Shady Gators

Cool place to have drinks can't say the food lives up to the price. I ask waitress if I could get pink center on my burger she told me they don't cook them with pink in the center no way I'm paying 20bucks for a dry burger so I settled for a sandwich. Bloody mary was good definitely worth trying.

Ordered the meat pizza, thin crust. It was excellent. Waitress was attentive even though it was a busy Friday evening in June. Went back on Saturday for a car show. All kinds of cool cars in their parking lot. Very cool.

Alyssa was a great waitress! She is very attentive and made sure our drinks were full all night. The Well Hungarians are a terrific band too!

Took over an hour and a half to get our food. Server had no idea what she was doing then completely forgot about us. .. thats fine, mistakes happen.. BUT unfortunately my little sister forgot her purse in her chair because we were so ready to get out of there. We called 30 minutes later to see if anyone found the purse. They said that they did in fact have it and would put it up in the office. We arrived back at the restaurant exactly 45 minutes later; same staff, same manager, SAME WAITRESS. We then asked about the purse to the hostess, who was the only trustworthy employee there with a positive attitude, and she stated she noticed the waitress grab it earlier. At the same time, we made eye contact with our waitress, who proceeded to quickly run in the opposite direction. No one could find her or the purse for another 45 minutes. The manager then approached us. When we asked about the purse she cussed at us and got in our face.. drawing so much attention that the cops were called over by another customer. We were then told by an employee that there was actually a camera pointing right at our table and they would pull the footage for us. After another 5 minutes, that same manager (who, in the mean time, was pulled aside by the cops for acting completely out of line) rudely came over and told us that her employees did not know what they were talking about and that the camera was a "fake". So after almost 2 hours of the manager screaming at us and proceeding to cause an unnecessary scene, cops and customers surrounding us.. our waitresses "boyfriend " runs over from the fraternity house that is on the property, and throws my sisters purse at her and then runs off. SHADY is the PERFECT name for this place. I wouldn't recommend it to my worst enemy let alone family, friends, or innocent bystanders

The food was 10/10. The gator bites was delicious, so was the crab legs! And the view was gorgeous. I recommend going anytime, we went for lunch and it wasn’t too packed which was nice.

We had an extremely large party and they handled it like pros! Super accommodating and a great place to eat and have a great time!

Atmosphere was live very crowed. Very much a meet up for drinks and food type of place. It took about 20 mins for someone to take our order. Then just the service wasn’t great. I felt like they were just writing down what we say but not actually listen in too how we want it and stuff. They kept messing up our order more than 3 times. It was 5 of us. The food was cold. Shrimp tasted tough and cold. The boil wasn’t flavorful and it was cold as well. The only thing that was good was the crab legs, but even those were cold as well. They took forever to bring out drinks. Then we had to constantly ask them to bring us things that we needed like forks to eat with and things like that. We were just fed up and ready to go. Me personally I wouldn’t not go back here. But that’s just my honest review. I feel like they could care a little more about their customers I understand people be drunk and stuff but we are human we don’t wanna eat cold food and be treated like we aren’t heard. Respectfully.

Dont waste your time. Rudest staff and management that my family and I have ever encountered. Charged us for nachos that we never received, then argued with us stating that we did get them and they were charging us for them anyways. I have been in the hospitality industry for 17 years and hardly ever write bad reviews but I felt it to be necessary in this case. It's one thing to get an order wrong, but to show us no attention and leave our beverages completely empty for over an hour, then proceed to argue with us about an appetizer that was never brought to the table while we are sitting there hungry is absolutely uncalled for and unprofessional. The female manager eventually came up to us and stated that "she had her employees back and we were getting charged for the nachos regardless of what the cameras did or did not catch" . We were astonished. I really hope this helps someone else make the decision to enjoy your meal with family and/or friends elsewhere. This place is an absolute joke.

Fun atmosphere! Came for a group dinner and the food surpassed our expectations. I ordered the brisket nachos -they were HUGE and delicious. I shared them with our table of 8 and still only ate half. Others ordered pizza, gator wrap, pasta, jambalaya.... All good! Lake water and spicy margs were good too!

Place been here for ages n a lot of stages n dj spots n bars inside. View of lake anyway u look. Service was chill but security on point!

