Shady Gators

Great place to drink. Live music all the time. Number 1 summer spot. Between here and coconuts. Party cove has takin a hit.

Amazing time! Shady Gators is a non-​stop party, would definitely recommend going there Friday and Saturday nights.

Good place to stop for a bite to eat while you’re on the lake for the day. Service was good and they had a real cute staff, would recommend.

Great spot to sit lakeside for food or drinks. We had exceptional service, and the food was both fast and tasty. We especially enjoyed the Alligator Bites, and the Blackened Tuna Salad.

Left H. Toad’s in frustration and was so happy to find good atmosphere, great service and decent food all in one place.
3:00 on a Sunday afternoon in July and they «get it». Many families are still at the lake so let’s keep them happy! Live music was good-​and we explored up the hill and saw the beautiful pool and lounge chairs. We will be back to relax…

Absolutely the worst meal! There was 9 of us in our group. All of our meals were absolutely AWEFUL! The chicken in the wrap I got was gray in color. The gator wraps were complete fat and couldn’t even be chewed. They charged me $ 9.00 for a VIRGIN (no alcohol) strawberry daiquiri. When I told the waitress about our experience, she just said sorry and asked for payment. Worst food I have ever eaten on the Lake!

We go every time we visit the lake. The drinks are good. Ordered coconut shrimp and they were really tasty.

We enjoy Shady Gators as it has an awesome atmosphere — this latest trip we decided to try their eats.
Our group of 6 was seated immediately in a prime location on a Friday night. It was a nice surprise. We were seated to see the band that would be playing as well as to see the single singer who was performing beforehand. The waitress was nice — attentive and took our orders immediately. There are only a few places in the Ozarks that make my favorite drink perfectly (Pain in the Ass) and Gators is one of them! We all got a mixture of chicken somehow — tenders, wraps — and while my wrap was delicious, the tenders came out overcooked and really deep dark fried. The people who ordered them did not finish them because they just weren’t up to par. We told her we were staying for the band/​foam party and she was fine with that until an hour later she kept coming and pushing for us to pay. We did then we got no more attention and had planned on ordering a ton more drinks!
There is a cover charge if you aren’t there before 9 and its pretty high — $ 10 to be exact. Plenty of people will pay it though yet they can go a few more feet down the main street and get in for free at Toads.
We headed upstairs to a foam party and I hadn’t been to one since my college days and it was fun to be in the bubbles with everyone. Hint — if you wear flip flops, take them off so you can steady yourself better!
There is a shuttle to take you to and from their various parking lots — be nice and tip the drivers, they are awesome entertainment and the ones who will help you get up and down that hill!

Atmosphere gets 5 stars but food and beer selection fails.

We had high hopes for this place with so much to offer but it kept falling flat over and over. First was a weeknight dinner with a great Brazillian beef wrap, terrible fries, good drinks and the worst waitress I’ve ever met. She would write our orders all wonky on a pad of paper and then have to keep coming back from the computer to clarify what she had written. Three of us ordering so obviously too easily overwhelmed. EVERYTHING was sticky, the menus, tables, stools, ketchup bottles, bar top (yes, we got our own drinks). Gator bites were dry and mealy– avoid them.
Next was a trip over on a Friday night to check out their dance floor and DJ situation. There was a $ 10 cover charge for men AND women, not sure how they can stock up their foam parties by charging ladies. We left and went back to H. Toad’s to see a LIVE band and dance all we wanted for free.
Sunday was supposed to be live music with a crawfish boil but I don’t know what time that was supposed to be. It was totally dead in there in the afternoon so we wandered over to the Lazy Gator pool area nearby and there was no DJ or anything happening there either. Left that complex about 4pm so I guess nothing gets started there until late. I’m a fan of a all-​day Sunday Funday myself so this wasn’t my thing at all.
If you’re a tourist, there are too many other great party places to waste your time here. Coconuts, H. Toad’s, Topsiders, Flirt are all way more fun and appreciative of your business. Plus… less sticky!!! ;)

Fun bar most of the time (I would avoid eating here at dinner though) Several different areas to the bar which sometimes includes 2 dancing areas. Friday nights there is a DJ and then a cover band on a stage across the bar and down a floor. Saturday night it was just a 80s cover band (wtf? why?) in one dance area and it was too packed to do anything or even talk. Regardless, this is definitely one of the top places to go to for night life at the Lake.

