Kalua Beach Bar in Tavares - Phone Number, Reservations, Reviews

Amazing place and Tristan is the top-notch waiter. We love you. Wow great time.

LOVE!!! Always Great Service!!! Excellent food, service, drinks, and live music!!!!

Tavares is NOT the place to go. Avoid!

Tasty food, Live music, Good Vibes

Just a great beach bar with surprisingly good food.

Great place for drinks and munchies while looking at the beautiful lakes

Redhead waitress around 2pm more interested in chatting with boys at bar than patrons. Also argumentative about what comes with the baskets. Slaw shouldn't be extra with the grouper.

The 5 stars are for food and the servers Chek, no no and Allie. Everytime we come they are awesome. Chek is the. Est. He goes above and beyond all the time. If we come and they aren’t there we get horrible service. Just now (2/27 at 130pm) we went and had the servers walk right past where we were sitting at least 3x each without saying a word. One girl with tattoos on her face played with a dog for 5 mins at the table next to us while we sat without even a greeting. Bartender playing on their phones. We left. We were one of 4 tables without drinks or anything.

Had a great time here, met some awesome people here. Will definitely go back.

Gross food, poor service, overpriced.

We really enjoyed this place. Met some great people.

Great place on the lake outside so wear your shorts and your native Floridian gear or Taurus gear live music we saw there was out of this world it was really good food was good and service was excellent

Busy but good service. Good band. Good bar food. Our group had Wings burgers and fish tacos.

We love pulling up to the shore on our boat right next to the bar. They usually have live music, and if not, we enjoy choosing music on TouchTunes. Great food, great atmosphere! I just don't recommend the Cajun Gator Bites. They were very tough and chewy when we ordered it the other day. My husband loves the fish tacos, and my daughter likes the chicken tenders and fries. We brought our puppy, too. Very dog friendly there.

Typical beach bar food...too bust for servers to handle...and buggy

Great place, great food, and great service. Wish the fans were a little more effective given it's an outside bar. Also, they need their own dock. Beaching the boat on the shore is rough on my hull, and at 54, not so fun for me either. Lol

Super nice bartender, Chuck makes the difference 👌

The food was good. Initial service was slow, we almost left. Once they recognized that we were there, the service was good. Definitely more bar than restaurant, but the food was good and reasonably priced.

Great place in downtown Tavares. Food was delicious, staff were friendly, atmosphere was fantastic.

We ordered beer and the wings were so delicious and the atmosphere was good with great music it can get busy but the bartender was always checking

Unfortunately our experience was lack luster. We had to ask for both initial service and our check when it was time to go. The only time anyone came to the table to was to deliver our first drinks and drop off food. We never got a refill even when it was over 100+ degrees outside considering all their seating is open to the outside. We ordered a burger well done and got one that was served greasy, seared on the outside, and completely rare inside. Picture of the well done patty below. Shame, seeing as how this place might have potential.

Drinks and food were great. One of those finds where you can pull up on the boat and enjoy some live music and drinks. Great view of the water and downtown Tavares.

Didn't realize until after we got there this is basically an outdoor bar on the water. No indoor seating, no AC. Sat down at a long narrow high top, after of course clearing bugs off the seat. (It is outside) Looked at the limited menu and placed an order. Food came out and the fries were seasoned ( ordered with no seasoning) the girl took them back saying she would replace them with the right ones. I got the chicken tenders but was never offered any dipping sauce. Wife got the burger and said it had no flavor. Replacement fries showed up after the burger was finished. Asked for refills on drinks, that never happened. Wasn't pleased when another customer started smoking. While I sat there a crow walked up expecting a handout. So, as they name says, this is a bar. They don't have wait staff, they have barmaids. They don't have walls so nature comes to visit. (Fly's, nats, flying ants, tiny spiders, birds and who knows what) The food was, well "bar food", and nothing to bring you back for more. So, Atmosphere, not that good, unless you like eating among nature's little critters. Staff, quit to get you booze, but slow and inattentive for anything else. Cleanliness, I didn't see much effort in that area, or in overall maintenance. This place has a few hazard you need to look out for. I know this from experience. When we went to sit at another table near friends I took an unplanned trip with a destination called concrete floor. There's a change in floor elevation that's difficult to see when walking towards the lake. (See photos) There are no warning signs, no big safety yellow stripes. The word "caution" is nowhere to be seen. As I went down heading for the concrete what went through my head was how this could make my three resent spinal surgeries pointless. There's absolutely no way I'm the only person who's taken this "trip" especially considering this is a bar. So, if you don't mind mediocre food, indifferent barmaids, request being ignored, little bugs flying around, sitting outside in the heat, and taking the chance of kissing concrete. This might be the place for you. Note: Maybe the reason I wasn't offered dipping sauce is because they were running low. Possibly because a lot of those little packages are thrown on the ground around the parking area, waiting like little landminds for you to step on them and explode sauce in all directions. In my opinion - To be fair, this is a bar. And not a very good one. Certainly, not a safe one.

