Harborside

Came to Manitowoc to see the Maritime Museum.
After visiting we asked a local for food reccamendation. The lady at the counter suggested Harborside. Started out with a drink at the bar which was very good (I’m not really a drinker). For dinner I had the steak and shrimp. My gf had shrimp stuffed with crabmeat. Both dishes were wonderful. Would go back again if not for the fact we live near Chicago. Gave 4 stars only because it took 45 minutes to be sat. Suggest a reservation if you plan to go.

We had a group of 22 people on Sunday night. The service was fantastic with five waiters and waitresses, the food quality was very good. Maybe a little bit overpriced but overall a great experience and a great meal

Bad service and over priced food. The last time I ate there a few of us got food poisoning.

Service: Decent depending on who you get. I’ve been here several times and I would highly recommend going to get drinks here vs. food. The bartenders are usually peachy, but the actual waitresses not so much. Drinks=delicious, they have a great specialty drink menu throughout the week. One of the top 5 Bloody Mary’s in Manitowoc.
Atmosphere: Very dark, very outdated. The floor looks like it could use some serious shampooing or even replacement. The chairs are a bit sticky on the backs of them I’ve noticed. Bar is a decent size.
Food: Worst part about this place. Frozen salmon cakes, premade salads, overcooked steaks, poor quality of prime rib (90% fat vs. actual meat). The last meal I had there was 2 years ago and I had ordered the prime rib, because lets face it, this is Manitowoc, WI and there is zero creativity with the supper club menu. I had ordered the queen cut, by the time I had cut all of the fat away from the actual edible portion, it was stone cold. I asked for a refund or even a discount due to poor quality of product and they said no, and then proceeded to ask me if I wanted a doggy box for the stone cold steak. Never again will I eat there after this experience. Poor quality, poor quantity, poor price, poor customer accommodation. That was a $ 30+ meal I ate nothing of other than the dinner salad (bland as all get out) and had to pay full price for.

Meh. Went here tonight. Food was okay. The chef (s) were pretty heavy handed on the salt (everyone in our party of 4 agreed) and my husband said his meatballs were definitely freezer burnt. It’s unfortunate, as the last time I was here years ago, I raved about how good the food was. Either they’ve gone downhill or just had an off night. I’d be willing to give it another try sometime down the road.

Had a bad customer experience here once sat next to the bar asked to be moved was extremely smokey and loud they refused to move us then our steak was over cooked they wouldn’t remake it poor service and overpriced for the service rude I even rounded the tip to the next dollar.

Not impressed. The food was a little on the odd side for me. The project group group work went here so that is what brought me. I would return since the food was good just odd. Give them a try you might like them.

Very good food and service. I recommend this place to anybody who wants to try it. May not look like much from the outside but I guarantee you the atmosphere is different inside.

Very poor all-​around. Went with my girlfriend and were one of two tables in the place. The first issue was the amount of time everything took. 30 minutes just to get chips and dip (we were one of two tables in the whole restaurant). Then another 20 mins for entrees — chicken wrap and a chicken pita with chili. Then the food itself was very unsatisfying. The chili had three tiny pieces of meat, the Caesar wrap was ranch, and the pita was completely drenched on the bottom in grease, yuck! To make it all worse was the poor service. We felt like we were a nuisance to the busy work the waitress was doing at empty tables and in the bar, as well as on her cell phone… Overall, a disappointing experience. If in Manitowoc, go to the Courthouse Pub. (Also — there is nothing Greek about Harborside, don’t be fooled).

I am orignally from Manitowoc but had never gone to Harborside, until this year (Summer and this past Thanksgiving time) and I can honestly say, why haven’t I gone sooner?! First of all the waitstaff is amazing! John the bartender, knows how to make anything your thirst desires! The food… the food is absolutely delicious! I received an opportunity to try their mussels and I now dream about them! I can’t wait to go home in another couple of weeks to have them again! A couple nights after that, I tried their crabcakes and I’m not even a crabcake person but these were so good combined with a yummy sauce!
I also love the atmosphere. It is nice to have finally found a place to meet up with friends, family and to sit back, relax and make great memories!
Thank you for this great space!

Stay away!!! Staff is rude & uncaring. Food was mediocre at best! Bar doesn’t make mojitos or take credit cards!

we got off the ssbadger ferry in august of 2014 & were looking for a good place to eat. we walked around & ask some people for recommendations & the harborside restaurant was mentioned. it was within walking distance from the ferry. couldn’t really tell much from the outside, but inside were pleasantly surprised with mr. patrick’s front desk check in. very much old school & you hardly experience that these days anymore. our waitress was tracie & very friendly & prompt & attentive. i started out with french onion soup, which was great. then we had the chicken wrap with bacon, lettuce & tomato. very tasty. best part was our dessert, chocolate banana torte ! it’s been 3 weeks since we ate there, but we really miss the dessert. outstanding !

