Lake of the Ozarks map

Fudge, chocolate and saltwater taffy made on the Strip since 1964. Mid-summer they run around 35 fudge flavors and 40+ taffy flavors, plus the Ozark Turtle.

Ask for samples. Closed January and most of February.

Google rating

★ 4.8 (217)

Address

1470 Bagnell Dam Blvd, Lake Ozark, MO 65049

10,000 sq ft of souvenirs, and the longest continually operated store at the lake — going since 1947. Old-fashioned candy sticks, Fitz's soda, toys, and a model train running the ceiling.

Google rating

★ 4.5 (1,052)

Address

1482 Bagnell Dam Blvd, Lake Ozark, MO 65049

Old-school arcade next door to the store (separate business). The pinball wall is the best part.

Quarters only — bring cash. Machines are hit-or-miss. Good for 30 minutes, not a destination.

Google rating

★ 4.0 (461)

Address

1476 Bagnell Dam Blvd, Lake Ozark, MO 65049

Good, no fuss

A ropes course and zipline built directly above the restaurant. One ticket buys unlimited time on the course. Burgers and malts downstairs.

Best fun-per-hour on the Strip. Dinner and the activity in one stop.

Google rating

★ 4.4 (500)

Price

$$

Address

1345 Bagnell Dam Blvd, Lake Ozark, MO 65049

Worth booking

Breakfast on the Strip since 1953, and the best-rated breakfast at the lake. The famous cinnamon roll is a three-pound plateful with a knife stuck in the top so you carve off a hunk and pass the plate.

Open 7am–2pm daily. Go before 9 — by 11:30 the line is out the door.

Google rating

★ 4.7 (1,429)

Price

$

Address

1260 Bagnell Dam Blvd, Lake Ozark, MO 65049

Good, no fuss

The lake's only oyster bar. Get the chargrilled oysters — garlic butter and parmesan, they convert skeptics. Brussels sprouts and the ooey gooey butter cake both over-deliver.

Google rating

★ 4.6 (4,154)

Price

$$

Address

1339 Bagnell Dam Blvd, Lake Ozark, MO 65049

Good, no fuss

Pizza on the Strip, with a quieter downstairs room where you can watch them build the pies. Live music and sports upstairs.

Loud upstairs — it's a party room after dark. Ask for downstairs if you want to talk.

Google rating

★ 4.6 (209)

Price

$$

Address

1312 Bagnell Dam Blvd, Lake Ozark, MO 65049

Good, no fuss

48+ flavors, homemade waffle cones and pies, Dole Whip, hand-squeezed lemonade with boba. Lines move fast.

Google rating

★ 4.6 (624)

Price

$

Address

1381 Bagnell Dam Blvd, Lake Ozark, MO 65049

Free 20-minute stop. Walk the dam that made the lake in 1931; Willmore Lodge nearby is a small museum on how it was built.

Address

Bagnell Dam, Lake Ozark, MO 65049

Worth booking

The fine-dining institution at the lake, and the highest-rated of them. The Zieglers founded Bentley's in St. Louis and opened this room in 1974 — they named it after spotting a Bentley car. Old English Tudor, prime rib as the house religion, and a bench of career servers people request by name.

Closed Sunday and Monday. Dinner only, 5pm–10pm. Reserve. Casual-upscale attire. Finish with the Nutty Monk.

Google rating

★ 4.7 (676)

Price

$$$

Address

3100 Bagnell Dam Blvd, Lake Ozark, MO 65049

Worth booking

The best all-around lakeside dinner. Steaks and seafood, and a wide-cove view that's arguably the best sunset seat on the lake. Order the caramel gooey butter cake.

Closed Mondays. Reserve on summer weekends.

Google rating

★ 4.6 (2,336)

Price

$$$

Address

2124 Bagnell Dam Blvd, Lake Ozark, MO 65049

Worth booking

The special-occasion room since the 1980s. Floor-to-ceiling windows over the main channel with a 14-mile panorama to the Community Bridge, fresh seafood, a serious wine list.

Lunch on the terrace gets you the same view for meaningfully less money.

Google rating

★ 4.4 (3,152)

Price

$$$

Address

2260 Bagnell Dam Blvd, Lake Ozark, MO 65049

For the scene

Multi-level pool area, DJ pool parties, live music, and Cajun-leaning bar food — gator bites, gumbo, the Voodoo Burger.

Go for the atmosphere. The kitchen is inconsistent and reviews reflect it.

Google rating

★ 4.3 (1,530)

Price

$$

Address

132 Sweet William Rd, Lake Ozark, MO 65049

Two 18-hole courses under big shade trees, with creeks, waterfalls, handmade bridges and replica Missouri mill buildings. Best-looking mini golf at the lake.

Lots of stairs down to the course. Open until 11pm Fri/Sat.

Google rating

★ 4.6 (592)

Address

3001 Bagnell Dam Blvd, Lake Ozark, MO 65049

Good, no fuss

The highest-rated restaurant at the lake, and it isn't fine dining — sandwiches, bowls, soups, everything made in house. The French onion soup arrives with scissors because of the cheese. French dip, gyro, ahi poke.

