Sunset Sam’s Fish Camp At Gaylord Palms Resort

Our server, Herny, made our dining experience a memorable Father’s Day dinnner. The food was outstanding and the service by Herny resulted in a very memorable experience.

This restaurant has been re-​modeled since our last visit and is now re-​named Moor. We went for dinner on a weeknight and were seated immediately. All the servers and hosts seem to be wired with intercom earphones and microphones. We had an awkward moment when we thought she was talking to us but she was really talking to another employee. :-)
We were seated on a table on the «ship» out on the water. Very nice, but use caution depending on time of day. The sun might be bright and in your eyes. My wife complained that the wooden chairs were uncomfortable, but the other side of the table had a padded bench to sit on. We were there at sunset and it was nice to see the transformation from bright sun to evening with all the lights they have in there.
Our server was soft spoken and a little difficult to understand. However she was very attentive and gave great service. We had two burgers, a fish sandwich, a shrimp cocktail, a salad, a couple of soft drinks, and two desserts. Total was $ 82 with tax.
The food tasted great and was served in nice presentations. We did not feel like wine, beer, nor cocktails, and noticed they had an extensive menu to select from. Next time we come we will bring an appetite for the beverages and give them a try. Our server validated our parking ticket, which is a must since parking at the Gaylord Palms is expensive. Visiting the Gaylord is always a nice treat since the «grounds» indoors under glass is always so beautiful.

I KNOW this is a hotel and I expect to overpay for food but… I expect decent service and decent food and at least a decent portion. Eaten here twice in the last 2 months and disappointed both times. Had the fish fry 1^st time ($ 19) and it was probably a 6 oz piece of fish and an order of average fries. It wasnt’ terrible but def nothing special. On my 2^nd visit a few days ago, we found ourselves stuck here, as its really the only reasonably (somewhat) priced place to dine at Gaylord if you don’t want a fancy steakhouse, Sushi or a buffet. On 2^nd visit, it took almost 10 min to get a server’s attention, she forgot my beer order, forgot my wife’s request for bread (actually she admittedly brought bread to the wrong table and apologized and then came back and said we have to wait for the next batch from the oven) and she just seemed harried and confused the entire meal. My daughter had Salmon which she liked and my Mahi sandwich was ok enough, but again a small piece of fish. And with a very limited menu, there was not much else appealing to me. If you can get off-​site for dining, I would suggest you do so. The hotel itself is interesting to say the least… the rooms are nothing special but you are paying for everything outside your room, which, depending on your viewpoint, is either magnificent or cheesy (I find it a little of both)

Waitress was sweet but our food took a long time although it wasn’t busy. Food was okay… Nothing special. Wouldn’t recommend coming here to anyone.

We decided to have a special family holiday meal on the boat of Sunset Sam’s…so we booked our place on the boat as well as 4 rooms at Gaylord Palms Resort.
We arrived for our 7:15 reservation only to find that they instead had a private party & our 7:15 reservation on the boat would not be honored. We were offered a table not far away in what looked like a decades old fast-​food restaurant. We ordered drinks, some of which took approximately 1 HOUR to make it to the table & that was only after we started to complain about the wait.
The food arrived another HOUR later & half of it was completely inedible fish.
They had what appeared to be approximately 20 servers/​waitstaff and all of them seemed confused about what they were supposed to be doing throughout the night [this with the restaurant full of empty tables].
So in essence, the 4 rooms booked for this dinner + dinner was about $ 2,000.00.

I usually like to frequent a place at least a couple of times or sample many items before a review. However, I don’t think I will be returning to Sunset Sam’s again unless I am stuck at the Gaylord again and have no other choice.
The nautical setting, on a boat in the middle of the «Key West» atrium is pleasant. Our server was lovely and really tried to please. I do not think it was her fault that it took ages for our food to arrive at our table. When my Crab Encrusted Grouper arrived it was overcooked and somewhat cold. I was so famished after waiting so long for it that I did not send it back. The accompaniments were not bad. The grits were tasty, although cold. The Brussel Sprouts were very good.
This is one time I was truly thankful that the meal, which came to $ 45 for one dish (with tax and tip) was covered by an expense account!

Here on an educational conference with an hour and a half to eat between sessions. We waited an hour and 10 minutes for sandwiches. While the food was very good… the service was incredibly slow and they did not seem too worried that we only had 20 minutes to eat and pay and that we were very upset. It was also rather pricy as is everything else in this hotel.

This place is a major part of the grand allure of the Gaylord hotel. The restaurant on a ship IN a hotel is unique and seems like a fun experience. Despite the poor reviews I decided I would attempt to try it out anyway. Yes, I said attempt. I made a restaurant reservation over the weekend and was all excited to stay at the hotel with the ship in the lobby which you can dine on. I told family and friends what a fun unique experience it seems like… then Tuesday morning comes. I get an email from Open Table saying my reservation has been cancelled and to please enjoy using them again! :) WTH?! I didn’t cancel my reservation so I called the hotel and sat on hold for 10 minutes while they figured out what was going on. Ten minutes later the lady gets back on the phone and says sorry but they are going to close it down for routine maintenance. Ok… They can maintain this place after dinner hours or before lunch hours. Apparently they think it is better to cancel peoples reservations with no explanation so they can tidy up during business hours. This doesn’t totally surprise me after reading all the bad service reviews from other Unilocalers. Since the food has received some pretty bad reviews too maybe this is a blessing in disguise. Guess I will never know.

