Drifters Riverfront Bar & Grill

We ate at Drifters on a weekend, as we were staying at Castaways On the River right next door. Live music played all afternoon, and then switched to party-worthy country music in the evening. We sat beneath the big tiki hut on stools and a counter-style table facing the bustling scenery on the St. Johns River. We enjoyed watching the boats pull right up to the dock/slips, with views of the Astor Bridge. Our server, Misty (?), was friendly and attentive, always smiling. The food was so tasty that I forgot to photograph it before I ate it all! I had crispy, flavorful, fried shrimp and broccoli. My mom thoroughly enjoyed her shrimp tacos. They had great menu options. The other diners were all in good, festive moods. Fantastic experience, delicious food, great service and superb scenery!

Bring your own Tartar sauce. Seriously.

It was overall great food, but the tartar sauce wrecked my experience. I found myself thinking about it a few days after. Thinking that it doesn't make sense that they do this.

They make their own tartar sauce. The problem is that it's not anything like what you'd expect, except for being white and creamy. The taste is completely different. It's like suggesting that ketchup and cocktail sauce are interchangeable because they're both red and kind of look alike.

The taste of their sauce is very similar to a salad dressing that I've had before. I think it was called Creamy Parmesan. It didn't taste bad in and of itself. It would have been great on a salad, but when you're expecting tartar sauce, that just isn't it.

I talked to our server about it, and she said it was the correct sauce. That it's different because they make it themselves. She brought over cocktail sauce to see if I'd prefer that. It was great cocktail sauce, but not a great sauce for clam strips. I appreciated the effort.

I would have preferred they had noted that it was their own tartar sauce. Maybe even call it "Drifters Tartar Sauce" or something like that, and offer it as an option, but the difference from what was expected really messed everything up.

So, unfortunately, that one little thing just made it all fall apart. I'm so sorry to write a negative-ish review. However, I hope you'll change this so other people's meals aren't similarly affected.

I'm just visiting the area, but while I'm here, my parents will stop by. We MIGHT bring them to Drifters. There was so much that was nice about it. If we do, I will actually bring my own tartar sauce!

What an awesome restaurant. I had the Ruben, I had asked the waitress how it was. She said it's the best she'd eaten...so me I try it...omg. Fantastic. The scenery is beautiful also

The food was amazing everything was fresh made to order. It wasn’t just frozen fried seafood. It was fresh!! The service was incredible. Karley our waitress was phenomenal!!! The deserts were homemade and life changing. We will definitely be back

We happened to see Drifter’s from the bridge while passing through and decided to make a trip back due to the view over the river. There’s no host, so it took a few minutes for a waitress to notice us. I ordered fried mushrooms that were alright, but the chicken parm sandwich was mediocre at best. My wife ordered catfish nuggets and couldn’t eat them as they were too swampy. The fried shrimp my son had were okay. Sweet tea wasn’t very good either.

We waited over an hour for very underwhelming food. Several tables around us were also considering leaving before the food was served due to the prolonged wait. If you’re going somewhere to have a few drinks and overlook the river regardless of food quality then this might be your speed. Don’t recommend for a nice family meal. We left down $90, disappointed, and still hungry.