AJ Gator’s Sports Bar & Grill

It’s not Michelin star food, but it’s good. We’ve been to this location several times and are rarely disappointed. Most recent visit was on a Friday night. We were greeted when we came in and after seating ourselves, had our server at the table right away with menus and our drink order.
There are plenty of choices on the menu, and the portions are huge — exactly what you want with bar food. I’m a big fan of their salads and mini appetizers. Hubby loves the steak sandwich, which is an actual steak and always comes perfectly rare as he orders it. The kid is a fan of the kid’s cheeseburger and Mac and cheese (and he’s pretty picky about his pasta!)
All in all, always a good experience. My only complaint is that it’s almost always freezing in there (and I’m almost ever cold). Must be the air conditioners needed to cool such a cavernous space.

Half off Appitizers on wed and a pretty nice drink special as well. Service was nice and quick. There were a bunch of bikers at the bar but not the rowdy type. Pool tables. Cool décor. I had the mac and cheese burger with sweet potato fries, I couldn’t finish it all so well portioned plates as well.

Solid place! Lots of beer choices, pool tables (with one in the smoking room). Plenty of TV screens, and they buy a lot of the big fights. Decent bar food. Clean large dining and bar area.

Every time I go here I get something different. Nothing is ever spectacular, but the environment and parking is great. Not to mention they offer kids eat free once a week.

Fast food quality at double the price with really slow service when there weren’t many customers. Not even worth it for the game days.

Don’t think the bartender liked us. Just an odd feeling. Maybe she was having a bad day. Usually we have a great time.

40 minutes for two salads??? Too few wait staff — sports bar on a soccer final night?

Angela is an amazing and super fun waitress. 50 cent wings on Monday! Good food cheap drinks, good service!

My wife and I have eaten at this restaurant several times since it relocated from Wards Corner.
Before last night, the last time we were there was late summer/​early fall of 2014. We were greeted soon after we entered the restaurant that evening, as we always were, and told to sit where we wanted. Food and service were good but I noticed that the wait staff was using a high top table at the far side of the bar as a place to hang out between tasks. It was interesting to watch that immediately after waiting on a customer, they went directly to the table to check their cellphones and/​or wait for the next thing for them to do. I thought it gave an unprofessional appearance but waved it off as a temporary thing.
We returned last night. We were not greeted when we entered so we seated ourselves. I looked at the high top table at the far side of the bar and it appeared to have transitioned from a hangout to an encampment. All the wait staff were sitting there. The table had a number of large Styrofoam cups sitting on it, cellphones were being checked and dinners were being eaten. One person got our her laptop after she finished eating. Maybe she wasn’t working but, sitting with the staff who were hanging out there gave the impression she was on the clock. Even the bartender seemed to make a beeline to the table each time she’d finish waiting on a customer.
Our meal and the service were as good as usual. However, I have to add a comment about beer knowledge. My wife asked if they carried O’Connor Red Nun. They only had O’Connor El Guapo. I told my wife that it’s not her kind of beer because it’s an IPA. The waitress told my wife that it was a darker beer and she didn’t think it was an IPA. She needs to read the label /​know the beer: it’s El Guapo Agave IPA.
My bottom line is that the wait staff hanging out at the table gives a poor and unprofessional impression. It gives me the sense that waiting on tables is somewhat of an inconvenience and they’re more interested in being at that table. Probably not entirely the case but there’s always some truth in a perception. All of this is my opinion and others may not agree or care about it. But, I’ll go somewhere else when I want to eat at a place like this — plenty to choose from in the area. Too bad, too, because the restaurant really is a decent sports bar — well lit, clean and lots of TVs.

Went here on a UFC fight night. My table got lost in the shuffle and had to consistently grab the attention of our waitress (more than you should have to, even on a fight night). The food was inconsistent. My friend and I had boneless wings that were super dry and later we orders French fries, which were mediocre. It was a disappointing experience after frequenting the Fairfield location so many times. I would not recommend it.

Normally the food is great, the beer is cold, and the service is excellent. Just make sure you don’t actually go on a night where a fight or game is on. The staff can’t handle busy nights, food comes out stale and sometimes cold, beer is warm, and service is really slow.

