clark's fish camp

clarks is iconic in jax, known for having more animals (think taxidermy) than a small zoo. there is a musty smell when you enter, but it passed quickly. clarks offers so many choices on theirmenuranging from kangaroo to gator to chicken tenders. we ordered the potato skins for an appetizer. these were absolutely delicious. the quail was also quite good. worth a visit for both atmosphere and food.

a fish camp that does not offer fresh fish?! need i say more? we ate here on a saturday, no wait, great waitress, bad food. every single thing on theirmenuis frozen. i asked our waitress what their fresh catch was and she said we don't have one. very sad.

bad, very bad imho. you know it's bad when ... you have to file a complaint with the florida division of hotels and restaurants. i have been a fan of clark's for many years, but now i feel very different. i made three attempts to resolve the bad experience i had saturday with no results from clark's. i did not feel comfortable causing a scene with business guests (yes i would consider having my meat weighed as proof and then being replaced due to poor quality to be causing a scene, which i refused to do) so i quietly brought the food home in a box and promptly emailed clark's the following day, and i emailed again the day after that. two emails were not returned, and a call to a 'manager' today did nothing to address my concerns over prime rib of beef inedibly tough inside and dried beyond beef jerky on the outside of an end cut. i did not request an end cut, and a medium rare rib roast should not be so tough that a serrated knife won't go through it without brute force. i think a chainsaw would have been more appropriate. worse still, noticing that the beef seemed about the size of some steaks i have cooked, i brought it home and weighed it on my kitchen scale at an estimated 25 ounces, not the 56 ounces (3.5 lbs) declared on the menu. now, i may be off by a few ounces, but 25 ounces is a long way from 56 ounces. according to the menu, "think you are a big eater, try the jack's cut prime rib which weigh's [sic] in at a hefty 3.5 pounds of bone in prime rib of beef. and no, it's not free if you finish it." i paid $29.95 plus tax and tip for what probably was the worst piece of meat i ever have tried (and failed) to eat, and i estimate it to have been around 25 ounces not 56. not good in my opinion. themenualso says, "our appetizers are huge, gargantuan, and filling. some people think they are a meal in themselves." i don't consider the 7 small nuggets of fried alligator we got "gargantuan" or even close to it. the $9.95 price and the statement on themenujust don't match up with 7 small nuggets in my opinion. to make matters worse, instead of adjusting the bill or making any sort of gesture of good will, the manager told me on the phone today that there was nothing he could do. he wasn't even apologetic in my opinion, just sort of arrogant and condescending i think. the problems with the beef rib, the statements on themenuvs. what we actually got, and then speaking to this unhelpful 'manager' mean that i will never, ever go back again. i gave them three opportunities to make some sort of gesture of good will or attempt to make the situation right, and they refused to do anything. hope you don't have the same experience. where's the beef?

had a most dissatisfying experience. midday on a sunday not a large crowd and it took over an hour to be served. a person i was with was allergic to seafood and ordered a burger - it came plain with no condiments (mustard onions lettuce or tomatoes) themenustated it came with all of this. when we asked the server - she brought out a tomato that was green and had the stem on it. extremely slow and uncaring staff it had good potential, but the slow service and lackadaisical attitude is too much to overcome -

clark's fish camp is one of those places that is so overdone and so divey, teeter tottering on the verge of tacky and just plain creepy but somehow - you love it. nestled among a random neighborhood in the swamp grounds of mandarin, clark's a.k.a "the people's place" is a seafood shack on the water serving everything from good ol' fried shrimp to the more outlandish meals like charred ostrich and fried antelope. to view their crazymenuclick here you know you're in for something different when you're greeted with a giant stuffed giraffe (how?) and a fish tank that holds the infamous lilly the alligator. if you can think of an animal to be stuffed, it's probably here. we started off with the broccoli cheddar cheese poppers which where golden fried balls of cheesy goodness. they were so bad that they were good. i could tell they probably used velveeta for the filling but it actually tasted pretty good dipped in their ranch dipping sauce. for his birthday my dad alwayyyys wants a stream

