Shady Gators

Over the 4th of July weekend, my in-laws took my family to the Ozarks.  We drove separately but we all stayed in their condo, which is cool, because there are no expenses really, on our part.  While there, on Friday afternoon, we took their boat out and went for a ride up and down the lake and finally settles at Shady Gators for lunch.  This place is huge.  It has its own dock to park your boat as well as parking lot for those taking cars.  It looks like a three story deck, sticking on posts out of the lake.  This was the view from our table:

On Friday, it was sunny, warm (not hot) and a nice day to sit back, wait for food and take in the view of the boats and the lake.  The area that we sat near, was across from a bar, with people there, but everything looked rough, unclean, and very lazy, which is part of the theme.

So, we order some fried fish, for the table to snack on as we wait for food and I ordered the chicken gumbo.  The fish comes out first.  It is a sweet white fish, covered in corn flakes, and served hot, dripping in honey.  I ate more than I normally do, of fish.  It didn't taste of fish.  It tasted of honey and corn flakes.  It was good and I'd give it a 4 out of 5 stars, because I would go back and order it and eat it all.

My dish, was the chicken gumbo.  They had some alligator items on the menu, and I think they thought they should also stick with a Cajun style because most people associate alligator with Cajun food.  I didn't order any of that.  But I did order the chicken gumbo and it came with a small salad and a piece of cornbread.  Now, I'm thinking to myself that I should have no problem eating the appetizer fish and my course, because for the prices, it can't be that big.  My dish was huge.

I know it looks small, because it is just a picture, but I would say that the center area where the gumbo was, was actually about 8 inches across and an inch down.  This was just filled with perfectly cooked rice, big chunks of chicken, a piece or two of sausage and a rich and flavorful tomato broth.  It was shocking both how large this entree was and how tasty it was.  It also received a 4 out of 5 from me. 

http://www.shadygators.com/
(573) 365-6464
Located on the Lucky 7MM
at Lazy Gator Point!