Mandalay Oceanfront Grill & Tiki

We stopped here for lunch when we passed through Key Largo at the start of our vacation and liked it so much that we also made it our last place to eat on the way back. Great location on the water (our girls enjoyed feeding the fish). The food was great; my wife and I had seafood sandwiches and our girls had pasta and cheese that was far better than the usual kids’ meals. Service was superb — we were lucky to have Jess as our server both times.

We asked the waitress for the fresh catch of the day. She said it was yellowtail snapper or hogfish. I requested the hogfish as a dinner, she said it wasn’t available as a dinner, only as a sandwich. I asked for the price, she said $ 12. I ordered it, but requested no bun. When the bill arrived I was charged $ 15 plus $ 1.50 up-​charge. When I asked for the price difference, she said it was because hogfish was the fresh catch, which carries an up-​charge! Now wait a minute, what happened to the original price of $ 12 I was told it would be? I’m now paying $ 16.50 for a $ 12 sandwich. When I asked for the manager, she returned saying she could offer a $ 1.50 discount! I had also ordered a house special drink for $ 10, she automatically added a 20% tip ($ 5.30) for a total of $ 33.51! For just an O K lunch. Skip this place unless you don’t mind getting ripped off!

Great view and that’s it. We were very unsatisfied with food and with service. We ordered fish dip and fish tacos — both were not tasty, just boring. Even french fries were somehow not very good. The service was quite slow. At some point a band started to play but they didn’t play well:(
Overall — not worth the money.

Decent food for lunch — we had the buffalo shrimp sandwich, chicken wings, and salad. A little pricey but comparable to other places in the area. Decent ginger beer drinks with Gosling ginger beer. Good place for kids to run around.

Ok food, terrible service. After an hour, our waiter suddenly became the bartender and essentially abandoned our table. We left prematurely because we were simply unable to order dessert. We had to chase down the now bartender in order to get our check.

Oh hell yes! Stopped to try out the tuna nachos and they were way beyond what I had imagined. The scenery can’t be beat either. This is a great spot for lunch! I can’t wait to come back.

Great location. Just above average food. Had the tuna salad sandwich which was sensational. So too are the fries here. Wife had shrimp po boy. She wasn’t that fussed on it but loved the kid’s pizza she tried. Service was a touch slow considering how few people were there for lunch.
Drinks were ice cold and the setting very cool. Kids enjoyed feeding their left overs to the schools of fish all around.
Restrooms were not that clean.
But honestly, I wished I could of had an evening here snacking and drinking without the kids!

There aren’t many times I would give fresh seafood a bad rating, but there are a few reasons I would give this place a ²⁄₅.
First, the view is amazing! Doesn’t get much more oceanfront than Mandalay Ocean & Grill. There was a live band (which would usually be a huge plus for me) — but it was so loud we literally couldn’t hear each other.
One person in our party (of 6) ordered the ribs with a baked potato– they were out of potatoes. Another ordered the vegetarian pasta– they were out of veggies. ?!? When we ordered something they did have it was mediocre at best. Lobster Mac n Cheese could have been made at home easily as it was penne with parmasean and a few pieces of lobster.
All in all come if you’re looking for a few drinks and a great view! I wouldn’t recommend coming for dinner –

The ocean view was the best part of the meal. The meal itself was lacking in a big way. I had the wasabi and bread crumb yellow tail. The fish was very thin, dry and overcooked. I didn’t even taste a hint of wasabi. It was very sweet. I had a hard time believing it was «fresh». The vegetables du jour was simply broccoli that was served cold. For bearing a $ 28 price tag I felt it was a complete rip off. The only good part of the meal was the conch fritters as the appetizer.

The View is great, band was great, food was not so great! We drove to Key Largo from Miami beach with one thing in mind — fresh seafood! The appetizer was out fairly quick and was good (conch fritters), however the main courses were cold and the fish was dry and overcooked (yellow tail and mahi mahi). Portions were small given the price, and we certainly expected more given the location. I can cook better fish at home here in Texas…

I love coming here every time I’m in town. They offer great food, their seafood is always fresh! Great place to come anytime of day!

The view is definitely what makes this location. The food is pretty meh, take it or leave it! Had the Thai shrimp rolls and it was not what the menu led me to believe I had ordered. Deep fried (and over fried) shrimp wrapped in phyllo dough in a pool of peanut sauce made with too much soy. Husband had a BLT on over toasted bread with overcooked bacon. Tuna nachos looked good and an order would probably feed 4! Friendly staff.

I wouldn’t consider this a full review. I didn’t actually dine at the Mandalay, I ordered a drink and had a few bites of group appetizers but either way here goes nothing.
Location: Easy, breezy beautiful. Totally keys, totally trailer, totally diggin it!
Service: Relaxed and friendly.
Cocktail: Margarita please! Rating for my Margarita… ehhhhh…a 3 Ive had better, I’ve had worse.
Appetizers: This is where the Mandalay really falls short. Everything I sampled was bland! With such a great location & view I was hoping for fresh flavorful food. Instead everything tasted like it had been defrosted, microwaved and quickly shoved under the broiler. Very a la Fridays!

