The Harbor Restaurant

Don’t eat here. The food is disgusting. It tastes like food at a nursing home. The lobster bisque tasted like canned seafood stock with way too much tomato and one teeny tiny piece of slimy soft ¼ of an inch lobster claw on top (that appeared canned) The crab cakes tasted like something you would get at a nursing home, soft, soggy, tasteless parties. Disgusting, for 40 $ I want awesome crab cakes. In my opinion if you can not make a decent crab cake you do not deserve to have a restaurant. The steak was decent but was ordered medium and was well done, not a single piece of pink. It was the only edible part of the meal and was 54 $. The shrimp scampi was ok, but I saw 4 outta the 6 shrimps weren’t cleaned (which makes them not edible) and had their «poop shoot» still intact, but the rice it was served with was disgusting, tasteless and soggy. The veggies were inedible and gross, sogggy and disgusting, & the scampi costs 40 $. I don’t even know how u can make fresh beautiful veggies gross but they did. No excuses in California!

I came here for my grad dinner! Shoutout to Aubrey the in-​house party planner because she was amazing! The views outside the window created a great ambience.
The chowder was too salty for my taste but it was nice and creamy. The salmon is a must! It was really worth the hype. The fish was flaky and the flavors were all there. The prime rib (we ordered a range from medium rare to medium well) but all of them were cooked the same. They were alittle cooked too well for my liking. The portions were huge so I really appreciated it. The mashed potatoes that came with the dish was really good and wasnt too mushy. Fish and chips were decent.
The moscow mule was very strong so they definitely dont skimp on the alcohol. It was about $ 12.95! I would recommend this place for the views. The food was just ok.

HARBOR RESTAURANT: I have to say I had one of the worst meals I have had in many years two nights ago at the Harbor Restaurant. The manager Jordan was very unprofessional and did not seem to care a bit.
I had the Bacon Wrapped Diver Scallops with Mushroom Risotto and asparagus. The Risotto was under-​cooked and under seasoned and COLD. The rest of the dinner I managed to get down but this is not what you would expect from a restaurant like this. The chef must not have tasted anything he put on that plate.
At this point I am not willing to give this place anymore of my money.

Came in for brunch hour and was pleasantly delighted by a courteous staff. Really nice views as the restaurant sits on the pier. Prices were about average for the area, and the food was definitely good. Just wish our waiter was a little more attentive.

Had a reservation on Mother’s Day. They should have told people that they only serve brunch all day on Mother’s day and it was $ 50 per person. We showed up and found out, very disappointed because we didn’t want breakfast brunch at 1pm. Luckily there were seating in the grill restaurant upstairs; otherwise, they would have ruined our Mother’s day lunch. Very disappointed with Habor, feel like that was a trick not telling us upfront.

We had a very enjoyable Mother’s Day brunch today. We arrived a little earlier than our reservation and the hostesses were able to seat us without any problems. Our server was wonderful! Drinks were always full and used plates were promptly cleared. The buffet spread was incredible! So many items to choose from and nothing ever ran out. Our 7 year olds favourite was of course the dessert bar which was very well done! As expected being right on the pier, the view was beautiful and enjoyed by everyone. We had a very nice visit to the Harbor Restaurant and look forward to dining here again.

This place completed our day trip to Santa Barbara. We wanted to eat on the pier and have good food! This hit both of our requests. We sat at a window with a view of the bay and marina. Did I mention there was valet parking on the pier right in front? This was a real treat. All of the dishes we ordered were great and we thoroughly enjoyed the view while eating and talking. We got here around noon and we were seated right away. As we were leaving the lunch rush started to pick up. The pier is always a great place to visit while in Santa Barbara.

