The good: The tempura fish and chips were good. Â The clam chowder, a "family recipe" as stated on the menu, was okay. Â (After enjoying the clam chowder served in Washington and Oregon, I think any other clam chowder pales in comparison.) Unlike some places out here in Crescent City, this place stays open until 9:30-10:00, depending on whether or not they have customers. Â Our waitress was nice and attentive.
The bad: Â If you are old or have trouble climbing stairs, you need to go the long way around the building through the bar in the back of the restaurant. Â The windows overlook a trailer park. Â If you like watching people who live in RV's and trailers, this is the view for you. Â On the other side of the building is something akin to a small ship graveyard.
Service was good.  The food quality was awful.  Asked to speak to the manager about my prime rib that I ordered med rare that was delivered very well done.  My  prime rib was served on a "fajita plate" very small (no room for my potato on the plate.... it came on a tea saucer ) with what tasted like frozen veggies  and two little soggy onion rings slopped on top.  The manager was rude. I introduced myself, I assumed she would do the same... Nope.  I asked her name and she was very snotty, seemed offended I would ask with whom I was speaking,  didnt seem proud of the restaurant at all.  Turns out she is the owner as well.   Sue ( owner/ manager) should be very embarrassed.  She tried to blame the crappy food quality on the waitress!!!!! ( who by the way was great).  I requested she take the prime rib back and remove it from my bill which she did.  The restaurant wasn't even busy,  it took over an hour to get the food and can't even tell you how crappy the food was.  My husbands steak was cold as well.  I would never go back. If I could give the food a minus rating I would.
Review Source:While the view is not the best, the food was absolutely delicious! Â I had the haibut and hubby had red snapper. Â Both were cooked perfectly. Â The clam chowder was really tasty too. Â The place was clean but does need to be updated a bit. Â Our waitress was really nice and knowlegeable about the different kinds of fish. Â The only disappointment was the view. Â The restaurant is surrounded by warehouses. Â We could see a little bit of the ocean but directly below our window was a trailer park. Â after dinner we took the short one block walk to the ocean and walked up and down the beach. Â A great night out. Â Bottom line, we would definately go here again if we find ourselves in the area again.
When we got home, we found out that my husband's parents went to this restaurant while on their honeymoon in 1964. Â They loved it then too. Â A place doesn't stay open for more than 50 years without doing something right.
Service: Â The waitresses and busboy were very nice, but hectically running around a relatively empty restaurant, which seemed odd. Â I stood near the counter while I waited for my to-go order and got to witness the lady who appeared to be the owner. Â She was short tempered and rude with her staff, which had them running in a nervous tizzy. Â She snapped several times at one waitress who appeared to be new to the job.
After seeing that, even amazing food wouldn't have rid my mouth of the bad taste I got from how she treated her staff.
Food: Â I ordered the standard fish and chips. Â They were ok. Â The fish itself was fresh and tender, but had obviously been pre-cooked and left out in a warmer so the beer battering was soggy. Gross. Â Fries were nothing special. Â Chowder was good.
Based on the owner, I could not possibly recommend this restaurant.
We didn't have the simple foresight to pack a snack with us for a long day of hiking in the Prarie Creek Redwoods, so when we got up to Crescent City we were ready for something mighty to eat and strong to drink.  We ordered some classic cocktails, a martini and manhattan, and they were just right, well-prepared  The fried fish and fried jumbo shrimp were awesome, really hit the spot.  The ambiance works for me, nothing too fancy, and the location by the marina is legit, not some frou frou touristy thing, just a solid place to enjoy a nautical atmosphere and many fried foods.  They can also feature a "lite" menu, which I thought at first would be some broiled fish and soggy broccoli type deal, but is actually just half portions of all the same greasy goodness. Awesome.
Review Source:Followed yelps advice and came here. Had a big bowl of claim chowder and it was good. Then I got the seafood combo with onion rings, my husband the red snapper fish and chips. I liked everything and my husband especially liked the red snapper.
Waitress was very nice. Food came out fast. Overall very pleasant experience. Would come back.