This is a great addition to OV. We had a less than pleasant experience at the downtown Norfolk location a few years ago and have been hesitant to try them again until recently. We’re glad we gave them another shot.
The place isn’t much to look at: the exterior is drab and the interior is uninspired, to say the least; it feels like someone hit up a Black Friday TV sale. I get that it’s a sports bar, but it’s a little stifling. However, the place is clean, the drink specials are the best in OV, and the food is solid.
As a few of the others have noted, the beer specials are limiting if you’re a beer snob, but even if you order from their bottle selection, you’re still able to get good beer at reasonable prices. The rail prices are great. They seem to have quite a few specials depending on what day it is, and I have yet to learn them all, but when the bartender gave us a quick run down through them all, we were impressed.
We’ve sampled several of their apps and have been happy with them all (Fried Pickles and Caps are awesome!). Their wings aren’t bad, but we’ve had better. We’re hot sauce junkies and while they have several unique offerings, we didn’t really care for anything other than the Hot sauce (yes, the Gates of Hell sauce was hotter, but the flat flavor and thin consistency was odd). They have a pretty large burger menu, as well, which is good, because they make a damn fine burger. We’ve tried three different takes and have been happy with them all.
We’ve only ever sat at the bar, so I cannot comment on service within the other parts of the place. The service we have received, though, has been great. Barbara is awesome; she knew our drink orders upon our second visit and is attentive without being oppressive.
So far, after three visits, we’re happy and hope to keep going back!

Food and drink are good and the prices are right, but what is the downfall? The customer service is horrible

I was surprised at the amount of space this AJ Gator’s has. It’s very deceiving from the parking lot. There are TV’s galore which makes for watching sports super easy and enjoyable. The bar towards the back of the restaurants has lots of seating and there are plenty of tables throughout. They have 2 pool tables too. The downside, the smoking room. Why not just make these people go outside, like 50 feet away from the entrance? It’s gross. Whenever the door opens you can smell the smoke, especially if you are sitting nearby. The time I went, our table was right outside the door and this drunk idiot kept opening the door and calling for his friend while he had a lit cigarette in his hand blowing his smoke all about. I exchanged some words with him and he wasn’t happy. At least the security on staff went in and said something because I didn’t want to have to slap someone.
The food was decent too. I had the friend shrimp and chicken with fries. The shrimp was big, a lot bigger than I had expected. Our waitress was friendly and quick considering how busy the place was. Everyone else ordered burgers, which (according to them) were wonderful. I know we’ll be back for more football games and good food.

The food was average, the service was slow and average at best. The atmosphere was okay, there was a rather loud African American male yelling the whole time we were there.

I’ve been to the new Gators in Ocean View a few times in the past month. It’s HUGE and definitely great to shoot a couple games of pool and watch some sports… The menu is huge and hard to choose from for someone indecisive like me. Their food is decent. Nothing to write home about but worth what you pay. The Gator Bites have always been a personal fave. The reason they don’t get more stars with me is because of the service. The atmosphere is just blah. I live supporting local places but the service is just blah. The girls rarely smile, the service is slow, they only talk to each other. I’ve had to ask for silverware to eat my dinner both times I’ve been (which is a huge pet peeve for me)… Food is alright, service is blah, lots of TVs to watch sports :)

This review doesn’t include food, because I have yet to have any from this location, though I’ve always thought that AJ’s has pretty decent bar food.
It’s a great spot for catching a game & throwing back some cold ones. The servers/​bartenders have always been super friendly & I like how new & clean it is inside.