Husband and I were looking for a nice waterfront place to grab a bite and a few drinks before heading into Mount Dora. The place was busy but had several opened seats. I asked a waitress if we seat ourselves and she said yep, and we’ll be right with you. We picked a seat by the stage so we could watch the boaters. Sat for probably 15 min and nobody ever came to us. That said, we got up and found our fun in Mount Dora.

Best tiki bar and best grouper bites in any bar in Florida. Phantom Airborne approved!

Great service in a casual atmosphere.

I just had a beer. The person serving appeared a bit too busy to great me and take my order. I've had the food and it's pretty good. Go enjoy the lake and park and little town.

Visited this afternoon and left after about 15 mins. Party of 6. Greeted and told to sit wherever. Not too busy only 2 other tables and 1 or 2 at the bar. Sat and enjoyed the view. Saw other tables come in and get menus and drink orders. We never got that far. Saw multiple staff working. And staff visit table that came in and sat beside us. Clearly didn’t want our business.

Food was very good and your on the lake so the view is amazing

Cool place to be. Right on the water. Service was a bit slow but everyone was super friendly. Drinks were good.

What an awesome place for lunch by the lake. Trent was a good server. The food was also very good. My concerns were: First, the manager was blowing off the walk area with no regard for where the dust was going. The second concern was the lack of clean condiments on the tables. And finally, when I asked the manager to stop at our table, she wasn't interested in what I had to say, only that she needed to finish the cleaning. Now I have met the owner and know he's a pretty cool person and always took time to talk to customers. So I made it a point as I left to express my concerns to her, she stopped and listened and apologized.

If you read What others have said On here with lowest Review , go here if your white only , place seems like it’s still Going based off “ whites only “ felt very Discriminated . server Was Being friendly and attentive to everyone else as we sat There for over an hour . Until finally we canceled our order and left . babyyy Y’all gon Mess with the wrong person one day ! And it ain’t gon be good .

I sat on the end of a table in a high traffic area for over 20 minutes and was not addressed or acknowledged by one waitress. At least 4 waitresses walked past me at least 6 times each, and not one of them checked on me as I sat at a completely empty table. I'm not someone who "just blends in". Honestly, some of the worst customer service I've had in many years. I would seriously take a look at your waitresses and your manager, because that type of customer service will kill a business.

Like others said , This place Discriminates , watching our server go back and forth with other people and we were a Group of 3 , Watched other people get refills not once did she stop by to check up on us , took her attention to be able to Finally get a refill waited over an hour for just one of our foods to come out , everyone else Got their foods before us , didn’t even want to ask for manager cause I read That he/she don’t even care about customer , it is what it is Waitress Name was Olivia .

Quite disappointed, we have been here many times when in town and unfortunately the menu and service has gone down hill. Cole slaw horrible, fries overcooked, burgers dry. No longer offer our favorite pulled pork. Waitress took our order without writing it down, then came back and asked for our order again to write it down this time??? Atmosphere is great right on the lake, but food and service are suffering, so probably will not visit again.

I go to kaluas multiple times a month due to working near by. Fantastic service, after only my 2nd time, they treated me as a regular. The food is outstanding and reasonably priced. The food is especially good when Gary is in the kitchen. I always get the buffalo chicken sandwich but all the entrees that get brought out around me also look fantastic when garys cooking. 10/10 would recommend coming here by car or boat.

Food was ok , unique atmosphere nice by the water server was great but the bartender was clueless I felt bad for our server he was a nice guy just a bad bartenderbl

Kalua Beach Bar This is a lakeside bar and American eatery with a chill vibe with under cover patio tables overlooking Lake Dora and next door to the seaplane base. Their food is great and the servers / bartenders are awesome! We especially love their burgers! They have daily food specials, live music and karaoke.

It's one of my favorite places to go on the weekend. Love it!!

Pretty disappointed in our experience here yesterday. We ordered the chicken tender basket with fries and a fish sandwich. The chicken tenders were definitely not tender. They were so small and the chicken was dry. They were cold just like the fries. The fish sandwich was just as bad and it was watery. The service was really slow, we waited a long time for drinks and it explains why the food was cold. We both had to wave at the waitress to get her attention to get our check. She didn't even ring our overpriced drinks up correctly. It's really sad because this place has a great location, but I won't be back.

Nice place to eat wings and quesadillas. Also, the Margaritas are good.

Right along the beautiful Tavares river walk. Highly recommend especially on a cool sunday. Been here many times and love coming.

