Harpoon Harry’s

CLOSED, and for good reason. YUCK.

I tried to go here for Mothers Day, but there was sign on door saying that they are closed until further notice. I love their Sunday brunch. Best deal in town.
I hope they re-​open soon.

never had such a horrible experience — service was zero to none, actually by the time she came by our table, the service went to negative — it didn’t seem to bother her that there’re guests who were here for quite a while without even drink order being taken.
the layout was weird, more like the bottom cabin in Titanic, at least that’s what my first impression was. Tried to enjoy the eccentric scene, but the the server turned out to the be weirdest of all. Food was mediocre at best. Do not recommend, will not go back.

I went the past Saturday night with a couple friends to hear Woodrock, my friend’s Duo. LOVED the entertainment!!! We were in the bar, not the restaurant, but did order an appetizer and drinks. I was happy with my Coconut Shrimp and my margaritas. Considering the place was packed and there was only 1 server and 1 bar tender, the service was pretty good. I would go again, maybe for dinner next time, then to the bar for live entertainment after that, if my friends are playing again. It’s too far from where I live to go otherwise.

Ordered the Lobster tail and it was not good it was tough and overcooked
The service was good the waitress was friendly
I think this is more of a local bar scene because the bar area was packed full of people that seemed to know each other
They will sometimes run a special like 10 dollar steak dinner as well
Had that and it is what it is, a 10 dollar steak dinner

In truth, my score for Harpoon Harry’s is 3.5 stars. Better than a 3, not quite a 4.
Wife and I went there 10÷11÷11, just after 4pm. We had a coupon she’d got online, but we both had read some pretty bad reviews and we almost decided to trash the coupon. I was imagining a beachy dive full of middle age beach bums in board shorts and flip flops.
Well, that’s not HH at all. The layout is a bit strange, but the nautical theme looked comfortable in the bar, the narrow hall then revealed a rather lush, old school very heavy nautical themed dining room with many red naugahide booths, virtually every table is a booth, with double linen tablecloths, gold napkins fancy folded in the water goblets, and Sinatra on the sound system.
This is not at all what I was expecting.
The menu is not overly large, but there’s seafood as well as surf & turf dinners. I had swordfish and the wife had halibut. Both were fire grilled and were flavorful and not dried out. The vegetables were fresh zuchini and summer squash, also grilled nicely, not too overdone.
I would have to say that it was not the absolute best place I’ve ever eaten, but is sure as hell wasn’t the trashy beach dive I was expecting. It was a pleasant, quiet, tasty evening in Sunset Beach.

went for the awesome brunch buffet, then went home and sat on my even more awesome shitter for 3 hours.
hey, at least i got some angry bird levels 3 starred.
its day 2 and im still spraying bowl.
holla.

Umm all I have to say is not worth the $. Bread was burnt and they only had the brown bread.
Clam chowder was more like clam pudding cause it was so thick. Salad was bitter and steak was overcooked.
Should I say more? Oh their water was amazing! And the service was whatever.

Scary! We came in on Saturday night. It was about 10:00 but the sign outside says kitchen open til Midnight.
The bartender was very nice and the server was very sweet.
We didnt want to eat heavy so we ordered the crab stuffed mushrooms to share. Jeff ordered the lobster bisque and I ordered a house salad. All I can say is as soon as the food hit the table I remembered why I stopped coming here. It looked bad and tasted worse. The Bisque looked like thick goop!!! The salad look like it had been sitting for a week. The Mushrooms «Ohhh My» there are no words!!! I guess I will sum it up with unreadable… I don’t think that the large green light that was over our table helped the food look any better.

