Best Restaurants in Crystal River

Crystal River Florida is known for its nature, beautiful natural springs, manatee tours and encounters, quaint historic downtown area and many water activities like boating, kayaking and paddleboarding. It is also known for its world-class fishing with several rivers and a marshy coastline along Citrus, Pasco and Hernando Counties.

Crystal River is one of the few places where you can swim with manatees. The springs flow at a constant 72 degrees, making the waters attractive to all sorts of activities in the winter months. 

We know the list of best restaurants in Crystal River is important to the active visitor to the area. Florida Travel Blog covers these many activities in Crystal River often. Our last visit was in June 2023.

Despite its relatively small size, 3500 people in 2023, Crystal River is a top tourist destination for all the activities in Crystal River. Tourists from all over the southeastern United States travel here to interact with manatees, visit the many springs and fish in one of Florida’s top fishing locations.

With this many activities in Crystal River, travelers are also looking for the best restaurants in Crystal River, Florida.

Best Restaurants in Crystal River with The Best Food in Crystal River They Each Serve

It is easy to give a list of all the various restaurants in Crystal River, but as everyone knows, all restaurants aren’t equal in the type and quality of food they prepare. We have always prophesied that the person who goes to a Chinese restaurant and then complains about their steak is asking for what they got!

Our 2023 list of the best restaurants in Crystal River includes the best food in Crystal River that they serve.

We start with everyone’s favorite food, the hamburger.

• St. Johns Tavern – This is a favorite watering hole of the locals. An old historic building skirting downtown Crystal River at 572 N. Citrus Ave. houses this authentic tavern with a wide selection of craft beers and tavern-style menu.

Best Food in Crystal River served at St. John’s Tavern, the Smash Burger. This twin patty burger with cheese is the best we have found. It is on a soft bun with the works or customized to your liking. Yes, it is smashed on the grill!

• Seafood Seller & Cafe – We must admit the name fooled us for a few years before our visit. But make no mistake they know how to prepare some of the most creative seafood on the planet. Located at 300 S.E. US Hwy 19 they are easy to find on the main north/south thoroughfare in Crystal River.

Best Food in Crystal River served is Seller’s Shrimp and Grits, but don’t stop with that. Their take on classic New Orleans dishes is amazing. They have some of the freshest seafood in town for sale also.

• Coney Island – This iconic restaurant in Crystal River is located at 674 NE 5^th St. Legend has it that Elvis visited in 1961. We know they do a heck of a lot of business out of this location with or without Elvis.

Best Food in Crystal River is their Hotdog. Not just any old hotdog, but just about every type you can imagine and a few you can’t imagine.

• Dan’s Clam Stand – Located at 2315 N Sunshine Path, one of the main east/west arteries in Crystal River. Dan’s is in an unassuming “shack”. Don’t be fooled, they know what they are doing.

Best Food in Crystal River served at Dan’s Clam Stand is their fried clam strips and fried colossal shrimp. If you like fried seafood, this is the place to go – bar none!

• Kane’s Cattle Company – This restaurant in Crystal River is just down the street from St. John’s Tavern at 508 N. Citrus Ave.

Best Food in Crystal River served at Kane’s is steak. Just about any type of steak. They have many diverse items including pork on the menu, but they are known for quality steaks.

• The Biscuit Barn – This is one of the best restaurants in Crystal River even if they only sold biscuits! The Biscuit Barn is hard to miss at 1960 NW US Hwy 19. They serve from 7 AM to 2 PM daily.

The best food in Crystal River they serve is the Best Breakfast. Just about everything is good, but The Biscuit Barn is known for their biscuits and sausage gravy as a specialty.

• La Casa Di Norma – If you like Italian food this restaurant in Crystal River will meet all your expectations at 1609 SE Highway 19.

Best food in Crystal River served here is authentic Italian. This is not some cheap spaghetti joint, so enjoy the best Italian restaurant in Crystal River.

• Crab Plant – if you are not familiar with the area, this restaurant in Crystal River may be hard to find at 201 NW 5th Street. It is literally at the edge of Kings Bay on the river.

The Best Food in Crystal River the Crab Plant serves is fresh off the boat seafood. The are wholesale buyers from fishermen and they resell and cook their purchases. Stone crabs, grouper and other seafood is served in a rustic setting.

• Cody’s Original Roadhouse – This is one of the bigger places to eat in Crystal River. One of the best-known restaurants in Crystal River also. Located at 305 SE Highway 19, Cody’s has a vast menu.

Cody’s is our Best Happy Hour food restaurant in Crystal River. Not only do they have 2 for 1 drinks, but daily food specials are a bargain. Don’t miss their BOGO fajitas on Wednesdays.