We dined in, Chloe was our server. She was incredible. Food and drinks were great. Overall a amazing experience

We got pizza one night from shady gators. They had think crust and thick crust; it had good flavor. The staff were friendly; we got the food to go.

Shady Gators is know for their party atmosphere and pizza. They have all of your favorite bar menu items. Every night during the summer lake days they will have some sort of live entertainment or even going on. There is also another venue called lazy gators that is a more adult venue. With a pool, swim up bar, and many cabanas for you to lounge. The food is decent and service is good. One of the many fun places at the Ozark to grab a drink and enjoy lake summers.

very hot but that's the weather. not much shade. food is fine, service is impeccable. pool is for only 21 and over, my kids were miserable and at shady gators there is no pool, it's at lazy gators. good menu. need more fans/ shade. the food was mid. burger tasted like trash. very mid

I really want to give this "old standby" at Lake of the Ozarks a 3 star review however, my last experience here a week or so ago was pretty bad. First of all, positives, the drinks are fairly cheap and pretty strong. Maybe the food is only edible if you're drunk? I've had fun at the pool and pool bar before. It has a beautiful view of the lake but, it gets crowded very quickly. However, this was a Thursday night for dinner, and the vilbes were pretty dead, not really lively at all. And the food just wasn't good at all, we decided to all three split the most expensive thing on the menu, a combination seafood boil pieces at $66. After it came out and was comprised of mostly inedible crayfish, we knew we should have just stuck with either crab or shrimp. The crayfish tasted like straight mud. Now I know they are nicknamed mud-bugs, but these were not fresh or clean. What made it even worse the butter that was on the side wasn't seasoned at all! No Cajun seasoning was on anything, it was the most lackluster seafood boil I had ever had. The shrimp was also pale and anemic, not seasoned at all and overcooked and rubbery. The crab legs were scrawny and barely had any meat in them. We promptly asked to talk to the owner whom, in his defense, did rectify the situation (to the best of his ability) he brought us extra crab legs as well as a whole bunch of Cajun seasoning to add to the butter and another order of shrimp, that were seasoned! So, my question is, how did the first boil even make it out of the kitchen? The potatoes were still rock hard, the corn on the cob was mushy and had no salt, the sausage was just okay bit wasn't andouille and didn't have much flavor. From an expo standpoint, it shouldn't have left the kitchen with all those glaring mistakes as well as the whole seasoning (or lack thereof). I appreciate the steps and customer service that was applied to a very lackluster meal but, I'll stick with sipping by the pool during the day and skip the food, or coming past dark!

This was our second time at Shady Gators. I love to go early and beat the crowds. Their pool is clean so that is always lovely

WATCH YOUR BANK ACCOUNTS. I left a tip and they put an extra on the charge. Luckily I checked my bank and knew what I put on the tip line. I called the manager and they said they input so many charges it happens. Just be careful, sounds like it happens a lot. No clue how this is not audited and once the IRS finds out their scam, and it will show them not to steal from people

Busy bar and resort on the lake with a fun beach theme and a full bar serving tasty drinks and restaurant has plenty of food options to satisfy your hunger.Seafood Nachos were ok but not what I expected, chips were soggy and the bits of seafood were overcook and not to tasty. Burger was great, full of flavor and seasoning.Fries were crispy and the drinks were great.

