Salt Water Cowboy’s

We are from Ohio, were visiting Orlando & came to St Augustine to visit the beach and stopped here, this place is absolutely wonderful, I had the stuffed Flounder, and it was fabulous, the service was great, and the prices are reasonable, and the view of the sunset was awesome over the water. We will recommend this place & return.

This restaurant was very interesting: it’s located over the intercostal waterway and is in a marshy region which was gave us a nice view! However, the food ranges from BBQ items to seafood, which accommodates many people. I had a combination platter: scallops, shrimp, fish, and a crab cake while all were blackened. The seasoning was great, but the shrimp and scallops were slightly over cooked and became hard.
Upside: awesome & friendly service from everyone AND killer key lime pie!

Went here with high expectations after some local friends suggested it, but this was an absolutely horrendous dining experience.
Our server was immensely slow, wouldn’t refill our drinks without our asking and completely forgot to put my order in with the table’s. This resulted in my not getting my food until almost everyone was finished, and the most I got was a tepid apology and an offer to discount my meal by half. It also took almost 15 minutes to get our checks after asking for them.
Our server also couldn’t remember who got what after multiple times of us telling her and would reach across the table to refill glasses. Three of us at the table have been servers before, so we know what it’s like and wanted to be lenient with our criticism. But all of us were incredulous at the lack of any effort or professionalism on our server’s part.
As far as dinner went, the food is passable. Nothing, however, worth returning for. The atmosphere is fun and enjoyable, but the horrible service and subpar food guaranteed we won’t be coming back.

This is a slightly belated review as I’m a few months late adding this, however I’m giving Salt Water Cowboy’s a good rating as they blew the socks off of a couple of British tourists who were in town.
Let me set the scene: you and your wife have spent your vacation week in Orlando, the Fake & Manufactured Capital of the Universe, where nothing is real and everything is designed for maximum tourist appeal. It’s Saturday and you’re due to fly back to the UK tomorrow.
The weather for the entire week had been gross, really truly awful, and if anything they’d be returning to the UK paler than they left.
The Hublet offered to pick them up from Daytona Beach and drive them up to St. Augustine, giving them the opportunity to be driven around by a local and get away from the tourist areas, maybe even see somewhere that not all theme park tourists get to see.
They absolutely loved St. Augustine, delighted to see buildings and structures that looked old and historic but having actually developed this look naturally over time, having not left a manufacturing plant artificially aged. The fact that the sun came out for possibly the only day of their vacation also made a huge difference.
Dinner time rolled around and The Hublet decided to take them to Salt Water Cowboy’s. It was dark by then and we crossed the Bridge of Lions (oooh) and drove up A1A. The road was decidedly less touristy and well-​lit then other areas, and Salt Water Cowboy’s itself wasn’t spectacularly signposted (although there’s a huge sodding great sign a couple of miles before the turn), giving our visitors the feeling that they were visiting an off-​the-​beaten-​path place known only to locals.
The road itself that peels off from A1A and leads to the restaurant is black, barely lit and looks like it has the potential to end in dueling banjos and your ‘purdy’ mouth being commented on, however once you drive far enough you see the welcoming, twinkling lights of the restaurant and all is well. No-​one has to squeal.
The restaurant sits on the water and looks utterly charming and rustic both outside and inside, decorated with the obligatory creepy taxidermied animals and homestyle touches that I’ve come to expect from fish camp venues. Imagine if you will a Cracker Barrel for hunters.
The atmosphere and ambiance inside was perfect, with a cosy, almost intimate feel to the place. A thunderstorm rolled in right as we arrived, so our visitors got to enjoy the lightning show out of the large restaurant windows facing the water.
Drinks are served in mismatched glassware and Mason jars, which adds a lovely homely touch.
Between us our table enjoyed the following:
Aligator tail — very fresh, not overly breaded, moist and frankly delicious.
Florida Cracker Combo — pretty decent, nothing heavily breaded, everything fresh and hot and tasty.
Claw Chowder — apparently award winning, so congrats SWC. I didn’t personally try this, but it was highly praised by those who did.
Florida Rock Shrimp — this was my first time eating these and they blew me away. If a shrimp and a lobster had a baby, this would be that delicious baby. They’re smaller than you’d expect but you get a lot on your plate and was full by the end. Served with a side dish of melted butter and in the half shell, they’re tougher than regular shrimp to de-​shell but are completely worth the battle.
Florida Catfish — feedback was that this was hot, fresh and not overbreaded, but overall a touch bland. Thank goodness for hot-​sauce! I believe it came with a salad and a choice of side.
One Half Chicken — chicken perfectly cooked, served with fries, coleslaw and a salad.
Dessert: we ordered a couple of slices of the homemade Real Key Lime pie + 4 forks and we all tucked in. It was actually a really good KL pie, with the zing of a proper Key lime and not overly sickly sweet.
Although the place was busy, we were seated fairly quickly and our server was attentive and was quick to keep our drinks topped up. We didn’t experience an unduly long wait for appetizers, entrees or desserts.
For me, the atmosphere and ambiance alone makes this restaurant worth a visit. The food is overall very good and fresh, with a couple of average dishes sprinkled in between the excellently executed ones. Go for the Rock Shrimp but make sure you save room for the Key Lime pie.

Well we came in late but Jennifer allowed us to sit and be served. We stayed with the Gator take with a tangy orange sauce.
John had the Rock Shrimp. He said it was fabulous. He had cheese grits and cole slaw.
I had the fried Maui with Baked Beans and slaw. My specialty drink was the The Swamp Thing. It is on point. It’s not for light weight sippers like myself. I’m feeling it right now… Lol
It is well worth the trip if you’re in my neck of the woods.
Check out Salt Water Cowboy… Seafood, beef and Chicken

Customer service was good. Food was horrible in my opinion. My food was ice cold and the order was incorrect.

We were brought to Salt Water Cowboy’s as tourists by a local Florida family. We wanted to try some real Florida BBQ, and this place delivered. The ambiance of the restaurant is amazing — you are right on the water (a marsh, not the ocean) and the entire dining area is surrounded by windows. The staff is fantastic — very friendly!
We tried the fried gator tail (woohoo, I got to eat alligator!) and clam chowder soup and it was very good. I think that this is a great place to take tourists, because it provides a wonderful experience and pretty terrific food as well.