The Harbor Grill

This was an outstanding dining experience! The service was excellent. The food was superior! The hostess went out of her way to make us feel welcome. We had to wait for our table and then she brought us a free appetizer for our wait. The bartender was very knowledgable about the menu. An overall fabulous experience. Highly recommended going here! Prices were good for the level of quality of the food.

OK, so I haven’t been here in a number of years but remember it being pretty good. They must be doing something right because they have been around a long time. As we pulled into the lot I saw the sign which contained the words something to the tune of“Mesquite Grilled Seafood”. My mouth began to water. We chose this outfit for my birthday dinner last minute as my all time favorite place for Swordfish, Café Zulu in Laguna closed last month.
We came early today and were seated outside. A few tables were going and by the time we left the place was packed. Service was prompt and above average. We ordered Mai Tais and they were good and strong on the liquor but lacked the tang needed. The Poke appetizer was outstanding.
The entrée salads had a nice selection of saled veggies which were cool and crisp. The vinaigrette was tasty but a little too much on the acidic side. On to the main courses.
We ordered the Swordie with Tarragon butter, grilled scallops for the misses, and twisted pasta with butter and parm for the kid.
The scallops were nice and sweet but only three half dollar sized pieces for 30 bucks?
The Swordie looked fresh, had nice grill marks but the size wasn’t even close to four oz. for $ 30 bucks? Here comes the bummer. One bite and was over it! Here we go again with the Sodiumtripolyphosphate treated fish. If you have read some of my other reviews on this topic you will have a better understanding of what some in the industry are doing to us consumers. Been a fisherman all my life and I know good seafood. I ate most of it because I was very hungry but not hard with such a minuscule piece and the tasty garlic mashed spuds mixed in with the bites on my fork. I informed my waitress I wasn’t too stoked on the fish but was having a good time anyway and asked if they sourced fish from Santa Monica Seafood. She didn’t know but promptly asked if I would like something else. I declined because I truly was over it and was having a good time with the family.
The menu clearly states sautéed veggies on the side. They were cooked perfectly aldante sp but that was it. No seasoning, no salt and pepper and no oil or fat whatsoever on the carrots and broccoli only mix. They could be called steamed at best.
My kid loves pasta but this twisted pasta tasted like flour and water. The misses, another pasta lover agreed. My 11 year old didn’t eat much. At least add salt to the water you boil it in…
The kid had a great Chocolate lava cake desert with fresh whipped cream and raspberry sauce. I was comped a nice and lite cheesecake slice with the raspberry sauce for my birthday. Yummy.
The check came and again told my waitress I wasn’t stoked on the Swordie and would like to speak with the manager. The waitress came back with the Swordie removed from the check without a haggle whatsoever. The manager came a few minutes later and told her quickly about the phosphate problem and she stated the she had never heard of that stuff and yes, they source from Santa Monica Seafood.
There you have it and could have given more stars because this place may be ignorant to the crap sometimes put out by this distributor but somebody in charge needs to taste their own cool aid know what a $ 30 piece of fish should taste and be sized like. SM Seafood can go pound sand!
Still having a good time out though…

Fathers’ day bottomless draft beers $ 5 and amazing good food too! The ceviche is perfect. Johana is the best server ever!

The service is wonderful, everything came quickly, and the food was AMAZING!!!
We were looking for a place to celebrate our anniversary down at Dana Point. As we walked by the smell drew us in. Our server, Cathy, suggest a great meal. The meal came promptly. It tasted amazing!

Let me start. Many restaurants in this area have beautiful views
From table sitting in patio. This is not this restaurant. It has non
Attractive view.
Came here for lunch due to good reviews
Was made to wait. Although restaurant only had 2 other tables
Occupied .
Blond waitress just had no intention on giving good service
Lunch menu had very little choices
Ordered soup and salad. Neither a big deal. Crab on salad
Was fresh but that was the only thing fresh tasting.
Served refrigerated cold bread. Waitress never came back
To see if we needed anything. At one point we asked for check
And that took for ever to pay and leave
I have no plans to return. Rather visit a restaurant that
Has some respect for customer. Pricey food too.
Wish I could have had the good service and given good reviews
Other people experienced. But that was not the case
Almost felt like we were not acknowledge being there.