We ordered the large fresh grilled fresh halibut and fries at the bar staff super friendly, fish a bit over cooked but still 8 out of 10, the dish good enough for two people... Lots of locals and very typical of most seafood restaurant / bars in the area... but a view from the bar of the surf and beach...
Review Source:Let's get something out of the way Crescent City is not Sausalito so don't expect Michelin Star level food. That being said the Harbor View Grotto or just "The Grotto" to the locals is arguably the best of what's a town. They start at a roadside dinner and and some fresh touches to make a well rounded menu that will satisfy the Dorito and beef jerky fueled road tripper. The amazingly friendly service shows in the menu where they cater to the more ignorant tourist by offering the standard surf and turf menu. Look at the reviews and when you see the Disneyland bound tourist who think that because its by water they should have hand caught Atlantic Cod "fried fish" year round please disregard. Have reasonable expectations, ask the friendly staff what is good that day and you will find yourself planning your return trip  on your drive home.
Review Source:I recently went on a month long road trip finishing it off driving down the 101 through Oregon and California. Â At one stop, I spent the night in Crescent City and I arrived later in the evening - I specifically wanted fish and chips for dinner that night and the girl at the hotel suggested a few places, this being one of them
I ordered the tempura fish and chips (deelishus) but prior to that, of course I had to sample a cup of clam chowder. OMG. Â When I commented to my waitress about the chowder, she told me that it was from a very old recipe. Â That quite honestly could become "my" favorite old recipe ;) - yes my fish and chips were delicious - probably the 2nd best on my entire month-long trip and lord knows I ate them in many cities - but I specifically would come back to this restaurant for the chowder!
PS my waitress is excellent and I am ashamed that I neglected to remember her name.
Pros:
*Food - We had the Cod Fish and Chips in Tempura batter. Â We were told the fish was fresh and the batter was homemade. Â Both of these statements tasted true
*Service - Young man at Host station was very polite and pleasant. Â He really went out of his way to ensure we felt like VIP's.
*Price - Not too bad. Â Was a little high for the area, but worth it.
*Bar - Nice ocean view
*Waitress - Friendly and knowledgeable.
Cons:
*Decor was dated, carpet and wall coverings too dark. Â Ceiling was damage in one corner from a roof leak. Â These type of things don't affect the food or service, yet they show lower standards for the overall experience.
If only I could give it no stars...
The view of the ocean has an "RV Park" dominating the foreground (people making a permanent home out of travel trailers, not even "proper" mobile homes). Â The actual interior ambiance, while not as depressing as the view outside the window is a case study in characterless cheerlessness. To call it mediocre would be a compliment.
I ordered their regular fish & chips.
Bad idea.
How effing difficult is it to get steak fries from a food service company? My plate arrived with regular fries, not "chips", and pieces, not fillets, of battered fish that were clearly not "fresh" but very clearly a previously frozen food service product. that I was told to be Cod. Well, the "Cod" had that horribly flaccid, almost mealy, sort of texture that bears no resemblance to flaky fresh whitefish of any kind, the "smooth" batter that coated it (as opposed to the other breadcrumb based choice - totally inappropriate for fish & chips but offered nonetheless) was awful, and there was an overall astringent aftertaste to the fish.
The side veggies were over-microwaved and equally flaccid. How do I know they were microwaved? The "ding" from the kitchen was ever-present throughout my visit. The cup of  chowder I ordered to start things off was only half filled and the promised "rest of it" showed up for desert but it wasn't microwaved long enough to heat it completely so I didn't bother with it. I would have liked to, however, since I didn't finish the fish & chips and was still a bit hungry.
Since I was stuck in town overnight due to the bad weather, and it was the closest place to my motel, I stayed and ordered a couple more pedestrian beers and watched a baseball game. No where else to go so what was I going to do? At least the bartender was a nice kid who didn't mind having some company in the all but empty dining room.
Positives - really nice waitress, I liked the setting..
