Love this place !!
Down home local and good diner food. Great Menu and open 24 hours !
PLUS, they are selling a bottle of wine for $10.!! How great is that ??!!
Most all restaurants rip you off for vino and it is REFRESHING to see a place that marks it up reasonably. THANK YOU Harbor House !! Great Job !! Great Menu AND Hey ! They have great shakes and Ice cream too !:-)
Grew up in this area, and this place has ALWAYS been my favorite place to crash! :) Try the terryaki burgers with avocado! :D 24 hour diner?! AMAZING! And the decor is so cozy and inviting! Love the old movie posters, and all the writings on the walls! Anyone looking for a late night snack, and/or a unique place to show out've town guests, bring them here! High five to the owners!
Review Source:Really a disappointment! Â The Harbor House Cafe in Dana Point was an icon to come and have breakfast (24/7). Â I ordered the Chorizo breakfast burrito, which was just okay (missing the sour cream and guacamole), and the home fries had an old fridge flavor. Â My husband had the country fried steak (comes with 2 eggs), and the steak was inedible and sent back (over cooked, meat was poor quality, & chewy). Â The service was probably the biggest problem. Â Waitress served us ice cold toast (difficult for melting butter), forgot our english muffin and my husband had to remind her to bring his eggs. Â Sorry, but we will not be back.
Review Source:I'm so torn on rating this place. Â I've been here so many times, but after my last visit, I don't know if I'll be back. Â The service is always lacking, but the food and awesome atmosphere always kept me coming back. Â Last time I went though was awful. Â The service was ridiculously bad, I didn't even know who was my waitress until the check came, we just kept flagging people down if we needed anything... bad sign. Â The food was horrible too. Â The pancakes tasted stale, the syrup had some sort of skin on it, and to top it all off, they put a moldy orange on my plate. Â Everyone I was there with ended up with an upset stomach. Â Maybe it was just a bad night, but I'm not sure I want to risk that again.
Review Source:In town on business, but I'd been here before when I lived in Dana Point. Thought it would be nice to go to one of the 'old' familiar places. I guess I'd forgotten that Harbor House is OK for late night fuel, maybe after a few beers, but it really isn't that great of a restaurant, particularly the quality of the food.
Salad - boring iceberg, weak dressing. Really need to improve this one.
Beef burrito - Â not bad, but lacking flavor. Could have used some salsa, more cilantro, something.
(The tables need better hot sauce as well. Tabasco is lame. Sorry Louisiana.)
They were out of the Alaskan beer I wanted, so I settled for a Big Eye IPA instead. Not as good as about a dozen IPA's I could name, but drinkable.
Cherry pie not totally bad but crust was doughy, not flaky. Cherry filling seemed like it was out of a can. Â I probably didn't need to order the pie.
Dining partner's shrimp didn't look too fabulous, and he certainly wasn't raving about what a great choice of restaurant I'd made, so I'll take that as a negative.
The ambiance is pretty cool, though. I love all the photos on the wall (and ceiling) Â and the great booths. Service was a bit surly at first, but my dining partner warmed her up a bit with some effort.
If I was living in Dana Point or San Clemente, I'd probably pop in occasionally, but there are better choices. If Harbor House upgraded the food a bit, I think that would go a long way.
Absolutely one of my favorite all time restaurants for casual, cozy dining, especially for breakfast!!! Huge portions, coffee cup constantly filled and the biscuits and gravy with sausage...OMG , so good! This place is like one of those locations that become your old hometown diner favorite. Super popular for locals with wood walls and pictures of old school celebrites everywhere and the cutest quaint bathroom. Who comments on a bathroom? I guess me, oh well I degress. The service is good, so many of the servers have been here for a long time and the cooks are great. Coming here any morning is always a treat and it does get busy. Waiting area has benches and a toy machine. Newspapers abound and the customers are like a small town group. Good place for an all nighter and for a yummy burger or sandwich in afternoon. I have yet to find a better favorite than Harbor House which feels like an eclectic mix of great, old fashion style food choices and interesting peeps.
Review Source:I've been going to the place since my time in high school (as the earth's crust surface had just cooled) and it's still one of my favorite diners in Orange County. I love the atmosphere of the place with the old movie posters and the food is good, not mind blowing, but good for late night meals and/or dealing with a hangover.
Best item there is the milk shakes! Best things on earth! Just remember, large portions, great for talking with friends and finding movies you wouldn't ever think about.
