The Gnarly Gar

Great hangout to watch sports. As close as you can get to a floating bistro. Simple food well prepared at a reasonable price. Cozy. Very friendly owner and staff. Carers to the local crowd and boaters so you can drive up and park your pontoon craft at their front door! Hours open can be tricky so google times open. Highly recommend for the casual crowd. Fun place to eat and drink.

This one star is only because today my family and I decided to take my grandparents out to our favorite place on the lake and we drove all the way over here because the hours said they were open, they were NOT open! There was NO note or anything on the outside. We really wanted to take out my grandparents because the food here is amazing. I understand if they had a family emergency but at least put a sign or something. if I get a response I will definitely edit my review and stars because the food is so good!

Good view, friendly staff. May not like if you suffer from sea sickness. I recommend feeding the fish, which you can get food for them in the store, for .50. The fish are apart larger than life.

Awesome owners and management! Food and service wad great. Cubano is fantastic! With lake up it is a must!

We have a boat, (easy in&out access) and this place was recommended by a local. So glad we listened-​great burger with decent service-​lunch for us with a few cocktails thrown in & then back on the water. We will be back no doubt, especially with Lake Travis up.

Our family has been coming here for years since it was Shades. It’s always been a great place to take out of town guests. Even when the water was WAY down, we would trek from up above, but what has happened? I don’t think there is a manager on site, it literally seems to be run by high school kids. A month ago, we were seated promptly and ordered our favorite appetizer of fried pickles (still good). We requested a set of silverware since only one was at the table. The meal came out shortly, and still only one set of silverware and napkin on the table. Can’t eat fried catfish and grilled chicken without silverware. The waiter said he would return with it. For our entertainment pleasure we got to watch him meander from table to table chit-​chatting with some cute girls off of a boat. After about 10 minutes (yes, ten) he walks past our table, looks down and says «Yeah, here you go» and hands me a spoon. I stare at it, and said I need a fork. What should have come out of his mouth was «So sorry, let me get that for you». What did come out of his mouth was «Uhm, can’t you use a spoon?» I replied that I was not 3 yrs old, and I needed a fork. When he returned a few minutes later, he brought a fork held in his hands by the tines. Knowing this was as good as it would get, I gave it to my husband and took his (all is fair in love and war). We then proceeded to watch him fill glasses at the next table from a pitcher about 3 feet above the table and said «Whee» as it filled up, splattering on the lady. Funny how things like this bond you to the people at tables around you. Our conclusion was he is either a. stoned or b. the owners son. Never found out which. The intermission to his show (when he disappeared for long periods of time in the kitchen) was watching a curly headed bus boy in a tie-​dyed shirt doing brain surgery through his nose.
Conclusion — our food was good, but it is just not worth the effort anymore. Makes me sad. Another one bites the dust.

My family has been going here for many years… back to when the restaurant was named Shades.
Food is okay, but.
Unfortunately the restaurant facility is really unclean and appears to be run by local teenagers that have no concept of customer service or clean health habits.
The customer areas… Dinning room, restrooms, bar area are just plain dirty with deferred maintenance items everywhere. Frankly I would hate to see the kitchen.
Lucky for «Knarly» that they have no competition.

We stopped to fill the boat up & grab a bite to eat while enjoying our stay on Lake Travis & we were not disappointed… the cheese steak sandwich was excellent! And after you eat you can take your left over chips or fries & feed the huge catfish that hang out under the dock!

Amazing family friendly place on beautiful lake Travis! The fried pickles are insane! Totally worth the wait! The wait staff is so friendly and fun! Seriously my favorite place — relaxed atmosphere makes any lake day even better!

Went back again today… And they have restored my faith! Quick, polite service and my husband said his burger was the best he’s ever had! Great choice for us today!

This place can be sub par and get away with it because they are one of the few restaurants on the water you can boat to.
Atmosphere: good, right on water. However, broken fan blade so fab was inoperable in main dining area. Last time I checked, fan blades weren’t costly, and a necessity we you are in Texas heat.
Service: very slow while not busy, and when it does pick up, even slower.
Food: you can survive eating it, but nothing is really fresh. They should narrow menu down and be great at several items, not half-​ass a large menu.
Drinks: the drinks are generic Oasis mixers, hard to mess up.
Staff: Looks like half are stoned and the other half could care less being there. Nothing wrong with being stoned, but maybe not during work.
Overall, they are going through the motions but nothing special. It would be nice to see a new ownership overhaul and actually make a nice place where people WANT to go, not go just because there is nothing better and their only choice.
Management Feel free to reach out to me for further explanation if you would like as well as pictures.

