Rock Harbor Grill

We had great food and service. The owner came out and greeted people and asked how their food was. Nice place.

Warm friendly owner and service and delicious food. we had the Rock Harbor cheeseburger and salmon wrap and it could not have been more delicious.

I had only been here for lunch before so I wanted to update after my amazing night with the ladies! 3 of us came in on Saturday night for a moms night out. This is a rare occasion so when we get the chance we go ALL out. I had the dinner special grouper and it was amazing. My girlfriends were very happy with their meals as well. As dinner wrapped up the live music was just starting so we stayed for a few more cocktails and OF COURSE dancing! It was such a fun time together. Thank you RH grill for the perfect moms night out!

We hadn’t been to RHG in about a year and decided to give it a try last weekend. It seems they have changed the menu, and not for the better. I remembered options like fish tacos, burgers, and the like… and it seems those have been removed in favor of higher priced entrees, mostly fish. (The lunch menu looked much more appetizing to me, but it wasn’t available.) This place has a nice «upscale pub» feel to it — which I love — but the food doesn’t match. To top it off, the entrees we did get were somewhat disappointing. We probably won’t be back unless the menu changes again.

Food is good however the prices don’t match the portion size. Service was a bit slow as well. We won’t be back

I am not a seafood eater but I had a lunch meeting here. I was pleasantly surprised to find chicken on the menu. I had the chicken wrap with caeser salad. It was SO delicious!!!
The waitress was attentive & refilled my water in a timely manner. My only complaint is that when she refilled my water she touched the pitcher to my glass. I wiped it off & prayed for no funk.
The price was reasonable.
I probably wouldn’t go back but that’s because there was a ton of seafood on the menu & I don’t eat seafood! So, I guess it’s me, not them.

3.5 stars. Bar/​restaurant/​music hall
A bit of everything in one package. Our first visit was for a quick lunch. Good, fresh food, reasonable portions, reasonable prices. Since returning to the States, portion control has been an issue for us. The portions here were «just right». Manhattan clam chowder was excellent. Parmesan encrusted oysters likewise spot on. I had catfish tacos and Mrs. S had a salad.
Apparently the dinner menu is more evolved with prices to rival the Peak City place across the street. Probably worth a shot since the chef did good things at lunch.
On a second visit there was a jazz combo playing and RH seems to be the only live music venue in town. Props for doing that.
We would def stop in for dinner or another night out for music.

Kudos to Rock Harbor Grill! Celebrated my birthday with 14 of my friends for dinner last buzy Saturday night and have had nothing but kudos about the staff and the efficient service we received… But what everyone raved about was the food! From appetizers to entrees, especially the Norwegian Salmon, Calimary and Shrimp. Freshness of the seafood/​ingredients and well prepared sides and salads was the consensus. Great menu and selection, something for every pallet and my friends will be back to this culinary gem in Historic Downtown Apex. Expect the quality of food and dishes to be a step above from its family pub/​pizza/​mexican neighbors. Atmosphere is unique and vibrant and they host a series of live music events almost every night. A welcoming and efficient staff makes this place a destination. Thank you Rock Harbor Grill for making my evening such a success.

We came to watch the music. The band was great, but the place is rather small for a live band, so it was a bit too loud. We had some apps and drinks, which were fine but not memorable. If you like the blues, they have it here.

Kind if disappointed with this spot unfortunately. The prices aren’t too steep, but they are too high for the quality of food and portion size in some cases.
We ordered to go, so I can’t really speak to service here. The food though… the appetizer we had was so small and the shrimp were quite overcooked. Yes, it is difficult to have properly cooked shrimp when something sits for a little bit on the drive home, but the shrimp in my pasta were cooked much better. Just seems really inconsistent. Both my husband and I found our dishes way too rich… mine was so rich I couldn’t even eat it. If I were drinking a ton of beer or something it might cut the richness, but it just seemed so overly creamy. My arteries likely thank me for skipping this meal…
I think if you’re out and having some drinks that can cut through this food, then it’d be a fun hang out spot… but if you’re looking for a good meal, probably try a different spot. =/

Tonight was our anniversary and we went to Rock Harbor for dinner. We started with the calamari. I had Cajun flounder with risotto. My husband had shrimp and broccoli Alfredo. We also got mint chocolate chip mousse for dessert. Everything was fabulous! The Cajun flounder with risotto was the best! I would have to say it was one of the best meals I’ve had in years.