I’d give a lot more stars, but the clam chowder was the worst I’ve ever had. It’s not that it was horrific. In a generic out-​of-​the-​can sense, it was edible. It just didn’t have any clams. I should have sent it back, but I’m non-​confrontational and our waitress practically sucked our toes, but not in a creepy way, she was so attentive. That’s the bad news. The good news is that the crab cakes are an A+ and the coconut shrimp is so fucking good I can’t possibly describe how gastro-​gasmic it was without dropping a whole lot more F-​bombs.
Ok one more. The coconut shrimp was a solid FUCK YES!
Ya know how you hear someone describe shrimp as being so fresh and cooked to perfection that it’s sweet? And you say, «Yeah right, you were probably stoned or blowing the chef or something.» That’s how good their shrimp is. I don’t really like seafood that much, but Id’ had friends tell me how good the shrimp is and so I thought I’d take a shot. This was after the shit-​ass clam chowder, so I was prepared to be disappointed. Thank God I like living on the edge and took a shot.
The batter is heaven. I’d eat it off a rusty tailpipe it’s so good. Crunchy, lots of coconut and with a savory sweetness that defies description without resorting to soft-​porn similes, that while fun to write, just aren’t suitable for Unilocal.Well, at least not sober. The shrimp (they should just change the name of it to *large*, cos it ain’t shrimpy) are big. Four of them is an entire meal.
The crab cakes are also good sized (like a hockey puck), tender, and quite crabby. I wonder if they make these from their famous crab legs, because they rock. The crab cakes and shoot-in-my-pants-they’re-so-good shrimp came from the ktichen piping hot.
All in all a great save from the crap chowder. Oh yeah, it’s decorated with crass sea junk. Don’t come here for a romantic evening, but more to take in the atmosphere of a crufty old local hang, where the beer is cold and the shrimp is to die for.

Worst steak I have ever had :(I ordered a petite fillet and king crab legs. Okay it is hard to mess up crab. It is steamed and served with butter. But the steak — OMG. I took two bites and was worried I was going to be sick later. I seriously thought it was bad meat it tasted so rancid. I have a feeling it was old, frozen, cheap fillet. And it was very poorly seasoned and overcooked. The restaurant itself would have been pretty nice if not for the poor chef. My husband had seared Ahi (which he orders everywhere) and it was so salty he could barely eat it. It was covered in salt and blackened.
Salad, bread, and drinks were okay. The piped mashed potatoes were kind of cold, but tasty. Service was pretty good. I will not be going back though.

This was our first time here without knowing anything about the restaurant and area, but seeing cars parked in the lot suggested others enjoying the place and food. We were visiting from the San Francisco Bay Area so prices seemed average, although some reviewers here indicate they are a bit pricey. Wait till you pay your bill at a SF restaurant!
The service was good, cordial, and friendly. Most of the patrons had the Sunday Champagne Brunch for $ 21.00. That seemed like a pretty good bargain, as that included one entrée not served at the buffet counter. We however preferred al-​a-​cart and was not disappointed. The seafood salad was good, as well as the starter plates of ribs and coconut prawns.
Since the waitress brought the bill before offering desserts, she apologized and gave us a freebie. We selected the home-​made pumpkin cheese cake and it was yummy!!!
If in the area, we would give them a try again. By the way, we appreciated the nostalgic, seafaring atmosphere.

Harpoon Harry’s is old. Old location, old menu, old décor, old clientele. I could see Don Draper eating here back in the day, en route to visiting Anna in San Pedro. And then continue to come here long after he has retired (assuming he lives that long).
The menu is standard surf ‘n turf fare. Steaks, crab, fish, stuff like that. It’s like Captain Jack’s across the street, only lesser. Lesser prices, lesser quality. They offer a different daily $ 10 special (rib eye steak, prime rib, lobster even), but it’s such a drastic price difference from the $ 20 – 30 entrée standard, the price point raises a red flag. Some see value, I see corners cut. So we skipped it (rib-​eye that night, not as tempting as prime rib night)
We started with the clam chowder and lobster bisque, which were fine. They serve a fresh and hearty bread to start too, which is a good accompaniment to the soup. Our entrees were mixed however. We had the Ono fish and the Prime Rib/​Crab combo. The ono was overcooked, which I chalk up to being charbroiled. Had I spent a second to think about it, I would have requested seared. In the opposite direction, the prime rib was undercooked. I’m all for a nice rare piece of meat, but prime rib is best when the fat and tendon melt away; you don’t want to work too hard at chewing. Fortunately the crab was good and didn’t disappoint.
As for service, it was mixed. While our server was earnest and friendly, oftentimes she was inattentive. The most egregious offense was when it was time for the check. She spent what felt like 10 minutes chatting up some friends (regulars?) not more than 5 feet away from us while we waited for our check. There’s a time and place for chit chat; it’s when your other tables no longer need your attention.
It’s a good enough place in many respects, but if I happen to be in the mood for old-​timey ambience and quality seafood, I’d much rather return Captain Jack’s across the way.

