Whiskey Joe's Manatee River

Food and drinks were delicious. Bought the cup that gives cheaper refills. Worth it since it’s cheaper than the rest of the drinks. Of course you can’t go wrong with the view.

We stopped in on our way home from the beach and have decided it will now be our routine stop on beach days. The atmosphere was relaxed and beautiful. Our waitress, Raegan, was on top of everything. The food was delicious! We had Oysters and Gator appetizers. The strawberry guava ribs were amazing. Definitely give this place a try!

First time and loved it. Great food, great service and fun atmosphere whether seated on beach or inside. Must go to.

I don't remember what I ordered but it was all very delicious. It was some type of fish, scallops, fried shrimp, fries, and coleslaw. I also wanted to try the plantains. We were able to walk in and be seated right away. The staff was friendly. They have indoor and outdoor seating. We selected outdoors for the breeze and view. The service was excellent and quick.

Stop for lunch after shopping at the Ellenton outlet mall. There is road construction going on but the construction workers were great getting us into the parking lot. Staff in the restaurant were great and even did a special order for us. My friend and I had the mahi mahi tacos. One fried and one blackened.

This restaurant was wonderfully tasting food. We loved the fish tacos, firecracker shrimp tacos, Joe's seafood boil and the calm chowder! The restaurant was clean, bright and had friendly staff. This restaurant is situated on the manatee River with beautiful views and 3 choices of indoor seating, outdoor seating or outdoor bar.

I had the guava ribs for a second time with a dozen oysters their way! Fries & the coleslaw was amazing I got seconds. The oysters were perfect! The views of the bridges, river bay waters, and coastline is phenomenal including multiple consistent fire pits ! I finished it off with vanilla ice cream and a slice of key lime pie with 1/2 and 1/2 tea with orange to wash all the goodness down. Five stars !

Stopped at the Tiki Bar for a couple drinks! Loved the Bartender😊 My friends Calamari was great! My Shrimp Coctail was less than good!

We recently hosted our rehearsal lunch for our wedding at whiskey joes and had such an incredible experience. Devin made planning a breeze and was super easy to get in to much with, we provided some decorations and they executed them very well. They also had lots of delicious food for us to eat ! Most of us ended up being full by the time apps were done. The views are gorgeous and the atmosphere is perfect g for a big group like this looking to enjoy each others company

So far the best place in the area, happy hour is great food is delicious and the atmosphere is awesome. Indoor and outdoor seating, white sand and chairs on the beach with the river view. Big parking lot. We will definitely come back!

Great burgers and tacos. You cannot beat the view! Grab a table out in the sand. Makes you feel like you are at the beach. The service was fantastic very friendly and fast. food came super quick.

We held our wedding ceremony and reception at Whiskey Joe’s, and we couldn’t be happier with our choice. Devin was incredibly helpful throughout the planning process, attentive to every detail. We were pleasantly surprised by the generous amount of food offered during the tasting—it really exceeded our expectations! Before the big day, I brought some friends and family for dinner, and everyone was treated with warmth and care. On the wedding day itself, everything went exactly as planned, and the food was absolutely delicious. The entire experience was smooth, affordable, and truly special. Thank you to the entire Whiskey Joe’s team for helping make our day unforgettable.

Stopped in after a hike to this wonderful restaurant. I was a little worried that we would be “under dressed” but that was not the case. Most people dressed in Saturday leisure clothes, and we were promptly seated by a nice lady that had a contagious smile. Our waitress was at our table very fast, and then fast forward to ordering and lunch delivery to our table. The service was AMAZING. We both felt like a bit of Mexican so we ordered the tacos for me and another dish for my wife. Both were excellent and rivaled the best Mexican restaurants we have ever been to! The food was fresh, huge portions and delicious. The service second to none, and then capped off with a great view of the water. We will be returning and cannot highly recommend this restaurant highly enough. There were a number of large groups in the huge restaurant and they all seem to have been served timely, it is also kid friendly. I can definitely say you would be comfortable going for a quick bite, a romantic evening or a drinks with appetizers quick bite.

