Black Hammock Restaurant

One of my favorite destinations when I am in the Orlando area. It’s an awesome place to check out right on sunset! A great place for beer food and sunset pictures.

Ate at the restaurant after going on an air boat tour with our 10% off coupon that comes with the ticket. Felt bad eating gator after going on the airboat tour and seeing cute baby gators, so I got blackened chicken tacos instead. The chicken was sparingly served on each taco, but I cut it up to fit the taco so that worked. The tacos themselves were delicious. Also tried the corn fritters which were a bit sweet with cinnamon and powdered sugar, different than how they are served in New England but certainly different. They had 2−4−1 margaritas that my family partook in. Recommend if you are in the area!

They have gator bites if your into trying a local favorite, like chewy chicken my Dad used to take us there all the time when we where kids.

This restaurant is very mediocre. The food was not great. It’s just typical everyday food. Would have had a better time at TGIF. The waitress was plain horrible. She serves the beer and liquor before a regular iced tea, barely came over to see how we were, and did not give the right amount of money back to me. She should have given me $ 10.40 for my change back. She only gave me 9 thus that was her tip for not giving good service and wrong amount of change. The outside area for the airboat tours and bar area was great though and would go back for that portion as it’s very relaxing being on lake Jessup.

There’s a lot going on at Black Hammock: air boat rides, outdoor bars, live music, scenic sunset dinners on the dock, a gator farm, squawking birds, and food. I can’t comment on most of the outdoor experiences since we went straight from the car to the restaurant and then quickly toured the rest of the property afterwards before running for our dear lives back to the car because of all the bugs — the second I stepped out of the car, I felt like I was cosplaying as Nic Cage from Wicker Man. Strictly as a restaurant experience, Black Hammock is ok, with nothing that really sets it apart from similar restaurants in the Orlando area.
Nothing about the experience stands out as negative in my mind. We were seated right away, our server was pleasant and attentive, and the food came out fast — almost too fast (we hadn’t even finished our appetizer by the time our entrees came out). But nothing really blew me away, either.
We started with some drinks, two-​for-​one margaritas and a Yuengling, and some corn fritters. The Yuengling was exactly what I expected it to be. The margarita was fine (the waitress hooked it up on the refill). The fritters were dusted with powdered sugar and came out piping hot. I love them really crispy and the kitchen delivered.
For our entrees, my wife ordered the Florida Sampler, which came with frog legs, catfish, gator bites, fries, and coleslaw. She enjoyed it but there was no spice to anything; it was just battered and fried and «vanilla.» I ordered the gator po’boy. The chipotle mayo really brought the sandwich together. The gator was chewier than I’ve had it in the past at other restaurants but still A-​OK. The fries were on-​point. If anything, I think the fries were the best part of our meals.
Black Hammock isn’t a bad place to grab a bite if you’re in the area but it seems like something that needs to be appreciated alongside everything else the property has the offer. I think there is a charm that just escaped me since I only went to chow down.

Love Heather the bartender. She makes the best drinks. Wonderful mojitos. Been going there for years.

It was Valentine’s Day and I really thought it would be very crowded but after our air boat ride it was nice to warm up have the place to ourselves. We all ordered something different and my burger was great. No complaints and a fun time. Our out of town relatives really like ordering gator. It was fun.

We came in with our family from out of town and had Austin as our server. He made the night awesome and got us to try the Fresh Rainbow Trout which was awesome! Loved the time! thanks again for the great food and service.
GET RID OF YOUR CARPETS THOUGH! THEY LOOK GROSS!!!

Took our Grandkids here today to see the alligators and have some lunch. I had the Gator burger and it was the best! Prices are not to bad either.

Pretty good restaurant right near the airboat tours. Buy the lunch special– $ 30 for airboat tour includes $ 10 towards lunch. 2 for 1 margaritas all day. Pop in for some gator, fresh fish, or a burger. Lots of yummy options and I had no problem with service.

Went to lunch yesterday (Saturday) with 9 people. We belong to the Legion Riders out of South Daytona. We were seated immediately in the location of our choice. Our server Austin took our drink orders immediately. Meal orders were taken without delay. The food was good. I had pulled pork sandwich my husband had fried catfish. Shrimp and grits, gator and chicken were some of the other orders. Everyone said their meals were good. All in all a good experience. Service was outstanding

Yuck! There were four of us that ate lunch there after an airboat ride and the food was not good. The service was very slow.