WHAT A FIND--a got-to place--all hours--for food, coffee, dessert, beer
--plus Hollywood-diner character, a counter exuding local-social vibe
--a PCH-streetside greenhousy dining patio
--sprinkle in a few beach girls--& you've got a winner
CHEESE FRIES--an attractive pile
DESSERT--out of double pecan pie?
--OK--then carrot cake & blueberry pie--pretty good
--a generous scoop of ice cream
--& yes, Brianna, we'll come back for your "amazing" milk shake.
I've never been a big fan of diners, so maybe I'm already bias. Went here during a retreat dinner, and it wasn't too bad, better than most diners I've eaten at. We had a really large party, so major props to them for serving us. The milkshake/malts came out real quick, but it was too sweet for my taste. Its large, so I'm glad I shared one with a friend. The food came out in decent timing, considering the party we had. However, a lot of orders were messed up, or the waiter forgot to bring us extra items we requested. He was a really nice guy and you could tell he was working hard.
Review Source:I've come to this location a few different times. I can't remember previous times because it must have been a significant amount of time ago, however just coming here over the weekend I had an amazing experience.
Went here on a Saturday afternoon-ish for brunch/lunch. I ordered the veggie sandwich, with an iced tea. The iced tea definitely needed to be sweetened, but the sandwich was amazing, & came with really good fries.
The veggie sandwich came with avocado, sprouts, cucumber, two kinds of cheese, and some kind of really good sauce on multi grain bread. Normally I'm not too impressed with veggie sandwiches, I normally just order them to have something light to fill my stomach. However, this one was probably one of the best I've ever had, which is saying a lot coming from a vegetarian.
Everything on the menu looked amazing & everyone I went with was pleased with what they ordered. The inside is cool with a bunch of photos hanging up & just overall a comfortable environment to eat at.
My sister had gone the day or two before & ordered the wings & was complaining that she didn't like them. But since I don't eat meat that is something I don't have to worry about, but who knows, she could have had a bad batch.
Love this place, its around the corner from my families place in DP so when I am in town I go all the time, this is the place you go when you dont know what you want or have a group that cant pick a type of food they have it all.......also close to the bars for the late night munchies.
Review Source:Wasn't impressed with the HB location after years of frequenting. Â This place was a bit better. Â A very large bacon cheeseburger with a ton of fries for me, a French Dip for the wife with a PB chocolate shake (they used to give that in a glass with the silver cup on the side, not just the silver cup.... the economy still giving grief), and the kids' meal (chicken strips and fries)- big enough to feed both kids and have plenty left for Mom and Dad to mack up. Â Service was ok, nothing special but not bad at all.
Review Source:My friend took me here a couple weeks ago to try their Brownie Sundae. I was in love with their relaxed cafe-vibe and the fact that they were open 24/7. When I went with my friend the service was pretty good and the sundae was delicious.
However, I came in with my boyfriend a few days ago and the service and food was terrible. All we wanted was some burgers and fries after a long day at the beach. First, the service was terrible. I had to ask multiple waitresses for a refill on my water when I could have just gotten it myself (we were sitting at the bar). We needed a couple other things over the course of our meal and even though the waiters and waitresses were bustling and gossiping right in front of us, whenever we would ask for something, they said "oh let me get someone else for you" and continued talking. I thought that was really rude. Lastly, our waitress didn't even write down our orders which always makes me nervous. She even had to come back twice to verify what we wanted. Which brings me to my second point...
The food was terrible. I got everything I didn't ask for and so did my boyfriend. And everything we specifically asked for on our burgers we didn't get. My boyfriend and I had to practically make our own burgers out of the ingredients from each other's. In my opinion, a cheeseburger isn't very hard to make and if you can't remember what to put on someone's burger, write it down!
All in all, I won't be coming back for the customer service nor the food. Besides the cheese fries we had, we were very disappointed. I'd rather go to Corky's.
Food is just average quality cafe stuff, they do have quite an extensive menu, although I'm not sure if that is a good or bad thing. They should probably just focus on a more simple menu and do it well. But I digress. Four stars because they open 24 hours and give hearty portions of food for a good price, because afterall, when you are here at 3AM, you're not looking for high quality cuisine. So pluses for large portions and being the only place open late at night.
Review Source:Darn good breakfasts, with low prices!
We came here three times on our recent SoCal vacation, first time enjoying Sunday breakfast with our friends, then twice more on our own. On a weekday morning, we were seated, then ordered and dined -- in half an hour! No waiting, our kind of place. Portions were plentiful, service polite and efficient, and prices reasonably low. Diner style food but not greasy. Fun to look at the many movie posters and photographs. Wish we had this kind of place nearby! The closest would be Nini's in San Mateo.
