The Port Restaurant

Was really surprised to see that this place had only 3 stars, we had a fantastic meal. You can always tell a lot about a restaurant when they bring the bread out, and The Port’s bread is delicious: hot crusty, and a ton of butter. Their Caesar Salad was perfectly dressed and the lobster crab cakes were full of lump crab and lobster meat. My wife had the tuna and I had the lobster roll which was FULL of delicious lobster on a very good brioche bun. Overall a really solid meal. Waitress and staff were courteous and polite; my only suggestion is to turn the music in the dining room down a notch.

Went to The Port for dinner last night and left very disappointed. We ordered the buffalo chicken flatbread for an appetizer and asked for a side of blue cheese or ranch… they said they don’t carry either of those dressings. I ordered the $ 20 Kobe burger, which came with onion rings and potato wedges. I asked for just potato wedges in place of the onion rings. Our food was served and I received a sub-​par burger with chewy bacon and a basket with 2 potato wedges in it. I couldn’t believe it and the waitress noticed my look of shock so she came running back out with 3 more potato wedges. Overall the atmosphere was nice and the waitress did a good job (I can’t blame a server for average food).

I was so looking forward to dinner since we had a good experience last year. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the case this time. We visited The Port for a birthday dinner (⁴⁄₃₀), and it was so disappointing that I couldn’t even tell our server since she was so nice. We ordered the oysters which were nice, fresh and cold. Great! For dinner, we ordered the blue marlin which was recommended, the steak and the fish and chips. The plates arrived and the presentation was beautiful but it stopped there. The marlin, covered in a tasty tropical salsa, was totally overcooked. The steak had so much fat on it that about 4 ounces was actually edible. You could actually buy four of them for the price of that entrée. The fish and chips were just inedible. The fish was covered in a super thick batter like pancakes and was heavy in salt. The best thing on the plate was the carrot slaw. We spent so much money on this dinner and for a special occasion. Not memorable at all.

Went there last night for dinner and was so disappointed in the service. Ordered a glass of wine and waited forever for it to come. Entrees were served and all 3 in our party had empty wine and water glasses, even though we had all ordered a drink 15 minutes earlier. Finally flagged someone down for water. Then asked for manager when the pork chop was almost raw. He took 15 minutes to come over and although he took a round of drinks off the bill. He didn’t seem at all concerned that we were having a terrible experience. One of the entrees was supposed to come with broccoli rabe, but instead had a mystery sautéed green vegetable that no one could identify. Although the food was tasty, won’t be rushing back, the cost does not fit the dining experience !

We arrived 6:10 on a Sept. Saturday evening. The only seating option was a chilly outdoor seat. Our server was friendly but service was very slow. It took 40 minutes to get our 6, 1.00 oysters. The cocktail prices are super $. Hello, The Port, this is Harwichport, NOT NYC. 15.00 for a Martini? Dinner prices are on the super high end as well. 1.00 oysters are a bargain and worth a trip.

I used to frequent The Port during my annual visits to Harwich Port. Unfortunately, I think this past visit will be my last. Over the years this restaurant has really gone downhill. The food quality is really not what it used to be and seems to be getting more expensive each year. I’ve witnessed the head bartender being quite rude and unaccommodating to customers my last visit and the management seemed to be all over the place (not actually sure if there even is a manager). The bartender was not attentive to us at all while there — just to the female wait staff in the corner where he talked about his customers openly. I would not recommend this place to a visitor or resident of the area. Save your money and give it other local establishments on the main street that actually value your business.
What happened to the old Port?!?

Went on a busy weeknight, had reservations & were seated immediately. The waitress was great & attentive. Ordered the Firecracker Shrimp & Rockefeller appetizers which were delicious. Had the Champagne Cocktail & a pasta special. Will definitely be back for another visit.

Great atmosphere and food. It’s totally revitalized Hwichport, bravo guys! But I have to say the service is alway either a comedy show or tragedy but usually a combo of both. Forgotten tables. No bussing??? Host forgets about you. Not offering to comp even a drink or desert when things go awry, and getting defensive when complaints are raised. We eat here regularly both at the bar and in the dining room, and will continue to return, but only because our choices are limited. We’ve yet to have a flawless experience here.

One bad experience. We made a 6:30 pm reservation and were seated at 7:15 pm. Pourly handled. No food is worth that wait. Never again.

Stopped in to rest our feet and have a nice cold glass of chardonnay and oysters. They’re only $ 1 each between 3 and 5pm. We also ordered the shrimp cocktail which was delicious! The shrimp were large and really cold and fresh tasting. Nice bite of horseradish in the cocktail sauce. Also had freshly baked rolls that were still warm, served with butter. Life is good!