Had dinner here last night with my babe. Came here based on reviews and location. I have to say the best Pacific swordfish I have ever had, thanks to our waitress that recommend getting it Japanese style. My wife had the Serried Ahi salad and we both shared the Hawaiian Ahi Poke appetizer, which was also very good, maybe a bit to spicy for us. Washed it all down with a nice glass of Pino Grigio.
The place overall was very nice, but a bit to dark inside for me. There is a window that overlooks the kitchen so from your table you can see all the food on the grills being prepared. We will definitely be coming back again when in the area.

We ate here on fri. order fried cod. with mashed potatoes and a side ceaser salad. they brought us put bread to start… which was so tough you could hardly chew it. so the bussers suggested they could put it on the grill. everyone does it cause of it being so tough. should not even be put on the table like that. fish was ok. mashed potatoes where horrible. .tasted like instant. the ceaser salad was horrible because the dressing was lemony. did not taste like ceaser dressing whatsoever. .u guys have no buisness charging so much when the quality is horrible

Summary: Food is wonderfully cooked, albeit a bit pricey for what you get. Go on Thursdays for Oyster night!
We came here last week for my friend’s birthday. We decided to come on Thursday for the oyster specials… all the oyster apps were only $ 10 a platter, which is a fantastic deal for the food that you get. We ended up ordering one of each platter, in addition to each of our own dinner plates as well. All of the oysters are tasty, but I HIGHLY recommend the fried oysters… they’re breaded and fried and then dipped into this spicy creole style mayo and served in the oyster shell… a beautiful dish to look at and an even tastier dish to eat.
The grilled fish met my expectations for a place like this. Perfectly cooked all the way through, but not cooked to a point of dry or toughness. The major surprise to me though, was how good their tartar sauce was. Lots of dill as expected, but there are little bits of cucumber in there too… so it’s almost like a tzatziki tartar hybrid. I’m totally stealing that idea for my own because that was amazing. #sorrynotsorry.
Cons:
I would not recommend the house margarita. It’s not particularly strong and they go very heavy on the margarita mix. It’s very sweet… to a point where I have to dilute the drink back a bit with ice water. The other house drink specials are good. We greatly enjoyed the watermelon martini and ordered several of those throughout the night.
Excluding the oysters, the dishes are a bit pricier than I’d like to see. I’ve been to similar seafood establishments, and I wasn’t paying $ 30 per plate. Again, the food is well cooked, so it’s not like I’m getting completely ripped off, but other seafood restaurants around the area like Bear Flag, or Slapfish are also serving up very good seafood, for much less money.
Also, keep in mind that the atmosphere is a bit stuffy. About 90% of the patrons are old and white, and there is a live piano providing the music throughout the night. The pianist that was playing when we went was very good.
Overall it was a good experience. I’d recommend going there at least once. Again, pretty darn old timey and stuffy, but yummy food, good service, and friendly people. And definitely go on Thursdays.

I met my parents there for my Bday.
On arriving, we were met by the hostess.
Right off the bat, the older hostess was not very welcoming. I would go as far as rude.
Did not say hello. Just do you have reservations.
I said we did, and would not seat us until our full party was there. The place was empty and there was no reason why we could not have been seated.
I’m not sure who she was (the hostess) but she needs to retire because she is not happy with her job.
On a better note. The waitress Trisha was fantastic and the food was outstanding.
I will definitely go back but hopefully avoid the old grumpy hostess.
5 stars on food and staff minus the old hostess.

We had Sunday brunch there. Good food and great service. Will go back again!
Poke was delicious
Sea bass was well cooked (only portion is small)
Crab omelette tasted great.

3.5 — probably wouldn’t go again
A good place for seafood, but I’ve had better.
Drinks —
Lemon Drop martini: ⁸⁄₁₀
Stella Artois
Food —
Oysters on half shell: ⁷⁄₁₀ good oyster, but had better.
Three course meal —
1. Clam chowder: ⁹⁄₁₀ light creamy but not thick.
2. Grilled salmon pesto: ⁸⁄₁₀ good salmon, pesto sauce tasted off with salmon (not used to it together) + rice pilaf was standard. Thanks for the fresh!
3. Chocolate cake: warm and chocolately ⁷⁄₁₀
Waitress was very accommodating when we wanted to combine table with friends who came late. Good atmosphere for a chill classy lunch.