This is a nice little locals only 24hr diner. Food is pretty good with large portions and it always seems to be fairly packed. Been going here for years now and its always the same. Consistency is comforting to me though they could jazz up the atmosphere a bit. All in all I would suggest this place to anyone looking for a late night meal or ice cream sundae! Service can be kind of slow but if your not in a rush then its not really a problem.
Review Source:Mellow old-school diner vibe in this place. Open 24 hours = perfecto.
BUT, the service wasn't good and the pie (cherry) was bad. The crust was more like old pastry flakes and the cherries didn't have a taste to them. If anything, diners are supposed to have good pie!!
Also, perhaps a little too mellow - I saw someone coming in without shoes on.
I always love coming to harbor house. Whether it's with my girlfriends, family, or boyfriend, I always enjoy it. There is so much great food to choose from and the service ain't too shabby - especially at 1 AM.
I can come here in the middle of the night or for Sunday breakfast. Whatever the occasion may be, I always enjoy my meals here! LOVE THE OMELETTES!
I've become a regular here since it's walking distance from where I work. You have a seat where you'd like and the waiters/waitresses are friendly and quick to serve you. Harbor House offers a wide variety of American food and breakfast is served all day. It's like Denny's, but better! There are lots of movie memorabilia and antiques. Very warm and welcoming atmosphere. Most of the patrons are locals and everything is more relaxing and mellow here.
Their portions are HUGE! I've tried their turkey sandwich, club sandwich, patty melt, and tuna melt. Everything tastes the way it should be so no complaints here. I like to get fruit as a side and it usually includes cantaloupe, honeydew melon, pineapple, and orange. I've been given extra tomatoes and pickles with my sandwiches too! That's a plus. Lots of people order breakfast here. I've been enjoying my lunches and watching the Euro 2012 lately and they let me stay as long as I like. If you are in Dana Point and looking for a place to have lunch, this is the place to be.
Wow. Â I had a bad experience here. Â And it wasn't even late night. Â More like 5pm. Â But the server we had, who was admittedly new, was awful. Â Messed up the entire order, brought out chicken fried steak instead of fried chicken, the wrong dressing, burnt toast- just a bad experience all around. Â Food tasted poor (and that wasn't the servers fault), place is dirty faded movie posters (which never bothers me at night, but during the daytime it's like dining in a garage sale of crappy stuff. Â But the service - really horrible.
Review Source:After a long yelp search sessh, I finally decided on harbor house cafe after i saw that they had a crab meat omelet. I was meeting up with my friend for some catching up. She lived in Dana Point for most of her life said she used to come here all the time with her family and after school dances, so I assumed it was a legit breakfast location. However, I guess my friend and I had different taste buds because I wasn't their biggest fan.
When I got there, I was ready to get the crab omelet until the waitress told me that it wasn't a favorite around the D.P. hood, so i opted for the Cali omelet instead (turkey, cheese, avocado) since it was supposedly very popular. Sadly, it was soooo average.
However, prices were cheap and the service was pretty nice. But I would prolly not come back even if I were in the area.
As any  and all people  that grew up in Dana Point can testify, I have been here hundreds of times.All of us. Late night, mornings, lunch, you name it.  I recommend splitting your order, because these are truck stop size portions. Wait staff is always FAST, substitutions are easy on any of your meal choices, and this restaurant NEVER closes. As in... NEVER EVER.
The decor is fun to look at, never gets old in the 20 plus years I have been going to Harbor House to chow on veggie omlettes, chicken salad sandwiches, and some of the best shakes ever.
The pie case gets more tilted every year, and I am waiting for the day the thing just falls over.
Friendly and fast service, huge food portions, menu variety, open 24 hours. Don't come here thinking to dine eloquently, just think of it as a Denny's type of place.
So I live in San Diego, but every other weekend or so I try to make it up to Mission Viejo at night to see some friends and play a little ITG at Howie's Game Shack.
One of their favorite food places happens to be Harbor House, so we always head over here at like 1AM when some of my friends crave breakfast.
So far I've had the Greek omelette, french toast, and pulled pork.
They serve all kinds of food, their menu is quite big, and their prices are cheap.
The service is quick and friendly.
My friend absolutely loves the hot chocolate here, and I have to say it's pretty good as well. Their coffee/orange juice is alright.
All the portions are really huge, they give you soo much food. When you order breakfast you have many different options on which sides you would like with it, which I really like. Their toast comes with butter and it's nicely toasted.
I did really like the greek omelette, they put tons of feta cheese in it.