My wife and I took the grandbabies out for the day to Hunsaders Farms. On our way back home we decided to have dinner at Whisky Joes. Immediately upon arriving at the restaurant (of course weekend) amazing atmosphere, beautiful breathing scenery, full parking lot. The Valet parking attendants working as hard as ever, always professional never any worries. My wife said "lets try, maybe we get lucky." Whiskey Joes outstanding staff made what I imagined to be an impossible task, possible. Wow, possible! My wife came wife came to the car said, "babe Valet park, we got a table for all 9 of us." So, on behalf of our entire family, to ALL of the FANTASTIC, WORLD WINNING amazing employees who made this evening so memorable, fun watching the grandbabies playing in the sand. To us enjoying the spectacular views of the beautiful bay water front, brides. Sitting by the fire pits relaxing and enjoying the family atmosphere. Thank you ALL! This is how, I remember TOP QUALITY SERVICE, excellent and very tasty and delicious food should be. I HIGHLY recommend that if you are ever in the area. Do not miss your opportunity to have an amazing experience of outstanding hospitality, experience services and friendly excellent atmosphere at Whiskey Joe's. Thanks again. Mr & Mrs Wright & FAM!

I ordered mahi mahi online only to get to the manatee river and my hostess Ms Eve told me she was sorry that she was informed that they were out of mahi mahi and would see.if the manager could help me and she was Very sorry. The manager Corey came and was able to give me swordfish witch is a better cut of fish and alittle extra to make my night better!! Love the customer service!! Will recommend and eat here more myself. Im from lakeland,working down this way so the experience was definitely pleasure!! Happy Thanksgiving to Eve and Corey along with his team

I've been to several locations, all are excellent. The seafood always catches my eye and appetite. This time I had a wait, a friend in traffic. I ordered their bisque for the wait, then jambalaya when he arrived. Good seating inside and out with great views of the river.

I started with Skyler at the bar. She was attentive, knowledgeable, and super friendly. When our group of 8 at the firepits decided we needed food, Skyler handed us off to Kirsten. Kirsten was amazing! She is very personable, had no problems running back and forth to the firepits for the needs of 8 people (who drank a lot). She was super pleasant and made great suggestions. The food was also very good. We had a good assortment of different items and Everyone was happy. The place was Real clean, (the bartender was deck scrubbing the bar when we were leaving. [The bartender that wasn't Skyler]). Even the outside bathrooms were tidy. We Will Be Back!

Atmosphere was great with great views. Their around 2 pm. Place was packed. Service faltered some due to waitress having way to many tables. But she did take good care of our party ( 7 ). Food came out hot and all orders came out at same time. Everybody loved their meals. I had grouper sandwich. It was great. Will go back.

Great stop on a Friday night. Great views, seated on patio with a heater due to weather being chilly. Had live lone guitarist. Food was good, not great but I would return for sure! Outside bar and fire pits too! Fun place!!

Celebration of life venue. A misunderstanding regarding shade outside was quickly resolved. The staff was accommodating and did an excellent job of ensuring our experience was pleasant and satisfying. I would suggest making certain all of your expectations are clearly stated when reserving the outside area.

We had the blackened mahi fish tacos and the shrimp tacos. The fish tacos were to die for and the pineapple salsa and plantains were out of this world. The shrimp tacos needed the shrimp to be more costed in the delicious firecracker sauce and I would definitely substitute the chips and salsa next time. Overall a great experience and service was super quick.

I general it was ok. Service was attentive and friendly. The Mrs enjoyed her Cobb salad and my nachos were simply not too good. I felt they were light on the toppings. It is certainly a comfortable and interesting environment.

I enjoyed the atmosphere and food, service was quicker than I expected (going by the reviews I’ve seen)portion size pretty decent I ordered the crab and shrimp dip it was good and they filled it to the brim in the dish it came in so much that I ran out of bread 😌☺️ I wanted oysters but they were out I came around 1:30 I ordered fish and chips I was pretty full I took the rest to go the food was pretty good but I will say it’s a bit pricey I spent $60 just for myself for an appetizer drink and entree

1st time visit. Atmosphere was worth the drive. Parking was tight. Staff was great. Drinks were awesome. Food was ok, do not recommend the oysters.

