Despite my 2-star rating I do like coming to this establishment when I'm visiting my hometown. It has become a tradition for my friend and I. Mainly, to annoy the owner who likes to glare at us despite the fact that we easily spend $100 each time we visit his establishment. He even had the audacity to ask if we were bothering a group of fellow patrons who, by the way, came over to our table and started up a conversation. Had we ignored the patrons, they would have left way earlier than they did and would not have racked up the huge bill thanks to us. You're welcome, creepy owner guy with the mean scowl...
The food is standard bar food. The fried Mac N' Cheese bites are awesome! (Get them with Ranch instead of marinara...who eats Mac N' Cheese bites with marinara? come on!) You won't find any culinary masterpieces here.
Drinks and atmosphere is where this place excels. Right on the water, you can sit outside on the deck and enjoy the cool seabreeze and a beautiful view of the intercoastal. There are even docks to pull your boat right up. Drinks-wise I get the Rum Runners. I've dabbled in a few of their other alcohol concoctions but, the Rum Runners are where it's at. There is usually a live band or karaoke going on which, can be entertaining the more the patrons drink...
Not a bad place. Just don't expect any fine, waterfront dining at this establishment.
My inlaws took us here while we were in town visiting. Am amazing view off of the back section. It was settled in to this little cove and we saw some dolphins swimming out. We all ordered our drinks and perused the menu. They don't have a lot of choices, but most of us made seafood picks. We did try the macaroni and cheese nuggets. They were fried in the same oil as the fish, so you can kind of picture how those tasted!
I had the cocunut shrimp and switched out the fries to sweet potato fries. The shrimp was served with sweet terayaki sauce and there were about 8 of them in the basket. They were quite good. Â I thought the fries were a little over done. The menu says that they may reserve the right to not split checks for parties of six or more, but the waitress didn't question it and separated them out four ways for all of us. I thought it was kind of pricey, but you are probably paying more for atmostphere than you are the food. I would go back for drinks on the back patio, but probably skip ordering the food.
Good spot to grab some drinks and grub from land or sea. Â Nothing bad about this place but nothing remarkable either. Â Expect no frills dining served in plastic baskets. Â Burger and fries were good. Â The cocktails were solid and the beer selection was pretty good too. Â Not too expensive either. Â
Les W. offers an excellent overview of the choices in the area in his review.
There are four establishments directly across the road from Englewood Beach: Gulf View, Lock & Key, Flounders and White Elephant.
Gulf View $$$$ - Gulf View - Sunset View
Lock & Key $$$ - No View
Flounders $$ - Bay View - Boat Access
White Elephant $$ - Bay View - Boat Access
Of the four, White Elephant is the most authentic beach bar - weathered appearance, large seating area, music and a menu several notches above fast food. Bathing suits are welcome. Fewer tourists than the others, more locals.
The largest bar has practically no view of the water, so we always opt for the smaller one.
Our favorites- Broasted Chicken, fajitas (not always available) and burgers.
I can only speak to the service and the bathrooms, but neither was bad.
Our group of five went for happy hour to catch up and, of course, have a beverage or two. Our waitress did a decent job. She stopped by every time our glasses were low, but neglected to warn us that happy hour was ending soon so we missed out on the last round. However, prices on the domestic drafts were reasonable. The bathroom was 'meh.*
We didn't stay for the dinner specials and didn't see many people eating, so I'm not sure about the quality of the food. After happy hour ended, a man set up the evening entertainment - Karaoke - and we left. There weren't many people there compared to how lively their neighbor restaurants and bars were. However, I'm sure this place would be a good time if you were there with the right people and the ample space would allow a good crowd camp out comfortably for as long as they might like.
*Translation: not good, not bad.
Typical "Beach Food". Â Accessible by boat. Â Kind of an over-grown Tiki Hut. Â
There arn't many places you can tie up your boat (small) and eat, so I'll be back. Â But I wouldn't dream of driving here in a car! Â So many better places. Â
Bar is dark and "Inside" with no view of the water, Â Bar could be in a Garage in a basement? Â What a shame, with all that water view outside.
I'm originally from Florida and had been wanting to go into this place literally for years. It's pretty much your typical Florida beach bar although for a Saturday night, I thought that we would see a bigger crowd than we did. The cocktails were good, I tried several and my favorites were probably the "Mud Slide: and the "Manasota Mind Eraser"....not sure if I have that last name right or not, but it's close:) Anyways, that last one I mentioned is strong and will throw you for a loop if you're not used to drinking alcohol very often. Music was good also but LOUD.....don't expect to be able to carry on a conversation in here.
Review Source:Hmmmm, so I had a warning that this place was gritty but ignored that and went anyways,. I love dive spots like the White Elephant and it's near the water so it had to be a cool, fun local spot right?
Well, it was. Beautiful view of the dock and very serene with a huge patio area.
On the flipside? On the patio, it smelled like some concoction of hot trash, bad cheese and homeless. Yes, all three co-mingled together in a funky harmony. No matter what I didn't I couldn't escape the smell and it just reeked.
As unpleasant as the odor was, the food was great! They had a sweet selection of seafood baskets and entrees, burgers and appetizers. I got the fried grouper finger basket which came with a generous portion of crinkle cut fries and cold slaw. White Elephant is not all about saving the earth as they don't have condiment bottles at the table--just packets. Good for me though because I swiped some ketchup for the road.
Salt of the earth people, great bar food and terrific view. An ideal place to go if you can't smell.
A true down home Florida gulf bar. This is what I imagine when I think vacation on the gulf. Super laid back, TONS of outdoor seating and a great view of the west side of the "island." The tables have that kitschy tiki style roof, and they provide nice shade.
They had a guitarist playing all kinds of hits and lots of tropical tunes. He was great, actually. He let me sing a song with him, too! Ha, that was fun.
The coconut shrimp was great, and so were the cocktails. It's quite pricey though, for a tiki bar. Guess that's what you pay for location and view!
Cool place but our waitress sucked. We sat at are table for tens minutes and she never came over to ask us for order drinks. Another couple sat down next to us and the waitress took there drink and food order. Once we saw this we just got up and left. Â I hope it was just are waitress and not everybody that works there. I am a person of second chances so I am gonna give it a second chance later in the week hopefully when that person Is not work. Until then my rating stays at 1. I will write a second review on my next visit.
4-21-2010...
Never got to go back. Guess the expression is true that you never get a second chance to make a first impression.
OMG this place is great. The Jet Ski rental guys recommended we go here for lunch. They have a HUGE outdoor seating area; Tiki bar style. Their menu is gigantic with an amazing appetizer selection, and a variety of salads and sandwiches. They had so much to offer it was almost overwhelming. Also the service was great. Our water was topnotch, but laid back. He was wearing a Boston Red Sox hat so of course he was happy to hear we were all from Boston.
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