Awesome place! Touristy yes, so expect it! It’s in a pier people, I like the half bacon burger special. Nice service, great window view seat. Our server James was the man, very knowledge able and he beat us to any question we had… Like a mind reader whoooo knew !
Fish tacos are huge! Margarita yummy, buzzing type! Hostess seated quick, they should push downstairs more during 3−5pm!
I wanted the apple pie, but to stuffed… Bummer. Prob won’t be back in awhile but this place deserves higher than 3 stars.
If say solid 4, in writing 5 to balance it out.
But I need to do a 7 – 8 star to make that possible… Darn you hippies for hating on touristy places! Long live harbor restaurant! Boba!
Thanks for making an awesome protein burger my tummy is happy. My lady demanded a slice of apple pie with cheddar cheese! They gave it us on the house and we said that’s American and that’s why it’s free.

Wonderful service, great ambiance, delicious lobster cocktail, and salmon to die for!

JAKE the cute white guy is the super waiter. ¹⁰⁰⁄₁₀₀ customer service I will definitely come again just for him
¹⁰⁄₁₀ anything eggs Benedict
¹⁰⁄₁₀ 10 dollars for bottomless mimosas
¹⁰⁄₁₀ restaurant
Dat view

Food is good, service is attentive, view is even better. It’s on the pier which can make it crowded, but that’s to be expected. They have two restaurants one upstairs and one down. Upstairs is more of a sports bar.
They now have the best lobster roll in town. Too many other places don’t do it right, had one the other night with huge chucks of celery. Been there on holidays to where they do a fantastic buffet.

Great balcony seating with the Pacific Ocean surrounding you.
Awesome location on a pier!
Good food with lots to choose from.

I have lived in SB for 30 years and though there are numerous restaurants in SB, you cannot beat the view, ambiance and charm of The Harbor Restaurant. Situated on the Stearns Wharf Pier, the Harbor Restaurant has the best views bar none in SB. Amazing place to see the sunset and the food is very good. They run specials frequently to entice locals in as most of the time it is busy with tourists, but don’t let this fool you… the food is wonderful. I recently had the Harbor Burger served by Danny and it was amazing. If you are just coming to SB you must experience The Harbor Restaurant. Upstairs is the sister restaurant LongBoards and it is a little less pricey and more of a lunch place.

Was in Santa Barbara for a wedding and this was the first spot my boyfriend stopped to grab a bite! Beautiful view of the ocean! Food is OK– I had a turkey burger (meh) and my boyfriend got the chicken sandwhich («Good, what I expected. It was fine but I had low exception. I ultimately went there because it was convenient and nearby and had a great view»). Honestly, don’t expect great food. Expect passable food; a place where you can throw back a couple of beers while enjoying the beautiful view that Santa Barbara has to offer!

Knowing that this is a heavily touristy area I really wasn’t expecting much. The better reviewed Santa Barbara Shellfish Co. had a line out the door, so I decided to go on the place that would seat us the fastest, so Harbor Restaurant it was.
I had the «Baja» fish tacos, which came with three tacos and a lil cup of guacamole and a handful of chips, Guacamole was decent. Tacos were another story. Sometimes I wonder where people get the inspiration to make their own fish tacos, I mean fish tacos are fish tacos, kinda hard to mess them up. Well these tacos had fish in them but looked more like fish nuggets, and there was some cabbage and some green sauce that wasn’t too great. My SO had the shrimp tacos which looked better than my tacos, also her plate came with decent spanish rice an cold hard black beans.
Sooo, food wasn’t great, the service was decent, definitely over priced, but the main winner is the view. Yea the food wasn’t great but there really is nothing better than looking out the window at the water and seeing the boats drive by while drinking a cold beer.

Stopped by for a early lunch. Knew we were dealing with a touristy spot, but thought we’d give it a shot. Restaurant was clean, and picturesque.
We were seated by a window, with a nice view, gave our waitress our drink order. I had the Bloody Mary, and my girlfriend had a mimosa. Bloody Mary came with a nice big prawn on it, which was excellent, but the drink was really warm, and not very flavorful. Not much vodka either. Mimosa was fine.
We both ordered the breakfast sandwiches which were glorified grilled cheese sandwiches.
Not a bad meal, just not great, or even close. My bad for going to a tourist spot.