My parents and I had been celebrating special occasions at this restaurant for the past 10 years. We were there for 7 of the last 10 Valentine’s Days and every single one of my mother’s birthdays since we started going there.
I’m sorry to report, however, that since their «new management» took over, the quality of the food and service has been in a very regrettable decline. Several times we’d gone in the portions were much smaller and the servers pretty much ignored us (like they already knew they were in for a big tip, so why bother?).
On Valentine’s Day, we (my parents, boyfriend, and I) went for dinner. The «special» menu noted at the bottom that if you’d like to order off the regular menu, you can do so. Since my father’s diabetic, he was planning on ordering one of their salads.
After 20 minutes of waiting around for the waitress to appear, she finally comes around and announces loudly (as though we were a big group at T.G.I.Fridays), «OK, so you want me to tell you how this all works?»
The «special menu» happened to not have ANY prices listed (something the restaurant didn’t mention when my father made the reservations the week prior). As it turned out, after we got our drinks, she tells us it’s $ 75 per two people, $ 38 per person otherwise. In past years, the Valentine’s menu was only a small list of specials and you ordered mainly off the regular menu.
My father inquired about ordering off the regular menu (as was indicated could be done at the bottom of the menu they gave us). The waitress then says, «I’m afraid that’s out of the question. I can’t do anything about that, you’ll just have to order off this menu.»
He answers, «I can’t eat anything on this menu. Everything’s covered in sauces or I just can’t have it.»
«Well, the cooks are just too backed up with the special menu and they can’t do anything off the regular one.»
Only 12 – 15 tables and booths have people (out of 50 tables or so) and most of them are already eating their meals. There’s no one else waiting to be seated.
When she finally took our orders after leaving the table for 20 minutes more, my father chose not to order anything. It seemed any time she came by the table, she taunted my father for not ordering while he sat there, quietly sipping his ice water. At times she was practically picking a fight with him saying that she’d been working at the restaurant for 6 years and this is the way it always is.
The menu also specified that each of the entrees came with complimentary champagne. Our waitress did not offer it to us despite my mother, boyfriend, and I eating off that menu. She’d been giving out the free champagne to other patrons, so she was aware it was offered. We ended up asking one of the busboys who brought it promptly to us.
As our time at Harpoon Harry’s drew to a close, the waitress kept pawning us off on the busboy to manage.
Regarding my meal, however, I ordered the scallop dinner that was offered. They came, the diameter of a dime, perhaps a nickel at best and wrapped in bacon. The bacon was limp and almost entirely white.
It was a rather unfortunate experience, but it’s only a further indication that it’s time to find a new place to celebrate Mom’s birthday.

If I had to summarize in one word, that word would be DANGEROUS!
Friends know that I am a fan of the bubbly.
If given a choice and the atmosphere is right, I will often forego the gift of a six pack and will instead offer my favorite bottle of champagne. I prefer the taste, the bubbles, and at less than 90 calories per glass, it insures my happy drunkenness.
This happy drunkenness was ahhh…‘oh so obvious’ to our party of nine, as we (HIC!) enjoyed Sunday Brunch at Harpoon Harry’s a few wks ago.
Brunch, itself, was alright… I think they should put little label markers in front of the dishes… if it were up to me I would mark them as «LOLz!»… «WTF? Your guess is as good as the cook’s» «Hey! What? We had this in the back. I dunnoz, just eat it» …and «Wouldn’t you like to know!»
Of course, some of it was distinguishable… a small tray of sliced bagels, cream cheese, thinly sliced salmon, and capers… (that was actually my favorite, too… and also… the caprese salad (with pepperoni slices? Okeee… sure.) There are also a few salads (which I didn’t try)… skewered shrimp & pineapple (which I DID try and did not like)… shrimp cocktail, crab legs, and a few hot item choices… stuffed peppers, anyone? Tamales? (Are those really tamales?) Raaaaaannnndom!!!
For thirty bucks you get to graze the aforementioned buffet and also choose an entrée from the brunch section of the menu. I decided on the steak, served with mashed potatoes and veggies. Huh? Dinner at brunch time? Okeez… I’m pretty lit, why not?
Unfortunately, I asked for my steak medium and it was served well.
Fortunately, our server was awesome and once I mentioned it, she whisked it away and returned 10 minutes or so later with a bloodier, tenderer version and that made me happy.
Or was it the champagne?
I swear we drank 10 plus bottles. Twelve? Fourteen?
Who’s counting, really.
I WOULD come back here, despite the 3 star rating. It’d be worth it just to see the randomness displayed (aka buffeted). And for the endless champagne. (duh)
BTW, did I mention dessert? No?
There’s an equally random selection of pastries and cakes. The tiramisu cheesecake was pretty good, albeit supah sweet. I could only eat a few bites before a hypochondriac wave of diabetes washed over me.
All in all, though… there isn’t another spot quite like Harpoon Harry’s and I always enjoy sharing laughter and banter with good friends.