One of my favorite hole in the wall spots. Fun to walk around the grounds and see nature and wildlife. They have decent bar type food and airboat rides and gators. Great place for groups.

Menu is limited in my opinion and the food isn’t that great. Prices are higher than they should be too. We live in The Black Hammock and have made many visits to the restaurant. The service could be improved upon — I like to be greeted when I walk into an eating establishment. This is a rarity. The best view for a sunset is here though!!!

I’ve gone a few times with family and the experience has been pretty good! The waitress was super friendly and the food was perfect for the Fourth of July weekend.
We ordered the Black Hammock Sampler (Florida style gator bites, frog legs, onion rings and coleslaw), a full rack of ribs, blackened Mahi Mahi tacos, and Bangin’ Shrimp. We also got a free basket of corn fritters for checking in on Unilocal.
I was honestly surprised by how good the shrimp was — creamy with a bit of spice. I wish the Sampler had more gator (my favorite), but the frog legs were juicy and fried to perfection. Next time I’m definitely trying the gator tacos or poboy and getting the shrimp again. Yum!

Where do I start here? The service was subpar. The server didn’t get our drinks until we ordered our meals. The water I ordered tasted so gross that I ordered Coke which was only a little better. It had a weird aftertaste. I wonder how long it’s been since their soda machine has been cleaned…
I ordered fried shrimp which was ok at best. The shrimp was mostly breading which was a disappointment because the entrée was $ 16.99! I think the meal included 6 or 8 small shrimp. The salad that came with the meal had wilted lettuce that was pink and brown. I don’t think I’ll be back for food but definitely an airboat ride!

Great place to sit back and enjoy food and/​drinks near nature. Food is good but not great. Sunsets are spectacular. I like coming here for a burger and a beer then enjoy the sunset by the lazy gator bar.

If you want a «unique to Florida» restaurant, this is the place! I ordered Alligator bites as an appetizer & gator tacos as an entrée. Well cooked, very tasty. The only reason I did not rate with 5 stars is because the service is a little slow. There were only about 2 waitresses working for lunch, and it took a little while to get the check. Other than that, definitely a must-​go if you want a unique Florida experience.

Bottom Line Up front — This place is a great local dive, and I mean that in the best possible way! Great food, great service, great surroundings with a history and local flare not found in the city of Orlando. Just a short 20 minute drive from the University area this place is situated right on Lake Jesup which apparently boasts the largest concentration of Gators per acre in Florida — I haven’t confirmed that tidbit but I did eat Gator there and it was great! The atmosphere is what you’d expect with 1960’s era «Gator» attractions, Air boat rides, etc… The must go to is the restaurant which has decent seafood selection, mostly fried but not all, complete with souther specialties like catfish, shrimp and grits, hushpuppies, and the like.
This was recommended to me by a local co-​worker and I certainly pass on the recommendation to any one reading this review.

I came out to the Black Hammock a few weeks ago. My brother was in town with his new fiancé from Texas and I wanted to show her a taste of Florida, which is exactly what we got at the Black Hammock. We made a day out of it with and air boat ride and drinks at the outback bar before dinner.
Since this page is for the restaurant I’ll skip ahead to our meal.
I’ve heard friends and family complaint about service, but I thought our service was great. It was later in the evening, probably around 8 on a Saturday night, and the dining room was not crowded at all. As a matter of fact there were only 3 tables total sat with diners in our section. Service was spot on for me.
I ordered the fried catfish and shrimp with homemade baked mac and cheese and a salad to start. Everything was delicious. The fish and shrimp were succulent and fried to perfection, not greasy at all, very light and crisp on the coating.
The mac and cheese knocked it out of the park. It was fresh and creamy, not reheated and pasty like a lot of other restaurants boasting «homemade.»
The prices were very reasonable, too. Entrees ranged from $ 7.99 up to market price for the higher end fresh catches.
I love this place and will definitely be back. The Black Hammock is a great place to come for a meal or to make a whole day out of the property’s bars, entertainment and dining.