We ordered the tiki chicken and Burger with some chips and salsa. The chicken was a bit dry but the salsa on top was great and so was the rest of the food. They do have a kids menu with good options and activities.

This is the venue on a warm, sunny day!☀️ A plethoral of outdoor, waterfront seating and a large outdoor bar. The food is mediocre.

My wife and I decided to come here after a 12 hour drive from NC and were looking for some good grub and a place to stretch our legs. Sat at the bar and had Beth Anne (?) as our bartender. My wife ordered a pina colada and shrimp tacos, while I ordered the bacon burger and a rum runner. The food was a bit flat, burger over cooked and the breading on the shrimp was bland, but over all the food was good enough to finish and our bartender was kick-ass. We'd definetely come back, but most likely order different food.

Pretty good firecracker shrimp tacos, mojito, and nice atmosphere. Service was pretty good.

While my shrimp was perfect the beans and rice dry and tasted old. The music wasn't that good and also way too loud to be able to have any type of conversation.

The food was great & drinks were on point, however service was slow. Additionally,our server was extremely unfriendly. She never smiled or gave eye contact, it was as though she didn’t care to be bothered. With this attitude, she should have just stayed home. I typically visit the Tampa location, but was shopping at the Ellenton Mall Saturday, so decided to stop here. Her attitude definitely killed the pre-shopping mood with my group, but we tipped her anyway.

This place was really crowded. We order some gator bites as appetizers. They weren't very good; the meat was tough and greasy. I had the shrimp tacos. I like it okay. I wasn't impressed with the food and the service wasn't great. The atmosphere was okay. Pretty nice view of the lake.

Fun atmosphere and overall decent drinks, but our experience left us feeling a bit taken advantage of. We specifically asked for a 5oz glass of wine for happy hour and were disappointed to find out later that we were charged for a 10oz pour instead. Our server was friendly and pleasant, but unfortunately the price difference was kind of slipped in without clearly confirming the change, which was frustrating. It put a damper on what could have been a better visit. Just be aware and make sure to clearly confirm both the price and the amount with your server before ordering.

Food was ehhhh. The calm chowder was amazing though. The atmosphere is amazing. Drove over an hour to come here. Not worth the drive or money. Service was slow to and waiter kept forgetting stuff. Maybe he was having a bad day. Who knows we are all human.

I have been to Whiskey Joe’s before and have never had to send a meal back. Tonight was disappointing. First, we waited quite awhile for our meal and our waitress Cassidy apologized for the delay. When we got our meal my grouper sandwich I noticed was a raw. The person that brought the meal but came back to bring pickles that I requested agreed and said they would remake it. However, 20 minutes later as my companions were finishing my meal I told our waitress to forget the sandwich and she understood and apologized for the experience. She did mentioned that this Sunday night seemed to be having issues and I appreciated her honestly. A nice touch was she brought us three delicious cookies. However, I had been looking forward to the grouper sandwich which has always been delicious. My husband had the hamburgers sliders which are just ok. A bit overcooked. French fries overall were good. I do hope the issues tonight don’t repeat themselves as Whiskey Joe’s is such a nice atmosphere with usually good food. I am immunocompromised and so glad I realized before I took a bit that the fish was raw.

Very nice outdoors place don’t get me wrong, but I don’t think I’ll ever return to whiskey Joe’s as there’s much better water places in the area that are cheaper or provide more value. The portion sizes are incredibly small for these prices and it took them almost 20 minutes to make a brownie sundae which is ridiculous, Shulas steakhouse Orlando is the only other restaurant that ever took that long on my dessert and they made you order it with dinner and that’s high end stuff. Food is alright but a little bit spicy, but I’ve definitely had a better meal and bigger portions for the same price per person a few miles down the road at pier 22. Even our server said the prices were getting high, she even stated they tripled since 5 years ago, only prices that I’ve seen before is the calamari in higher end restaurants in NY which wasn’t outrageous but not ideal. Overall if the staff aren’t being heard which shows with them being understaffed, and I’m being provided an experience like I was provided tonight I don’t think I’ll keep giving them my business. They used to be decent and provide value but not anymore, very unlikely I’ll dine at this franchise again. 120$ for two people I can go to a high end Italian place and that’s in NY!!!!