I try to wait for some kind of inspiration before I write a review because I try not to write a review that sounds something like this …
I liked this place because of blah blah blah and I ordered blah blah that costed blah dollars. It was really good because blah blah blah and the service was great because of blah.
So with that being said … my inspiration for this review is «fuck I’m old»
I was driving along and I look to the car next to me and I see one of those HS graduation tassels hanging from the rear view of a car next to me and the year on it says ’06.
I think to myself «fuck I’m old» that’s XX years from when I graduated.
So rather than thinking of getting old as a bad thing, I think to myself … shit if I wasn’t this old, I probably couldn’t afford to be eating Sunday brunch at Harpoon Harry’s. I’d either be heading for a value menu near by or some other shit like that.
Well let me tell you about Harpoon Harry’s.
I really liked this place because it was by the beach and I’m hardly ever by the beach, not sure why but it’s true. On this particular day, the weather was very nice, a perfect So Cal day. I decided to go with the champagne brunch that cost after tax and tip around $ 37 per person. Some of the food included in this buffet was a choice of a main entrée of (prime rib, salmon, filet something and others to choose from) along with crab legs, enchiladas, shrimp, seared ahi, desserts and much more to name.
The service was really great because the waitress was very friendly and also really nice even after asking for the 8^th bottle of champagne 20^th container of orange juice (they were small). I came with some fools that were pretty loud and even after some loud convos and laughter, you would think this friendly waitress would try to get rid of us by giving our check. Nah, she stayed really sweet and friendly even offering us more champagne …
So if the same fools or even if a different group of fools wanted to come back, I’d go because apparently drinking over Sunday brunch is different from drinking any other time. Trust me on this …
So yeah. if you just graduated in ’06 … you’re probably not old enough to drink legally yet or don’t wanna give up $ 37 for Sunday champagne brunch at Harppon Harry’s.

Okay all I can say is FREE FLOWING MIMOSAS for real!!! WE had brunch here this sunday and it was great… the food, the company, the atmosphere can’t wait till the next one :)

I’ve popped in here a few times when there were rock cover bands playing, like the OC’s Vibe Tribe. The bar is separate from the dining area, which is good, because I’m just there for cocktails. The bar design is what I’ll call retro «plush Oceania» and is on the small side. But if you get a counter seat, you’ll score a huge swivel captains chair. If not, you’re on a stool or at 2-​person table. There is an outdoor patio area where chain smoking locals seem to congregate for cocktails and chit-​chat.
Someone mentioned a possible upscale daytime hooker sighting. True or not, it makes me chuckle. At times there’s a rather MATURE crowd, which can be entertaining. The last time I was there, the locals included some giddy gin laden middle-​aged broads sporting serious cleavage. These gals were busty (far beyond original equipment) and could have been mistaken for a well aged version of Kim Basinger from the movie L.A. Confidential.
While they weren’t hookers, they had clearly worked their older Q-​tipped Huntington Harbor husbands for all they were worth, including plenty of bling. «Bottoms up … I’ll take another gin and tonic!» Harpoon Harry’s is good times for the serious drinker and good entertainment when the Vibe Tribe band plays.