Closed Wednesdays. Genuinely accommodating about allergies.

Google rating

★ 4.8 (426)

Price

$$

Address

3797 Osage Beach Pkwy, Osage Beach, MO 65065

Worth booking

The most underrated serious room at the lake. Old-school service, a house salad whose dressing people buy bottles of to take home, and coffee brewed tableside in a vacuum pot. Crème brûlée to finish.

Wednesday–Saturday only, from 4:30pm. Reserve.

Google rating

★ 4.5 (540)

Price

$$$

Address

1252 State Hwy KK, Osage Beach, MO 65065

Worth booking

Named for the year the dam was finished. The strongest drinks program on the lake, and the kitchen keeps up — sea bass, duck, shrimp and grits. Climate-controlled patio and a boat-up dock.

Open daily until 10pm (11pm Fri/Sat). Prices are high. Worth it.

Google rating

★ 4.6 (590)

Price

$$$

Address

1202 Procter Dr, Osage Beach, MO 65065

Worth booking

Classic Italian steakhouse, family-owned since 1988. Stuffed mushrooms, lobster tail, blackened filet, and a martini shaken by Tony at the bar.

Closed Sunday and Monday. Dinner only.

Google rating

★ 4.4 (859)

Price

$$

Address

4737 Osage Beach Pkwy, Osage Beach, MO 65065

Worth booking

A Swiss chalet on the water. Month-aged steaks, and prime rib dipped in Andria's sauce and char-broiled. The French onion soup gets singled out constantly.

Closed Tuesdays. Atmosphere and service are consistently excellent; kitchen execution is the wobble — the prime rib is the dish most likely to disappoint.

Google rating

★ 4.3 (390)

Price

$$$

Address

1440 Swiss Village Rd, Osage Beach, MO 65065

Worth booking

The upscale room inside Margaritaville. Two artisanal breads before the meal, steaks and seafood, lobster mac. Reservations recommended, not required.

Closed Tuesday and Wednesday. Dinner only, from 5pm.

Google rating

★ 4.6 (148)

Price

$$$

Address

494 Tan-Tar-A Dr, Osage Beach, MO 65065

Good, no fuss

Real Cajun — étouffée, jambalaya, po'boys, fried alligator — on a deck right on the water. Kids feed the fish and ducks from the table.

Large dedicated gluten-free menu, broken out by section.

Google rating

★ 4.5 (1,870)

Price

$$

Address

1680 Autumn Ln, Osage Beach, MO 65065

Good, no fuss

The low-drama family Italian and pizza night. Get the garlic rolls.

Google rating

★ 4.3 (1,468)

Price

$$

Address

929 Premium Outlets Dr, Osage Beach, MO 65065

Good, no fuss

Voted best pizza at the lake nine years running, and it doubles as a working brewery — 32 craft taps including PaPPo's own house beers. Dough tossed fresh daily, 36 specialty pies (the caramelized-pineapple Hawaiian, the Apple Bourbon Pulled Pork), calzones, and sandwiches on house-baked Italian bread.

Save room for the Pizzookie — a deep-dish brown-butter chocolate-chip cookie under vanilla ice cream. Full gluten-free, keto, vegan and cauliflower-crust options. Across from the outlet mall, next to Wobbly Boots.

Google rating

★ 4.5 (1,196)

Price

$$

Address

4705 Osage Beach Pkwy, Osage Beach, MO 65065

Worth booking

The Ozark Turtle Sundae — vanilla frozen custard, hot fudge, caramel, toasted pecans. As the slogan goes, the original is still the best.

Lines get long in season and move fast. Open until 11pm Fri/Sat.

Google rating

★ 4.7 (788)

Price

$

Address

4681 Osage Beach Pkwy, Osage Beach, MO 65065

Carries on the Ozark-Maid Candy Kitchen tradition, a lake favorite since the 1950s — hand-dipped chocolates, fudge, flavored popcorn — inside The Landing, a little cluster of shops worth a browse.

The second candy shop worth knowing about, after Grandma's.

Google rating

★ 4.5 (130)

Address

5857 Osage Beach Pkwy, Osage Beach, MO 65065

The standout. Four escape rooms, interactive axe throwing with games projected onto the targets, and a multi-sport simulator bay. 4.9 across 1,400+ reviews.

Book ahead. Walk-ins routinely get turned away on busy days.

Google rating

★ 4.9 (1,437)

Address

4821 Osage Beach Pkwy, Osage Beach, MO 65065

50,000 sq ft indoor fun center. Buster's Garage is the lake's only indoor go-kart track — Route 66-themed and the largest elevated indoor track in the country. Also laser tag, arcade, mine-train coaster.

Closed Mondays and Tuesdays. A lot of the floor skews 5–10; the 10–15s will care about the karts, laser tag and arcade. The play maze is pricey.