Oysters were so cold and tasteless. Service was good. View was awesome. Next time I would go to Woody’s next door

Reservations made weeks in advance for party of 10 on the 21st of December. Server took ALL our orders. After about 20 minutes came out with 5 orders (3 were for kids). She told us the other 5 orders could not be put in at same time because that would be too much for kitchen staff. So, kids ate but the 2 adults waited another 20 minutes for the rest of us to be served & they had to eat cold food. I've never heard of such an excuse like this. I'm sure parties of 10 or more have eaten there before & not had their orders split in half. Absolutely ridiculous. Think server messed up with our order & blamed kitchen staff. Also, she never came back to check on us to refill water or additional drink orders. Nor did she bring ticket to us, we had to go ask for it at front desk. This was our 3rd time to dine there and it will definitely be our last even tho the food was good & its a good halfway spot for our family to meet.

Came here for happy hour, bar was dead and still waited 15-20 minutes for service. Nobody acknowledged us. Waited 40 minutes for nachos and chicken. The couple across the bar came after us and got food before us. Food was cold, nachos were soggy. They were definitely just waiting to be delivered in the kitchen. Drinks were okay. Strawberry mule is super sweet/processed and margarita was fine. Bartender gave us the bill before we were done eating. Prices were good. Chicken was good even though it was cold. I probably won’t come back here

Having recently moved from Tampa, where I’ve had great experiences at their sister location, I chose this restaurant for my birthday dinner last Saturday, confident it would be a tried-and-true option. We were a party of 13, so I expected minor issues and was prepared to extend grace. Unfortunately, several issues went beyond what could reasonably be attributed to party size. To begin on a positive note, our waitress was wonderful. She was attentive, kind, and apologetic throughout the evening. My concerns are not with her service, but rather with the kitchen execution and management. When our meals arrived, two orders were completely missed and came out 5-10min after everyone else’s. Our server informed us that the kitchen had accidentally skipped those orders entirely and assured us the two meals would be comped. While unfortunate, this was handled appropriately and we appreciated the resolution. Our next issue arose when one guest discovered hair in their shrimp tacos. We chose not to raise an issue, though, understanding that this is an issue that occasionally happens in any restaurant environment. As the evening progressed, another guest was met with a problem. They ordered the Cajun pasta, which came with five mussels, two of which were unopened and therefore inedible. While unopened mussels can occur, it ultimately meant the dish did not deliver the full seafood component it advertised. When this was brought up, the solution suggested by management was to try opening them with a knife, which had already been attempted of course. The guest simply asked for two replacing, properly prepared mussels to be provided. Management said no. My own dish, the Strawberry BBQ pork tacos, lacked any noticeable flavor. I was told the meat is tossed in sauce before cooking, but the flavor had clearly cooked off. And on top of that, the tacos were also served at room temperature. Given the size of our party, I can understand how timing may have contributed to that issue and chose not to comment on it. However, the absence of any flavor, nonetheless strawberry BBQ was difficult to overlook. Several others at the table agreed the BBQ component was absent. I ended up ordering sauce on the side to keep quiet and fix the issue myself. Overall, my disappointment lies primarily with the food quality and management response. Because the evening began with two comped meals, we tried not to raise additional concerns unnecessarily. Everyone in our party has restaurant experience, so we understand how challenges can arise—especially with a large group. However, the issues we encountered extended beyond what could reasonably be attributed to party size. My intention in leaving this review is simply to encourage reassessment and improvement so future guests have a better experience.

Wow. What I mess. Dirty tables everywhere, horrible service and below average food. If it wasn’t for the water view this place would be a solid one star. It’s extremely clear they have a staffing problem which results really bad service (we had to go to the bar from our table for drinks. Twice.). When we finally saw a waiter it took over an hour to get the food (which was clearly under a heat lamp for wayyyyy too long). There are sooooo many other options available. Don’t waste your time here.