Fresh On the Fly

First, let me say that I’d like to see this place stay in business! However, I will not be returning!
We’ve given Fresh on the Fly three chances and it’s failed miserably. The only reason we kept returning was because the food is pretty good.
The service is the WORST I’ve ever experinced. The kitchen is horribly slow, the servers are forgetful, and you will wait FOREVER.
I’m sad to even write this review, but I’m hopeful that the management team will review and fix their issues. We avidly support local LK Mary business and I would truly like to see this place turn around.
Good Luck!

Apparently they integrated this menu into a renewed version of their restaurant in Port Orange Pavillion, 27 Fathoms. It looks like there are a lot of the menu items from this location incorporated into the menu their. I will have to go check it out.
Checked out reviews and web site for 27 Fathoms and it looks god but appears to be closed also. Not sure what is going on there, phone numbers are all out of service. At best this is very bad communication on their part, I fear the delicious mahi BLT is gone forever. I will have to work on re-​creating this at home.

Really went downhill from back in the day. We went on a Tuesday night around 6:45. The had 2 waitstaff and they had to do the hosting, phones, take out orders, waiting, and salads. Took forever to get seated, then our food ordered and then getting the food to us. This place used to be so good… The Mahi BLT was the thing to get and we would go every Friday for lunch. I was going to ask if they were under new management but we got very little interaction with our server.

I guess they couldn’t keep it up. Place is closed down now.

I wasn’t too impressed by my serving, but I felt that next time I’d have a better experience.
Arrive early — the parking lot was bustling on my visit, so we had to wait a while. The interior was warm — the restaurant itself was busy and a little loud — it was no Red Lobster.
The prices seem ridiculous; sure, seafood can get expensive, but our portions were so small that quality of the food itself could hardly compensate.
I got the blackened Mahi Mahi BLT — which came open faced with a pickle slice on the side. Nothing extraordinary, but I’d rather there be a bit more flair for the price I was paying.
When the menu says «blackened», it really means blackened — it was an assault on the tastebuds, ad if the chef had poured salt and pepper and as many spices as he could find onto the fish. It was so spicy and salty I found I drank 2 cups of tea with the meal. Still, I’m sure some people would be taken by the explosion of flavor, it was just not for me. Next time, I’d definitely try fried or grilled.
The fries were great though — this time, the spices were for the better as the fries were perfectly seasoned and cut into nice large portions.
I’d probably try this restaurant once more, just in case I missed a gem at an unlucky order. I only wished the blackened option was less extreme, as the fish itself seemed to taste good, and I think it had some potential.

This is a fantastic gem of a find in Lake Mary. I really enjoy their seafood, ambiance, and price. It’s not overly expensive but it’s not cheap either. Right in that meaty (fishy?) part of the curve. The quality is high and the fish is delicious. They do a very good job of coming up with new and interesting ways to serve their seafood.
I really enjoy that you can get any of the gourmet salads as your side salad, just in a smaller version, for the same price as a regular side salad. That is a big plus in my book. I would prefer two sides though. Fries just go great with fried fish. Speaking of, the fries are fresh-​cut and phenomenal.
The conch fritters are highly recommended, as is the Mahi cheesesteak if you’re there for lunch. For dinner, any of the menu items will be sure to please in both taste and quantity.
The restaurant is located just off I-​4 on Lake Mary Blvd. The parking lot of this plaza can be very very crowded at times so I would suggest you get there early if you’re in the lunch crowd.
If you’re a seafood fan, try Fresh On The Fly.

The food at Fresh on the Fly really delivers on its fresh promise. The seared salmon and seared scallops are really amazing and the fish tacos never disappoint. The one area I wish would improve is service. The staff is always really friendly but the speed with which you even get greeted much less seated, order and get a check could use some help. Great food, but don’t go if you’re in a hurry.

