skipper's smokehouse

we arrived before open on sunday. waited on the bench outside for their 1300 opening time. staff coming and going out the front door making preperations for beginning of budiness. . nogoodafternoon, how are you guys? no acknowledgement whatsoever.
we finally got up and went inside. the young lady told us to sit wherever and they'd be right with us. we sat. and waited. and waited. after 15 minutes of being ignored we left.
too bad as i was pumped to try the blackened grouper reuben. i refuse to beg for service. this was our first/last visit.

fried heaven in a basket!. the ambiance is true beach shack florida, so if you're looking for a quiet, romantic spot - go elsewhere. now, if you're looking for casual fun for the whole family...come down to skipper's smokehouse. besides it's legendary music scene, it has some great seafood selections.
i'll start with the delicious fried skipper's platter for $16.99 - this feast could feed 2-3 people easily with fried basa (a light, delicate fish in a cormeal crust - my personal fav), fried shrimp, fried calamari, fried gator nuggets (a tasty little treat if you want to try something unique), and fried oysters. whew! if that wasn't enough, it comes with a small sampler of smoked fish spread (which i thought i was absolutely going to despise and guess what? i am a true fish spread believer after skipper's!) and hush puppies and two sides.
i preferred the breading of the basa and the shrimp over the flour battered oysters and calamari, and the slaw was sort of bland. but the hushpuppies were great, with just a hint of sweetness and the conch fritters are these massive balls - much more breading than most conch fritters (although i liked it that way - reminded me of clam cakes back in rhode island) and those were served with a sweet and smoky key lime curry sauce.
i can't believe i was able to eat all that food and still have the ability to walk upright! huge portions, overallgoodfood served with that home-made feel, and a groovy joint to take it all in.
you can come for the shows, but i wouldn't miss out on the food if i were you!

fun kitschy florida place. awesome music venue. ive seen several concerts under the stars, beneath the trees dressed in twinkle lights on a warm summer night. hard to beat that.
but it's also a fun casual place to grab some fried florida treats. as previous reviews stated, parking can be a nightmare. get here early and on a non concert night, you should be fine as long as you dont mind a tight squeeze on gravel.
fried is what they do and do it best. fried fish, fried shrimp, etc. it's a no frills kind of place but the service is down home friendly and the beer is always cold.
the best deal is happy hour. cheap beer, cheap wings and cheap oysters. yes, i ate fresh, raw oysters here and they were darn good. the wings are hot and their hot sauce is no joke. waitress had to bring my hubbie wet washcloth for his sweaty head. but he loved every burning moment. feeling adventurous, we tried the bbq gator ribs. first bite good, saucy, tender. but after a few more bites pulling meat off skinny reptile ribs didnt sit well with me. (and im a full on carnivore) we ate more than we left behind, but honestly more because if you slather anything in bbq sauce it tastes marginally good. i would not order them again. also steer clear of the soft shell crab. the breading is gooey and puffy and just not good. shrimp, fish, wings, oysters and the grouper reuben and a bunch of beers and you'regoodto go!

reallygoodplace for some down homegoodsouthern seafood! excellent service and really quick turn around! we had fresh drinks in less than 2 minutes! gator ribs and mahi reuben were so good! great oysters! everything was very reasonably priced!! will definitely be coming back soon with friends!

by far the best key lime pie!!goodto go for agoodtime and for comfort food.

gator ribs!. my husband and i went there for the gator ribs. they weregoodand tender. it's definitely a no frills kind of place and priced just right.

happy hour oysters and wings. best hot wings in town and especially on hh when you can order 15 for $6.99. throw in a dozen cold salty oysters for $8.99 and a cold $1.50 draft and you get bar nirvana.

sometimes hard to find a seat in the only air conditioned part, the bar but persist and be rewarded.

little rough around the edges and crowded when music on tap outside in the clam shell...lol.....but agoodspot for the above mentioned.

have ordered other food items, hit or miss, so stick with the best ones.

colorful folks at times too,

b+ overall. and a mucho repeato place.

great as always!!. i have been coming here for years and have never been disappointed. the seafood is always cooked perfect and atmosphere is always fun. great service!!! i love coming on weds. night for reggae :) keep up thegoodwork skippers!!!

never again!. when we walked in we were told we could sit in the dining room, bar or outside but we were not told the only place for table service was in the dining room so we sat in the air conditioned bar for a little bit before we realized we weren't going to be waited on. we moved to the dining room and were the only customers there. the service was okay but the food was terrible. of the four dinners the only one that wasgoodwas the grouper reuben and it wasn'tgoodenough to ever go back again.if you want fresh seafood in a clean restaurant don't go to skippers.

my husband wanted to come here because he saw the grouper reuben as a contender for adam richman's best sandwich in america. if you are expecting as seen on tv, you will be seriously disappointed! the grouper is half the size of the one featured, and that's i'd i'm being generous. the sandwich was tasty but by no means something to write home about. as for me, i ordered the smoked fish dip to start. smoked fish dip is one of my favorite things on the planet, so i was pretty fired up to try it from a "smokehouse".....disgusting!! it tasted like prepakaged tuna salad from a gas station tuna sandwich. not at all smokey and extremely salty. so disappointing. i also had the crawfish po-boy. it had a very generous amount of crawfish, but they were so over battered they were basically inedible. as a florida native, i knowgoodseafood and i appreciate a "honky tonk" to it's fullest, but this was just a total disappointment!

gator ribs. what more can i say than it taste a little like chicken/pork. the atmosphere is minimalistic but the staff was very friendly and their dipping sauce was awesome. the food wasgoodbut i would avoid this place on a hot day/humid day.

some timegoodbut have been badly disaponted the last time we went and once before. which is why i not been back in a while the only one i rate more various was shells were i was badly food poised last time i went and i will not go back there even thought i had realygoodfood there.

my main issue with skippers is everything seem a bit overcooked

casual coolness. an absolute favorite spot. music is always good, even if you've never heard of the band, the oysters and gator chili are great. liked the decor better before they cleaned it up, but the soul remains.goodpeople and always a fun time is had by all. this place is old florida, complete with a huge oak tree over this open air venue.

nice management. we always came here for the blues and not the food. recently had a friend in town who wanted an old florida feel place so we brough him here.

i can tell the management is either new or recently motivated as when i was overheard saying "everything's fried" a mgr (?) stopped by to say all items can be ordered grilled or even blackened. well, that thrilled the hubby as he is a blackening fiend!

so we ended up eating and had a decent meal. i stuck to fish dip and other munchies while the boys had blackened fish and scallops along with a couple bowls of chowder.

prices are very reasonable. it draws a mixed crowd, very casual, sometimes rather roudy, but always fun and agoodplace to bring the family if you have to so the offspring can run around and not many mind.

fun!. great food,gooddrink prices, and a great music scene; skipper's is the perfect spot to hang out with friends and enjoy the night