Kind of loud. A little crazy. But a great view and the food was good. Bianca was our waitress and the service was excellent.
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We stop here to eat every year while we are in town. The Brazilian bites is a must. Beef tenderloin on a hot plate is amazing. The French fries suck. We order them just to feed the fish. We enjoy sitting on the lake watching the boats come and go. It’s a great pit stop to eat at while on the lake.
Skip the foam party at night!!! It’s LAME!!!

I had the same experience as Todd G. I stepped out to the dock to get fresh air and a break from the smoke. I was never out of sight from the so called «security» but yet they wouldn“t let me bring the drink I took out back in with me. Said I may have put my own alcohol in it. While I stood in front of him the whole time mind you. I wasn’t going to dump a $ 9 drink or suck down a brain freeze. I went on and left my husband to deal with them. What did they do? they arm banded him with a band that indicated he had caused a problem but not bad enough to get kicked out. What a joke because my husband was the one who did drink his drink down as they asked! Skip this place. You don’t need the hassle.

We had a really great time here! It looked like everyone else was having fun too. Service was a little slow but they were pretty busy. The drinks were REALLY overpriced but I guess we were paying for the experience too! I think if your on vacation and looking for a trendy spot then this is the one!

So this place thinks it is your privilege for you to visit them what a joke. First of all the place is dirty from top to bottom make sure to bring your sanitizer. If you eat everything is over priced they think just because it’s the lake they can charge outrages prices for there food and drink again what a joke. My old middle school cafeteria food was better than this place. This place could give 2 shits if your at there establishment as long as your paying for there overpriced food and drink. So my last and final visit I had a phone call and wanted to walk outside to take. I had a beverage in my hand and told me to sit it down when I walked outside which totally is understandable I get it. However after taking my phone call which was a matter of thirty seconds and I noticed that one of there staff members poured out my full beverage. So I asked if one staff if they could just get another beverage after they poured mine out. They told me no and so I asked to speak with a manager and they pointed me to the owner. I told him what happened and asked if he would get me another. I could not believe he told me no and go buy another holy crap this is the owner would not replace my drink after they poured it out. So ask yourself do you want to be ripped off and treated like shit go to this place because they serve heaping piles of it here. Good luck if you visit this place.

Tough to write a review for Shady gators. I’ve been to the restaurant with my family and the bar with my friends. The restaurant for dinner was loud which was distracting. The food was better than I was expecting for a place that I think of as primarily a bar. I enjoyed the chicken ranch wrap. I’d also recommend one of their specials, honey-​something. I think they called it grouper fingers.
At night, I think Shady Gators is probably one of the best bars on the lake. Their rum runners are tasty and worth the cost.

Go with the ménage trios… little bit of everything… expect cold drinks, great people and good lake food. Oh, and the merch is the coolest in the lake!

Both this place and the Horny Toad have ruined a quiet community of respectable people who built homes from lifetimes of hard work and achievement. Despite pleas from the community to relocate or otherwise be more hospitable to the destruction caused by rowdy tourists, both restaurants have neglected their fellow man in pursuit of another dollar.
Homes that were built on good land at a high price that were gaining value over the years lost much financial ground as soon as idiot-​partier types moved in so that they may get closer to the excessive action. Tourists park on the sides of the road, knock over mailboxes, defecate on private property, trespass, intentionally lay on horns/​make noise to wake up sleeping households, and otherwise harass anyone who either lives nearby or stands up in protest against debauchery.
One of these days, I would not be surprised it the nearby residents take up arms and start a lynch mob to reclaim their lives from the assholes who value profit over goodwill and basic etiquette.