AJ Gators

I've driven past AJ Gators several times and finally decided to stop in and try it out. We arrived a little before 9pm and the restaurant was empty so we were able to sit wherever we wanted. Autumn, our server, quickly greeted us and welcomed us in. She shared her drink recommendations since we were unsure of what to order. The Pungo Punch Cocktail was great, it was very fruity and refreshing. Since we wanted to share some apps, we decided on the AJ's Gator Tail, Crab Dip and Filet Mignon Steak Bites. The food was served fairly quickly and of course, we had to try the AJ's Gator Tail first since we'd never had gator before. It was seasoned and fried very well but I can't compare it to anything I've had before. The texture was a mix between chicken and calamari lol! It wasn't bad but trying it once was enough for me. The Crab Dip was served with toasted bread and tortilla chips. The dip was a bit runny and lacked some flavor and the tortilla chips were stale so it's probably not something I would order again. The Filet Mignon Steak Bites were alright. They were cooked Medium, per our request, and seasoned pretty well but the first piece I tasted was mostly gristle and I couldn't even swallow it. In fact, most pieces had gristle in it which was disappointing. I did order the Seaboard Starburst Cocktail and it was amazing as well! Overall, the best part of the night was our server, Autumn. She was great and very personable! The drinks she suggested were great but the food was subpar at best. If I do return, it'll be solely for the drinks.

One of our spots we tend to fall back on when it's hard to make a decision, This AJ Gators has grown on us since moving to the Redmill side of town. We were frequent customers at the AJ Gators over in Kempsville and because of the servers we knew, the consistency, prices, low key but yet sports bar vibe, we were excited to here there was one on this side of town and were curious if it offered the same specials, food, vibe...everything we loved about the Kempsville location. Walking in for the first time, you had to pass the cool outside seating but the smoking section so if you are bringing kids in, the side entrance may be better because out there, you will get the vibe that this is a local's hang spot for adults to which when you walk in, that becomes more clear. I like the fact that it's a "watering hole" for the locals tucked away. The food quality is just the same as Kempsville except for one time they had a cook back there that was ROCKING THE FOOD! That separated everything for me to a higher level as I didn't feel the vibe was as cool as the other restaurant, it was smaller and could use a little upgrading but this chef was back there making some amazing food! He/she had this Friday food special going on (I have a few pics) that was home cooking and you could tell this wasn't something commercial or from the freezer. This was made from love. I had the meatloaf with green beans and mac and cheese that was to die for! The flavors were so authentic and on point along with the portion size and price, it blew my mind and had me calling in each Friday for the next month checking to see what the specials were. Even when I didn't get the special, the other menu items were cooked with just as much love. Unfortunately, that chef moved left..moved on..or whatever happened to him/her, and missed that special. That special gave me a reason to want to hang out in that Local's bar atmosphere on a Friday and talk to the other customers vs seeking some other Friday night spot that had "the it" factor. Nonetheless, the food quality there for what they have is still done well, and can't complain about that. It has grown on us the more we go and has made it to one of the "local spots" we navigate to when we go back and forth with deciding where to go but I do believe if they did a little more upgrading and maybe another type of special (especially with the location being tucked away and hard to see), it could get more business and be a cool place to hang. It is more on the adult side I would say and when we go, we tend to go without the kids but it is Kids friendly with lots of tables in there to accommodate. Just know it will have locals in there that go daily, have their spots, and will have that vibe going on but in a cool way. Nothing has been disrespectful or out of control. Just a cool laid-back spot. Again, if they would do something with the floors as far as painting it or putting some sort of flooring and maybe touching up the color or adding something that gave it a bit more of a modern kick, it would do great. So in short, solid food with lots of options and good dinners (was better with that chef special), well-priced drinks, and a cool vibe especially if you are wanting a local hang spot seeing similar faces and consistent service. We like it!

We happened upon this restaurant accidentally and decided to give it a go. When we walked in, there were about 3 other people in the place, and I was a bit worried. We were greeted by a very friendly bartender, Jane. We enjoyed a drink while we waited for lunch. I had a Ceasar salad with grilled chicken and my husband had the chicken salad special. Both meals were well prepared and tasty. Jane made sure we had what we needed and checked back a couple of times. One way I evaluate restaurants is the cleanliness of their bathrooms. Gators bathrooms were immaculate. When in the area, I would definitely stop in again.

