The Place Restaurant & Bar

Like all the other reviews — location and view very good for east side. Service excellent and personable. In fact, they seem to be able to hire some really sharp people; so they must be good to work for.
They seem to only rake reservations by direct email. Worked out fine — best table was ready and waiting for us. Good but not extensive wine selection (wish more restaurants showcased the great Washington wines available.
Appetizers (mussels) were very good, dinner was good to very good for us. My only complaint is the rice served seemed very much «out of the box» and boring.
I have been told never to go to a restaurant. on the Main Street near the water of a small town; always find one a little out of the way to find good food. The Place is an exception to the rule.

We were with a friend from Los Angeles, we wanted to check this place out from all the great reviews. The restaurant is right on the water, has a lovely view even on a rainy day. The food was good, but not as good as I’ve expected. We had oysters which was excellent, and ordered salmon & scallops for main entrees + clam chowders. The portions were small for both the entrees but the real disappointing part was that both dishes only came with saggy «grilled» asparagus as the «green vegetables» on the plate with small golden potatoes. The salmon dish seemed to be missing some aspects in its flavors, the tapenade was salty but bland. It just feels like there needs to be something crunchy & acidic to balance it out. The scallops are great on its own but the side rice-​looking items and again the asparagus were disappointing. Also on a Friday in the very beginning of tourist season we waited a very long time for our food. For $ 37+ a plate I’d expected a little more, that’s all.

I went there to celebrate my husband bday. We were just two of us. The ambience was great. Low ceiling, cozy beautiful restra. We had reservation at 8:30pm but we reached early at 8pm. The good thing was our table was ready with ocean view and candle on table. We ordered mushroom dish as starters. Sorry you wont see any pictures here cause all dishes were so yummy that we just finished them all. We ordered Halibut with seaseme. Mouth watering dish. We were so full but wanted to order dessert to finally end bday celebration. The hostess asked if we were celebrating anything. When I told her then she showed up with rasberry pie with icreame on side. And not just that she said that pie is on them. they didnt charge for that… So touching. We are so glad we went there. Made our special day memorable. The pie was very tasty. I feel like craving for same. I will visit this restra every time I go San Jaun.
Also If you wanna stay at San Jaun. Consider Friday Harbor House.

The food was good but the waitress was really rude. There was also a bug in my brother’s drink and the waitress acted like it was an inconvenience to her when we said something about it.

Boyfriend and I spent our last meal here before returning to the main land. We made reservations in advance through emailing the owners (I assume) through their website.
Drinks: Very good. I love a mixed drink and my boyfriend loves good wine and bourbon. Both of us were satisfied with the selections offered.
Food: This is where they lost a star for me. I really enjoyed the Pacific Rim Bouillabaisse but my boyfriend’s Fillet Mignon was served over a serving of cold potato something. I tried it and it wasn’t particularly fantastic. For dessert, I had the chocolate toffee pudding cake and boyfriend had the ice cream. Both were wonderful. Part of me wants to take a ferry back for that cake.
Ambiance: Lovely. The restaurant is right on the water. We saw a sea otter playing in the harbor while we ate.
If we return to San Juan it’ll be because of that cake! Thank you for the positive experience!

Came here with my boyfriend for my 30^th birthday dinner. An absolutely lovely evening, and exactly what I was looking for. It is a small restaurant, with only a few tables and a low ceiling, and is incredibly intimate. We had a candle lit table facing the water. Our server was friendly and knowledgeable. The food was outstanding. The location can’t be beat. The price is even totally reasonable for what you’re getting. Make a reservation. I hope to go back one day!

Perfect spot for a romantic date night in Friday Harbor. We made reservations for a Saturday night and sat in a lovely table looking out over the harbor. Our server was absolutely lovely & the chef came by and said hello because he saw my boyfriend and I checking out the restaurant earlier in the day — what a personal touch!
We ordered the fried oysters and mushroom sauté for appetizers-​both were mouth-​watering.
This restaurant is a splurge but absolutely worth it — it made for a wonderful memory from our time on the island!

We had dinner here on New Year’s Eve and it was wonderful all around! We had the sautéed mushroom appetizer, which was every bit as good as other reviewers have posted. My husband had blackened scallops as his entrée and I had the bouillabaisse. Both entrees were delicious and perfect with a bottle of Oregon Pinot. We shared lemon budino for dessert, along with two different ports suggested by our server. Service was top-​notch! I would describe the atmosphere as upscale without being pretentious (perfect!), and staff seemed so happy and energetic. We also found it interesting that many of the other diners were visiting each other’s tables — locals enjoying a great evening together. We hope to make it back very soon!

The Place is very easy to find, and there is a decent amount of parking nearby. It’s located right on the water in Friday Harbor, and has a great view of the water. You can also watch the ferries come and go.
We were seated right away on a Friday night, even without a reservation. The wait staff were very friendly, and knowledgable. I wasn’t sure what kind of wine I wanted, so I gave the waitress a general idea and she gave me a great recommendation. It had the coolest name, too… Abracadabra!
You do have to wait a little while for your food, but it was absolutely delicious! I got the seasonal fresh fish dish which was Alaskan Halibut served one of two ways… I got the red curry sauce with mango salsa. It was a very generous serving of fish, and the sauce & salsa were very yummy. It also came with a side of broccolini.
I would definitely come back, but there is a chance the restaurant’s lease may be coming to a close and it will be shutting down on October 25, 2015. I sure hope they can find a way to keep The Place in business because I thoroughly enjoyed it, and business was booming, at least the night we went.