I’m staying in the cape with some family friends and this is their favorite spot close to home to go for dinner! Their biggest reason for loving it so much is really the service — if you have a reservation (which I HIGHLY recommend during peak season), your table is always ready when you arrive, no waiting around for them to clear it or anything. Consistent and reliable service here, always.
As for the food, I prefer their off-​season menu as I think it has more non-​seafood variety since I don’t eat much fish. However, my boyfriend loves all their seafood specials and entrees during any season! If you’re like me and not a big fish fan, check out the menu ahead of time because it is definitely limited in the non-​fish categories. Nonetheless, I usually get a Caesar with chicken which is awesome — highly recommend their Caesar salad! Other great apps are the fried calamari (which I do eat) and the baked Brie. Also the rolls are hot and to die for!
Any fish on the menu is fresh and looks gorgeous, but especially the pepper-​crusted swordfish with guacamole! It’s my host’s absolute favorite, she probably has it 10 times a summer. They do keep a good chicken dish on the menu too.
The wine list is extensive, something for everyone. I’ve never had dessert here or even seen it come out so I can’t comment, but everything else is consistently good so I would def recommend this spot — $ 1 oysters during happy hour!

Euh… food was okay. Service was very poor at best. The bartender was socializing with friend even when the manager came by twice. The waitress wasn’t ‘sure what the specials where’ but was able to come back 20 minutes later to let us know… right after she broke the cork of into our $ 50 wine bottle (pretty funny actually). Great location but too many options to go back. #higherbetterstaff

THE WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE EVER! Deceived us on our bill and refused to rectify it. Informed us it was not their problem. Manager AND Owner were extremely rude, insulting and curt.
Would highly recommend NOT visiting this establishment. Not a place to go if you want to feel appreciated.
Will be contacting the Chamber of Commerce, the local newspaper, and the Better Business Bureau.

I love to go to The Port between 3 – 5 for their wonderful cocktails and $ 1 oysters. We either sit at the bar or at the little tables out front. Servers and bartenders always very good.

The food is very good. The seared Tuna was excellent. The wine list is long enough. The Pinot from Santa Barbara was good enough for a second bottle.
The front end needs attention. However how good do you need to be in July on the Cape. We had a reservation, took an open spot at the bar and were shushed away. While waiting at the bar we got 4 of 5 drinks. Easy because we bought a bottle of wine and spread it for 4. Waited for the 5^th drink; the bar was unattended for several minutes while waited. Eventually were seated. recommend that is better to have a reservation than not. We arrived at a table, with our drinks from the bar. No drink order, no interest. Asked for the waitress to order, asked for the waiter for desert, asked for the waitress for the bill. Peer presume forced a 15% tip. Did I say the food was good? Yes.

Restaurant has a great location in hate hoody center. There is a small outdoor seating area and a bocce ball court. Great for a glass of wine but wouldn’t recommend eating food here. I really liked the wine list, great selection. My friends ordered mixed drinks that they all thought were well mixed and reasonably priced. 1 dollar oysters are a great deal.
We ordered calamari, mussels, meatballs and a salad. The food was overpriced and not good. The calamari were rubbery and the breading on them was tasteless and a funny texture. The mussel sauce was good but the mussels were overcooked. Ceaser salad was fine but nothing special.
Go for drinks but don’t stay for dinner.

Management wrecked an otherwise fine meal at the Port. Do not trust your waitress for pricing. Because our waitress told us a special menu item was included with a coupon that we had, we ordered it. After our meal, we were informed that, oops, the waitress made a mistake, the special item was not included. Management would not honor the mistake that the waitress made, nor offer even a partial compensation. The additional money was’nt the issue, it was the managers rigid, unyielding position. It wrecked the meal.

Best Portuguese Fisherman Stew I’ve ever had — delicious tangy olive laden broth with tender chunks of onion and potato and great seafood that wasn’t overdone. Also a big fan of the crusty little loaves they served — sopping up the broth is the most Portuguese thing you can do and it was the perfect match. Made my day.

I have only been in this tacky joint for the unbeatable oyster special. 5 – 6 one buck shuck is about as good as it gets. However, this time I got sick so, now that I’ve had the chance to really reflect while staring down the porcelain barrel, I am going to write a review.
One must be aware that a faux-​Long Island club-​restaurant vibe is dangerous. One must be aware that godawful oil paintings of hands and wine bottles are as much a warning as a monarch’s wings. One must accept that these places are going to scrape the bottom when they give you one buck shuck. So here I am, accepting that they got me this time. 3 visits, two days puking and crapping.
Maybe the rest of their food is great, it didn’t look too good. The calamari is a rip off, I could see that. The sliders looked grossly overpriced. But whatever, I am feverish and dehydrated.
One last thing, the waitstaff could be a little more mix gendered. Sad ladies, dressed in black, next to a neon back lit bar, is depressing. I guarantee they hate the management.
Two stars, because I am partially to blame.