Google rating

★ 4.4 (1,327)

Address

4515 Osage Beach Pkwy, Osage Beach, MO 65065

The only locally owned track at the lake. Hairpin turns, single and double karts so an adult can ride along.

Open until 11pm Fri/Sat. Karts are well used — expect a rattly ride.

Google rating

★ 4.4 (440)

Address

5730 Osage Beach Pkwy, Osage Beach, MO 65065

Figure-8 track (formerly Lemans Sprint Karts) with multiple track options and the only air-conditioned viewing area at the lake.

Open 10:30am–10:30pm every day.

Google rating

★ 4.5 (115)

Address

5440 Osage Beach Pkwy, Osage Beach, MO 65065

Two 18-hole courses with waterfalls, plus one of the few remaining bumper car tracks at the lake.

Dated, and lighting is weak on some holes after dark. The $20 mini golf + go-kart combo is good value, but the kart track is a separate short drive from the course.

Google rating

★ 4.4 (331)

Address

5440 Osage Beach Pkwy, Osage Beach, MO 65065

For the scene

Margaritaville's waterfront anchor, and the one spot on the property that works for everybody. A wraparound deck sits right over the water at the 26MM, with the pool and beach a few steps away — signature LandShark burgers, fish & chips, taco nachos, peel-and-eat shrimp, and LandShark Lager on tap. Open to the public, not just resort guests.

There's a kids' menu, and the pool and beach right there mean nobody has to sit still between courses. Ask for the wraparound patio — it's the whole reason to come. Loud and busy in season, and priced for the location; calling ahead to check the wait is worth it.

Google rating

★ 4.1 (1,098)

Price

$$

Address

494 Tan-Tar-A Drive, Osage Beach, MO 65065

For the scene

The poolside bar in Margaritaville's Flagship Complex, sharing the deck with LandShark and Windrose. Frozen drinks and bar snacks delivered to you at the pool, with a live DJ and music on busy weekends. Bartenders get named in reviews more often than the food does — that's the right expectation.

Open earlier on Saturdays (10am) and latest Fri/Sat until 10pm; otherwise it winds down at 8. Grab the 22oz souvenir blender cup if you're staying the day — refills make it pay for itself.

Google rating

★ 4.6 (18)

Address

494 Tan Tar A Dr, Osage Beach, MO 65065

For the scene

The best-rated of the beach bars. Real sand, sand volleyball (borrow a ball against your ID), live music, and a shallow enclosed swimming area.

Absolutely packed in peak season. Some items are overpriced for what arrives.

Google rating

★ 4.6 (2,145)

Price

$$

Address

1028 Deer Valley Rd, Sunrise Beach, MO 65079

For the scene

George Tucker's tropical outpost on the west side — the same restaurateur behind Tucker's Shuckers and Franky & Louie's. Perched high on a bend with multi-level covered decks, outdoor tiki bars, and one of the best lake views on this side of the water. Island-leaning burgers, steaks and seafood, and a kitchen that actually delivers for a beach bar.

24 mile marker, boat-up with a gas dock; the crispy Irish nachos are the move. Seasonal — roughly spring through October — with weekend live music and a dog-friendly patio. Built into the hillside, so lots of stairs if mobility's a concern.

Google rating

★ 4.8 (2,696)

Price

$$

Address

430 Tropical Trail Rd, Sunrise Beach, MO 65079

Free, and the most photogenic place at the lake: stone castle ruins on a bluff over the water, plus natural bridges, sinkholes and spring overlooks. Castle Trail and the spring boardwalk total under 3 miles.

Golden hour at the castle ruins is the shot. Bring the camera.

Google rating

★ 4.8 (5,739)

Address

1491 Missouri D, Camdenton, MO 65020

Worth booking

Steaks, seafood and a tomahawk pork chop, on a patio over the 15th fairway of the Weiskopf course. Pre-dinner rolls get their own fan club.

Pairs naturally with a Ha Ha Tonka day — it's already out that way. Call ahead in summer.

Google rating

★ 4.6 (464)

Price

$$$

Address

56 Club Pl, Camdenton, MO 65020

The classic Missouri roadside tourist trap, in the best way. Souvenirs, homemade fudge, taffy, and rocks and gems sold by the pound.

Google rating

★ 4.4 (1,117)

Address

30 Camden Ct, Camdenton, MO 65020

For the scene

The only pool at the lake that swims into an actual cave. The wraparound leisure pool runs from the waterfront across the beach and straight into a natural cavern — underwater tables and chairs, a swim-up bar, and a genuinely cooler spot to escape an August afternoon. Brick-oven pizza, grinders and burgers from the kitchen, live music out by the pool, sand volleyball, and 130 boat slips. Sister spot to Redhead's Lakeside Grill; look for the red roof.

3MM on the Big Niangua, or drive in to 220 Forever Dr. One of the few pool bars here that lets kids swim — there's a toddler pool and an adults-only section. Slips are wide and covered enough for 40-footers. Seasonal: closed in winter.

Google rating

★ 4.3 (505)

Price

$$

Address

220 Forever Dr, Camdenton, MO 65020