The Place was GOOD!
We made reservations in advance and were promptly seated on arrival at a very nice table. The aesthetics of the restaurant were very appealing.
My sister and I shared 6 very delicious and well shucked oysters for an appetizer ($ 14.00), and we also had the very tasty mushroom sauté for the table ($ 14.00).
The wine was quite fine and we were all happy with our entrée’s except for mother, who found (justifiably) the San Juan Ravioli to be a bit on the chewy side of al dente… and a send-​back and re-​do resulted in the same situation… so they wrote off the cost and didn’t charge us for desserts either… which were a delicious berry pie a la mode and a very tasty warm chocolate cake.
I had the grilled King salmon ($ 38.00) dusted with curry and served with spiced pear salsa… very tasty, but would have preferred the sauce ON the fish, instead of on the side, but that is splitting hairs… prices for a meal out on the Island are always quite high, so there is no point in belaboring it.
Service was quite exceptional, superb really, and if I was in a position to patronize this restaurant again, I would, as for Friday Harbor expectations, it was a truly good place!

My husband had the Bouillabaisse. He said it was really special I had the steak frites. The steak was cooked perfectly. Be sure to get a reservation.

Wonderful. The atmosphere was enjoyable with a cozy interior and a view of the marina and ferry terminal. We were lucky to have a beautiful day to enjoy too. Our server was completely nice and made great, funny conversation with us.
I had the fillet which was good, but under cooked. I had asked for medium rare, but it came out rare. My wife ordered a sirloin, medium and it came out over cooked and a little chewy.
The reason for the 4 stars is because of the service, the drinks and the atmosphere. If I were to go again, I might complain about how the meat was cooked.

What an experience. Sitting looking out at the marina and outer islands. Good wine list, crazy good app’s, try the mushrooms or oysters. Both were great.
Dinner was halibut for me salmon for my wife. Excellent. Follow that up with fresh island raspberry/​rhubarb pie… It all was well prepared and delicious.
San Juan is a small island with limited fine dinning, can’t miss here.

I went with a friend for dinner on a Monday evening. We arrived early, when the restaurant opened at 5pm. We were planning to sit at the bar for a drink to wait for our 5:30 reservation. However the hostess told us that we could have our table if we would like which we gladly accepted. We were seated by a window overlooking the harbour. Perfect! I ordered a garden salad which was fresh followed by the fish and chips which I enjoyed very much. My dining partner had the Alaskan Troll King Salmon which he also enjoyed. For dessert we shared the lemon budino and the strawberry/​rhubarb pie. The pie was my favourite! Throughout our meal the service was very friendly and polite.

My wife and I had our anniversary dinner here. The food was every bit as delicious as we had expected it’d be for the price. The service also lived up to expectations and our server was very accommodating to my wife’s dairy allergy. Over all very happy and we will return here for future dinners.
We suggest a reservation if you’d like a window table/​a view of the harbor.

On a recent visit to Friday Harbor I was fortunate to be directed to The Place for dinner. I wasn’t in the mood for a heavy meal because of the heat, so I decided on the mussel special and a glass of Pinot Gris. The mussels were among the best, if not the best, I’ve ever had. The sauce was amazing! Elena was tending bar and she was super cool — friendly, professional, and funny. We totally bonded over shopping. I was alone and sat at the bar and she made me feel right at home. Highly recommended. Oh, and the wine was great, too.

We ate here on July 4^th, 2015. The ambience is great with cute interior décor and a view of the harbor. Service was excellent. The food was all spectacular and tasted very fresh. And the wine list was the best I saw in the area with a wide variety of good wines available at reasonable prices — but the best part was their extensive list of ½ bottles. My wife could have white while I had red. Highly recommended.
Then there is the great ice cream parlor right out the door…

Yum all the way around. Sorry ate it all before we could take pix of fish and chips, linguini and clams and chicken piccata.

Lived in FH for a long time, never been here before, got a gift certificate and boy I’m glad I did. I’ll be back. Awesome everything. Nice wine list, great entrée, perfect vegetables. At least as good as Back Door, VInnie’s, Duck Soup.

Had a lovely meal here. The ambiance is charming, the food very good. I had a halibut dish and my guests the only vegan meal on the menu which they stated was delicious and satisfying.
Enjoyed a lovely bottle of Pinot Noir. The service was very good and attentive.
The dessert of pumpkin maple Pot De Crème was yummy.
They do not accept American Express unfortunately.

Das war schön. Bester Blick auf den Hafen. Leckerer seafood. Prima Bierchen. Und Donald, der 2006 schon mal in Deutschland war, hat seinen Barkeeper-​Job tipptopp erledigt. Empfehlen kann ich den Lachs und das Summer Ale.