Cedar River Seafood

Cedar River is always the place to come for fried fish. Portions are good, never too greasy. Wait Staff friendly.

Four of us had dinner at Cedar River and everyone’s meal was delicious. Fresh fish, shrimp, scallops and great sides, collards, sweet potato soufflé, hush puppies, fried okra. I would highly recommend this restaurant! I had the Low Country Boil. The shrimp was done perfectly.

I wouldn’t even give cedar river seafood one star but it made me do it to write a review of what they call seafood. My girlfriend and I ordered the captains platter for 2. It came with a fish dip and crackers that was nothing but a little cup of cream cheese. Our dinner plater came out in an incredible short period of time. Like 8 minutes. That seemed odd for such a large platter of food. You couldn’t tell the difference between the shrimp and the clamp strips. There were about a quart of what looked like the the stuff came from off of the floor that they called clamp strips with pieces of shrimp tails in it as well. The fish was supposed to be grouper was not even close to fresh. It was yellow and nasty too. It was like they saved the scraps from the frier all day and microwaved it and gave it to us. We contacted the manager. He offered to recook our meal. We declined his offer. I don’t want anything from a place that even thought that it was OK to Send something like that out to a customer. I had other issues as well with our visit but I’m tired of writing. There was another table of customers next to us that had similar complaints. Cedar River Seafood SUCKS… AND SHOULD BE SHUT DOWN.

My foodie-​in-​crime said Cedar River Seafood has the best Clam Chowder soup in town. At first, I was skeptical since I hadn’t been here in over 20 years, but sure enough, they do. If you get a bowl, they give you a scrumptious hush puppy, too.
But if you’re in a rush for lunch, I wouldn’t eat here. They were packed at 12 and there was only 1 cashier for the whole restaurant who also does all the takeout orders. She was fast, competent and reliable but still… one person can only handle so much.
I will definitely be bach when I have more of a leisurely lunch.

I should have listened to my coworker and stayed away. Went after an early morning church service to beat the crowd. Opened at 11 am and called my order in around 11:10. When I got home to enjoy my food, the macaroni and cheese was cold and the collard greens were crunchy. How is this possible when they just opened? Luckily my flounder and shrimp were cooked good, but is it possible to mess up fried food? If there’s a next time, I’ll pass on the sides.

My overall experience was good. We went for dinner, but the restaurant was not too busy, we got a table for three right away. Our server was friendly and helpful. We ordered drinks and appetizers was serviced to us quickly. We had the stuffed mushrooms & fried green tomatoes as appetizers. They were great. The ranch dressing that was served was pretty good. For dinner, I had the fried catfish with a loaded baked potato and the sweet potato soufflé. I was served about 10 strips of catfish.
My friends had the lobster for one, which actually could have fed us three maybe a fourth. The portions are huge! The lobster tails were big and cooked just right. I would come back for another try. They had plenty on the menu. So if you love big portions and seafood, this is the place for you to try.

Great food. Nice stuff. Severely understaffed though (shame on management). Every staff member was doing side work. We had a long wait. Our server Joanna, however, was very good server and sent someone over to cover while she was in the back. We truly can’t complain about the service we got from the people that were there doing «double duty»… The shrimp cocktail was good, the hush puppies and the vegetables were delicious, but the grilled blackened mahi was phenomenal! I was able to have my entire meal under nine weight watchers points! The prices are fair and reasonable. The restaurant was clean and centrally located. We can’t wait to go back again. One observation was that everything was way way too spicy. If you don’t want spicy ask them to hold back on some of the spices. Otherwise everything was delicious!!!

Very good value for lunch. The food is consistent and prices are fair.

Had the Country Boil; it was a nightly special for $ 9.99; very good. The fish spread was also very tasty. Not much on the kids menu; service was excellent.

I have always been a fan of cedar river. However, lately this location seem to be slipping in quality. Food doesn’t seem as fresh. Had to pay upcharge for oysters today and ended up throwing them out because they were not good. This is sad because we visit quite often but I think we have to give them a break until food improves. If you lost your cook go find him/​her! Service is Great!

