese. So we asked her to take it back she does and of course the meal was ice cold when it came back. Two steak kabobs with 5 small chunks two shrimp kabobs with five small shrimp on them. Had a half of potatoe twice baked that they charged an Xtra $2 for and an Xtra $4 for our salads on top of the $21 for the four kabobs, it was absolutely horrible. I asked for Shrimp Alfredo to go and when I got home it was shrimp scampi with maybe 8 small shrimp and a piece of garlic bread, no side salad unless u pay an Xtra $4, for $16. We live very close and it was cold as well. They were closing so we felt very rushed even though we arrived at 7:30.We had to ask another employee to find our server for drinks and fix the mistakes. It was very overpriced poor quality everything and our server was terrible the only thing we enjoyed was the view. We will not return. Ummm this has nothing to do with the one day I worked there 5 months ago and BTW never got paid for. I chose not to work there and take another job. Lol. Sorry that you cannot take criticism, and you have to make your mistakes at your restaurant about something else, when an apology would be a proper response. We spent $123 on your food that wasn't even correct and horrible service. So thank you for showing the world who you really are!!

I had the worst server I ve had in a long time there... Erica was rude to almost everyone in my entire party of 8 guests, but especially to one of my guests in whom she rudely began to badger as to why she wasn't eating her salad, and then she could not seem comprehend as to why she wasn t very fond of it. Although the salad did come out first of all... not looking great with dry chicken, it also has canned fruits which is hard for me comprehend whereas with the state we live in you could walk outside and pick these fruits fresh. The rest of the food was fantastic, and the restaurant itself was an all around wonderful environment, but I will never invite anyone there with me again if I have the same server, as that absolutely in itself made for a horrible experience. We still gave the full tip, as I understand how stressful a serving job can be, but to act this way, and then especially to not even offer a substitution when the food arrives unsatisfactorily... I m not sure it was quite deserved.

Food was great. View was also equally awesome. Stopped in for an early dinner and everything was great. Will most definitely be coming back here again.

Great food, great ambiance, great Lakefront views..

The food was awful but the management was great. They took items off the bill due to our complaints about the food. I had gotten salmon and it was so overcooked and dry it was inedible. My daughter had tuna and she said it was just as bad. The only one that liked her meal was my aunt who had ordered fried fish. So, I am presuming that if you order something fried you are probably better off. We won't be back

I went on a date with my husband and must say I was surprised! He choose this place and I love it. Will go again

We had dinner on September 5th. My husband got horribly ill. He called and talked to the manager the following morning. She requested that we give them another chance, come back at least for a couple of appetizers and drinks "on the house".
We were in Sanford and decided to stop. Only ordered 2 appetizers and 2 drinks each. When we were ready to leave, they gave us a "discounted check". Their measly $28 discount was certainly not worth the miserable night my husband spent after the dinner. Also, the peel and eat shrimp was almost impossible to peel and not deveined. I suspect it wasn't as fresh as it should have been.

My wife for medical reasons cannot eat soices. She explained tthis to the waitress very succinctly yet the waitress let her order a dish with the spices left off. The first bite was so spicy my wife could eat it. She then ordered grilled grouper with only a little salt. It came back seasoned with Old Bay so it to had to be sent back. The third attempt at grilled grouper came back cooked too much on one side and basically raw on the other..The restaurant needs to educate their employees about the needs of people's special requests.

Ok. Nice server. Food was good, not great. Nice location. Great spot for burger and a beer.

An interesting place with nice water views that I'm sure has a consistent senior citizen crowd during the weekdays. We can choose a different story. Service is average. Food is edible though nothing extraordinary. Decent value all around but not a place you make an effort to go to.

A hidden gem! The empty bowl says it all. New Orleans style Gumbo INDEED! Stuffed grouper is amazing!!! Thought I was in the bayou.

The service was great. The grilled combo was truly amazing. I highly recommend this restaurant! !!!!

Had an awesome dinner, wait wasn t to long. Loved the view, waitress was attentive. We love lunch on the patio, will go back.

My wife and I really enjoyed ourselves here, the food was excellent and service was exceptional.

They were extremely busy and had a hard time keeping up with orders. My fish was undercooked and the plates came out at different times for our large party. But they had a good atmosphere with a big bar and live music on the weekends.

Food was delicious and Rick our server was great. Beautiful water view

Went there for the first time with son to celebrate his birthday. I will definitely be going back. The food was great, good prices, great view of Lake Monroe and the service was good too.

Amazing food! Conch fritters and the fish dip were top notch!

this place definitely upgraded since the last time I was here in August. great food, and I was impressed by the remodel.

Great view great food get there a little after lunch and its very quiet.

This place is awesome!! First time visiting and will definitely return.

It was fine, views are great, service was very good, food was ok.