We had a Groupon to visit Fresh On The Fly in Lake Mary and after enjoying a wonderful meal there, I am kicking myself for not giving into my hunch to buy a second one. This place was delicious, fun and cozy. Tucked away off the beaten path in an upscale strip mall, Fresh On The Fly serves mostly seafood but also offers items like Chicken and Waffles, Pork Chops, and even a Buffalo Burger. We arrived on an early Friday evening to check out the dinner menu. It wasn’t very busy and we were seated right away.
We immediately decided to order the Cracker Crusted Fried Green Tomato Starter ($ 7, and yes, they have Bruschetta but we decided to try something new.) This isn’t a fine dining establishment (and not a dive either) and I had not expected the food to be plated and presented just like one of those fancy restaurants. The tomatoes came to the table stacked up nice and neat with a «brushstroke» of peppercorn aioli across the plate. The dish would score high just on the presentation. But one cannot judge a dish by presentation alone and no worries, the tomatoes were delectable! They were served hot with a thin layer of a cracker crust. The peppercorn aioli was just spicy enough to add a little kick but not overwhelm the flavor of the savory tomatoes.
Next we split the Granny Smith Apple Salad ($ 6) — they usually serve the salads as an entrée as we learned because the salad was enormous! Sliced apples, toasted pecans, red grapes and blue cheese served atop a bed of greens then tossed with a brown sugar vinaigrette dressing. First of all, you can’t really go wrong with blue cheese and about any kind of fruit in a salad but it was the dressing that put this over the top. The dressing was sweet and delicate and you could really taste the essence of the brown sugar, but it wasn’t so sweet that you felt like you were eating straight sugar. There was a nice balance between the brown sugar and some type of a vinegary base. (It was so good that the next night I tried to duplicate at home– it wasn’t perfect but it wasn’t bad either.) You can add chicken, steak, Corvina, Mahi Mahi or shrimp to any of the salads for an upcharge and call it a meal and you will be satisfied.
We decided to split two entrees as we normally do. First we ordered the Cali Tacos ($ 12) with blackened Mahi Mahi, Chipotle coleslaw, red onions, Jack cheese and cilantro on a taco shell (we ordered the hard tacos though you can soft if you desire.) They were stuffed well (as in enough filling to fill out the shell), the Mahi Mahi was blackened well (not too spicy), and the Chipotle slaw was tart and tangy enough to bring together all the flavors. I think that next time we would maybe order the soft shells because the strong corn taste of the hard shells took away a lot of the flavor from the dish itself in my opinion. Lesson learned– our fault not theirs.
The second entrée we got was the cheesesteak with Mahi Mahi ($ 13). I am going to refer to this as a «cheesesteak» because it wasn’t really a cheesesteak, it was more of a wrap. I expected it to be served on a hoagie roll but maybe that is just the Philadelphia in me. It was more like a smothered Mahi Mahi wrap (and in their defense it does state it is served in a wrap on the menu) but it was disappointing that a real cheesesteak roll wasn’t available. Don’t get me wrong– it was delicious. It had sautéed onions and peppers, melted Provolone cheese and a Chipotle aioli– it was very tasty– I just think the name «cheesesteak» was a little misleading (again– only speaking as a Philadelphian– perhaps the rest of the country categorizes cheesesteaks differently.)
If the worse I can say is that they named a dish wrong than this place is probably OK. While the starter, salad and main dishes were all delicious, each entrée came with two sides and we found most of those to be just average. We ordered the baked beans (meh), the broccoli salad (meh), the sautéed vegetable medley (needed more seasoning), and hand cut fries (maybe some of the best restaurant fries we have ever had!) It is obvious the fries were hand cut that day– they were hot and crisp and salted just right. We had a very minor wait for them but it was well worth it.
As we were leaving, the place was really filling up leaving me to believe that this a pretty popular spot. I also like places that have open kitchens where you as the patron can sort of see what is happening to your food «behind the scenes.» There are even barstools bellied up to the kitchen so you can really watch the food get prepared. There isn’t a liquor bar so to speak, but they do serve beer and wine.

Went here with my wife a few weeks ago for the first time (used a Groupon). The food was really good. I got the Mahi Mahi BLT, and my wife got the fish tacos. The fish tacos were good, but there was A LOT of cole slaw on them and it’s mayo-​based, so you may want to ask for some of it on the side. I really enjoyed the Mahi Mahi BLT I got. Nice, big piece of fish, fried green tomato, bacon cooked crisply. I got the sweet potato fries with the sandwich, and they were good.
One thing I was really impressed with was that you can choose a salad as your side for no extra charge. Not only this, but the side salad is not your typical crappy iceberg lettuce with a few carrots and a tomato slice. You can choose from their premium salads. My wife and I both got one with apples, candies walnuts, baby greens, and gorgonzola cheese. VERY impressed with this, as most places upcharge you for this.
This restaurant is a bit louder than most and is very casual, so it is not for those who want a quiet, intimate date evening.
We will definitely be back.

I had the chance to eat lunch with my wife here today and once again I made a good choice. We had the last free table because they were slammed. We had the tuna tacos and fish chowder. The food came quick and the server kept my ice water full. My wife and I had a great, light and fresh lunch for twenty dollars. I had heard they had started to slide with quality and service, but I this is still my favorite Lake Mary hole in the wall.