Friendly atmosphere. Corn and shrimp chowder was excellent. Bites of shrimp in every bite. Lobster roll was good but was spicy. The spicy flavor detracted from the lobster, but was still good.

Initial experience — 1 out of 5. As we are being escorted upstairs, I ask if we could sit downstairs at the table by the window. The guy in a flowery blue shirt mentioned it’s a «4 top» which meant he would rather sit us at a «2 top». Then we get led upstairs to… another 4 top. To the owner, if you do read reviews — maybe there was something different as to why we were not offered the window table — especially when, as we were leaving we noticed 2 people seated at the «4 top». The only difference was they were dressed a little shabbier than us and skin color. I hope that was not the reason.
Food — 4 out of 5. I got the split tail bass; hubby got the surf and turf. Excellently prepared. Food was good. We ordered the chocolate mousse and the bread pudding. Chocolate mousse was excellent. Bread pudding was dry, dense and light flavor. Had to take out one star for it.
Service — Good. Told our server about the bread pudding. She took it off our check. She came back often to check on us and gave us good recommendations.
Will give this place one more try — especially because of the food.

Disclaimer: We had a group of 12 which can be tough for some of the best wait staff.
Food was great. I had the scallops and grits and it was delicious. Drinks: Meh… I ordered a simple Jack and coke and I swear there was no alcohol in it. In fact I had two. The specialty drinks seemed to be their specialty.
We ordered an appetizer and never got it. So I’ll give some grace for handling the a crew the size we had. My back was killing me by the time we left as the chairs were painful.
There was a live band down stairs and they feed video upstairs to a tv so you can see the band, that was pretty cool.
Overall I’d like to give them another shot with a reasonable sized party of 2 or 4. Again the food was fantastic. We enjoyed our evening out and our waitress was very nice, just seemed like she was a touch overwhelmed.

Two Crab Cakes for appetizer cooked well with generous portions each cake was delicious. The rock fish was meaty and a little sweetness reminded me of Monk fish and Mutton Snapper served with peas, carrot strings, and sweet potatoes was excellent. Crisp Tablecloth Service, cloth napkins on the second floor, a spaciousness of the corner by the window was a great choice overlooking Salem St. In APEX. Carrie ‘s service was spot on and attentively kept us going with bar and food timed well. Excellent meal. Putting Rock Harbor Grill on my favorite list!

Went here for lunch yesterday and dinner tonight… Meals were great and service good. We’ll be back.
Would have given them five stars if the bathroom wasn’t out of hand towels.

If I could have given this restaurant a zero I would have.
We have eaten here a few times and although we had always found Rock Harbor to be a bit pricey for mediocre food we live in Apex and enjoyed the upstairs seating and convenience. However this evening we, my husband and I, decided to stop in for a quick bite having received two Visa prepaid gift cards from friends. My husband and I were looking forward to a rare night out. Although there were a few glitches in the service all was basically fine until we went to pay the bill.
The owner, Dave, was having difficulty with a couple at any other table. This couple was using gift cards to pay their bill. There was a problem. Dave came to us and said that there were problems using gift cards because his system would not accept gift cards with expiration dates beyond 2014. What??? Really??? Nowhere is it posted that Rock Harbor doesn’t accept prepaid gift cards with an expiration date past 2014, a year ending in a mere 4 months.
When my wife suggested that had Dave posted that he didn’t take gift cards than we would not have expected to be able to use them thus Dave would avoid a problem… A win/​win. Dave’s response was VERY RUDE. He told us he doesn’t «have to post anything.» He was sarcastic and flip saying he wasn’t going to argue as we, of course, had another credit card. The insinuation being just shut up and use another card. I can’t be bothered with you. Apparently Dave felt it was everybody else’s fault but his that he would only accept a gift card with such a small window of usability. Also, the only person arguing and getting nasty was Dave having caused himself a problem with two separate couples because he couldn’t be bothered properly informing his customers as to acceptable forms of payment at his establishment.
At no time did Dave apologize for the inconvenience or offer us so much as a cup of coffee. We tipped our waitress and left.
I can’t remember ever having been treated so poorly for something that was entirely the owners fault. I guess that’s why, on a Friday night, there are lines of people waiting to get into every other restaurant on Salem with the exception of Rock Harbor. Do yourself a favor and skip Rock Harbor. Go to the other restaurants on Salem Street that have better food and treat their customers with respect and courtesy.
We will never go back to Rock Harbor.

