Harborside

Very disappointed in our recent dining experience.

Stopped for a late lunch/early dinner on Saturday 4/6.

Sea skins (appetizer of potato skins) were cold, appear to have been sitting for a while.

Oysters on the half shell were the highlight of the meal, fresh and briny.

My cup of clam chowder was served lukewarm and my salmon Caesar Salad was way over dressed, a gloppy mess.

Mother-in-law had crab cake dinner which server highly recommended. She said crab cake had "loads of filler."

Service was good but quality for price just isn't there for me.

Hi fellow Google maps fans. We took a little detour on our way from Orlando to Port Charlotte via US 27 South. Harborside was an excellent find. It's about a 12 mile detour but Absolutely worth it!
The restaurant is located on waterfront and it is a very tranquil location. Anywhere you are seated will provide a great water view. The restaurant is clean and comfortable.
We're on vacation so we had oysters from Massachusetts and West Virginia. The Bread they serve is amazing a little garlic and Parmesan and warm. We had the Ahi tuna, lobster bites, pork pot stickers and chicken satay for appetizers. They were all delicious. Seriously, delicious. . Most of our family had steak the kids had the sirloin, which to my horror they ordered cooked medium well ... Who does that? Mine was the cowboy ribeye and it was the Best steak I have had for a while. The cook and flavor was beyond compare.
Hannah was our server and she was sweet and attentive. She made our last day of vacation special. Thank you Hannah.
If you're within a 30 mile radius, Get Here!

Came here specifically for the fried gator bites because I don't know where else I'd get the opportunity to try this meat. I ordered ahead but still had to wait an additional 5ish minutes after I got the text that my order was ready. I was a little disappointed by the portion size for $20, but I know the price is probably reflective of the effort to source this meat, like with lobster (also, there might have been a mark-up since I ordered online).

Overall, it looked and tasted like chicken. The batter was crispy and chewy. The meat wasn't dry but not as moist as other types of meats. Some parts were also a tad too salty. The aioli sauce complemented the dish well. I probably wouldn't get this again, but I'm happy to have had the experience.

The ahi tuna with the Cole slaw salad was delicious. The loaded baked potato with shrimp was ok, in my opinion lacked flavor. The watermelon cocktail I had was delicious, refreshing not too sweet. Almost any seating at the restaurant has the view of the lake due to the nice big windows they have all over the restaurant. We will come again to try other appetizers.

Great food. Love being seated within site of water. Service is always good and professional

We came to this restaurant as a family of four. I ordered the blackened grouper dinner, and it was $31.49. The menu stated that the grouper would be an 8 to 9 ounce fillet, although I doubt it weighed any more than 3 ounces. I received a tiny little piece of fish. The grouper sandwich was the same way, tiny piece of fish on a big roll. I mentioned this to the hostess, who stated she would let the manager know. No one came to the table, and nothing was done about the small portions of the meal. I was astonished that they could charge that much money for such a small amount of grouper. And then, after communicating that we did not get what was stated on the menu,, the manager never came to the table, and nothing was done about our meal. Very poor customer service from this restaurant. We will not be back . After visiting from out of state, we were seriously looking forward to a an amazing grouper dinner. We ended up going to a fish market and purchasing a piece of grouper ourselves and cooking it at home. Don't waste your time coming here.

2 years later and I just visited Winter Haven, I still will not go to the harbor side restaurant. Hair in my mouth from their food. Sorry I can't forget that.

I was immediately greeted and taken to a table. I was surprised how busy the restaurant was during lunch on a Thursday. It's was cloudy and cold on the day I visited but I can imagine how pretty it is in a sunny day. It sits right on the water with multiple docks for ppl to park their boats. My waitress was friendly and attentive. I ordered the crab cake meal with a loaded baked potato and house salad. Warm garlic bread was brought out with my salad. It was buttery, soft and garlicky. The salad has green olives in it. I love olives so I was happy when the waitress let me know it's included. My crab cake was full of crab meat and not a lot of filler. The bake potato was also tasty. I wish the meal came with 2 crab cakes but with the salad and bread I was satisfied for lunch.

Very disappointing Mother's Day dinner. The atmosphere was crowded and loud and the food was a total disappointment for a joint that acclaims itself for fish. The grouper we paid $34.00 for was a thin piece of oversalted and odd textured fish. Didn't taste like the grouper we catch in the gulf. The mahi was cooked properly and tasted like mahi, which was actually very good. The veggies were cooked properly also. The soup was tasteful, but the salad and the meals came out before we were finished with our appetizer. The french fries were cold and overcooked. Our waitress, bless her soul, was so busy she hadn't returned until we were finished to ask how everything was. We didn't stay for dessert and won't be back for another dish of questionable fish.

Everything was delicious! Would highly recommend.
The service was fast and we sat downstairs and had a lake view.