I’m giving this one star because the food was pretty good (aside from the 4 bones my husband pulled out of his fish, and my having to eat my meal out of a box at home) but this was, by far, one of our worst dining experiences ever.
We were a party of 4 plus a high chair. We were seated at a 4-​top table, the greeter removed one of the chairs, put a high chair in it’s place and wanted to know where to put the 4^th person. ?? At that point, she understood the table was too small for us, but said there was nothing else, and offered no other options (ie: another table will be available in x minutes). So we sat.
Service was TERRIBLE. The worst. We gave ourselves *plenty* of time for food to come, and us to eat before the kids «expired.» However, the food took SOOO long. We ordered an appetizer, which came quickly (relatively speaking), but the main entrees took forever. I ended up having to leave (before my food arrived) with our youngest to put him to bed while my husband and older children stayed to eat. The server did apologize to my husband several times, but the bottom line is this restaurant was severely understaffed. Had we been served our meals in a reasonable amount of time, we could have all eaten together.
Aside from the lengthy dining experience, there were no refills offered, we were scolded by the manager (we think it was the manager) about the placement of the stroller (the staff had put it where it was, and it wasn’t in the way). Appetizer plates were left on our too small table for almost the entire meal.
This was our second time eating here. As we were waiting an insane amount of time for our food, we remembered the bad service the first time we ate there. It wasn’t as busy that time, and the kids weren’t with us, so it wasn’t quite as bad of an experience, but it’s indicative of an overall service issue. We will NEVER go again.

Nice little local place and pretty good food. We started with the Fried Green Tomato appetizer, which I thought was excellent. The tomatoes were tart and the thin coating was flavorful and stayed on the tomatoes (always a feat with something as wet as tomatoes). The aoili was good, but I wished there was more than just an artful smear on the plate. I had to ration it very carefully among my tomatoes and I wish they had just provided a small ramekin of the stuff.
Tried the Fried Flounder Sandwich as my main which lead to a long discussion about why it is so unusual to Flounder on menus anymore. I love the taste of flounder and this did not disappoint. The Jalapeño Tartar sauce and Key Lime Cocktail sauce came on the side and I am so happy I didn’t ask for no cocktail sauce. I have a long standing dislike of cocktail sauce but tried both sauces before adding anything to my sandwich. The key lime cocktail was outstanding — fresh, piquant and with just enough horseradish heat. I ended up using that exclusively and it was delicious atop perfectly-​fried, lightly-​breaded flounder filets. I added a the cheese grits as a side. That may have been a mistake as they were watery and the cheese was all added on top which turned into a chedder grease slick under the broiler. Not only not impressive, not worth finishing and they came out about 5 minutes after the rest of our food. My dining companion did the Cali tacos. The fish and the Chipotle slaw were both good, but the fish was nearly fish hash — very small bits, but well-​cooked and seasoned.
Overall — middle of the road experience. Mostly good food with a few missteps. As others have mentioned — they seem a little chronically understaffed, though our server did her best to be attentive.

I am going to start this review by stating «I really want to like this place, a lot.» So much so I will likely give it another shot. Great menu, great seasoning on everything, and it seems clean. We walked in as a party of three around 3 o’clock and saw the restaurant was fairly busy, probably 35% full at an odd hour. What was immediately off putting was seeing one server and one cook in the kitchen for the entire place. Upon sitting down we didn’t not receive much of a greeting or introduction, just asked for our appetizer order. They were out of the oyster shooters, no big deal. I have worked in a few restaurants in my lifetime, it happens. Especially in a fresh seafood place on a Sunday. Went with the fried green tomatoes, which we watched sit in the window for 5 minutes as the lone server, or more accurately FOH employee in all capacities, juggled cleaning tables, taking orders, and trying to run food. Eventually 2 – 3 kitchen employees and another server appear in from the back door. 2/​3rds of the staff should not be on break when the place is humming.
At this point I realized this can’t be their «A crew» and did what we could to make our party easy for the poor server. Tried to make our plates easy to clear, order simply, and not be in a rush at all. Wife ordered the Island Salad sans protein and my friend and me ordered the Shrimp Po’ Boy on baguette. His with a spinach salad (that arrived just after the sandwich) and mine with fries (that never arrived at all). This is where I started to get really nervous as I watched the sever apologize to the majority of the tables about something. (Taking too long, forgetting something, being out of some item). The lunch entrees were pretty solid. As they came to the table I noticed mine was on an onion roll (intended for someone else) and looked not 5 feet away to the window where my correct sandwich sat. That saved her a lot of trouble. I felt like I was the eyes and ears for these girls and just wanted to throw on a uniform and start helping. The sandwiches were cooked very well and in an «assemble yourself» style. My friend’s Po Boy had a tail on one of the shrimp. Once again not a big deal, but some people would freak. The silence in the restaurant, primarily between the staff, was noticeable. Enough so you can hear the cacophony of the kitchen’s music clashing with the dining rooms selection.
Really nothing was going well for the employees, no manager, no direction, 0 training. As we left, the ²⁄₃^rd split ticket was a little off. My non existant fries were on my friends ticket and his salad on mine. Being the same price I instructed the sever to just deduct $ 3 off mine and we would be set. It was at this point when I mentioned not ever getting the fries she flat out said «Oh you should have told me.» I am thinking I have been doing what I can to help her out and not complain or be difficult started thinking «I did tell you when I ordered them» and then muttered out «It’s not my job.» as I thought of all the times she could have seen/​remembered the simple order. I also blame the kitchen for this, their ticket system is SUPER easy to read and interpret.
This could be a great, fresh, local restaurant if they could either train or employ some decent staff. Since there is no way of getting ahold of a manager or owner I will just add my review to the many on Unilocal trying to offer some constructive criticism to Fresh on the Fly, a restaurant I want to patronize that I do not believe is long for this market.

