The Ballyhoo Grill

I love this place! Their firecracker shrimp tacos are a MUST. So tasty and filling. Also, went on my birthday and was given the free birthday lobster. Valued at $ 20 — FREE. It was deliciously served to perfection with a side of butter. The only reason I’m not giving this place five full stars is because the second time I went, the bill was pricey for two orders of tacos and a sushi roll. I will definitely be going again regardless. Best restaurant in Gainesville!

Man my friends birthday celebration was here and everybody order was just about messed up. But our server was cool. They messed up one my friends Po Boy twice. I always wondered what this place was like but now I know. My lady was like we will come back another time but that ain’t happening after this experience.

So far it’s an eh. Salads took way too long to come out and then the waitress asked if we wanted her to go ahead and put our food order in. Ah, yeah. Seriously? Still waiting for our food after 15 additional minutes. But they did put the FSU game on for us so that’s good!
So the food came out and it was good. I had the Coach Roll, hubby had the stuffed tilapia. He says it was really tasty. So I’m upping my rating to 4 because it was good food. It’s not the service you’ll get at Square One over on 34^th, but they are pretty busy on this Friday night.

We’ve eaten here twice, both times outdoors. Service is uneven and doesn’t seem to depend on how busy they are. Their 4 – 7 happy hour is great, when you can get drinks two-​for-​one, but the real reason we came was for food — I know, that may be dumb when you consider this is basically a sports bar.
Spouse’s favorite is the huge plate of nachos with pulled pork, which may be the prettiest plate of nachos we’ve ever seen. If you are young — as most of the patrons are — that’s probably a good appetizer for two or maybe three. For people our age, it would feed the same number of people for dinner. That’s not a complaint, just be sure when you’re ordering that you know what you’re going to get. Nachos do not make a good take-​home item (yes, we tried). On another visit, Spouse tried and LOVED the she-​crab soup — thick, spicy. For me the texture was too pureed, I like a little more variety in my soups, but I admit the flavor was good.
My own favorite choice was the Margherita flatbread, though if I have it again I’ll ask for extra basil — a large piece of flatbread with some kind of base melted cheese, a tomato slice, and little dab of fresh mozzarella. As I say, a bit lacking on the fresh basil, which was cut into weeny little pieces. But then I’m a basil kind of person. I ate half, brought half home, and it traveled well.
I also tried the grilled tilapia sandwich which comes on a hoagie roll. Smallish piece of delicious tilapia on a reasonably fresh roll. A bit too much roll for the fish, but it worked well with knife and fork, leaving some of the bread behind. I’d try this one again.
Music varies, but is generally pretty good. Seems to start about 6 pm. We’re early diners so have no idea how late it goes. I think my main point here is that they treat old folks well, not just something to occupy the tables until the real crowd comes along.

Okay so I had the gumbo. Like I said this place is not my favorite place but due to the fact that they offer so many Groupon’s and other sorts of deals I come here way too often. Normally it’s not a good idea to make a soup with shrimp and scallops and leave it all day. I came in at around two and the soup is still mushy from being made earlier.
I’m just surprised at the popularity of this place given the fact that the food is so incredibly poor. I guess people come here for the lack of ambience and the casual dress attire.
I think their menu is way overpriced for what they’re offering. But again that’s why I would only come here if I had some sort of discount.