My husband and I had a reservation for 4:15 (I made the reservation online about 5 days prior). We got a confirmation call for our reservation the day of and to make sure that we were content with the table that they reserved for us. As we approached the restaurant the door was opened for us and we were warmly greeted by several staff members. This really set the tone for the rest of the evening as we felt very welcomed, the restaurant is quaint and cozy, and our server Kristina was very friendly, attentive, and knowledgeable of the menu. They sat us by the window overlooking the river which was great!! I ordered a drink from the bar called TROPICAL PASSION and it was delicious! For an appetizer we ordered the CONCH FRITTERS W/ BAYOU DIPPING SAUCE and both my husband and myself loved it. My husband ordered the KEY WEST MAHI and I ordered the KEY WEST CKICKEN. Both plates were flavorful and freshly cooked. Overall it was a wonderful experience from beginning to end. We will definitely go there again. Not sure if it was the manager or owner but she came by to check on us as well. That is very well appreciated.

Today was my second visit for takeout. First time was pretty good. This time, however, the fried oysters we re unidentifiable due to soooo much cornmeal breading. Same with the soft shell crab. I had to pick out the very small crab body from all the breading. She catfish on my meal was just about the only edible thing I didn t have to pick breading off of. I will not be going there for a looonnnggg time if ever!

Food is excellent. Overlooks the river, great view. Cooked perfectly, seasoned well, not overdone, everything was great. When we went it was very busy, staff was overwhelmed, but they handled it beautifully. I have worked at a restaurant before, and seen situations handled poorly, this was done well. They knew they were understaffed, but had everyone pitch in, even if it wasn't their direct duties. And everyone was so polite, friendly, helpful, professional, and hard-working. Drinks were excellent (good wine and cocktail selection). Grits were some of the best I've had in a long time. Complimentary hush puppies is also a nice touch. Everything we've gotten here was fantastic. Once again, very impressed with staff. Go here for high quality food, drinks, service, and great location!

The view and atmosphere is wonderful&the live music was a nice touch. My boyfriend, daughter and I visited on March 18, it was a Friday. It took about 10 minutes to be seen by our waitress, who wasn't prepares to take our food order only our drinks. That's fine, but when I recieved my Watermelon Margarita , there was a GIANT BEETLE in the glass. I noticed it immediately. Considering this restaurant is by a large body of water, I let it slide and let them bring me another one. We ordered the rib-eye with fries and broccoli to all share. the rib-eye was obviously cheap and pretty flavorless and the fries were undercooked. Not worth the 24$ but We ended up eating some and taking it home anyway. I was busy helping my daughter in the bathroom and then we looked at the beautiful fishtank , with a dead fish stuck under the large rocks. I told the hostess and she laughed. If you have a fish tank, Please take proper care of your fish or atleast check on them daily to make sure there are no dead ones. Anyway, they charged me for the margarita which surprised me . I was a waitress for 4 years and if I had a guest with a beetle in their drink, and they decided to stay anyway, I would definitely have comped it. All and all we had a not so great experience and will not be going back.

Friendly staff and decent service, lovely atmosphere with a view of the lake and ample outdoor seating. The food is just awful, though. I recommend you just buy drinks and a few fried snacks and don't try to eat for sustenance here. Our waitress did a great job and handled issues with our food perfectly. Giving 2 stars because I would definitely not go back. There are other places with great lake views and better food in the area.

Had a great dinner there with my wife. And you can't beat the view!

food was amazing and our server Caitlyn was fantastic she was fun and very attentive to our needs. My wife and I rarely have date night but 9 times out of 10 we come here. They are one of the very few restaurants who knows how to properly blacken the food.

Very large portions and great views. Got a little chilly and they drug in the fire torches for us. Great dining experience!

Clean and great food but kinda pricey for the amount of food u get.

Great service tonight; thank you Erica! Loved the music by Jack Bumgarner. Staff was attentive and much appreciated. Surprised by best hushpuppies ever.

Good food and good price. I recommend the grilled grouper. My husband liked the fish and chips.

Amazing food and customer service! We were eating outside when it began to rain. All of our food and drink was brought in for us. When leaving, I was escorted out under an umbrella so my baby and I would not get soaked. The food was delicious. This is our new favorite spot!

Went here for dinner Sunday afternoon. We weren t able to sit on the back porch, where we love to sit because of the view of the water. Everyone enjoyed their food: shrimp chowder, shrimp & crab cake pasta (it actually looked like the picture), clam strips, and the seared salmon with vegetables. It would be a great idea to add a clam strip platter to the entrees. I had to order the appetizer strips and make a meal. I won t give the 5th because of the live music they had. It was some guy on a guitar, dragging & moaning out every song. He sounded horrible. Even the table next to us didn t enjoy. But, we ll be back, we re foodies!

Our dinner was delicious! John, our server, was awesome. I would recommend St Johns Steak and Seafood if your in the area! My husband had the jerk mahi dinner and said it was delicious!

Very nice atmosphere. Food was out standing. Service personnel were very friendly. Definitely on our places to go list.

Food and service are A+ and the view of the River is a nice way to relax after a long day!

I like it but be ready for nats and bugs, by the river, but good food, large menue and nice servers... Mr. Reggie the Mngr. is great