Ok I’ve been going to this place a couple times a year for I’ll guess the last 8 or so years, most recently Saturday.
They close late fall/​early winter and usually re-​open mid-​April.
I have no idea why Unilocalers have so much distain for The Port.
The food is always very good and the place is classy.
There are some downsides, so let’s get those out of the way now.
Its crowded. Honestly for the past few years I haven’t even bothered to visit Jun-​August. They don’t take reservations and the place is crazy, especially on weekends. Expect to wait an hour or more during prime dinner times on weekends in-​season. I am lucky enough to spend a lot of time at the Cape so I can go off-​season (usually once in the spring and once in the fall) when its far less crowded. Now if you are one of those people who’s only at the Cape a week or two in the summer you should visit The Port and either suck it up and deal with the crowds, visit early in the week and/​or very early or later at night. It’s worth it.
On my recent visit the restaurant had only been open a couple days for the 2014 season so I wasn’t expecting perfection but honestly you would have never known. We got there 7:15 PM or so and it wasn’t jammed but busier than I expected considering I wasn’t sure if anyone even knew they were open for the season yet. There were tables available and we were seated straight away. It’s in a traditional white non-​descript building on Rt.28. Inside its fairly upscale and cosmopolitan and not very «Cape-​Coddy». One side is just a bar and the other side has another bar and all the dining tables. Parking can be tricky. The lot behind the restaurant is small and was completely full even in Mid-​April. Try the shopping center across Sea St. (where the bakery is) and you’ll likely have better luck.
Though I didn’t notice it at first, this year the menu has a page of entrees $ 20 and under in addition to a page of entrees over $ 20. I ordered the fish tacos right at $ 20, of course she had some steak thing that was significantly more expensive. For apps we had the salad and crab-​stuffed artichoke. Both very good. I know a salad is a salad but this place can really make a good one. Both entrees were good. There was no steak left over and I’m told it was cooked perfectly. My only complaint was the sauce for the fish tacos was remoulade sauce, which you would normally use on crab cakes. It was fine but I would rather have had something more traditional or original.
The dessert list was a little skimpy at about 4 items total and we were stuffed so we skipped it.
The wine list was a bit small and featured wines from some out of the way places like Oregon and Washington. I tend to be a wine-​traditionalist and think there’s a good reason the finest wines come from Italy, France, California, etc. I had a decent cab from CA though.
Portion sizes are about average. Despite just having opened for the season service was excellent.
Now how can we explain the fact that this place only has 2.5 stars? Well the first fishy thing is only 26 reviews. This makes no sense to me because it’s always busy and, at least on season, caters to a young-​ish hip-​sh crowd that is very likely to use apps like Unilocal.There are bakeries on the cape where no one goes that have twice as many reviews. I’m not sure what’s going on but 26 total reviews, most of the bad, makes no sense at all.
I’ll attempt address common complaints I’ve heard about this place on Unilocal and elsewhere. Some are legit, some aren’t.
It’s expensive. Yeah it kind of is. By way of example the dinner described above, without desserts and one glass of wine each was $ 120 with [generous] tip for both of us. All things considered it’s on the expensive side, Clearly I think it’s worth it because I keep coming back but I understand how some people might think differently.
Yes the waitresses were wearing yoga pants when I was there. If this really bothers you that much I’m sure there must be a Friendly’s nearby somewhere you can go. It really wasn’t «distracting» and most of the young-​ish waitresses could tastefully pull it off. I honestly wouldn’t even have noticed if some Unilocal reviewers hadn’t mentioned it. Besides a couple days ago I read where jean sales were falling off among young women who are now favoring those stretchy pants. So get with the times or just wait for them to go out of style, which they inevitably will.
Probably the most common negative theme on Unilocal and elsewhere is rude service. I really don’t understand this. On Saturday our server, Ashley couldn’t have been nicer, same with the manager (owner?) who seated us. In all my visits I wouldn’t say I ever had «bad» or «rude» service though some staff have been friendlier than others.
Basically it’s a good place just don’t show up with a bunch of kids and you should be ok. Unlike 90% of the restaurants on the Cape this place is NOT really a good place for kids. Oh and try to look decent.