Snook Haven Restaurant and Camp

Atmosphere: Old style FL, Interesting. Food: Meh. Worth a 40 min drive to visit again: Nope.

Neat place you can eat under the old oak trees. Lots of fish dishes mostly deep fried but good. Music in the afternoon. Nice. A taste of old Florida.

Cool and rustic setting. BBQ dishes above average. Burgers good. Fries good. Go for the experience, setting and good, average food.

Snook Haven restaurant is in a rather difficult location to find. Actually it’s kind of a hidden gem to be discovered. You’ll find genuine southen cookin’ that is really well done. i’ve had the spare ribs several times and can’t seem to get past them because they are AWESOME. Very generous portion as well. My wife isn’t much of a BBQ fan and she continues to order them too, and for my wife, that says something. The catfish dinner is … so I’ve heard from my lunch companions really very good. The majority of the diners are from the adjacent fish camp/​camp ground. Try to go between lunch and dinner during snowbird season or you may have a difficult time finding a table. The place is a madhouse… and for good reason. They do have outdoor seating at picnic tables if the inside is filled up. There is a «walk up» counter to order your food and they bring your order to you. The only negative comment is I cannot find French fries on the menu, They do seem to substitute home made potato chips that are fine, but they aren’t fries. Maybe I’m not seeing them on the menu. The setting is really pretty neat situated on the Myakka River. It offers a scenic after lunch or dinner walk, You might even see an alligator swimming by. I give it 4 stars. I see from another review it appears they do have waffle fries. Probably French fries too. Make that 4.5 stars.

The NEW Snookhaven has all the charm of the one that has been there forever but with fantastic food and a clean new kitchen and restaurant.

It has been many years since I’ve been to Snook Haven. I was on the Myakka River with a friend from Austria. And when I motored past, we decided to tie up at their dock and have a late lunch. Ewald is quite particular about healthy food. But Wendy the bar tender talked him into trying their gator bites with myakka chips. I was a little surprised. I had their big cheese burger which went down well with my two drafts. As others have pointed out, this is simple American food prepared well and fresh. It comes out the way they pride themselves. This was a very nice warm and sunny Florida winter day near 80. And we spent 4 hours on the river so far. So the good simple fare was perfect. The menu has a good selection of fish, pulled pork fried okra … for example. Nothing is pre-​cooked.
They had the banjo band inside today. The dulcimer and banjo bands here are pretty well known in the area. There are bands almost everyday, one around noon and one in the evening. Almost all the outdoor tables were taken, and the inside as well. Several groups from their tour boat trips were there. Some were eating after a tour and other before. The boat skipper Captain Terry ordered something to take out at the bar where we sat. Guess another tour will start soon. You can usually see gators on these tours. You can also rent canoes and kayaks. We were in a small fishing boat which is only a foot above the water. So we got a real close look, see pictures
.
Snook Haven is a delightful and fun experience. Their theme is the alligator
. A genuine and unique Florida experience which cannot be replicated!