Walking along the harbor on slightly overcast Sunday afternoon. Decided we needed a bite to eat. Unilocal gave 4 stars and 2 $$ signs. Ok… Let’s go in.
One smoked halibut salad, one bowl of gumbo, one ice tea. $ 50.
No, not really what we had planned for a «little afternoon nosh. »

For the most part, everyone else eating here was at least twice our age. That isn’t a criticism, per se, just an observation. But the Harbor Grill is not just old in terms of clientele, which shall be discussed later.
We arrived for breakfast… actually it was more like brunch. Technically it was still breakfast time according to the menu, but it was too late for breakfast for our stomachs and we were wanting lunch items. Did you manage to navigate that labyrinthine stretch of logic?
Anyway, thankfully they were not restrictive on the time food is served and we were able to order lunch items. Here is the food, in all its glory:
–Mimosa: Okay, not food per se, but it is ingested so it counts. Ratio of champagne to orange juice was heavier on the champagne side. But there was also lint inside the drink.
–Clam chowder: Okay clam chowder. Not the best, not the worst. Small portion size though.
–Fish tacos: On their own they were really bland. The seasoning had some flavor, but it was basically just smokiness and made the fish feel really dry. They provided sauce to spice it up, but the sauce was more or less a necessity. Rice pilaf was okay, nothing special.
–Chilean Sea Bass with Miso Glaze and mushroom broth: That’s a mouthful. The fish itself was great. Buttery, rich flavor. But the broth was a mistake. It was so watery it didn’t stick to the fish at all and made the whole thing kind of a mess. Especially since the fish was on top of mashed potatoes, which essentially disintegrated into the broth. Not really happy about the dish as a whole.
Service was really slow here too. And at one point they replaced my water glass with a straw that was covered in dust. So between the service, clientele, and food, «dusty» is a good word to describe this place.
2.5 max. I’m feeling nice, so round up to 3.

Can’t go wrong with bottomless champagne for $ 5.50 on a Sunday afternoon. Excellent oysters on the half. Ordered Bouillabaisse but lobster was over cooked for $ 36. I’d order something else next time. Service could use improvement. The live pianist was a really nice touch.

Ok — so I’ve been coming here for 20 years, which makes me a fussy old fart. The ambience is peaceful, the drinks superb, and the meals are fresh and HEALTHY — if you don’t add their amazing deserts (Carrot Cake, Crème Brûlée, and Jack Daniels bread pudding…)!
I’ve only found one restaurant like this EVER. Pricey but WELL WORTH THE PRICE!
Go…drink…relax…and enjoy your time in Paradise‼

Delicious and very special! Great view on the patio for perfect sunset and live piano music! Great place for a date

We’re pretty particular about where we fine, quality overrides value. As a relatively health conscious couple, we enjoy dining out frequently — especially lunch.
This was our first time and won’t be the last! Both of our meals were excellent!
The spicy Caribbean Seabass taco plate was perfect and delicious; the tacos were huge, I couldn’t even touch the rice.
Hubby had the mesquite grilled shrimp Caesar salad; the shrimp were the large ones and cooked to perfection, he loved it!
We’ll be back!

I’m from Santa Monica and I’ve eaten here several times over the years when I’m in the area. The food is always good and the service is prompt and friendly. On my last visit, I had the smoked halibut appetizer and it was absolutely wonderful! I can’t wait to have it again. The grilled scallops with red thai curry sauce were also excellent. On a recent lunch visit, I had the shrimp tacos, also very good. The view is much better at Harpoon Henry’s and Wind ‘n Sea but the food is ever so much better here!

We met our family at this restaurant a couple of weeks ago and we were a bit disappointed. It is smaller than we expected and the tables were very crowded. Luckily we were able to sit outside because the weather was nice. The service was ok, and the food was ok too, but nothing to be excited about. I would not make the effort to go back.

Beautiful ambience, friendly staff. Fresh food. Live Piano music in the background…

This was a delicious restaurant! Came here on a weekday evening and we were promptly seated without a reservation and to our delight they had live piano music. We were immediately given water and a basket of bread.
Gazpacho ⁵⁄₅ — my husband said it’s one of the best he’s ever had
Chilean sea bass with smoked tomato broth ⁵⁄₅ — this was so good! Perfectly seasoned with just the right amount of salt. Perfectly seared fish that was crispy outside and melt in your mouth tender inside on a bed of sautéed spinach and rice In broth. Would highly recommend this!
Sea scallops in linguine — ⁵⁄₅ — husband said this was delicious as well!
Would definitely come back!