The Harbor Restaurant: This was our last night dinner before heading back home. We thought to try this place after dining at Brophy Bros. which does not take reservations and did not want to wait an hour in a half again. We opted to this place since they took reservations. The reservation wer at 7:00, the restaurant was empty. Service from Katie was excellent. Very touristy place, menu though did not WOW us so we opted to order a dinner of appetizers. We ordered the Dungeness Crab Cakes (roasted chili sauce with sweet corn and papaya salsa), Jumbo Shrimp Cocktail (cocktail sauce, lemon, saffron aioli), Fresh Local Hope Ranch Mussel (garlic, basil, extra virgin olive oil, tomato) and ½ Blue Points.
All the food was good, was not a total WOW. Service was excellent. View amazing.

My wife and I were visiting Santa Barbara for the weekend to celebrate her birthday. Before we ended our trip and hit the road the next morning, we decided to take a stroll down to the pier. The first restaurant we came upon was The Harbor Restaurant. Believing there would be more in store for us towards the end of the pier we continued along. As we got to the end of the pier our options were slim and settled with Moby Dick. After we put our names on the wait list and waited for a table, I didn’t like the smell or vibes surrounding the restaurant and decided to remove our name from the list and head back down to The Harbor.
We walked into The Harbor Restaurant and were immediately seated at a table with beautiful views overlooking the ocean and city lights. Upon being seated our waiter, Halim also known as Guy, took our drink order. As waited for our drinks we looked over the menu which had a wide selection of dishes. Being the pickey eater that I am, I decided to order the USDA prime petite fillet that came fixed with mashed potatoes and asparagus. Before placing my order, I asked Halim if I could substitute something else in place of the asparagus due my distaste with them and was told I could put anything else in it’s place. My wife decided to order the the potato crusted fresh atlantic salmon that came fixed with sautéed spinach, cabbage and lobster sauce.
Upon placing our order, Halim returned to our table and asked me if I still wanted to substitute something in place of the asparagus, I was so thankful he remembered and decided to go with the traditional mixed vegetables.
As we waited for the meals to be prepared, we were served with a beautiful basket of fresh bread and an assortment of bread butters that were fantastic. The table guests that were seated next to us were a bit annoying and quite rude to the wait staff to say the least.
We were then served our entrees and again everything looked delicious. I quickly cut my first bite of the steak
and slipped it into my mouth. The glaze sauce atop it completed the meal. My wife said her salmon was the best she has ever tasted. For dessert, we decided to go with the traditional french favorite, crème brûlée. I was a fan, but wife thought there was too much carmalized sugar on top. That for me is my personal favorite so I enjoyed it.
Throughout the whole meal our service was exceptional. What topped it for me was we were not bothered with the bill until after we were finished with our dessert. That has always been a big pet peeve of mine, which is what earned this restaurant the last star to complete it’s five star rating.
When we asked Halim to speak with the manager about our service, we were stunned to learn that he was the manager. He went on to explain that the server assigned to our section was new and was seated two large parties, therfore wanted to help out… wow, team work.
Many thanks to The Harbor Restaurant and Halim for a great experience.

Wanted a quick lunch with a view of the beach. You’ll know from my reviews I sometimes choose places with ambience and great views and sometimes the food is compromised.
In this case…
I ordered ½ Harbor salad which was light dress and had lettuce, shrimp and jicama.
Also a cup of chowder. The salad was great, the chowder 3 out of 10.
Great service. I enjoyed lunch in a quiet clean cool restaurant.

This restaurant is smack bang in the middle of tourist central on Stearns Wharf so you really have to come prepared for two enevitabilities, one, it’s going to be busy around any general meal time hours, especially on the weekend, and two, your going to pay a little extra on your bill for the experience of overlooking the harbor searching for sea lions and seals while eating your meal.
The food is decent, but nothing to really write home about and the delay between ordering and the food actually arriving seemed to be considerable however they do tide you over with complimentary bite sized blueberry muffins and donut holes to munch on if your starving. We ordered a harbor burger, shrimp tacos and two cokes and the bill came to $ 48 before tip. A decent choice if you find yourself on the wharf and craving some food or a drink with a nice view but not somewhere I’ll be rushing back to anytime soon.