Harbour House Pub

(longer version on my blog)
I’m not quite sure what the place was previously, but I think it was formerly a seafood restaurant? The interior was more of a converted house with chopped-​up rooms and seating along walls — the back of the building seems to hold the kitchen. The hard interior surfaces did produce a high noise level, however — I think what makes this place special is the exterior seating, especially around the bar.
We were attending a party on the back lawn, with seating mostly covered by umbrellas along a gravel path throughout the back, fence enclosed yard. I loved the old-​growth trees that help shade the are in back — these are really special and one of the reasons Decatur in general is a great place to visit. There’s also a stage in back with above-​average music going on — this night a duet with jazzy-​vocals and great guitar.
To start, I also ordered one of my favorite local brews — the Monday Night Brewing Drafty Kilt. So glad Harbour had this (along with some other faves like a Terrapin Brewing’s Hopsecutioner and Recreation Ale, Wild Heaven Ode to Mercy and my old standby, Sweetwater 420). The menu had a few anticipated items of the seafood variety, cooked in your choice of: Asian Curry, Piccata or Low Country. There were some chef specials along with oysters on-​the-​half-​shell, a variety of sandwiches and tacos.
I ordered the Shrimp, Andouille & Grits which I considered good but not great. I think it could have used a bit more spice as the cream-​sauce didn’t differentiate itself too much from the underlying grits. I started with a very good House salad while another at our table had the Ahi Tuna Tartare which I thought very good.
Others at the table ordered the Southern Fried Shrimp Platter (one as presented with slaw and the other with Mac-​n-​cheese). The Fuji Apple slaw was excellent as was the pasta — the shrimp were good but once again not great (but then again I’m not a huge fan of fried shrimp so I may not be the best to judge). To me, much of the frying of seafood tends to destroy the delicacy of the flavor and certainly, the texture changes quite a bit — but then again, many don’t like the texture of seafood so this can improve things for some.
As the evening got into dusk the atmosphere really changed and enhanced the experience. I can’t imagine anyone not enjoying a pint of bitters while listening to the excellent music. I’m coming back this spring when things warm up a bit to see about some of the other menu items, but mostly to re-​experience that great back yard and stage.

Parmesan Crusted Mountain Trout w/​greens & Pimento Mac N Cheese! Unbelievably delicious! Our server Ashley, expecting Mother, beautiful & extremely menu knowledgeable! I give it 5 stars. It’s Saturday afternoon Nov 1’14

It’s been a couple of years since we journeyed into the heart of Decatur for dining … and though we were headed for another destination, we were pleased we ended up at Harbour House.
We snaked through the alley behind the building next door from Trinity Place (is that the right street?) to the parking behind the house, though their back parking is limited and I can see folks parking elsewhere in Decatur and walking over… (but I’m getting over a broken leg so not in the mood for much walking…)
This is a «house» in many ways with an expansive wrap around porch for dining and large backyard area fashioned for outdoor fun and drinking.
We sat near the bar indoors and the room is nicely appointed. Its all dark woods with tasteful nautical themes to accent the room along with the requisite televisions showing saturday sports. Still very «house-​y.»
We started with the fried okra appetizer and … everybody knows frying makes anything better particularly vegetables… The strips of okra were lightly breaded and the blackberry dip was an excellent accompaniment.
We were tempted by a pasta special and the recipes for Fresh Fish sound mouth-​watering but since it was lunch, we ordered off the regular menu …
My SO tried some of Harbor House’s various tacos (3 for $ 11) and was most pleased with the blackened shrimp and Spicy Ahi Tuna. I tried the Grouper sandwich plate. You get a good size serving of fresh-​tasting, flavorful grouper with their house-​made tarter sauce on a fresh bun. «Battered» fries on the side.
We had excellent service from our waiter, Gianni. He knew the menu and was able to offer suggestions. In full disclosure this was a relatively quiet afternoon at Harbour House, but the staff were anticipating the Pirate Pub Crawl that was making its way through Decatur that September Saturday.
Cant wait to go back and try their soups, fish and chips and hush puppies.

Really enjoyed my dinner experience here. We were promptly greeted by the hostess and she was gracious as we went from going inside to changing our minds and going out on the porch to sit. It was fun to dine on the porch and watch people playing bocce.
For cocktails on this summer evening we chose the Ruby Red — Absolut Ruby Red, Ruby Red grapefruit juice, and Fresca It was delicious and refreshing and I liked that they served this cocktail in a pint glass. My daughter ordered the Pub Pot Roast — garlic herb mashed potato, sautéed garlic spinach, rosemary shallot gravy and tobacco onions. She let me try some before she devoured it and I must say it was very good. I had the Fish and Chips — beer battered Atlantic cod filet, fries, Fuji apple slaw with house made malt vinegar aioli. The fish was tasty — fried perfectly with the right consistency of batter. I loved the slaw. I will order that as a side when I come here again. The fries were okay — just standard.
The service was excellent, the food was excellent and the atmosphere was relaxing. Good tunes being played too!