Went here as my niece wanted to go and treat me to a nice dinner. Should have read the reviews first, very very disappointed. The service was terrible my niece was seated first as I showed a couple minutes later she told the waiter there was to be another person but he only put one set of silverware when I got there I told him I needed silverware he never brought it I had to ask twice for it and he brought it after my food arrived. I ordered blackened flounder and shrimp it was baked not blackened. The baked potato was old and I couldn’t eat it. I didn’t want to complain as my niece was treating me. I will defiantly never eat here again and advise my friends not to go.

Really good seafood and awesome lunch and dinner specials flounder and shrimp with two sides 9.99 $

I’m not much of a seafood person, but since my mom is (being a pescatarian) I tend to like places that offer more than just seafood, like chicken. Therefore I always order the chicken strips whenever I come, plus it’s not as pricey as the other items on the menu. I will say that the food is awesome and perhaps it’s worth the price. This place is kind of far out from me so I wouldn’t come often unless it’s for a special occasion or my mom visits. She likes this place being that it’s one of the few seafood restaurants in Gainesville.

Service was ok. Food was ok. If you really like fried seafood food this is totally the place for you. There was nothing too special about the fish, however the scallops were pretty good & so were the hush puppies (the two big standouts).
It was a bigger price than I had expected, but when I saw the amount of food on the platter I kinda understood – it was a mountain. They flavors all seemed to mix together tho – it all kinda tasted the same (except the scallops & hush puppies).
Will I go back? Probably not. Not because the food was bad – it really was pretty good – but it’s not really my preference.

Eh, We got the broiled «Big Mates» combo. It was fully cooked with plenty of flavor. The oysters had several pieces of shell in them. The waitress just said that «we don’t shell them ourselves, they come prepared already.» The sweet potato soufflé was very sweet, as if it came from a can. Overall the service was prompt and respectful thanks to Lauren. Due to the low quality of the food we most likely won’t go back. Hope this helps.

IN SHORT: A decent place to get fried seafood in Gainesville. Not a great place for vegetarians, but you can make it work if you’re creative.
THE FULL STORY: My entire family’s from Gainesville, but I live in St. Louis, so I only get down to town once every few years. When I do make the trip to visit family, I like to take my wife out for good seafood. We don’t always have time to go to the beach, so it’s good to know that a place like Cedar River exists, since it’s well-​known in the area for its fried shrimp.
I’m not really an expert on seafood since I don’t eat it (and have never really loved it), so I’ll share what my wife had to say: «It’s better than some of the places we’ve been that are supposed to be the best seafood destinations out on the Florida coasts.» The food seemed like it was fresh and someone told us it comes from Cedar Key (a coastal town on the Gulf side about an hour southwest of Gainesville). My wife and grandparents all seemed to really enjoy the ample portions of fried food they each ordered.
I ordered a penne alfredo minus the shrimp and asked them to throw in some mushrooms instead. I also nibbled on some hush puppies from my wife’s plate and had a salad. My dinner was definitely overpriced — I was still charged the full price even without the seafood — but I had no complaints about the quality.
The waitstaff was quite polite. Typical of Gainesville, they bring you giant glasses of soda or sweet tea to go with your meal, far more than anyone should ever need (but which they’re happy to refill). The new location is a lot nicer than the old one, and while the décor and atmosphere are pretty plain, it doesn’t seem to bother the older clientele that keeps this place in business.
The prices are in line with what you’d pay at a chain seafood restaurant. The food is of a slightly higher quality than, say, Red Lobster.
Would I recommend this for the college set? Not really. But if your parents or grandparents come to visit and they’re not from Florida, Cedar River might be a good choice for dinner.