It was a great place and will go again soon

If you're looking for a "dive" Beach bar look no further. It's truly worth trying. It's right on the water and the drinks, food and service are great. My wife had a blue cheese and bacon burger and I had a fried chicken sandwich with cheese curds. Everything was delicious. Don't pass this place up, You won't be disappointed.

Love the atmosphere. I think it’s one of the best, beautiful and relaxed. Food and service was great too.

Service has went to begging for someone to analog your existence. Getting too expensive too. This used to be my favorite place

Great people watching. Often good music. Avoid the margaritas.

Great views, casual atmosphere, our kinda place. We'll be back.

Stopped for a drink and to enjoy the live music.

Giant fish sandwich. Great burger. Cold beer and mixed drinks. Outdoors.

Terrible service and poor management. My husbands food was undercooked so it was sent back to the kitchen but instead of making his ticket first priority they decided to put it at the back of the line. This is food and beverage 101. Fix your mistakes first. 30 min passed and my husband still had no food. We explained we needed to get going because the sun was going down and we were on a boat. (We came here 2 hours before sunset for this reason) Finally I just asked for a refund because I just wanted to leave. Lo and behold the ONLY person in this establishment on a busy Saturday night that can issue a refund is a manager…. THE MANAGER WASN’T EVEN ON SITE. How can you run a business like this? Poor leadership, managment and service. It’s a shame because we are locals and we really wanted to like this restaurant to support a local business.

Love the outdoor atmosphere here! Always good music, service and food.

As a local to the Golden Triangle for many years, I’ve always wanted to give this place a try. Finally came during the Sea Plane Festival and what a big disappointment! The atmosphere is great, the prices are reasonable, the food was okay, but the staff was horrible! Got a table right in front of the stage where a young man was playing the guitar with a beautiful voice and nice view of Lake Dora. We waited and waited but a server never came. I understand it was super busy with the festival going on but to get completely blown off? I had to go to the bar and placed my order and still took forever. So my husband and I left but I felt bad leaving since our order was already in, so we turned around and came back, lo and behold there was a couple sitting in our spot with a bucket full of beers! We had no problem finding another spot to sit but still no server so went to the bar to get our food. What really pissed me off is that they (the couple with the bucket of beers) got their food at the same time we got ours! How is that even possible? Naturally I felt discriminated so I brought it to the manager’s attention and his response was “don’t play that discrimination card here” and wasn’t sincerely apologetic instead just gave us a round of drinks to try to make things right. A simple heartfelt apology and reassurance that he would not allow this to happen again would’ve gone a long way and perhaps turn this review into a positive one.

Nice outdoor bar, great scenery 👍

Service is great, beautiful views. Huge shots. Great atmosphere. Definitely coming back. Fun bartenders.

Out riding stopped by to have a drink nice place we didn’t have any food

Fun place with good food on the beach! 👍

Had the fish n chips......nope never again!!! It was just to salty and soggy, but the drinks were on point and our server was awesome!!!

The location where this restaurant Is located is beautiful, HOWEVER, if its busy which is often, good luck with service. Went today and a little girl (waitress) wearing a brown sweatshirt with 2 braided pigtails was awful. She never came to our table so we can order food. I went up to her to order 2 beers. Well, she couldn’t remember 2 beers and said I’ll be back but my husband was so thirsty I went to the bar to get them. And that was it! She never returned so we could order food so we left. Awful, awful service 80% of the time I’ve been here. Your staff can’t handle the tables its had, let alone the ones you just added. Awwwwww GREED. Its a beautiful thing :/

Even tho was cold when i went it was a lovely place to sit and have cold beer while watching over the lake

We love going down town Tavares and walk our dog alone the lake feed the squirrels and stop for a few drinks and bite for lunch.They are dog friendly and always bring our boy a bowl of water. The cheese steak is amazing.

It's an ok outside bar.... Beers are like 5$ a piece tho...,.

My neighborhood tiki bar allows drunks with aggressive dogs to get top notch service. Waiting 44 minutes for a cocktail while watching the 2 bartenders on staff bus tables and serve a drunk with an aggressive dog has definitely left a bad taste in my mouth.

We had the most amazing time. The staff was amazing. Even though it was cold. They made you feel warm and like you were family. Thanks Guys. Will be back

Great food, great ambiance, cool place, great service! Go see Sonia, she's amazing

Typical corner bar that just happens to sit in a beautiful spot on the Lake. Decent bar food and nice staff. Cool spot to hang.

Kalua Beach Bar is an exclusively outdoor-only bar with covered outdoor tables for anyone coming for a meal. There are no indoor areas - be warned. There are also tables right on the lake and in a man-made sand pit. The atmosphere feels fun for a bar venue, but I wouldn't go out of my way to eat here unless I just wanted the view (on a day that wasn't boiling hot). I imagine it's lively at night too. The food was okay. I couldn't put my finger on what type of seasoning was used on the burger, and the fries I think came with Cajun seasoning. The fish used in fish n chips was not the typical cod - maybe tilapia or catfish? I think I expected more of a Hawaiian themed menu based on the name of the restaurant, but it wasn't bad overall. I will say the staff was incredibly friendly. The tables were clean and well kept. I'm really happy it was cool and overcast during our visit, the view was so relaxing, although there is music being played overhead.