This place is something else, I went when I was down with the flu and not feeling like I wanted to eat and my tastebuds were ‘dead’, nothing taste good. but this place woke them up!
Try the chocolate lava cake, it’s delish!

Just had lunch here with my dad and WOW was it great! The flash fried Okra with blueberry dipping sauce is the kind of thing that could incite a riot!
I had the Shrimp, Andouille and Grits and it was amazing… a bunch of HUGE shrimp and a really great sauce. My dad had a dozen oysters (it is his «go to’) and we were told that they had just come in this morning, so they were really fresh.
I wish I would have saved room for desert, but the portions were really big. Maybe next time.
If I could have given them 6 stars, I would.

My husband and I went to Harbour House and had a great experience! We sat on the outside side patio so we could hear the music, but didn’t have to yell to carry on conversation. It was the perfect location and our waiter (McKenzie aka Mac) was fantastic.
This was our first time at the restaurant and Mac was great at giving us enough time to look at the menu and suggesting delic food items. Their cocktails are very reasonably priced. Even though prices aren’t on the menu, they range between $ 6 and $ 8…which if you’re a Decatur resident or frequent visitor, you know is a steal!
We started with the smoked gouda crab and artichoke dip that so many have raved about already, and it certainly lived up to its reputation! So creamy, fresh, and delicious!
After much deliberation from their diverse menu, I landed on the parmesan crusted mountain trout — which was AMAZING. I’m not a huge fan of grits, but these came with cheese grits that were really delicious and not overpowering. I couldn’t even finish the meal, and it made for great leftovers the next day!
My husband got the crispy GA pecan chicken with pimento mac-​and-​cheese, which was also a grand slam.
Service was excellent, staff was super friendly, and the manager came up during a busy evening to thank us for our business and ask how everything was. All-​in-​all, I have no complaints of this restaurant and plan on going back to try out brunch sooner rather than later!

This place used to be awesome, but has since changed owners or something. Now the service is poor and the food meh. The calamari finger used to be awesome and I’m so sad they are gone.
Don’t bother.

We arrived to Harbour House at 7:30 on a Friday night and the hostess amazingly sat us immediately at an outdoor patio table. At first I thought it was good fortune, but in fact I believe it was a sign of the service that was about to come.
We waited 10 minutes before our server came to our table. I waited tables for years, so I am very understanding of slow service when a place is slammed. Keep in mind that Harbour House was maybe half-​full and there were other empty tables all around us. All girlfriend needed to do was come by the table and say hi and that she would be back to take our drink order in a few. Instead we witnessed her take orders from a table that got there a good 5 minutes after us.
We had picked out our cocktails and appetizers and were debating just leaving by the time our server from hell finally arrived. No apologies or warmth when finally greeting us. I took it upon myself to let her know we were ready to order drinks and appetizers hoping that she would take a hint. She did not.
15 minutes later a food runner brought our raw oysters and smoked gouda crab and artichoke dip arrived. Oysters are pretty hard to mess up, and these certainly did not disappoint. The crab and artichoke dip was phenomenal. All three of us were pretty obsessed… and thirsty. Did I mention that our server had still not delivered our drinks? Well, she finally showed up and my Pimm’s Cup was solid, not New Orleans good but an a-​okay ATL attempt. My friends also had specialty cocktails that they seemed to enjoy, but we concluded no one enjoyed the drinks enough to continue to put up wit our server. We asked her for the check, and she dropped that off almost immediately.
10 minutes pass and we are sitting at the table with lots of empty plates and glasses and our credit cards out to pay, but our server is nowhere to be found. Finally the manager (presumably) came by, bussed our table, and swiped our credit cards. He couldn’t have been any nicer, so that was a plus.
I will definitely give Harbour House the benefit of the doubt and try it again because despite horrible service the food was pretty awesome. A beach themed seafood spot complete with bocce ball, cornhole, and a live band make for a good time. I should add that the live music on the small outdoor stage looked like a ton of fun when we were returning to our car after eating elsewhere. Sigh.

Service was lackluster at best.
Cocktails were 5 star. Atmosphere was 5 star.
Worthy of a second visit for the cocktails alone.