Cedar key is now located on 43St NW and 53 Ave, behind the corner gas station.
I was suckered into dining at «Cedar Key Seafood» on a Thursday night… Oh, was I suckered! I figured any restaurant that has the term «seafood» in its name specializes in seafood… Oh, was I suckered!
My wife ordered the Grouper with two sides and hush-​puppies. It was the most elastic grouper I have ever tasted. On top of that, it was insipid, tasteless, and border-​line cold. The hush-​puppies tasted old and were soaked in oil. I took a bite out of one and that was enough not to touch them again.
My kids ordered flounder with mac-​n-​cheese. Now, when you run a restaurant and can’t fix mac-​n-​cheese, you are simply in the wrong business. My two year old daughter, who loves mac-​n-​cheese kept going «Nahhh, nahhh, daddy». It was kind of funny, but sad. The kids flounder was 90% breading, 5% oil, 5% flounder with the black section still left on it… C’om on man, that is supposed to be for kids. They were kind of disappointed and still hungry when we left so I had to take them to ice-​cream and apologize.
I ordered the Grilled Mahi-​Mahi, one of their most expensive dishes. I have to be honest, the Mahi-​Mahi tasted fresh but again, had zero flavor. I think it had been boiled, and then rubbed with some red colorant before being thrown on a the grill to add the grill marks. My sides were cole-​slaw and collard greens; they were both acceptable and if forced to go back, it would be the only two items I would order.
In conclusion, I will likely not be returning. I will most certainly not be taking my wife and kids back to Cedar-​River Seafood; I know of families that have broken up for less.

I was going to give a less than stellar review, but the ladies that were working tonight pulled me out of my not-​so-​stellar review due to a final push of customer service… The ladies pulled out all the stops as we were leaving and wouldn’t let us leave until we’d let them sing Happy Birthday to my daughter. It was so cute how they all jumped in to save the day even though we’d forgotten to ask them to sing during dinner!
The food was mixed review: husband had fries shrimp and fish that he thought was excellent… I had «blackened» and it was tasteless and broiled. Next time I’m going fried because they know how to do the fried seafood right!

The new location of Cedar River has provided them with a much better atmosphere: more natural light and just a cleaner, newer, interior it seems. The food is the same: if you disliked it before, don’t expect massive changes at all. Cedar River is a small chain: I know of another in Lake City and one also in Starke and there’s obviously a former one around Leesburg on 441 where they’ve now apparently changed hands but retained the original sign and, trying to make do, named it «Captain Bell’s Seafood» as it has that old captain and a ship’s bell on it. Crafty of ‘em, eh?
This is Southern (mainly) fried seafood and the customer base is locals who want their seafood this way instead of in some novel creation Red Lobster has dreamed up. Not that I am fawning over Red Lobster at all, but the thing is, if you want a chain restaurant type experience in terms of a decent but not too long wait, attentive waitstaff, kind of high prices but not fine dining but with more emphasis on fried seafood and traditional Southern sides like grits, you’ll get it here. The food, for what it is, isn’t bad but I’ve had way better elsewhere, such as Robinson’s Seafood in Cedar Key for fried shrimp. The fried catfish here was good enough certainly, and more than an ample portion: I don’t feel it was overpriced because you get more of it than anyone could possibly eat, but the flip side to that is why not lower the price a little and also decrease the portion size? The girts were ok but nothing special, the hushpuppies also were alright but nowhere near Robinson’s or Sisters’ (Branford, FL).
If you live near or happen to be around Cedar River’s new location and are hungry for fried seafood, I don’t think you’ll be too disappointed but it’s certainly not worth going out of your way for, either.

So, based on the other reviews, I was expecting fail… It was better than that… however.
The prices are a bit high for what you get. 12 bucks for broiled flounder which came out covered in a slather of some kind of coatings, not as I expected — broiled fish. The hushpuppies are good, the fried corn on the cob decent, and the grits… well, cheesy grits got me velveeta and, yeah, cheddar would rock as an upgrade. With drink and tip (service was good actually) i hit 17 bucks. Yeah… no.
My companions had fried catfish (strips, not terrible, but — meh) and another had blackened grouper. It was decent, but not amazing.
So… yeah, I probably would not go back simply because I can go across the street and get fresh fish at Northwest Seafood and parchment bake it at home and spend the same money for two people, and get better fish.
And the décor needs some fabrics to break up the sound. Sure, its a revamped Pizza Hut, but its just noisy as all get out in there.
Service was snappy and the food came out fast. I’d give them 2.5 stars, but I can’t. Usually I’d round up — but I just can’t do it here.
Apparently the real value in this place is at Lunch. Prices are a lot cheaper and I’m told the value/​quality is a better match.