As we pulled up to Harpoon Harry’s, the Mrs. Q spotted a black-​clad figure milling about in front of the establishment.
HQ: «Uh… is that a daywalker?»
MQ: «What do you mean, like a vampire that can walk around in daylight?»
HQ: «No, more like a daytime prostitute.»
MQ: «Hm, let me solicit her and see.»
Ok, strike that last line from the conversation. We never did get confirmation, but we did see an extremely botoxed-​and-​collagened mess having brunch with an older gentleman once we got inside. I couldn’t look away, and worse, with all the mirrors around, I wasn’t really afforded a hooker-​free view. It was like being in a haunted house where a creepy face followed you wherever you went.
Fortunately, kooky décor and creepy patrons aside, we had a fantastic meal at Harpoon Harry’s. We had tried to have brunch here a few weeks ago, but when we arrived, the brunch buffet was still being set up. We didn’t really want to wait around, so we opted to go elsewhere. I am damn glad we decided to give this place a second chance.
Don’t be scared off by the $ 28.95 price tag for the Sunday brunch buffet, because the Alaska king crab legs and bottomless champagne make it practically a value. You can even ask for orange juice to turn your free champagne into mimosas; we didn’t figure out that the little creamer canister contained OJ until two-​thirds of the way through the meal, but the champagne was actually pretty damn good on its own. What’s even more surprising is that our server kept the sparkling wine coming! I don’t think my champagne flute went dry once throughout the meal, that’s how quick and attentive her service was.
I was a bit apprehensive about a seafood brunch buffet, but the seafood items were the highlights of the meal: seared tuna, cold cocktail shrimp, and, above all, the all you can eat Alaska King crab legs. You get a choice of entrée along with your AYCE buffet; I chose the petite filet mignon thinking that I’d get my fill of crab legs and shrimp, so I didn’t need a slab of prime rib. Mrs Q. couldn’t turn a prime rib away… though she did have to send her first one back because it was overdone. The entrees themselves were just ok; the prime rib ended up tasting better than the filet, but neither would lure us back here. The buffet also came with dessert (pumpkin cheesecake, crème puffs, etc.), but, like the entrees and salads, they ranged from meh to, pretty good, I guess.
Moral of the story: come here for the crab, stay for the champagne/​mimosas!

True, as Mr. Q says, there was quite possibly an appearance by the ever elusive «daytime hooker» while we were here, but hey, if it’s good enough for a daytime hooker, it’s good enough for me. Plus, we’re in Sunset Beach, so it’s bound to be a high class daytime hooker… or at least she has rich clients.
As we followed the hostess and I felt my way through the extremely dark bar and dining room area, I was thinking «Holy Jacques Cousteau’s ghost this place is nautical!» Seriously, and good thing it’s directly across from a shop called «Nautical Antiques,» you know, just in case they ever run out.
My number one requirement in any Sunday brunch is bottomless mimosas, and Harpoon Harry’s delivered. And delivered. And delivered. And I ended brunch with a massive champagne headache. No matter though, any waitress that makes sure my champagne flute is never below half full is alright by me. Plus, that was you don’t feel like an alkie because you can’t even tell how many glasses you’ve drank. Just pack some motrin for that champagne headache that’s sure to follow.
My number one bonus of any brunch place is a buffet. And, whaddya know, they’ve got that too. It’s all more related to the «unch» rather than the «br» though. Lots of salad, a delish pasta/​crab salad and of course loads and loads of crab legs and shrimp. Then a few oddball things like pot stickers, enchiladas and caprese salad with a piece of pepperoni on top. Sorta like someone just went through the Sysco catalog and thought, «Hmmm, I’m in the mood for enchiladas. I’m going to order them for brunch next week.» Same goes for dessert, which was all pretty good, especially for a brunch buffet — but totally all from Sysco.
Also, I must say — service was superb. I’m never one to send food back, but the waitress immediately noticed my overdone prime rib and offered to take it back and get me a new one. Seriously. She was the perfect waitress for a Sunday morning nursing a hangover. Definitely worth the $ 30. Without a freakin’ doubt.
Thumbs Up:
–Mimosas the go longer than the Energizer bunny.
–Crab legs that also go on and on and on…
–Stellar service.
Thumbs Down:
–Other than the crab legs, some of the sides are… from Sysco.
–The possible presence of your fave daytime hooker (or that may be a thumbs up for you).