Delicious seafood, great Caesar salad, they have the attention to detail that I’ve missed in dining out lately. All the dishes were superb and try the bread pudding — we had a few desserts and they were all delicious! A great place to entertain guests or have a family get together. They accept the harbor card for 10% off for boaters.

Such a gem in Dana Point harbor. Seafood selection is phenomenal. We loved starting with the calamari and cups of clam chowder. Both are the best you’ll ever had. For my entrée tonight I had the Japanese swordfish. Very tasty piece of fish. Super moist and full of flavor. My wife had the salmon with the red curry sauce– fantastic. Topped it off with bread pudding for desert. Plenty of food and everything was delicious. Our service was fantastic and our waitress Ashley was super cool. Live piano, great seafood, great people…

We always enjoy our time at Harbor Grill; Food is consistent, ambiance lovely.
And we can usually even hear each other’s conversation, which is a rare restaurant experience these days! You can go casual and feel very comfortable, yet it is an almost-​elegant place to take friends as well. Ocean view, though not «ON» the water — you’re at Dana Point Harbor, a really fun place, lots of little shops to explore. A «go-​to» place for us when nothing else sounds good.

My friends and I love the bottomless mimosas on Sunday. Also, I have been coming back for the ceviche for years.

A very wonderful establishment and very good workers.
I went here to eat while on vacation and found myself very satisfied. With a beautiful view of the ocean, I found that once we stepped inside that this could very easily look like a fancy place to eat.
Everybody is very friendly and our waitress of course is helpful when it came to my boy’s food allergies. When he asked about food if she didn’t know she went to ask someone and came back in a timely fashion.
Very clean both dining room and the bathroom. It was really nice to see that the place takes pleasure at having their establishment clean.
The food is very delicious and cooked not burnt. I find myself going to a place that burns their food.
This is a place if you like seafood I highly recommend. Even if you don’t, they have other foods to eat.

The food is good, but the prices are not. My gf was right when she said «So, this is Red Lobster?» The service was good, but the place was dead. They did have a piano player that sort of amazed us by playing all kinds of classics and top 40 hits including «Hello» by Adele which this area LOVES it seems.
Meh. I won’t be back, but glad I gave it a go.

Fabulous Mahi Mahi. Cucumber basil martini was very refreshing and the pianist was wonderful. He even played a little Metallica, covertly if course.

Captivating watching the kitchen staff. Fish cooked moist to perfection. As others mentioned, MUCH pricier than we anticipated.
Pros: Dishes prepared purposeful and with care. Chocolate cake is divine and lighter than expected. Friendly, helpful staff. Jennifer was so sweet!!! They are busy, busy and work hard, yet seem to enjoy their co-​workers and jobs.
Cons: Cold fries and rice.

So, this my first time going to this resturant. It has a nice patio, but I wish it had a little more lighting to see the menu.
Our server was great, however, the place was busy. Our server came back from time to time to check on us, but it wasn’t often.
Our cocktails were nasty when it first came out. It was so horrible we had to send it back. How do you mess up a mango Margarita and mojito?
The food was decent, I ordered the angel hair pasta and scallops and my cousin ordered the ravioli pasta. The sauce for both were rich. After so many bites, the coconut sauce overwhelms the food.
So I’m giving the restaurant 3 stars.

Lecker gegrillter Fisch, tolle Auswahl bei fantastischem Wetter im Freien genießen… Genau das Richtige nach einer Bootstour.
Freundliche und zuvorkommende Bedienung.

I really enjoyed this place, even though it is super casual and fairly expensive. The food was great, the service was good and they had the cutest older gentleman at the piano!
I had a crab Louie salad which was so good. My friend had a fish burger which looked really good too.
I’m certain meeting a dear friend that I hadn’t seen in a couple of years contributed to the overall positive experience I had. It was important to me that they didn’t rush us out even though the dinner hour was getting a crowd.