I do like this place. Traditional Hand-Tossed Pizza is decent; maybe a cross of Digiorno and Freschetta for reference, but not bad for a beach spot. Their StL Style pizza is very good, as is the Naan Flatbread and Cauliflower offerings. Mix and match with sauces and try out their Andouille Sausage on top with some hot peppers. The rewards really come with the complexity of the menu here, as their chicken dishes seem to especially stand out. The Deli-Style sandwiches my guests had on a visit looked really tasty as well (they certainly liked them). The ownership takes time to meet people on site and get to know them and make sure they're having a good time, so a plus there, and makes me think the following gripes can be remedied. It's a beautiful spot, with ample parking and seating, with a lot of tables subject to a gorgeous lake view (use of the shades is a good idea at dusk). The music and PA is about two clicks too loud and consistently so. Live band nights should be a front-and-center type of sound ambiance, but run of the mill atmospheric music should never be uncomfortable or keep a small group from conversing at point-blank range. Live MC events, while well run, seem even more obnoxious as far as volume goes. Not terrible, but all of these events should add to the atmosphere, not dominate it. Bar staff and servers need to be on the same page. Head Bartender seems to be experienced and have his stuff together. The rest have a mix of one or more attributes from the list: helpful, congenial, mostly professional, disengaged, distracted, inexperienced, incompetent or flat-out dishonest. Pick any two or three for each and you'll likely hit one of them on the head. Not a knock on any of them, but the disparity of mixing skill, correct menu charges, correct order placement, correct clearing of tabs, correct application of tips, etc really detract from what should be an excellent lake venue. I don't think it's the number of staff that's the problem, as I've only ever seen the place truly swamped once, but merely an efficiency, accuracy and attention to detail issue. YMMV. 6.9/10 stars, arrow going up I hope.

We went on a Monday evening, so it definitely wasn't busy but was still nice to sit by the water and had great views. I think this is a place you go for the vibes and atmosphere over the actual food but we still thought our food was good. Shady Gators is more of the restaurant part and has two floors and live music. Lazy Gators is where you go for the pool. You can order from Lazy Gators at Shady Gators but not sure if you can do it the other way around. I got the Legendary Sweet & Crunchy Fingers and thought they were really good but didn't like the tartar sauce (although I am not usually much of a tartar sauce person in general). They came on a bed of lettuce which I thought was pointless but the fish was good and the breading was almost like corn flakes and the drizzled with honey. So definitely on the sweet side. I got a side of cornbread which was a little dry and nothing special (think jiffy cornbread mix). My friend got 1/2 lb of peel and eat shrimp and thought it was good. Our drinks were also good and we got to watch the sunset! We walked over to the pool area and the pool was definitely a little small but if you go on a week night, it seems like it wouldn't be super backed and would be a nice place to relax!

The younger girls don't get it. You would make more tips if you try to Fake it. Engage with your customers, don't be bitchy or short, act like you care you would make more tips. I would've stayed for more drinks but the waitress made me move on. The food was good, bar food but good!

I think it was right before the tourists really hit because it seemed slow for a Friday night. The staff was very friendly and our waitress was pretty good. Prompt, friendly, and everything was right. It was a little later so we split a salad and got the Brazilian steak and shrimp app, I don't remember what it was called but it came out on a cast iron plate with sterno under it, almost raw in the middle (how I like it), with 6 large perfectly cooked shrimp. Like I said I ate the beef as is but my wife cooked it a little more. I like my beef still moving a little. Very very good beef. The shrimp were spicy but also very good. We ordered the Menage au Trois, or combo of jumbalaya, crawfish etouffé, and red beans and rice. It was pretty spicy but very flavorful. The only downside was the dry and chewy hockey puck of a cornbread muffin. Other than that the food was very good. Over all a pretty good experience and a pretty good meal. I imagine the place is off the hook during the height of the season. The ambience was kind of half restaurant, half dive bar a la Roadhouse. Despite the negative reviews, no one tried to drug us. I did have a little bit of a Cajun food coma later but that was self inflicted.

Decent food and service. Place is a little ran down, could use a facelift. Prices are in-line with food quality.

Drinks were not good. It was hot with no seating. On top of that the waitress was EXTREMELY rude and I believe this was raced based as she was treating other tables much nicer.

My party of 8, including my young adult kids, rated this place as mid. They did have a great menu and live entertainment. But our experience was just ok. No one was knocked over by their meal and the atmosphere was just ok. The service was fine. I had heard of Shady Gators before and was really looking forward to our first visit. We are regular patrons of Paradise, so our expectations were high. We may try again sometime, just in case it was an off night, but judging by this experience, our regular favorites still stands.

