When we walked onto the dock, we noticed a lot of people sitting at tables on the wharf. I looked around for a door to enter the restaurant, but the only door went into the kitchen, so we found an empty table and a waiter brought the menu.

They feature fresh Florida fish, shrimp, conch, alligator, and steak. The house specialties are Coconut Shrimp ($13.95), Dolphin Sandwich ($12.95), Cracked Conch Burger ($9.50), and Shrimp Burger ($12.95). I settled for a Grouper Fingers Sandwich ($8.50-$8.95) with cheese, and my husband ordered Traditional Style Fish and Chips ($7.95).

Not willing to believe that was the only dining area, I looked around for an inside dining room while we waited for our lunch. Further along on the wharf was a large octagonal building with the wall open on one side. Inside is a bar and more tables. I noticed a gift shop nearby, and as I walked over there to see what they offered, I passed the swimming pool. The gift shop and pool are part of Shirttail Charlie's. If I had arrived by yacht, I would have realized we could jump in the pool and cool off before lunch, then we could sit at the tables next to the pool in our bathing suits and people would know we'd arrived by yacht. At night, the dining room over the kitchen is open. Also at night, they offer a free tour up the New River. Really!!!

The grouper sandwich with cheese was excellent. It was served with fries and coleslaw and lettuce and tomato, and the coleslaw was real good. My husband enjoyed the fish and chips and ordered Key Lime Pie for dessert. We shared it. It was the best I've ever tasted.

Eventually the water bus docked and took us back across the river.

Fresh seafood is the specialty, but burgers, hot dogs & chicken are also on the menu. My husband had the blackened dolphin (not Flipper) sandwich. He said it was good, but not great. It came with lettuce, tomato, slaw and fries. I sneaked a couple of fries from his plate--they were very tasty! The clam chowder was smooth and creamy. I had the steak tidbits with sauteed onions & peppers, served over rice. It sounded so delicious! The steak was tender, but had no flavor. I actually ended up putting ketchup on it to give it some taste. The vegetables and rice were fine. Dinner & non-alcoholic drinks totalled $30.

Okay, so our food wasn't that great, but the atmosphere was romantic and relaxed! Sitting right on the floating dock, we watched many boats come and go. Even saw a wedding in progress on the deck of a yacht! There is a train drawbridge only a few hundred yards away. Twice we watched the bridge come down and a very noisy train pass by.

After dinner, a free shuttle will take you for a ride across the New River to the new Arts Center. We saw many people all dressed up who'd eaten dinner upstairs, then took the shuttle to the Arts Center to see "The Lion King." We took a cruise on the shuttle, then a short walk over to Las Olas Riverwalk. The Captain told us that when we were ready to get a ride back, either call his cell phone or flag him down if we see him and he'd pick us up where ever we were. As long as it was before he started picking up passengers after the show, that is. We were able to flag him down a couple of hours later and got a ride back to the restaurant. What a fun way to travel!

We decided to stay awhile longer and ordered a piece of key lime pie ($3.50) to share. It was very good. Very creamy like a key lime cheesecake with a graham cracker crust.

Read all about Shirttail Charlie's on their website: Shirttail Charlie's Call for directions as getting there by car is a little tricky.