Went in today at 11:30 for lunch. The waitress was super friendly and prompt with drink orders. I was a little concerned when I saw what I assume to be the owner mixing an alcoholic drink for himself behind the bar and drinking it there in front of us (we were seated near the bar). The couple I was with said this wasn’t the first time they’ve seen the same man drinking/​smelling like alcohol while they were dining there.
Anyway — I ordered the fish and chips. Honestly, it wasn’t an overly flavorful dish and really tasted rather bland. I feel like all this meal did was fill me up. I didn’t leave feeling like I just had a really delicious lunch or great experience. I would probably choose other restaurants in the area before dining here again.

My wife and I decided to try this place for a date night. Before you read any further please understand that my wife and I are not the type of people who like to complain. We don’t want to be «those people». You know the ones that complain about bacon not being crispy enough or a bun having too many sesame seeds, ridiculous stuff. That being said we should have communicated our feelings more with the waitress.
First off this place isn’t cheap. You can see right away from the menu. My wife and I were fine with that. It was a date night after all. We were seated quickly and we were given drinks and our order was taken promptly. My wife ordered the Pepper Seared Escolar and I had the Jerk Shrimp Trettole. Even though our orders were dinner entrees neither came with salads. Kind of surprising when one of the entrees was $ 23. The salad was an extra $ 4. My wife ordered a ceaser and I got a house. The salads were bigger than I expected but after a few bites I wondered if there was any dressing on the salad at all. My wife felt the same way about hers. We didn’t ask for more dressing. We were both about half way done with the salads when we decided there wasn’t enough.
I tried one of the shrimp and the first thing that hit me was the spice. I’m from Southern California so I’m no stranger to spicy things but this was too much. It over powered the dish and it made everything taste like spice. I couldn’t enjoy the food because all I could taste was spice.
My wife liked the fish but was really disappointed with the risotto. It was dry and not the melt in your mouth creamy risotto she was used to. For what we were paying we expected a lot more out of the food. It’s are fault for not saying something but like I said before we didn’t want to feel like we were nit picking. I wish we had, we spent the next 20min after dinner complaining about our meal.
The only good thing about this place is the service.
If you’re looking for good seafood and a nice date experience I’d suggest going elsewhere. We wished we had gone to Outback or The Big Easy instead.

A mix of bar and restaurant, Rock Harbor Grill was a slight disappointment for me! With 4+ stars on Unilocal,you sorta expect amazing but what I got was a bit different. Inside there are a handful of tables around a U-​shaped bar, pretty casual. With the menu, prices in the $ 17 — $ 25 range, I expected more upscale. But it’s really a nice bar with better food. Give or take!
For my lunch I went with the Hawaiian Heatwave, a grilled chicken sandwich with some tropical toppings. And it was ok but hard to chew through with the pineapple, thick chicken breast and more. The onion rings and slaw were fine for sides but nothing amazing. And service was a bit off during my visit. All in all a fine spot if you’re thinking, «bar with fancier food» but if you expect more than that, you’ll be surprised. So rock on Rock Harbor Grill, you must be doing something right but I was hoping for more…