I have been going to Twain’s for years and always noticed Harbour House in the distance. I assumed it was a semi-​lame generic seafood place for an older crowd which it most certainly is not. Their food is really good and the vibe of the space isn’t lame at all.
A friend invited me to use her buy on get on free brunch coupon which I obviously could not turn down. They have a half off deal on Scoutmob as well. Harbour House is a non-​traditional spot for brunch, but they have tons of brunch dishes and plenty of lunch options as well. There were plenty of tables available at 11am on a Sunday morning which is rare in Atlanta. I assume the lack of a crowd is because people just don’t know that Harbour House has a great brunch. I will say that for the restaurant being almost empty, it did take a little while for our food to come out.
The large menu was a little overwhelming to me at first, so I picked the first thing I saw which was the crab cakes Benedict topped with tomatoes and a lemony Hollandaise sauce. The crab cakes were a little on the bready side, but with the well poached eggs, bright sauce and thin English muffin, I really enjoyed the whole dish. Their brunch dishes come with an option of grits or home fries. I ordered the home fries which are softish potatoes cooked with onions and peppers. I preferred the grits which had a fresh corn and creamy taste. My friend ordered the fried chicken and biscuits which come with a side of gravy. These little chicken biscuits were delicious.
At night Harbour House is packed. They often times have live music by their outdoor bar. They also have a couple of bocce ball courts and out door picnic tables. The inside is more refined, but still has that beachy casual vibe. Overall, it is an unsuspecting place that turned out to be really delightful.

We waited for about 30 – 45 minutes, despite TONS of empty tables all around us, and finally we were told by a manager that the kitchen was so backed up they weren’t accepting new tables, and we probably wouldn’t get to eat. So, we left, went to Kimball House. This is our third time coming and two out of the three have been bad experiences. Probably won’t be back.

On Father’s Day my dad and I were in the area looking for a place to eat on the square. There wasn’t any parking on the square and we happen to turn on Church street and saw couple of restaurants with plenty of parking. That’s how we ended up at Harbour house. The outside is very attractive with a tiki/​beach feel, bocce ball courts and plenty of outdoor seating. It was a hot summer day so we sat inside. We saw they had a brunch buffet but it only lasted until 2:30 and it was already 2:15. The waitress explained that the food will stay out past 2:30 if we wanted the 16.99 Buffet but that it wouldn’t be refilled. We decided to order off the menu. As a starter we got the crab and artichoke dip. It was a creamy base with cheese and came with warm pita bread. Very delicious. I ordered the chicken cheddar patty melt. My side options were fries or apple cole slaw. I really didn’t want greasy fries so I got the apple slaw even though I don’t usually like cole slaw. This slaw was no diff for me, I wasn’t a fan but its not the restaurants fault! The patty melt was very very good but a little messy as the sauce on the toast gets a little slippery and soggy. Ended up eating with a folk and knife, but very good flavor either way. My dad got 3 tacos– fish, shrimp and tuna. He absolutely loved the tuna and then the shrimp was his second fav. It came with a side of chips and salsa.
I was pleasantly surprised when I checked in on 4square and got a notification that this place was on Scoutmob for $ 10 off at lunch time! The food was really great. Only giving 4 stars because service was a bit slow and it was a little loud.

I ordered the Smoked Gouda + Crab dip, and I was able to eat a lot of it before I had to stop (which is a good thing). I found it to be just heavy enough to be a sturdy dip without being too heavy that I could only have 2 bites. I wish the crab flavor wasn’t hidden so much, though. My husband got the fried shrimp platter, and I believe it was as expected.
The restaurant was darker than I thought it should be, and the women’s bathroom lock was broken, but the staff was friendly, and the food was acceptable. It didn’t wow us, but we didn’t order anything out of the ordinary. I’d be willing to try Harbour again, but we most likely won’t be back.

I came back after the reboot and the food was much better. its cool to see a place take the feedback from the neighborhood and re-​invent their restaurant since most places dont have success doing this.
The trout and shrimp and grits were fantastic and we will surely be back.

I have to lower my rating after having brunch here today. There were so many problems. If I were basing my review on brunch alone, I would give it one star. We chose not to eat from the buffet. I ordered crab cakes benedict with potatoes and my boyfriend ordered the southern scrambler (I think that’s what it was called).
The waitress, while sweet and efficient, was clueless about the menu. She said it was her first day to work the brunch shift. She had to go ask the manager what black forest ham was and whether it was actually added to the eggs or on the side. The menu descriptions aren’t clear.
My crab cakes were cold and mostly bread. Actually, everything was cold. Not warm, but cold. My boyfriend’s eggs tasted like powdered eggs. The biscuit was cold, hard and awful. His grits were pretty good.
I don’t recommend the brunch at all. I would much rather pay half the price to eat at Waffle House.
I will only return to eat the fish and chips. They were excellent.