Found this place through Unilocal and I agree that the Mahi Mahi cheese steak sandwhich is something to try. Really enjoyed the meal that came with 2 full orders of sides. I went with the fries and red beans and rice, both were well prepared. The service was great and fast. Would come back when we vacation in Florida again.

Rocking little seafood place with the styling of a local market.
These guys are for real about seafood and it’s apparent by the displays of the fillets in the counters which will soon arrive at your table.
I decided to bypass the local favorites and go with the FIsh and Chips. It’s not a why, but why not as the hostess and waitresses seemed a bit conflicted on what is «good». Which is great as it means they are not pressured in to pushing any aged items in stock.
Food is amazing, it’s cheap for the amount and quality. This is a step in the right direction from the monotonous chain restaurants in the US in general, unique and perfect in it’s own way.

Fresh on the Fly is the best place I know of for dinner in Lake Mary, provided that you like seafood. With that said, the interior has a bit of a nautical and informal look — if you are looking for a romantic candlelit dinner, that’s not what you’ll find here — just fantastic food at highly competitive prices.
The mahi mahi is particularly good — try the cali tacos, which has an excellent spicy slaw, or mahi mahi BLT, topped with a fried green tomato slice. They also have a great set of salads to start off — the house salad with strawberries and walnuts is my personal favorite.
If there is a knock, it is the location, which is in a nice shopping center with several good restaurants that is also unfortunately located next to a popular bike trail. The parking lot is not to scale for this level of success. If you are in a hurry for a business lunch or are otherwise unwilling to circle the lot like a hungry shark, you may want to go somewhere else.

We came back here for lunch on a Friday and the place was PACKED! It is definitely a lunch spot. It was hard to find a parking spot in the lot but we did not give up.
I HIGHLY recommend the Granny Smith Apple Salad. I think I could eat that every day. I was sooo good! Otherwise, I had the Cali Tacos and they were good as well. My husband had the Fried Flounder which he enjoyed as well. The french fries really are homemade and hand cut. They reminded me of the ones my mom used to make growing up.
This just might be one of my favorite restaurants in the area.

I am extremely saddened to write this update, but it has to be done.
Some things have changed at Fresh on the Fly, and not for the better.
The awesome coleslaw that I said you couldn’t miss? It’s been replaced with some overly creamy, mass-​produced tasting coleslaw. No more pineapples, no more coconut shavings, no more light sauce with a crunch. Instead it’s thick, mayo laden slaw.
The awesome service I bragged about? Gone. The staff looks mostly the same, but the teamwork is gone.
I watched my food sit in the window for a LONG time after it was ready to be served, while waitresses and other staff walked by it — they didn’t seem to care that it sat there, because it wasn’t their table’s food.
Our waitress took our order and dropped off our check. That was it. In between that time I had to ask someone for drink refills, ask someone to get our food that had sat in the window for ages, ask someone to split our check, and finally we paid a completely different girl.
The fresh fish at the counter is gone too — I guess they just didn’t sell enough to be profitable. That makes me wonder about the fish they’re serving on the menu.
I’d like to give Fresh on the Fly another shot, but it looks like Finesse has taken its place in my work group’s favorite lunch spot.
I’m kinda heart broken. :(

I’m not sophisticated, so when I was told they only have Jalepeno Tarter Sauce and Chipotle Aioli, I was concerned, but poured over a fried grouper sandwich… WOW!
The fries were great also! All around winner!

Excellent little casual seafood restaurant. I’ve missed fresh seafood restaurants that are reasonably priced. Fresh on the Fly highlights those things that make it: good food, well-​prepared, fun, a bit adventurous, and reasonably priced. The Blackened mahi mahi BLT with fried green tomatoes was perfectly balanced by the garlic mayo. Unlike some places, the fish and the fried green tomatoes hung over the side of the onion roll and not because the roll was extra small.
The opening highlight was the granny smith apple salad. The waitress said it was good enough to be a dessert and she was right. Made with granny smith apples slices, blue cheese crumbles, grapes and toasted pecans, it has just the right amount of brown sugar vinaigrette to make the entire salad perfect and refreshing.
The décor was such that you feel like you’d walk right outside onto the beach, right down to the nautical maps on the tables. The waitress was helpful, friendly, and attentive but without being overbearing.