Gator Joe's Beach Bar & Grill in Ocklawaha, Florida

The Menu at Gator Joe's

The food menu posted on gatorjoesocala.com in October 2026 is dated July 2026 and runs to starters, salads, baskets, mac and cheese bowls, jumbo wings, burgers, dinners, handhelds, a la carte sides, desserts and a kids' menu. Starters include chicken nachos, fried shrimp, crispy mushrooms, fish nuggets, crispy fried pickles, loaded cheese fries, coconut shrimp with pineapple Thai chili, peel-and-eat shrimp, mozzarella sticks, pretzel bites, jalapeno poppers, seared ahi tuna and Joe's Own Gator Tail, offered traditional or Buffalo style.

Baskets come with fries: a fish basket of lightly breaded flaky white fish that the menu calls the best fish on the lake, a chicken finger basket, a shrimp basket, a gator tail basket and combo baskets of any two or three proteins. Burgers are half-pound Angus patties, including a build-your-own Joe's Big Burger. Dinners are served with the potato of the day and vegetables: salmon blackened or grilled, a 12-ounce ribeye, a beachside chicken platter, the Florida Grill Dinner of grouper with onions and peppers, a half slab of dry-rubbed baby back ribs and blackened shrimp skewers.

Handhelds include Ocklawaha's Famous Fish Sandwich with two Alaskan pollock fillets on a hoagie roll, Joe's BLT, Philly sandwiches in steak, chicken or gator tail, gator tacos with bacon bits and feta, fried fish tacos, blackened shrimp tacos, a Caesar wrap, a chicken sandwich and a grouper sandwich. Mac and cheese bowls come topped with Buffalo chicken, BBQ chicken or gator, and jumbo wings are sold by five or ten in flavors from mild to garlic Parmesan and pineapple sweet chili. The menu advertises all-you-can-eat fish on Thursdays and a daily special.

Desserts are peanut butter pie, house-made key lime pie and sea salt caramel cheesecake. The kids' menu for ages 10 and under offers a hamburger, cheeseburger, chicken fingers, fish nuggets, grilled cheese, hot dog, mozzarella sticks and mac and cheese with fries and applesauce or a fruit cup; the menu adds a $2.25 charge for diners over 10. Prices change; the current menu images are at gatorjoesocala.com/about/menu.

For other seafood-focused kitchens in Marion County, browse our best seafood in Ocala guide, or compare lakeside options in our waterfront dining near Ocala roundup.

Visiting Gator Joe's from Ocala

Ocklawaha is in southeastern Marion County. Google Maps puts Gator Joe's about 17 to 18 miles and roughly 36 minutes from Ocala City Hall without heavy traffic, with the fastest route usually running southeast on SE Maricamp Road toward Ocklawaha and ending on SE 135th Avenue at the lake. Enter Ocklawaha, not Weirsdale, in GPS; the two towns face each other across Lake Weir.

Beach and boat access. Gator Joe's calls itself a beach bar and grill on the water's edge of Lake Weir, but its website does not publish rules, fees or hours for the beach itself, and neither the website nor the Google listing describes a dock for arriving by water. The restaurant posts seasonal notices and events on its Facebook page, so check there or call (352) 288-3100 before planning to use the beach, bring chairs or coolers, or arrive by boat. For a public swimming beach and boat ramp on the same lake, Marion County's Carney Island Recreation and Conservation Area is a few miles west in Ocklawaha, and Hampton Beach is a county swim beach a short drive east. Both charge a $7-per-vehicle fee, according to Marion County Parks.

Gator Joe's pairs well with a day on the lake. Carney Island has a beach, boat ramps and a hand launch for kayaks and canoes, the Ma Barker House Museum sits in the same park (call Marion County Parks at (352) 671-8560 about visiting), and across the water Eaton's Beach in Weirsdale makes a second lakefront stop. River paddlers should note that the Ocklawaha Canoe Outpost is a separate trip, on the Ocklawaha River in Fort McCoy. Anglers can read our Marion County fishing spots guide for fishing Lake Weir.