Eight of us had dinner here and all of us thought our entrees were quite good. Most popular – and impressive – was their signature Beefeater sizzling sirloin (huge steak, well cooked, with sauteed mushrooms). Also very popular was the spicy cajun bacon wrapped shrimp appetizer and the soup of the day, cheese/​beer.
We were less enthusiastic about the cheese curds app, since the nearby Courthouse restaurant serves extra good ones (but still, we ate every one). Also rather disappointing was the choice of desserts (no choice, really, just two varieties of cheesecake), but since all the entrees were quite substantial, no one had much appetite for dessert anyway.
We’ve eaten here several other times over the years and recall several other quite good entrees so we’re happy to recommend the place and expect to return again ourselves.

Traveling through Wisconsin and wanting to grab some good food we stumbled upon Harborside when another establishment was closed on Sundays. I’m glad we did– very Wisconsin supper clubby. Nice dark bar good music and a great waitress! I had a great Bloody Mary and a chaser my husband a harbor island brew. He had the burger between 2 grilled cheeses I had the patty melt! Fries were great burger awesome! Nice and charbroiled. Would return for sure.

The Italian food is delicious. I always watch their Facebook page for their nightly specials. I don’t know if I’ve ever gotten the same thing twice because so many of the specials are so good.
The French Onion soup I got the other day with my pasta carbonara was very good, with croutons and melted cheese. I always get the Reuben soup when it’s available.

I had high hopes after reading some of the Unilocal reviews, but overall, I was let down by my experience here. Stopped in for lunch, and the food was underwhelming. The fried cheese curds were okay, but greasy and nowhere NEAR as good as the Courthouse Pub. My french dip was bland, and my wife’s burger was okay, but nothing to write home about. The prices were okay, and they had a tasty bottled root beer, but I probably won’t be back.

We were in town for the night staying at the Best Western across the street. The hotel gave us coupons and free drinks so we could not resist.
Great «old timey» supper club. There was a hostess at the door that greeted us and gave us a number and told us to wait at the bar. Nice barservice, too. Our waitress came to find us at the bar and told us she would seat us as soon as she could– nice touch!
I had the Walleye panfried the steakfries– it was very good. They also had some fantastic bread with olive oil dipping sauce.
Great service and good food.
We also had cheese cake for dessert which was excellent.

Ok, it’s true that I am childhood friends with the owner of Harborside, however this review is based on a recent visit. I grew up in the area and visit family often, I went with my mom for dinner. We were seated promptly and there were several others dining as well as at the bar, good thing since empty restaurants are a bad sign. The décor is has a «supper club» feeling, but this is Wisco, so that’s authentic. I wonder if Harborside made it into Dave Hoekstra’s «The Supper Club Book».
We started off with the red pepper hummus with toasted pita, it tasted very good and it had the right consistency (I hate runny hummus). Garden salads came with our entrees, veggies were fresh. I had the veggie pasta alfredo and my mom had the walleye… and we both cleared our plates! I think living in Chicago has set my expectations for Italian food quite high — pasta was al dente, veggies were crispy (don’t like mushy), and the sauce was seasoned well and had the appropriate consistency. We were comp’ed cheesecake, had to take it home since we had no room left! When I got to it, it was super delicious, apparently desserts are made in house. The mojitos I had were tasty as well. Generous food portions. Two thumbs up for guest WIFI.
Service was fine, food arrived in a timely manner.
So…if you are looking for a traditional restaurant experience that is not a chain, and possesses some local personality, visit Harborside. Manitowoc doesn’t have a foodie culture or restaurant scene to speak of, so keep that in mind if you are visiting from an urban area. Set your expectations appropriately and you won’t be disappointed.

Great restaurant & lounge in Manitowoc. Their kitchen does an outstanding job on steaks. If you’re into burgers, they pride themselves on their in-​house ¾ pound hamburgers which are outstanding… but for dinner, have a steak.
They also have daily specials and usually several great menu specials for Saturday night.
Tonight, I had one of the specials: A 20 oz. NY Angus steak (see the pic) dinner with soup or salad and choice of potato. They know how to make steak here. I ordered it rare. It came rare, but also had a good char and grill burns on both sides of the steak. The plus… $ 19.99. Wow.
Cheryl had grilled eggplant and pasta/​marinara (see the pic). She said this place makes the best grilled egg plant. I’ll take her word for it (LOL!).
They also have outstanding deserts here BTW, usually house made, as was the Turtle Cheesecake (see the pic) we shared today.
This place will never disappoint you.

Had dinner here with five other work colleagues. Great service, reasonable pricing and great portions. Two had the 20 oz Sizzler steak (both rare) and neither man finished it. Two had the Southwestern Grouper — absolutely delicious! I can’t remember what the last two had, but all had clean plates.
The server took great care of us. For a nice dinner in Manitowoc, this is the place.
I recommend.