Always a great meal at Harbor Grill! They’ve got a lovely patio that stays cool even in this heat and humidity we’re getting thanks to their ceiling fans, which is awesome because we always prefer to sit outside but lately it’s been a bit too warm elsewhere. Not the case here!
Nice variety to the menu. Great fresh fish and lots of entrée options from salads to plates to more substantial dishes. They’re drinks are yummy and the desserts look awesome! Everything we’ve ordered here has come out well-​prepared and flavorful. We definitely look forward to passing through the Dana Point area so we have an excuse to come to Harbor Grill!

I thought this restaurant was fine, much better than it’s competition Wind & Sea by a landslide!
We started with the fried calamari and grilled artichokes, which were probably the best thing we had that night. The artichokes were nicely charred and came with a side of ginger sesame aioli (probably not the best flavor combination, but it definitely was horrible). My boyfriend had the angel hair pasta with scallops and I had the chilean sea bass with broth.
— The scallops, we thought, were wonderfully cooked! Light on the seasoning, which was spot on considering scallops are naturally a little salty and sweet. The angel hair pasta was definitely over cooked though — portions of it disintegrated in our mouth.
— The sea bass was interesting. I liked the miso glaze and the fish itself was very buttery, but the porcine broth it was said to be served with didn’t have a lot of depth. It lacked a ton of flavor, and was served with what looked like frozen veggie squares (you know, the traditional carrot cubes, peas, and green beans). Not the best, but again, not the worst.
Driving up to the dock and seeing the signs for Wind & Sea (see my review for that place), we definitely came here with fairly low expectations. We were definitely surprised and our server (can’t remember her name, but she had a dark pixie hair cut and bright blue eyes) was phenomenal. Come here for the view and the appetizers, I would be cautious about the actual entrees.

Decent seafood restaurant located at the harbor in Dana point.
Good location, but not too much for atmosphere on the inside. Just your typical old-​school Southern California seafood restaurant.
The food is good, but a little bit overpriced for the quality. Mostly seafood type items with a little bit of Cajun flair.
I went with a seafood gumbo which was tasty and not too heavy, in the Caribbean spicy seafood tacos which were solid.
Overall, the food was a little bland, and not unique or quality enough to warrant the above average prices.
Not a bad choice, but in my opinion you can do better in Dana Point.

Let me preface this review by saying I came with my «senior» parents on Mother’s Day, and my dad picked the place. SO if you are young and looking for a trendy place for brunch… this is not it.
That being said, the service was excellent (thanks Kristen! You’re fab!) and they offer a bottomless glass of champagne (that they refill without being asked) for less than $ 6. Mimosas aren’t bottomless, but who needs those extra OJ calories, anyway? The food was good. I wouldn’t say it’s the best I ever had, but the eggs nova scotia were nothing to complain about and the salmon was obviously fresh. The hollandaise was tasty, but it’s hard to screw up something that is basically fat mixed with fat. The potatoes that come on the side are meh… and while I appreciate being given large pieces of fruit, I’m not a melon person so I didn’t even touch mine. Perhaps offering a different option on the side would improve the brunch offering (hash browns? Non-​melon fruit?).
There’s a good kids menu. A little pricey, but the chicken tenders my daughter got were real chicken and she loved them. The fries that I ordered as her side were decent, too. They also have seafood on the kids menu, which is unique and fun for kids older than mine, but I struggle with the idea of ordering a kids dish that costs $ 10.
Definitely a good place to go with a multi-​generational family. There were lots of kids there on Mother’s Day. Probably wouldn’t come back without grandma and grandpa in tow.

This is one of my family’s go-​to seafood restaurants due to it’s sort of proximity to home and its consistently good food. Yes, the building and décor are a little dated, but that doesn’t take away from the food or the fact that the waiters/​waitresses and bussers do a great job. I don’t ever remember a water glass being empty for long enough for me to get thirsty…
I’ve had the scallops here a number of times and it is always a big enough portion for me. More importantly, I don’t remember ever getting them overcooked. I’ve also had the Lobster Ravioli in the Crème Sauce and I really enjoyed that as well — see the picture at the bottom. The bread is also nice and filling, for better or worse. Be warned: D
It’s really cool on a cold day to go stand right by the glass where the grill is on the other side, you can feel the heat coming through. So warm. Much happy. So wow. =P
**I know Unilocal says it is $$ for the budget, but I would say it is right on the line between a high $$ and a low $$$, just fyi.
So would I come back or recommend it? Of course :)