I was led here through ScoutMob for lunch.
This place is… well, it’s good.
First of all, the place is physically really nice. It is a free standing house just a brisk walk from the main street of Decatur. It has free parking around the back, and a lovely patio deck with tables for eating. The inside is really cozy — dark wood on the floors and walls, lovely brick, cool-​toned paintings, delicious smells wafting out of the kitchen, a large bar — generally a great atmosphere. Also the nautical theme was communicated very well here.
The staff was really friendly. Our waitress was very sweet and accommodating. She seemed to know the menu well, and she helped us order. I realize this is primarily a seafood joint, and while I love anything related to marine dining, I prefer to save it for special occasions that don’t usually occur so far inland. That being said, I didn’t try their seafood though I have heard great things about it.
I did, however, try their steak burger and side salad. I ordered it without the bun because gluten and I don’t get along, but I’ve been in denial for years and only rarely forgo it. Anyway, the burger was great standing alone, and the side salad was phenomenal. It had pumpkin seeds, honey balsamic dressing… yum. My friend got the pot roast with mashed potatoes, spinach, and fried onions, and for someone who doesn’t eat much (I know… crazy thought) she ate the whole plate. She said it was amazing. Their beef is grass-​fed and local so that bumps everything up majorly.
All in all, this is a great place to stop in for lunch or dinner or even drinks. Not my favorite place in the world, but good!

I’ve always been quite curious about ‘Harbour House’, the restaurant itself looks absolutely amazing from a passerby’s point of view; they have a huge patio set up with firefly lights and even a cornhole game set-​up on the porch. It’s perfect for summer evening dining — unfortunately we came in last week thus it was too cold to eat on the patio. The interior is quite nice though, there are wooden floors, and comfy, leather boots, and there’s a sort of rustic-​nautical theme.
The staff was really nice, the host and our server were friendly and prompt with service. We came in around 5:30 PM and I had yet to eat anything for the day so we ordered a little more than normal:
Appetizers:
½ Dozen Order of Gulf Oysters on the ½ shell: The oysters came with horseradish and cocktail sauces, and two lemon wedges. I enjoyed the oysters they were fresh, maybe a bit bland, but that’s where the cocktail sauce and lemon came in.
Flash Fried Calamari w/​Sriracha Aioli dipping sauce and drizzled with ‘cilantro lime cream’: This was my favorite dish of the night. It’s hard to go wrong with fried calamari anywhere, and the calamari here were nicely fried and the accompanying condiments were very complimentary, especially the cilantro lime cream. YUM.
Entrees:
Parmesan Crusted Mountain Trout (trout served atop ‘stone ground grits, braised greens and smoked bacon’, topped with a ‘tomato caper vinaigrette’): When the dish first came to the table, I had such high hopes, it was plated so nicely. My first bite was of the tomato vinaigrette — it was very nice, very flavorful — but that was where the flavor ended. The rest of the dish was very bland, right down to the grits and especially the trout — the braised collards were okay — but when it’s mentioned with bacon, it has to be so much better than it was. Disappointing.
Pastrami Burger (‘house made pastrami with caramelized onions, mustard, swiss cheese’, atop a grass-​fed beef patty, on a sesame seed bun’): I only tried the pastrami bit of the burger and again, it was pretty bland. The BF didn’t really like it as a whole either, he left about two-​thirds on the plate (which is rare for him!). I asked what he thought of it and he said it was much too salty for his liking.
Pimento Mac-​n-​Cheese: The BF and I shared this side, as we’re such huge fans of West Egg’s version. Eh. It was okay. Again, it’s hard to go terribly wrong with mac-​n-​cheese — but again, it was on the bland side of things, but it was nicely gooey and cheesey — the way good mac and cheese should be.
Overall, the food is decent, I was a bit disappointed after wanting to try this place for so long. I’d give the food two stars overall, but I bumped it up to three due to customer service and atmosphere.

Harbor House Pub is definitely different than Harbor Bar… the interior is nice, more «pub-​like» but essentially the same set up as before.
I am so very mad that the seafood options are much more limited. We need our shrimp boil!!! Oh, and they dont have pitchers anymore… I am going to miss that.
Overall, they are more sophisticated and have a lot more «land lovers» options on the menu for those that are looking for that kind of restaurant.
It’s doing o.k. and we’ll continue to go for the oysters, but they lost a star from me.

Like most places, this place seems to be pretty hit or miss when it comes to the food.
We ordered from here twice today. Once for lunch & once for dinner.
Lunch: one of us had their burger, and one of us had the fried chicken/​biscuits and grits brunch. The burger was pretty bland. The meat hadn’t been grill or charbroiled or anything. It also didn’t come with catsup, mustard or anything to put on the buns. The other meal was delicious. Great grits & everything.
We were curious as to how their dinners were so, we ordered dinner. One of us had the low country boil– it was really good, except the shrimp aren’t deveined. I ordered the chicken fingers dinner. I opened the box & was pretty shocked at how tiny and how few chicken fingers were in the box (see my picture on here for proof.) The box had a lot of fries, and like the coleslaw, they were good, but that dinner is in no way worth the price.
We would probably order from here again.