Woody's River Roo Pub & Grill

Woody's is the kind of riverside restaurant which every town in Florida with a waterfront needs. The fact that it is in Ellenton and not across the river in Bradenton is the latter's city's loss.\r \r Boats from all around Manatee County dock at Woody's for a huge American menu of sandwiches, burgers, and beer. There is indoor dining, but on a mild day or night, both tourists and locals appreciate the extensive outdoor seating which includes a patio, a back porch extension, and even seating along a boat jetty.\r \r This place can get crowded so I suggest you come early on weekend nights. We live in Tampa so we mainly hit this spot in our travels and not at night. We found the service and staff fine. Our fellow diners and drinkers found the atmosphere open to fun and conversation. more

Last night's visit to River Roo's was a HUGE disappointment. It started with our burgers being well done instead of medium rare. My fiance's signature mushroom burger was covered in canned mushrooms; ewwwww! When we told the waitress, she agreed that they were over cooked, but then just walked away instead of offering atonement. more

I'm a local and often have friends and family visiting in the winter. I try to take them to all our dining opportunities near the water (beach or river). more

Unfortunately I do not have much good to say. Apart from the food, which is not bad, some of the staff is lacking the very basic manner and cordiality.No greetings, dirty disgusting nails, yawning to the guest's face, etc...Needs lots of improvement, poor customer service.Brought a guest with us, who was extremly diappointed too. BIG mistake!Not goin going back, definitely Pros: n/a Cons: read below more

We sat down, waited for over an hour for food. We were very upset. I overheard the table next to us ask for a manager and they never came. Table asked for the manager again and she finally came. First thing the manager was heard saying was ""your food ticket time showed 28 after so you should not be upset!"" On her way back into the dining room we grabbed the manager and said our food took forever as well and she said verbatim, "" I went to a 4 star restaurant recently and they took 1hr 10 minutes to serve our meal! I asked her if she was the owner and she said no. Minutes later she motioned me to come into dining room away from all other tables and said that she was indeed the owner! She proceeded to fly off the handle screaming all kinds of banter making all present feel uncomfortable. How unprofessional. I was taken back by the owner's lack of respect and willingness to make things right and if for nothing else acknowledge that we were upset. We eat out all the time and subscribe to Zagat?s guide so it?s not as if we have never been to a decent restaurant. It was a horror show. Food turned out to be edible bar food but not worth the headache. Eaters beware, crazy lady at the helm! Pros: Waitress was nice and tried hard to please Cons: Manager was belligerent when told about the long wait. more