We live here in the community, eat here 2 – 3 times a month. We would eat here much more often if the service was better. Today we asked for a specific table away from the entrance and were treated rudely, how dare a customer make such a silly request. Then we sat at the table for 14 minutes (yes, i timed it) without service, when we asked for help the young lady said she couldn’t find the waiter. When i asked if that was true, she said, quote «thats what i said isn’t it». If anyone ftom the Gar cares, at least get the staff to be polite…

Love the Gar. This is lakeside food and cocktails. Come for the atmosphere and the fun. Enjoy a banana margarita, a burger and some fried pickles.

Horrible service, dirty menus with food all over them, we are non smokers, everyone around us was smoking…

The corn meal fried pickles are awesome. Best Cuban sandwich in Texas. Monster burgers.

My husband and I absolutely LOVE this place and the owner Todd. With the drought we haven’t been able to get by as often but still try as often as possible. If you have a boat, or jet ski, do yourself a favor and go grab a bite and a drink at the Gnarly Gar! Take the kiddos and feed the wild and crazy catfish off the floating dock! Give this place a chance, and support small businesses!!!

I would not even give them one star. Have driven from Austin twice to go here with family and dog. Was told pet friendly. We are in our 50s. Walked down 4, flights of rocky stairs. Walked. All the way to marina just to see a sign no pets! Talked to hostess and she knew nothing. Was told I could tie my puppy up to a post in the sun. Explained to them it needed to be on website and at the top of the hill. Very unacommedating and unprofessional. Will not go back or recommend to friends. Go to ski shores on town lake and save the drive.

The food is traditional lake food. Which is not great but not bad. The service was also adequate. Some of the waitresses hang around the hostess station instead of working. When we go the view is awesome and surprisingly for it being a floating restaurant it doesn’t move much. I have a sensitive stomach. obviously if you’ve had to walk down here you know it’s a bitch. A mechanical lift would be nice. The best part for my daughter was feeding the HUGE catfish though. I would recommend someone here solely for this.

What a cool restaurant! The location is awesome, the food is ok. My family went to the Gnarly looking for a place to eat on lake Travis. After the loooonng walk down the stairs to the lake we found the Gnarly and had a nice experience. I wish we would have had Ashley or Shelby as our server because CC was just not that impressive. We ordered an appetizer and four meals. The appetizer came out followed literally 30 seconds later by our meals. It wasn’t real busy so this was a major mistake by a server who sounded experienced. Fortunately the food was mostly good. The catfish was excellent and the fajitas were incredible however the fish and chips were blah and the blah was mainly the fish… ironic for a restaurant floating on the lake.
Overall I give the Gnarly three and a half stars based mainly on the scenery. Again the food was either incredible or not really up to par. That could have been offset by a great server but it really wasn’t. I’d love to give the Gnarly another try sometime. We liked the place enough to buy a t shirt and would recommend but their are better choices in the area.

So, about those giant catfish, carp, and ducks swarming just outside the restaurant along the boardwalk for a bite to eat — are these decorations or just a bit of the charm of this place? Oh, there’s a sign that says, «Don’t feed the ducks» but you bet those little kids are throwing their leftover fries at them, and whatever the ducks miss, the fish get.
Anyway, we spent an afternoon on Lake Travis on a rented boat and ended up at the Gnarly Gar for some dinner. Our group was rather large, so we’d made a reservation ahead of time, which turned out to be a smart idea. We were seated by a young waitress who was able to come back at us blow by blow with all the «crap» we gave her, especially when we broke the «House Rules» by calling her «babe’ or «honey.»
So let’s talk about the massive amounts of food we ordered: shrimp diablo, fried pickles (thinly sliced), queso del Gar, buffalo wings, clam baskets, fish tacos, the Cubano, the clam plate, etc. etc. Everything was delicious and made well, especially with the top shelf margaritas, daiquiries, and beer out of plastic cups. If you’re looking for a high class place on the lake, the Gnarly Gar isn’t it, but it will meet your expectations after a hot day in the Texan sun.