We went here on a Wednesday night for dinner and they sat us in an area with no other guests. The service was terrible. Our appetizer didn't come until after the check, I had to bring it to the waitresses attention several times. We had one child with us who ordered Mac and cheese- it didn't come until 20 minutes after the rest of the table got the food. The waitress brought two things of tableware for a table of six. Non-alcoholic bevs remained empty. Nothing from beginning to end was cleaned off the table. The waitress could care less. She was waiting on the table sat behind us and they ended up leaving without eating or paying after their crab bucket came and they were waiting endlessly for the server. We came again the next day only because it's so close to where we were staying and we just wanted to eat and get home. The service you get at the tables close to the bar is astronomically better. Kelly was attentive and friendly- it made such a difference.

Great food and service. We loved it for multiple meals this past weekend. They are very dog friendly.

The food and rim is were great. Our server was awesome. The decor and location were perfect. Visiting from Indiana and this place was recommended by a local. Will definitely go back the next time we visit.

Great atmosphere, friendly servers and just a fun dinner with family spot. Great music, beautiful views by the lake. A great place to hang out. Plus mini shops for shirts and small items.

Great Cajun food! I had some catfish with red beans and rice and corn bread and my friend had some jambalaya. Huge portions! Great atmosphere!!

Outstanding service from Clint. Our first time in. Food was great and the drinks kept coming. We will be back!

You can't always blame the bar for patrons being drugged but how they handle the situation says a lot about a place. Getting defensive and victim blaming shows they have no empathy or respect for their customers. I'm only leaving my review here because they know they are so wrong they turned off Facebook reviews. SHADY is right.

I won't get into what happened to my group personally because it was traumatic but I will just say that this place lives up to its name. It's SHADY. As a woman I do not feel safe going back and never will. They need better security and they need to take complaints seriously especially in regards to assault, people getting drugged, etc but THEY DONT. They get defensive and victim blame.

One of my favorite places. Can't go wrong with gator bites, gumbo, jambalaya, or the seafood pasta! Also recommend enjoying a few too many rum runners

Great view but terrible food. The waitress was extremely friendly and it was entertaining to watch the birds and fishies try to nibble at cigarette butts (yucky pollution) that were in the water. Everything felt dirty: the table, menu, bathroom, etc. This place is good to get a quick bite or to use the bathroom after a long morning out on the lake.

Some of the best crab legs I have ever had, hands down! Gated bites & the Cajun shrimp were excellent! Highly recommended! We will be going back before we leave!

A great place to visit and/or go out while at the lake! Drinks and food are pretty good and priced appropriately. I love their shot wheel - for $5 spin the wheel and take what ya get! Usually fun and something different! I also enjoy the live music Saturday nights If you're looking to social distance or be encouraged to follow other COVID guidelines, here isn't the place to come. Masks are worn by employees but that's about it (this doesn't necessarily bother me, but it may bother others)

If you want to find that special place that lets you forget all your troubles and melt away any stress... this is that spot. Staff is super down to earth, the owner is a really nice guy, only good things to say. Drinks and food are decent price for lake side food. And the drinks will knock you on your back, in the very best way!

The owner Jeremy Gorham grab my arm hard and shoved me up the stairs all because I stepped on the dance floor when the bikini contest was about to start I told him to get off me and he said b**** I will kick you out! First I didn't know I wasn't supposed to be on the floor as I just walked up and second there were 7 men standing on the floor leaning on the rail!!

I don't know to rate a three or four. I'm torn between the two. I know they can't control the sun but I felt like we were running from it. No matter where we sat the sun followed. Not there fault, I guess we're just blessed to have the sun want to shine on us all day! What can I say!?! The view was beautiful, the drinks were okay, the food was mediocre but watching the people was the most interesting thing there. Being able to look out into the open waters is so relaxing to me. This place has a great view. If nothing else grab a shady area, just chill out and get lost in the sauce. The expensive, very blah sauce that is. I personally make better drinks with my eyes closed. When it comes to the food I ordered the mushroom burger. Let's see... It was not seasoned, no salt, no taste just beef. Looked amazing but when I have to turn around and add salt, pepper and condiments; I think I should've been paid. We also order crocodile and a chicken dish. So I've heard the crocodile was to die for. However those are not my words become I personally can't eat it. The chicken dish I was told was blah as well along with my burger. At the end of the day... Yes. I would go back for the view and give the bartender a few pointers on drinks!

If you have a large group or just want an appetizer with your drinks, get the nachos. They are HUGE and a good value. The view is really nice - situated near a point with ability to see the water and boats in several directions. Service was hit or miss, but the food was decent for the price.