• Tiki Bar – The Plantation Inn – The Plantation Inn is one of the most well known hotels in Crystal River located at 9301 West Fort Island Trail. The waterfront Tiki Bar is part of the hotel. We think the Tiki bar is one of the best restaurants in Crystal River for reasons other than food!

The best food in Crystal River served at the Tiki Bar is anything on the waterfront with a natural breeze and the occasional manatee wandering by. The allure of the boats, the water, the pool next door, cool breezes even in summer, adds environment to the flavor.

• KC Wine and Koffee Bar – This restaurant in Crystal River has all the atmosphere of a romantic wine bar. Located at 564 N. Citrus Ave., next to St. John’s Tavern, KC has a great wine list, entertainment and outdoor seating.

KC Wine bar is our selection for the best wine bar in Crystal River. They have excellent bistro style food also.

• Lollygaggers Sports Pub – Lollygaggers is easily found at 744 SE Us Highway 19. This restaurant is loaded with TVs that carry every major sporting event year round.

The Best Sports Bar Food in Crystal River is what Lollygaggers is known for. They do serve better than average sports bar food and they have daily specials that rival many other restaurants in Crystal River.

Honorable Mention for Best Restaurants in Crystal River

• Norton’s Riverside Sports Bar & Grill – This popular neighborhood sports bar gets a lot of attention from the locals. They are well known for their wings and nightly entertainment. Norton’s is located at 16 NE 5th St., just a block off US Highway 19.

• Grannie’s Country Cooking

  

  – Look, how can you not include an eatery with the name Grannie’s. This is old country cooking. Where else can you find fried catfish, brown beans and sliced peaches for breakfast?

We also know Grannie’s has been around for more than 20 years serving breakfast starting at 5 AM! Fishermen get up early. They deserve recognition for being one of the best restaurants in Crystal River if for nothing else, longevity serving their guests cracker country food.

Waterfront Restaurants in Crystal River

Crystal River is a famous destination for watersports. So, it makes sense that one of many visitors’ first questions is, what are the best waterfront restaurants in Crystal River Florida. While we cover 12 restaurants in Crystal River, the best waterfront restaurants in Crystal River Florida are;

• Crackers for Casual Bar Food – located at 512 Northwest 6th Street.
• Charlies Fish House – located at 224 US-19
• The Crab Plant – Kings Bay, see below for full description.
• Waterfront Social – located at 1610 SE Paradise Circle
• Plantation Inn Tiki Bar – see below for location and description
• Pecks Port Old Cove Restaurant – this is a bit of a drive through the marshes of Crystal River. It is located in Ozello at 139 Ozello Trail.

While these are the waterfront restaurants in Crystal River, they are not necessarily our recommended places for anything other than being the best waterfront restaurants in Crystal River. The exceptions are noted.

We should note they are the ONLY restaurants on the water! We do say that Pecks Port Old Cove may be an interesting drive through the swamp lands of Crystal River. They specialize in blue crabs and have a great view.

For locations of the restaurants in Crystal River check the Crystal River Map below.

Recommended Activities in Crystal River

As noted earlier, Crystal River is a small town being the 244^th largest city in Florida. Their size does not match their superb hospitality for visitors.

As a regular visitor, Florida Travel Blog has a few other recommendations for travelers heading to Crystal River Florida.

The Best Hotel in Crystal River is The Plantation Inn. It is not the newest, but this grand old hotel is on the waterfront of Kings Bay.

If you are a golfer, The Plantation Inn has a championship golf course on property. If you want more challenge, a couple of the best golf courses in Florida are just 30 minutes away at World Woods (now known as Cabot Citrus Farms). We recommend the Pine Barrens course.

Crystal River has renewed life for travelers after the completion of the Veterans Highway (see map of Crystal River) that ends at Rt. 44 known as Gulf to Lake Highway in Crystal River. By taking the Veterans Highway, Tampa residents can be in Crystal River in 90 minutes.

If you are a fisherman (or woman), there are a multitude of charter fishing opportunities in and around Crystal River. Scallop season starts in July each year. In 2023 the season starts on July 1, 2023. Everything you need to know about Crystal River scalloping is here.

Crystal River is a fun location in Florida. This is not a fancy resort destination with matching costs. Inexpensive vacations and activities make Crystal River Florida top on your bucket list.

Florida Travel Blog hopes our list of the best restaurants in Crystal River and the best food in Crystal River list makes your trip a little easier to plan.

Other Florida Travel Blog Posts in the Area

Best Small Beach Towns

10 Best Places in Florida to See Manatees

The Nature Coast of Florida