I never finish my food here because there's just way too much food; heck I never even get half way, so I always end up giving the rest to my friends, who seem to be able to eat 5 times as much as me (and trust me I'm no lightweight when it comes to eating...)
Been coming here since in high school. Â Love that it's a fun atmosphere (pictures EVERYwhere) and they are open 24hours.
You seat yourself and the service is usually good. Â I actually come here for the food - not just that it's what is convenient at odd hours.
The guacamole omelet is outstanding. Â I have no idea how many eggs they use in their omelets, but I'm afraid to ask. Â I end up taking about half of it home to enjoy later.
It's amazing the variety of food they actually have on their menu. Â Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Shakes, Mexican, Asian... lol
Watch out for super late nights on weekends. Â This is very close to Hennessy's Tavern and the Fish Bucket, so drunks do stumble here for food.
Yum! Yum! Yummmy!!
And old-time diner near the beach, this place is a throw back to places I haven't seen since I was a kid. Â They play smokin' oldies and the entire place is lined with old black & white photo's, old movie posters, and memorabilia from decades ago. Â
Paired up with the great vibe and location of the place, is some pretty darn good grub. Â My tuna melt on sourdough was the bee's knee's. Â Ooey-gooey melted american cheese just made the sandwich. Â I asked for Onion Rings, which were a very tasty compliment! Â My guy opted for "breakfast" for dinner and had the corned beef hash with scrambled eggs. Â He loved it. Â We had the Calimari Rings for an appetizer... also delicious. Â House made pickles were served up in generous helpings with each plate. Â
Oh and their banana shakes? Â OMG. Â Just get one and try it. Â You're welcome.
We had no idea how large the servings were so we ended up packing half of it home. Â Two meals for about $8 / entree is pretty awesome. Â Lemme tell you, it was just as good the next day. Â
Service was friendly and welcoming. Â The menu is extensive, and you're sure to find something you like!
Came w the gf on a Sunday at 9pm, neither of us were that hungry.
I ordered the chocolate malt and the chicken and biscuits. Totlly impressed with both! Â The malt tasted like it was made with real ice cream, not too much milk. Thick, chocolately, even consistency. Â Probably the best malt I've had in years. Chicken and biscuits were good too. Grilled chicken, a little dry maybe but pretty tender. Biscuits were denser, drier. But when paired with the awesome, delicious gravy... Perfect.
3.5 stars - with 5 star milkshakes.
It's a pretty decent 24-hour diner, and one of the few in South County (other than a Denny's) - and this place has a little more charisma than that. I've been here a few time and have only been in the mood to sample the late-night fare such as onion rings and nachos.
The servers here are awesome if you're not one of the drunkies stumbling in after 1:30, and expect spotty service around this time too.
I like Harbor House a lot; it's a staple of the Dana Point Locals culture.
I'll say this right off; if you've come here expecting fine dining, you've come to the wrong place. This is more of a dive - sort of a greasy spoon. But it WORKS that way! It's definitely got a neat vibe you won't find anywhere else.
I've been coming here for almost 10 years a few times a month. I've had a few occasions where the food or service was not up to snuff, but we're talking about a few times out of literally hundreds, so I'll chalk it up to one bad person out of an otherwise great crew and let it slide.
Generous portions, 24/7 hours, clean restrooms, cheap prices, and you can get anything you want on the menu at any hour. The omeletes, burgers, chicken dishes, and breakfast combos are my favorite. I know if I have a craving for some comfort food, I can go there at any time with anyone and they'll have something that hits the spot.
lucilles decor meets Denny's with a cottage feel is what I felt and thought when I stepped into Harbor House Cafe. I dont know about you, but I do like Denny's. It serves its purpose, and given that line of credibility, I obviously liked this plae immediately. There were pictures hanging all over the place. It was open late(not sure if its 24 hrs), and the menu had tons of stuff. steamed spinach and fish and chicken if you are health concious, along side of chili cheese fries/fried chicken/chicken fried chicken and other diner stuff. the order or chili cheese fries, that i got didnt taste anything i would order again. it was kind of just ok. if you like too much beans in yoru chili you might like this one, but i like more saucy/meaty chili on my fries. I also tasted the chicken tenders which tasted good, and the mozzarella sticks which was delicious.
Prices are reasonable. Service was friendly enough. I dont mind going there again if i have to!
One of the worst "dining" experiences of my life.
