Haven

Thanks for a great evening out. I wish there was a 4.5 stars!
My husband and I are in town for a short weekend away from Seattle. There are limited options during the off season so we were excited to stop in. There was. Bit of a wait so we ended up sitting at the bar.
Got the mixed green salad which that miso dressing was wonderful.
I got the hot mess Mexican. Husband got the pork sliders and tacos (he has a hard time deciding)
My dish was a little difficult to like the first two bites because the sauce was cold in temp when the rest of the dish was hot and ready to eat. It’s a large portion and I enjoyed. The bottom tortillas where kind of like pupusas. Great spice and similar to huevos rancheros.
The carnitas tacos were great as well.
The home run of the evening were the pork sliders. Great seasoning and wonderful elements to build those spiders.
Awesome cocktails and beers, too!

I’ve lived on Lopez Island for 12 years, and have seen the restaurant where the Haven is located change hands at least four times. The current owners have created a clean, tidy, open space that is friendly and very laid back and best of all, the food is delicious and straightforward. A friend of mine and I went to lunch and I had the Cuban, which was generous roast pork on a toothsome roll. Inside were layered greens, jalapeños, sautéed onions with a lush garlic aioli that complimented the earthy pork nicely. My friend had the Gado Gado plate, which came with fried tofu, miso soup and vegetable hand rolls and the sauce! The peanut sauce was to die for, very evenly balanced, not too sweet but not too vinegary. The service was attentive and very friendly.

Amazing. I love all the food here. And the service is tremendous! I personally recommend the Cuban Sandwich or the Hot Mexican Mess. Also, if you’re looking for a cocktail, the Smog Cutter is where it’s at. Go around sunset, it’s beautiful.

Pros-​welcoming service, great burger, good fries, fish tacos, children’s plates, wine and beer choices are plenty. Very hard working owner, nice bright space.
Cons– over salted everything. Since when is a wedge salad made from mixed greens? It’s called a wedge because it’s cut out of a head of iceberg lettuce making it a wedge! Duh… and the blu cheese dressing was waaaay over salted. Filet was good and truffle potatoes were nice. Plate was bland looking without any color, maybe add a veggie on it? At $ 38.00 we all felt it was overpriced for the area. Price point needs to be around $ 28.00 on the island to make it work. Fish tacos were good and the children’s selection was small but had variety.
I’d go back to try the burger. Much improved space from the previous restaurant. New owners added a bar. Yahoo!

What a great spot!
We enjoyed the fish tacos, hot Mexican mess, and portobello french dip. We enjoyed every dish, and I wouldn’t change anything. We especially enjoyed the locally bottled hot sauce available to complement the meal. Haven signature cocktails were a hit too.
The restaurant is beautiful, and entertainingly decorated. I particularly liked the painting of the ship done on velvet, as well as the unusual collection of mushroom jars on the bar counter (which is a sweet slab of fir).
I think Haven has appropriately balanced food quality and prices, and hopefully will be around for a long time to come.

Beautiful location, very friendly and helpful staff, nice selection of food.

Service is slow. Our water stayed empty, we were at our table over an hour and the only water we had was poured when we were seated. We waited over an hour for a Cuban (not good at all and if you’ve ever had one in the Keys you will be disappointed) and the guacamole (actually pretty good) we ordered as an appetizer took over 45 minutes. We won’t be back, there are much better places to eat on the Island.

Haven is a great addition to Lopez! After a couple years of piloting meals and gaining experience at the south end store, the siblings (parents run the store) moved into the village and opened Haven. We learned this talking with the servers.
It’s a lovely spot in the village at the site of a former Italian place with a view of the harbor and on our evening several rabbits in the field across the street.
The fish tacos were delicious and ample, three to a portion. The Dungeness crab cakes were awesome, nice sized and no fillers. The warm evening made a perfect accompaniment for the crisp dry French rose. We split the gluten free carrot cake. We’re not gluten intolerant, it came that way. Nice frosting, nutty flavor.
Prices are reasonable $ 14 – 15 for the entrees and the wine was $ 24 a bottle. This is the kind of place you really want to succeed. Service was attentive and food was well timed. It’ll be open all year, which is nice for locals and for winter visitors. We’ll definitely be back!

My friend and I spent the weekend on the island and we came here after whale watching for dinner. Our waiter was very friendly and the outside seating was lovely. We both had the portobello French dip without cheese, I had the sweet potato fries as my side and my friend had onion rings. We both really enjoyed the food and the atmosphere. The Thai fresh rolls were really good although the tofu was cold and just pressed not cooked like we like it. The dipping sauce was an interesting combination of a chili sauce with peanut sauce.
I would eat here again if I were in the area.

We’ve eaten here a couple of times since it’s opened and while it’s been a little hit and miss, it’s still the best casual dining on the island (the Bay is the best food, but more upscale).
The first cheeseburger I ordered was excellent … cooked properly to medium rare with good cheddar cheese and onions and fresh jalapeños sautéed to order on a good bun. Good enough to eat leftovers cold the next morning. They don’t have regular french fries, which is a bummer … they have sweet potato fries and waffle fries, and frozen onion rings … so I had a side salad which was overdressed but good.
The next visit I returned the same cheeseburger and the meat wasn’t seasoned (or seasoned well enough) and wasn’t cooked to medium rare as I had requested, there wasn’t enough cheese, and the meat was so greasy that the bottom bun soaked through within 2 minutes of it being served. I ended up leaving the bun behind and eating most of the meat. The onion rings were fine — nothing special. The bbq sauce from a bottle is way too sweet, and ranch is ranch from a bottle …
On our first visit, my husband enjoyed his pesto chicken sandwich — a bit of a surprise that the chicken breast was breaded as the menu doesn’t indicate that it is. Well cooked and well balanced flavor … my husband also opted for the side salad due to the lack of regular french fries.
On our next visit my husband tried the pulled pork sliders — there are two of them and the pork is drenched in the overly sweet bbq sauce. If they don’t premix the pork in the sauce, I’d ask for the sauce on the side.
My husband went to have lunch here before this most recent visit and was seated promptly but then ignored for so long he left. This time, we arrived after 1:30 pm on a Sunday and it wasn’t super busy, yet service was a bit stilted … there were only two servers, one was a co-​owner and she was quite focused which made her come across much less friendly than we had experienced when she served us their former location on the South End of the island); probably a combination of being newly open and understaffing (which is understandable given the former); it’ll be interesting to see how the service develops, particularly during the busy season which starts in a couple of weeks.
Despite what Unilocal or any other websites say, they do not currently take reservations.

Great place to eat dinner, lunch, or simply enjoy the sunset over a cocktail on the deck! The food is amazing, the service is great, and the atmosphere can’t be beat!

Excellent food, great drinks, cool staff. The place to go in the San Juans. Try the Filet steak, melt in the mouth tender.

The only thing better than the food is the wonderful staff! Plus, the décor is definitely not to be missed. If you live on the island or are just looking for some delicious food and a warm and friendly atmosphere to enjoy while visiting, make sure to stop by haven. The pulled pork taco’s were spectacular and I loved the refreshing drink specials!