fried and good!. i like this place! not an everyday kind of joint for me, but when i want fried seafood, this is my place. i stopped in at noon today for some lunch and my friend and i had a yummy time. we started with fried pickles, which were light and salty, but the few on the bottom were greasy. my friend had fried clams and i had fried jumbo jalapeño shrimp and fries. our coleslaw had no dressing, but was chilled. our dishes were great. our fries hot, my shrimp were jumbo and the hush puppies sweet. i haven't been in a while and i was happy to see how this place is kept up, clean (i can't imagine dusting all those animals) and they are always adding new stuff. a live alligator? this is a fun place to bring kids or out of town guests. theirmenuis amazing! clark's is a fun kitschy place and i am always going to eat here.

hello prime rib. earlier this week a friend dined here and posted a photo of the prime rib on the facebook. i couldn't stop thinking about it, so i headed in this afternoon to check it out. i was seated quickly and when the waiter asked me what i wanted to eat, i told him i was ready to order. jack's cut prime rib and water to drink. the waiter was really friendly and the opposite of pretentious. within a few minutes i had a cup and pitcher of ice water sitting on my table. within 10 minutes the prime rib arrived. this is a flintstone size serving, my understanding is that it is 3 lbs, but it looked a hell of a lot bigger than that. it was good, real good. i've been looking for a high quality gigantic serving of prime rib for years, and i have finally found it.

i will probably try to limit my intake to one or two prime ribs a year, but themenuis huge so there are a lot of other things to try. as i was eating, a very very large family of four was seated directly in front of me. their first topic of conversation was regarding how great the "large" booths were. "you have to be an anorexic to eat at friday's" one of the ladies said. her 400 lb husband then went on to describe in detail how hard of a time he had sitting in the booth at friday's, saying, "my stomach was all up on the table and i could hardly breathe. good prime rib, good entertainment.

i absolutely love this place!! i found my favorite item on themenua couple weeks ago, and i can't get enough (stuffed flounder #4). whenever friends or family come to town, im sure to bring them here. i've never had a bad experience, never had bad food, never had bad service! their swamp water drink is absolutely fantastic (be aware, even 1 can get u tipsy!). i love clarks and will continue to visit for years to come.

the bullet: food a, price b, service b, vibe a+. for a place that is on the water, hard to get to and just horrible parking issues, the funky decor and excellentmenuare worth it all. yeah, you'll have to park 1/4 mile away if you time it wrong and then wait a bit for a park bench table but who cares? have a drink while you wat and feed the gators and make fun of all the boat launch shenanigans. anything on themenuis very good but probably the best item is the prime rib. i know, weird for a fish camp - but then that fits here.

dont waste your time or money. my first and last experience at clark's fish camp. went there and it was really busy, usually a good, and had to wait for 35 minutes before getting our table. since everything is based around a bar, there was lots of smokers around me. secondly it took forever to get our food once the waitress remembered we were alive (crappy service, seen our waitress 3 times in about an hour and that was when she was bringing our food). we ordered chicken wings and some of them still were bloody. i decided to try the swamp fest platter, which is nothing but super fried everything, i mean everything on the whole platter was fried. themenunever mentioned that. it was all fried. the table next to us sent their food back because it was cold and some of the food they ordered at first, they were out of. you are better off going to long john silvers.

interesting atmosphere. food is overpriced and not very good. you can order "grouper-like fish" . . . actualmenuitem!

simple and good. i really enjoy eating at clarks. themenuis simple, the restaurant is out of the way(not touristy), and the food is always good. great place to go for local culture

a local favorite. tucked back off the beaten path, next to the natrual beauty of the julington creek this place is definately worth your time. feed the turtles and an occational alligator while you wait for your seats at this creekside restaurant. once you step inside you'll be amazed with the huge collection of mounted critters from all around the world (taxidermy). themenuis just as interesting, with wild game and exotic dishes not found at any other local restaurants. there are many traditional items on themenuas well, such as steaks and seafood. the prime rib is one of their specialties; cut like a steak and large enough to feed the manliest of men. i admittedly get the girly cut (joan's) and it is still huge. if it is your first visit you must try the fried pickles. i'd recommend getting there early as the place fills up quickly.