Not bad. The setting (and the resort, for that matter) are kinda schlocky, but the food was acceptable. If I could break down this review, I’d give 5 stars to the service. Really high quality, personable, and timely.

Accessibility (Parking /​Wait Time)
¹⁄₁ Star: no wait
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Service (Waiter /​Cleanness /​Ambiance)
¹⁄₁ Star: normal service. Eating on the boat was fun.
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Taste (0=Not Edible /​1=Edible /​2=Good (average) /​3=Must Try!)
²⁄₃ Stars: steak was good. Grilled fish was really good.
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Overall Experience
⁴⁄₅ Stars
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Last Words
Only a few tables on the boat.

We had a great experience. Fish & Chips, shrimp cocktail and coconut flan were all amazing! Perfect cole slaw! Atmosphere just fabulous… Loved the service too!

The appeal of this place is its décor and ambiance. You can eat on a ship (i.e. a decent mock-​up of a ship) set in the water with fish swimming around it. It looks neat. That’s pretty much all this place has going for it.
I ordered the Fish & Chips. It was the most ridiculously under-​portioned service of fried fish I’ve ever been given in a restaurant. Fries tasted like they were standard frozen out-​of-​a-​bag fries. All that for $ 20. None of the rest of the members of my dining party seemed particularly impressed with the cost or size of their meals either. Menu is surprisingly small and weak on selection.
Pricing is elevated for no better reason than it is seafood, it is in a hotel, and it has a captive audience that they are betting would rather pay elevated prices than get in their cars and drive somewhere to eat. Do yourself a favor and use Urbanspoon to find a better rated restaurant in the area and drive there to eat.
Service was friendly and attentive.
Restaurant is clean and well-​maintained.

Great service, wonderful food. Ask to be seated on dock or boat as it seems to be less loud.

Sunset Sam’s at the Gaylord Palms has two different ambiances which don’t quite equal out. The inside is comparable in design and décor to a bar/​restaurant like Chili’s or some other huge chain restaurant. However the outside, which is actually inside, feels like you’re out on a sailboat and is quite a romantic ambience. It’s unfortunate if you sit in the less appealing side of the restaurant. Their menu offers mostly seafood and is quite expensive.
In order not to go over per-​diem, I ordered a glass of white wine and the Cedar Key Clams over Linguini ($ 20) where I would have preferred a filet mignon ($ 45). The clams and linguini were served in a sweet garlic clam emulsion topped with pepper flakes. It was a good meal but Sunset’s Sam is quite overpriced.

Thank gawd for expense accounts and show-​off coworkers, cuz your gonna need both to endure this dining «experience.» The menu was limited on selection but not on price. The tuna tartare was very good. The ceasar salad was very goopy (is that a word?). The crab bisque was rich. And barely luke-​warm.
«Sea Salt Fries» for Five Bucks? How much does salt actually cost?
That, plus the wafting smell of burning sterno torches (or from some source) makes a richly and expensively deserved 2-​star rating.
Did I mention the chairs? I’ve sat on tree branches in the woods that were far more comfortable, even without the benefit of a boat cushion.

This review is based on the sailboat bar area of this restaurant. Sunset Sam’s was booked for the night but that was OK with us. We found 2 seats on the sailboat and they served a full menu. The bartender was friendly and we ordered some «signature» cocktails. This bar is very laid back and it is easy to mingle with the other guests. We ordered some appetizers and relaxed for a few hours.
My one problem with this place was the lack of music. A bar without music is just awkward. Around 6:30 an acoustic singer did start playing but by that point we were ready to move on. If they got a little island music on that boat it would have been perfect.

Bear in mind I did not have to pay…
Ahi ahi was slightly overcooked with barely any raw meat in the center. Never the less, it was still delicious! I cleaned up every inch of the plate
Palm Chardonnay Silver spring was very sweet… yum!

Decent, but not great restaurant.
Depending on what you order, this is a nice, and low fuss restaurant inside the Gaylord Palms Resort.
I think it would be more fun to eat on the sailboat vs inside the restaurant, but there were no open tables when we were there.
I tried the calamari appetizer and had a cheeseburger which were both pretty good.

Another OK dining experience at the Gaylord. I tried both lunch and dinner.
Pro’s service is nice, (though not fast), and the live tarpon are cool to see.
Con’s: The food isn’t very good outside of some of the salads. One of my guests had fish and chips which were so greasy they were sent back.

I came for dinner last night ¹²⁄₁₅ prior to seeing ICE at Gaylord Palms. This was my first time for dinner, we usually just go for drinks. I have to say it was pretty good.
My only complaint would be the price, but you kind of have to expect that in a high end hotel. This is the case with the other 4 or 5 restaurants on property as well.
The décor is great. I love sitting and looking at the boat, while Christopher Cross plays in the back of my mind.
I would definitely recommend the Ahi Tuna. i got two pretty large pieces of sushi grade tuna that was cooked perfectly.