Good fresh spinach salad with great view. Amy at the bar was very sweet

Loved the look of this place as we walked in. Breezy, open air, on the ocean, and dog friendly. Friendly staff to as we entered. Seating took a few minutes but not for lack of tables though. Just kept forgetting to clean one for us. We were feeling friendly though and not inclined to fuss as it was my partners birthday
Not low prices, but the menu looked good. Thought maybe we had found the best Key Largo spot for a seafood birthday dinner, as the atmosphere was wonderfully casual while energetic and place was pretty full on a Sunday night. But.
Very slow service to start, from the nice and cheerful people, several of them, who were clearly not communicating with each other in the seating and ordering and serving dept.(«Who is on FIRST?» etc.) Waitress was sweet but could not remember to check back to freshen drinks, or check on us.
I had read that was maybe a bit of a problem, with the great new menu being blamed for the slow service, but really they just seemed disorganized. But we were pretty cool with that we thought, not in a hurry, and we were looking forward to the promises of that new menu. Should have been perfect or at least darn goodfrom the sound of it.
But, alas, the food was really HORRIBLE!
My supposedly «very large portion ‚» whole fish” yellow tail, was the top-​priced item on the menu at $ 26.95, and was actually delivered as two very small, overcooked («leather hard») fried fish with a dried sauce on top, along with a small over cooked baked potato, and an over cooked (probably frozen) tasteless vegetable «succotash. A requested re-​do in the kitchen produced a bigger fish, but was served after my meal was over, and was prepared just as poorly, similarly over-​cooked and it tasted un-​fresh and «fishy». I sent it back too, in spite of being hungry.
Was offered a salad, and a free appetizer, to compensate for the bad taste experience. Ordered the conch fritters which were tasty, but almost completely without any pieces of actual conch!
My partner had elected to have their NY steak, and found it tough, fairly tasteless and said it probably low cost «supermarket» quality meat.
The meal overall ranks with worst meals we ever had in a South Florida restaurant. I can’t remember ever having worse anywhere, though I probably have.
The manager and the waitress were so nice and genuinely concerned though, and wanted to fix it for us, but the kitchen just could not, they acknowledged. Manager’s eyes glazed over when we discussed with him what would have made our experience better. I figure he is having a lot of these sorts conversations, and that our experience was not just a fluke, a bad night with the dishwasher standing in for the cook.
In short –poor quality food products, as well as cooking, so no excuses esp. at a high price for such low quality.
Definitely NOT a «special night out» kind of place, under any circumstances.
Good spot to stop by to order a beer, though, with your dog. I would eat the conch fritters again if hungry, even without the conch, I guess.

Yikes — what a difference a month makes !!! Three stars for the view !!!
We were looking forward to stopping here on our way back from Marathon and WHAT A DISAPPOINTMENT from last time we were here just a month ago. This time we went on Sunday July 8^th for a late lunch around 2 – 3 pm… food was AWFUL … (except for the coleslaw) … even the french fries were cooked in the same oil as the fish so they tasted fishy… prices were higher… the fish was not seasoned… it was actually overcooked and… breaded with corn flakes. — fish with corn flakes didn’t make good flavor fusion. Singer on keyboard good… Service very uptight and nervous … WHAT A SHAME… Let’s hope they are going through a temporary phase. Location is still great … go for drinks and view… but eat somewhere else.

All they need is a good pale ale. Great view, nice outdoor dining area. Saturday afternoon, they have music by Micah, local songster.
Very friendly and attentive wait staff. We have ate there 4 times lately and the food has been good to very good. Of the 3 or 4 people that i recommended this place only one compliant. He felt the fish was over cooked. We have had the fish and no issues the times we have been there. But with the view and music, maybe i’m not being picky enough.
Once again, they need a pale ale. Sierra or Drifter or?

Kind of hidden, but worth finding. The service was great! Their live entertainer was very funny lol. We sat outside and were able to get that ocean breeze which was nice. Their food was really good!!! Mahi mahi sandwich was to die for! Their fresh catch of the day was swordfish… it was decent… a little over cooked but had good flavor. Wasn’t too crazy about their gumbo… lacked the authentic flavor that really makes this dish.
They only offer beer and wine which is ok if that’s what you like… we were looking forward to a few mixed drinks, but settled for a few coronas. We managed, lol
If you’re in the area definitely try them out!

My family and I were travelling home from Key West and we decided to stop here. The patio was clean and well decorated. The waitstaff was knowledgeable and friendly. The owner even stopped by our table twice to check in on us. I wasn’t very hungrly so I opted for the Tuna Nachos. Delicious sashimi grade ahi tuna chunks nestled in crispy wonton chips with delicious sauces drizzled over the top. My husband got the oysters on the half-​shell and calamari. The parents got a burger and peel and eat shrimp. We finished up with a piece of Key Lime Bar. I highly recommend it!
If I lived closer, I would definitely return. They have live music and some great lounge furniture, so I could imagine it would be a wonderful spot to dine for dinner or late night drinks.

Had the ABSOLUTE best lunch here today! They have the freshest raw oysters, the best homemade cocktail & hot sauces, an amazing key lime tartar sauce to go with the greatest baked mahi sticks ever, and service beyond compare. From the hostess to our server Scott to the live music entertainment to the general manager David Shine, it was a total pleasure. Thank you all so much! We will be back FOR SURE! :)