This place is So much fun. You have to stop by anytime you're in the area. ESPECIALLY in the summer

Love this place! Great food and staff. The pool is amazing....one of our favorite places to hangout.

Do not rent a shady gators house. These places are absolute dumps. The house we rented had flies everywhere inside. also the upstairs shower leaked into the basement. on the website is states it has a washer and dryer which did not exist. One outside chair broke because it was completely dry rotted. we did not get $60 of our security deposit because of this. the pictures on the site show a view of the lake but they will put you by the dumpsters with a broken deck in the rear. save your money and a headache and reserve something else.

Always a fun place to go to . I get here about once a year when I'm down here with my sister in law. Food is good and a fun atmosphere. Boat dock advailable

Great water views, reasonably priced good food and perfect for a low key weekday dinner.

GET NEW DOCKS!!!! People with nice boats would like to eat there too! Food is good but can't go because the docks damage our boats.

Would be 3.5, not 4. Surprisingly good food. Appetizers were the best. Jambalaya was tasty. Fresh ingredients. Good salad. It took quite a while to get any attention from the wait staff. I made eye contact with at least six people before anyone said anything. Once we did get a server oh, things came out pretty timely. It's one of those multi story , open-air bar/restaurants that are somewhat common in this area. Live music was good. The manager did come by at the end to check on us before we left. I appreciated that. It really wasn't that busy. In particular when you compare it to the capacity! Decent.

If a landfill was a bar....been all over the world and hands down the trashiest bar I've ever been too. Smelled like shit and garbage everywhere. It's like the owners left town and rolled the dice to see what happens.

Not bad place for what it is. No cover while we were there. Good views. Weird layout but it works. Lots of uneven terrain. Steps, stairs, slopes. Careful if your drunk. Food was not terrible. Its bar food. On par. Servers seemed a little spread thin.

shady gators ALWAYS say they're open online but they're always closed. They are not up to date with their information and the overall customer service is terrible. Update your information if you're going to run a damn business

There was a positive case of Covid-19 at Shady Gators on Memorial Day weekend. The person was at Shady Gators on Saturday May 23 and on Sunday May 24 from 230 pm until 7 pm. Shady Gators should be posting this information on Facebook so patrons can make informed health care decisions. I posted this information on Shady Gator's Facebook page but promptly had it removed. I didn't disparage the company, merely posted a news clipping, yet Shady Gators wants to hide important information from the people who spent Memorial Day weekend at their location.

Off season so very quiet. Very, very friendly staff. Quick service. Good spot overlooking the Lake. Enough choice in drinks and food. Nice music. We shared the Nachos and the Chicken Gumbo. Food came out quickly. Nice taste, more than enough. Only small remark: it good have been a bit more hot. Food was warm, not hot.

My family and I visited this location a couple of summers ago and had a great experience. This year we were so excited to come back and get the Gator Bites (our favorite) again, but it was an awful experience. Everything looked run down, gross, and far from clean. Our Gator Bites were very undercooked and just tasted like chewy fat, completely inedible. We were disappointed as the only reason we came was for that item. Upon letting our waitress know, she just shrugged it off and said that's the way they are supposed to be. All of us have had gator before and it has NEVER tasted this bad, so we knew this was not the case. She didn't offer to have the item remade or take that item off our check or even offer an apology, so we wasted $15 on something we literally couldn't eat. Extremely disappointed and will not be returning due to extreme lack of sanitation and customer service. :)

We had a party of over 20 people who ordered many different menu items. Everyone in our party thoroughly enjoyed what they ordered!! I HIGHLY recommend this place!!! I'll definitely come back every single time we come to "The Ozarks"!!!!

We had so much fun on my sister in laws bachelorette party. We chartered with them and everything was seamless, will be back for sure. Sunday nights are so laid back and fun! JG was awesome, we loved Charlie our captain... and our server Martha was the greatest! 5 stars doesn't do it justice.

Fun!!!! Exactly how it sounds and the service was great! I drank pina coladas and my bf had the rum runner. SO GOOD. Honest to god BRING SUNSCREEN tho (and towels) !!!