Swamp House Grill - DeBary

I’m actually home for a change and we decided to partake in a nice lunch via boat. We had a few choices but decided upon the Swamp House Grill which was the location of my husband I’s first date. It is in a nice location on the river with a nice view. We had a total of 5 adults 1 toddler and visited the restaurant on December 28, 2008. Upon arrival the dining room was less than half full and we were immediately seated. The waitress came over pretty quickly and took our drink orders. We then perused the menu for long enough to decide on our meals and then sat around talking. The drinks (teas, 1 beer a chocolate milk) took an unusual amount of time and looking back we probably should have taken this as a hint of what was to come. Our drinks arrived and by then the dining room was starting to get full with tables being sat after us. We put in our order (1 breakfast, 4 lunches 1 kids meal) and continued talking. During this time we requested 2 refills on our drinks and continued to wait and talk. About 45 minutes into our wait the waitress came by to say that they were out of regular French Toast and so my husband just took that part off his order – she said our ticket was next up and should be right out – again our drinks were empty. Once we went over the one hour mark we flagged her over asked for our drink bill as we were ready to leave. She then said our meals were ready on their way out so we figured that would be fine. They set all the meals out except for the breakfast (eggs, hashbrowns the like) and said that they hadn’t been able to fit it on the tray so it would be right out. After a few minutes of waiting we flagged the waitress over to ask about the meal she came back and said it would be another 5 minutes. We said no to the meal and at that point the waitress said she would have the manager come over to speak with us (we did not request this). We sat waiting and the waitress came back and said the manager wasn’t coming over but that he was giving us a free meal and would we like boxes for our lunches that had arrived? We said no and sat there and ate what we did have, paid our drink bill and left. The food that we did receive was good (not great) but the service was unacceptable. There were more than enough wait staff on that day so something must have been going on in in the kitchen. The waitress made a comment that the Tiki Bar was causing issues for the kitchen. There was no excuse for more than an hour wait for food that was mostly not freshly prepared nor were they busy enough to warrant it. As much as we like the location we would have to say we wouldn’t recommend this restaurant.

Are you coming down to Central Florida for a visit? Take one day out of your Theme Park huddled vacation and go see the real Florida. Do you live here but never ventured beyond the national chains or high end independent destination restaurants? Take a drive to DeBary. We are very fortunate to live so close to nature and yet we seldom take advantage to live that experience. However you are getting there, whether driving which will take you to the dead end of W. Highbanks Rd. or by boat which puts you on the marina, this is certainly a connection with nature. Regular car parking is in an unpaved lot. Get ready to track around in sand. The restaurant itself sits in the Highbanks Marina and Camp Resort. The Marina is also the starting point for the St. Johns River Eco Tours. If you want to take the tour, which is in a flat bottom pontoon boat, call ahead and make sure they are operational. During times of high winds they will not go out on the river. The camp resort houses RV. The marina acts as a parking lot for boats. The building that houses the restaurant also houses a convenient store. There is a huge open dining room upstairs, a bar at one end, and a Tiki Bar on the ground floor along the marina. Food is served from the same menu either upstairs or downstairs. The upstairs has a private room that can be reserved for small gatherings of about 25 people. Being a Swamp House it goes without saying what adorns the walls. Alligators. There is a huge preserved Gator that kind of separates the bar area from the dining room. His headstone is proudly displayed. Being literally on the St. Johns River, this menu showcases catfish, alligator, shrimp, and other fish varieties. Most fish can be grilled, blackened, or fried. There are Louisiana style dishes such as gumbo, crab cakes, and jambalaya. The menu has a little bit for everyone. Not feeling too adventurous, don’t know why you shouldn’t, there are safe bet items. Fried Gator Tail – 1/4 pound hand prepared citrus marinated nuggets, corn meal battered. The batter is lightly seasoned with a delicate underlying bite. A crisp crunch to the bite just crumbles to reveal succulent tender alligator meat. This is by far one of the best tasting battered alligator tail I’ve tasted. 1/4 pound is not enough! Grilled Grouper Sandwich – A generous portion of lightly seasoned grouper, tomato, onion, lettuce, on a bun. The fish was cooked to tender flaky perfection, seasoning was just enough to let the fish shine. Sweet potato fries lightly seasoned and fried to crispy goodness, served with Mud Sauce. Mud Sauce is whipped cream, cinnamon, and brown sugar. Mud never tasted any better. Big Catfish B.L.T. – Fried Catfish with Applewood Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato served with Sweet Potato Fries and that now famous Mud Sauce. The bacon was a little too crisp and hard for my liking. But the catfish stood out like a swamp star. Perfectly seasoned and cooked. I would like another piece of fish please. This is not the kind of place to go and have a nice quiet meal. This is where you walk in and let loose. The live music attracts and allows for loud conversations. The staff encourages lively interactions and are not afraid to pass a few witty remarks at just about anything. The cold libations flow freely. From the upstairs I am sure there are enough taunting on the lower Tiki bar deck to encourage more swampy raucousness. The food is great, the atmosphere is lively, and the St. Johns River flows right along at it’s leisure. Next trip I am getting in one of those boats and float around the river. This is what Florida living is all about. Go out and live it!