I was really impressed with the food at this sports-themed bar for a later dinner with my dad. It's only 5 minutes from home and I've had takeout from here once before years ago so I didn't know what to expect and thought it would be greasy spoon type food mostly. We arrived a little after 8pm and they close at 10pm so there was still some time. It was a Thursday night so there were probably about 3 other tables inside and it was pretty quiet and slow so we chose our booth and sat down. Tons of televisions all around for sports watching and they have a pool table and some arcade games as well for bonding and killing time. Quickly greeted by a sweet waitress who took our drink order and let us browse the menu. They have tons and tons of appetizers. They have so many they have "mini" versions of like 10 of them which are probably the most popular, like nachos, chili fries, etc. with smaller portion sizes for about $4-6. We chose the fried pickles and jalapeños app. So delicious. They were out in about 5 minutes or so, fresh and hot and just-made, and the best part were the jalapeños with ranch for dipping. They were perfectly breaded and cooked and had just enough heat. So good! I chose the garden salad with crispy house-made chicken tenders. The salad had cucumbers, tomato, red onion and was supposed to have croutons and eggs but didn't so I had to ask. The chicken tenders were supposed to be made in-house but they weren't that great. A little overcooked - still OK - but just not amazing. The salad was good and did have the extra cucumber and tomato I requested.My dad chose a bacon cheeseburger that was a huge size and he liked it - he actually ended up taking half home with him so that tells you it's big - he can eat. My boyfriend chose a chicken quesadilla as his entree and it was also a huge portion. He had about 6 giant slices of quesadilla on his plate and he ate half of them and took the rest to go. Also said it was good. We didn't wait long for the check to arrive and be taken and we were on our way out the door. This was a pleasant and easy experience with a large menu. I'll be back for sure.

Ask how many people are working in the kitchen before you sit down!! Was told to seat ourselves and waited over 20 minutes to even see a waitress. Two waitresses approached us and unfortunately the one we got was awful. She had an awful attitude the whole time, which we attributed to being busy however the place wasn't even half full. It took 35 minutes for her to even approach us to get food and then another hour for our appetizers to even begin coming out. While we waited on food, we were served water with dirt in the glass and TWO dirty plates that were crusted with food in multiple places. We had to ask twice about our food and it then comes out that they have "big parties," with us being the second largest ordering food/eating in the entire restaurant. The first round of appetizers were room temperature to warm at best, with the second round coming out 5 minutes later... which is all it would take to make them. Once our food came out we immediately asked for boxes to leave because we had such a terrible experience and the boxes the waitress brought us were DIRTY again. After asking to speak to a manager four times about the dirty items we had to flag her down and she offered us nothing. We asked about compensation for our bill due to the multiple issues and she ignored us. Our bill came and the waitress started to talk to us for the first time all night other than asking us for our order. Obviously she was starting to be nice to us because the manager had spoken to her and she wanted a tip. If I could give 0 stars I would. Worst. experience. ever.

Great bar and grill food, much made-from-scratch. Great service staff and all through one of the toughest service industry times during the pandemic!

The worst AJ Gators of them all. The waitress could care less about us. The food you could tell each item was cooked one at a time. Onion rings were cold, cheese sticks a little warmer, potato skins warmer and then finally chicken tenders warmest. Then the waitress is picking up our plates without asking and we weren't even done. The same local drunks at the bar. The ambiance is none. Cleanliness no where to be found.

We actually heard that 1 of the chefs from the old restaurant we used to part take in BIG WOODYS , Now works here. If u had a pleasure to have a meal cooked by CHEF MIKE. Hes a popular chef in the red-mill area and VA beach alone. We rushed right over and the food was gooood. We have never ate at AJ GATORS before till now , But where ever Chef goes we are going to follow. We will be returning. And side note the steak bites,she crab soup and the burgers. WOOOOW

Literally the worst food I've had in years. Ordered filet steak bites for an appetizer and they were fatty, chewy, and way overcooked. Got potato skins as a meal and they were burnt to a crisp. Would never come back or recommend it to anyone.

I have visited here many times over the years and multiple locations. Really good for watching the games. I endorse the burger or wings on the regular.My oldest is addicted to the spud mountain. The pile of fries with cheese and bacon.My youngest, has a thing for the chicken bites and tater tots.I vary on my choices. I love their tater tots, but tonight I was being good and had the tuna steak and broccoli. Tuna steak was slightly less done than I typically like it, but it was still pretty good so I didn't bother with it.