I can remember driving past this location about 2 months ago and it wasn’t ready yet. Now it’s open for business and just in time for football season.
This AJ’s used to be at the Wards Corner site before Harris Teeter bought the land and knocked down all the buildings. It’s pretty much the same staff who I’m already familiar with for the past several years.
Location: East Ocean View. I can’t pretend like I wasn’t pissed to the highest form
of pissivity when I learned that AJ’s was closing down the Wards Corner location. This location isn’t horrible as it’s still in Norfolk but it’s on the fringes and out of the way for me. I pass at least 3 – 4 sports bars on the way here. Once you get here, the site is rather bleak looking in my opinion. Located in the East Beach Shoppes Shopping Center which is way past its prime and needs a makeover so that it doesn’t look so… drab. The old Wards Corner location was really nice as AJ’s sat in an old remodeled record store and stood out from its neighbors. Also, the parking spaces are kind of narrow. I don’t drive a full size pickup but the few I’ve seen parked here are barely making it. So a bit of caution for those of you who revere your vehicles…
Interior: Don’t expect anything epic. Lots of TVs for sure but the décor is underwhelming. I mean, it has all of the basics that you need to find in a sports bar but this version feels like it was put up quickly to capitalize off of the upcoming football season. I would’ve preferred if they took their time and made the place feel more connected than the standard fare that’s in place now. The giant scoreboard TV that used to grace the wall of the old location is gone. The bar is back to being a four cornered box rather than that beautiful triangular shape they had going on at the Corner. The beer tap spouts are located along the far back side of the bar so you can’t really see what flavor/​brand is available. I also miss the chairs from the old Wards Corner location because now they have these bar stool type of seats that I don’t find very comfortable. Maybe if I was 6’11″…anticipate the backs of your thighs to hurt and feel like they’re on fire after awhile.
Staff: Pretty much what keeps me coming back. I’ve been with this staff now from the days of the current Guad’s restaurant location on Granby. I’ve never had a problem in service at all.
Food/​Drink: what I CAN say is that if you’re one of those people that likes a potent lineup of beer then this isn’t the place for you. Selections are limited which doesn’t bother me because I’m a simple guy. However, I do know that there are elitist out there that will wreak havoc in reviews because their favorite IPA isn’t served here. As far as food, it’s nothing to write home about but, again, I’m a simple dude. I never, ever, ever go to a sports bar for the cuisine. When I come here I stick to the Old Bay wings or burger meals — with a Bud Light. See? Simple! However, there are meals on the menu which, surprisingly, has quite a few dining options from salads, soups, alligator bites, ribs to seafood platter entrees. I’ve never tried any of those but they do exist.
Experience: All things considered, in MY humble opinion what makes a sports bar work isn’t the fancy décor, a huge beer list or an elite epicurean menu. It’s the crowd. You can have reclining leather heated massaging seats with beers from around the world. If the crowd is boring or obnoxious then the whole experience is ruined. The few times I’ve been out to watch a game at this location the crowd has been pretty calm except for the few Dallas Cowboys fans that can’t help themselves. LOL!
Final thoughts: If you’re looking to watch the game, event, race or whatever have you, then AJ Gators provides the ways and the means to make it happen.

I love a good sports bar and I’ve visited many across the US. I was REALLY hoping this would be a great place, unfortunately I left very disappointed.
Our first impression was the hostess. We told her we wanted to sit at the bar and she curtly replied, «there is no room». Hmmmmm. How about a «hello!»?? And how about checking to see if there were seats? I was able to see empty seats at the bar from the hostess stand so we indeed sat at the bar.
Laughing off the rude hostess we were excited to watch a game at the bar and order a few beers. We asked what IPAs they had in the bottle. Our bartender didn’t know. I asked for a drink menu. They didn’t have one. She said the beer is in the (see-​through) cooler across from the bar if I saw one I liked to let her know. Well. Um. I can’t see that far away. When we finally ordered she forgot to bring us the drinks!!! The other female bartender came to our rescue and she was awesome. She knew the beers they stocked — pitifully slim pickings btw — brought us our drinks and kept them coming the rest of the game. AJ Gators couldn’t you stock better choice of beers???
We ordered wings, fries and a something else. I’m thinking if I can’t remember it really must have been forgetful. The menu was typical fried bar food. And it tasted typical. No healthy options. The wings were nothing special. If you said they were purchased from the frozen food aisle at Food Lion I would believe you.
I found the place to be poorly appointed. I
imagine the owners found the space and said «how quickly can we slap together a sports bar?» They certainly put no thought into decorating. An interior decorator would have been well worth the money. It is a huge cavernous, cold space without much character. There are small framed photos hung without thought on the walls — which make the space look smaller. You can’t make out what the photos are without standing in front of them. Even worse are the pennants hung around the room. They are far too small and are dwarfed by the enormous space.
When I think of sports bar I think of a fun vibe, cushioned booths, and lots of TVs. There is not one booth. It is all tables and chairs. Not too comfy either — especially for watching a football game. It is like a college dining hall. Wait. I’ve been in nicer college dining halls! And ones with better food!
So one star for the experienced bartender who was awesome!!!

I love Gators! But especially this location! Plenty of space, lots of TVs to watch just about any game. All the Bartenders from the old Wards Corner location work here and its like one big family!!! Good drinks! Good Food! And vibe with the staff!