I was visiting the area looking for some late night eats. Â I found Harbor House on Yelp, and decided to drive 20 minutes to avoid having to eat fast food. Â We arrived around 10:15 pm, and were directed to sit ourselves. Â We found a table in the patio area, and rushed through the menu so we would be ready to order once the waitress arrived (oh the irony). Â Around 10 minutes later a busboy dropped off some waters for us. Â And then we started waiting.... and waiting..... and waiting. Â Several waitresses walked past us, avoiding eye contact, and ignoring all the tables around us. Â After 25 minutes we decided to ride it out, and see how long the wait would be. Â After 45 minutes we were fed up, and walked out. Â I am usually extremely patient, and I have never walked out of a restaurant before. Â Terrible service.
We have a large beach house in Laguna and when we are down here with friends we usually order fast food. Â As it was a late evening tonight we were stuck ordering from Harbor House (they are open 24 hours) Â We ordered a few burgers, a fajita, a combo, spinach dip, an extra order of onion rings and a chocolate shake. Â I sent my assistant to pick up the order and they were all really nice to him - gave him a free coke while he waited and he paid for the order and left.
When he got back we checked the order and the chocolate shake and order of onion rings were not there. Â We called and the woman we spoke with said that she did not hear the order for the chocolate shake so we didn't pay for it but that she was certain we had the onion ring order and put us on hold for well over 10 mins. Â We hung up and had our food before it got too cold and after the meal called back to find out what their determination was on the onion rings and shake.
The woman on the phone basically called my assistant a liar and said that she wanted us to return the entire order so she could check to make sure that the onion rings weren't in there.
REALLY? Â We are going to call up and scam them out of a onion ring order after paying $60 not including tip?
We asked to speak to the manager and the manager begrudgingly offered us a dessert after my assistant told him that the woman on the phone was calling him a liar.
My assistant is off getting the shake now but that's the absolute LAST time we are going to ever go to Harbor House. Â They just lost thousands in future business from me as I will NEVER go back.
Keep your onion rings...hope they were worth the $5.45 you stiffed me!
I wish it were possible to give half star ratings. Â Harbor House Cafe would receive 4 1/2 stars from me.
SERVICE:
The hostesses are young and most likely high school students who couldn't care less and probably hate having to work. Â I imagined one of them was thinking about how humiliated she would be if any of her friends walked inside. Â Our waitress reminded me of Flo from the old TV show Alice. Â She was very folksy, but charmingly so. Â She was very helpful and patient about questions we had regarding the menu and engaging with our toddler, which I always appreciate. Â When a waitress or waiter treats our toddler like another person and talks with him, that increases their tip as far as I'm concerned.
FOOD:
Let me unbuckle my belt and relax a bit while I tell you about the more than generous sized portions that could make a lumberjack groan. Â The menu has something to offer everyone! Â There's so much great diversity for American cafe food, it took me a long time to decide on anything. Â Â Even the children's size hamburger and french fries were enough to more than satisfy an adult's hunger. Â Of course, our son is an eating machine and still quite thin, so we were surprised he finished his meal and the delicious apple that came with the meal, then an hour later devoured the two apples from his mommy and daddy that came with our meals. Â Ah, to be young.
I ordered the pepper burger, and wasn't really expecting much, but it was seasoned perfectly and one of the best burgers I've had in this style of restaurant since eating at Red Mill Burger in Seattle. Â I made the mistake of ordering swiss cheese and should have asked for munster, but it was still quite delicious. Â The french fries must have come from the largest potatoes that Idaho can grow...and the onion rings...where did they grow these monster onions...near a nuclear plant? Â They were scrumptious to be sure, but seriously...where the [beep] does anyone grow onions that big???
Needless to say, I was overly stuffed!
I thought it was nice that the meal came with an abundance of "fixings" for the burger and a red-delicious apple on each person's plate. Â
PRICES
Unless you're going to your parents house and raiding their fridge for a week, you're not going to find a more reasonable price for the quality and quantity of food you get at Harbor House. Â
ATMOSPHERE:
A little retro-trendy and kitch, with hundreds of celebrity photos and movie posters. Â There's really no place on the wall that isn't covered by some kind of tribute to Hollywood, but not in the Planet Hollywood trendy kind of way. Â This is much like what you'd expect to see in a pizzeria in Jersey. Â
WORD TO THE WISE:
The hallway to the restroom is very narrow, so don't crowd people by standing outside the door. Â Give them some room to actually get out of the restroom and hall before you start adjusting your fly and doing the pee-pee dance. Â Oh, and though there is not a sign that will tell you this, let me provide a little PSA: Â The hot water in the bathroom - it's not for pansies. Â It's hot. Â Freaking hot. Â Seventh layer of Hades hot! Â Even Dante would say, "Damn, that's freaking hot!"
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