Meeting some friends for a boat ride, we ordered to-go lunches. I'm not kidding...my fish tacos and my Wife's burger took 50 minutes to arrive. All our server could do was apologize. She did give me an additional beer. Luckily my our friends who provided the boat ride were polite and patient. I really couldn't understand why there was such a long delay. Since my credit card had been run, I couldn't just walk away. As for our meals, my fish tacos were great. Wife reported, her burger was very good. But the wait for these lunches will cause me to avoid Kalua next time.

Everything was great except I thought $10 for a Rum Runner drink was too much !

Right on the water, cold beer, and good music

Food was great, service was awesome and live music was so much fun!!

Went in with the kids. Live music. Good seating.

Steak night even on a plastic plate still good steak good service music by Michelle great time

Nice beach style bar and grill. The garlic cheese curds are EXCELLENT. Full bar for mixed drinks. They also frequently have live music on the weekends.

The setting is great, right on the water. The food and drinks were very good. The only complaint I had was that the music was so loud you couldn't hear the person right next to you unless you yell in their ear.

They are always out of something on the menu. Not a big selection of food. A better place for enjoying the atmosphere and a cocktail, wine or a beer.

Really nice atmosphere. Great band.

To quote my meat loving husband "this is the best burger I have had". My taco salad was great too! We have never been disappointed here with food or drinks!

Cute little bar and grill right on lake Dora. Great service, friendly staff and decent prices. A great place to relax and enjoy great food and drinks with friends. However, drink prices are way to high. 7.50 for a small plastic glass drink is nuts.

Un buen ambiente para pasarla en familia. Lo recomiendo

Everything was wonderful..Even the birds..lol..We will definitely return 😊

Loved the lake front beach vibe. Live music was great. An evening to remember with boats full of folks pulling into dock. Very cool.

Excellent lakeside place with great music

Saturday's and Sunday's great atmosphere.

Really nice bar and grill. It's completely outside (covered but still gets hot), so keep this in mind if you don't like to sit outside. *bring your dog if you have one* Park your vehicle or boat, grab a drink, and watch the planes take off from the water! The jalapeño cheddar burger is AMAZING but spicy, and the fries were to die for!!! 10/10 recommend 👌

Great place and super friendly wait staff. Especially on a Sunday when they worked so hard first part of weekend.

Beer was warm, very limited alcoholic drink options, wings were good but fries were way too salty for someone who likes salt on her fries, great location, good service

Had a great lunch here at the Kalua Bar. It's right on Lake and has a great atmosphere. I've been here a few times before. Food and service were always on point. It's all outdoor seating, and was never too busy to find a spot to sit. It's definitely a must try if you're in the Tavares area looking for a bite to eat on the water. You can even dock your boat here if you're out fishing on that lake.

We come by boat, park on the beach and enjoy drinks with great Cesar salads

Kyla’s service and personality was absolutely excellent! My cheese quesadilla with pulled pork was so good. Fish & Chips we’re really good too!

Servers were great. Was 4th of July. They hussled in the extreme heat.

Really chill vibe. Live music on the water front. My server Kyla is AWESOME! She is a hard worker with a great personality.

It's always a great experience by the water period We don't eat the food, it's just bar food.

Very nice blonde haired server. Ice cold draft beer and a pretty good band.

Get place and staff. Food great . Best place in Tavares on the water. Highly recommended.

Took a very long time to get waited on and even longer for our food, but a cute place.

Love the music venue..Adam Grayford rocks the place. Great food, views of the lake are beautiful..

I've been to this bar several times and I have never had a bad meal and there's almost always a band playing when I find it very relaxing

Great beach bar on the shore of Lake Dora in downtown Tavares! Good vibes, great drinks and food and friendly staff. Live music often and you can arrive by boat (or sea plane)! Come see us at the beach volleyball courts next door!

Found this place today because we were looking for waterfront restaurants. At first I wasn’t sure about the place, it’s got picnic tables and a few high tops in an outdoor rustic kind of place. I’m so glad we stuck it out, our server “Check” yup that’s his name was awesome, he even sat down and told us a little bit about the area, as he’s a true local. We ordered 2 apps; garlicky cheese curds and peel n eat shrimp, they were both great! Our entrees were blackened fish sandwich and blackened fish tacos. Both were very good, but I must warn you the tacos were a little spicy, didn’t stop me though 🤣. I will def go back, as we were leaving a great band was coming on and we caught a little bit of it, they were really good.