Negative: But the food was not even worth photographing. Hubby had prawns, veggies and rice. I think all were Pre-frozen and microwaved. I had a grilled cheese and crab sandwich on rye. Tasted like velveta & canned crab on toasted, buttered Western Family bread. All overpriced.
For $45 we def should have gone elsewhere.. Generous 2 stars.
The Grotto boasts fresh seafood, steaks and beverages! Â Views of Crescent City's South Beach and working Harbor. Watch the occasional surfer brave the waves and fishing boats moor the Harbor. Â Fresh Wild Salmon, Local Petrale Sole and oysters from the Coast of Oregon give great options for the seafood lovers. Â Slow roasted Prime Rib and New York Steaks grilled to your prefection, add a few prawns and your a happy camper! Â The company is skilled and entertaining and DELICIOUS!
Review Source:We were vacationing in Crescent City and ate here twice, once for lunch and once for dinner on two separate days. The Fish and Chips were terrific, but be sure and specify the battered Cod as it is vastly superior to the Snapper. Chowder was good too. all the sides were good and the service was friendly and fast enough both at lunch and dinner. Try to arrange for seating on the north or west side of the dining room and avoid the trailer park overlook. The dining room is up a carpeted but steep flight of stairs. Ask the waitress about best choices from the menu and she will steer you in the right direction. I would happily eat here any time.
Review Source:This place doesn't deserve two stars, but I had such a great vacation that I'm swayed to the more positive end.... In a short phrase, tourist trap crap. I hate that that rhymes. I do however, like using phrases that include "that that". Probably the best part of the review was right there. Seriously, just stop now.
In all seriousness, this place's food is bad, not terrible, but definitely bad. I bet the view of the harbor is nice, maybe, but it could not possibly make up for the overpriced food. I had a cheeseburger, one of the more decently priced options, still like $15 bucks though, for a dry, american cheese-ridden and otherwise bland burger. The girlfriend had the $15 "crab" melt. I think it was that fake crab junk, sure wasn't fresh crab, served on two pieces of wheat bread. Man, what a scam. The food took about 45 minutes to prepare, honestly, I wish it would have taken longer so that we would have just left before it came out. Oh well.
When travelling to Redwoods National Park, go for some local Mexican fare, heck, even KFC would have been better.
Don't try the Grotto, for heaven sake! Thanks for listening.
This place is horrible, overpriced, frozen deep fried not-local fish. We waited 1/2 hour after being seated before our order was taken, another 45 minutes to get our food (1 grilled shrimp and American cheese sandwich, 1 French dip, both with fries), and we didn't see our waitress for another 45 minutes when she brought our check, with one of the sandwiches overcharged by $4 ! Yea, no tip for you.
Sandwiches were $8 - $12, Terrible sounding dinners are about $25.
Other reviews which mentioned flavorless fish and soggy frozen veggies is exactly what it looked like. Â No one looked happy with their food. We overheard another party that had been waiting over an hour for some soup. I woudn't put the menu as kid friendly either.
There was a large party - family of 12- for whom they had put together 4 tables. When this party left, instead of cleaning the tables, they broke them up and put them back around the dining room with the dirty plates still on them, Â I couldn't believe it.
The view out the window is of a resident RV park, featuring a lady who kept bringing out her dogs to poo in a little open top cage. We think they have a weird puppy mill in that trailer.
The view out the other side of the building is of another RV park.
Way out there through the fog you might get a glimpse of the lighthouse, or gray ocean. Depressing.
The gift shop downstairs....You'll get better stuff at the Ocean World Aquarium gift shop if you're looking for shells, otherwise they have some of the same old 'Redwood' stuff, priced higher and with less selection than most of the tourist traps, Nothing Local. They have Webkins, which are like Beanie Babies with a backstory online. And the whole time a really creepy man stares at you.
This whole place is a great reflection of Crescent City: Unfriendly, bland, old, disorganized, and out to rip you off.
My recomendation? If you have to eat in Crescent City, Go to one of the local taco shacks, otherwise wait until you get to Brookings to the north or Humboldt county to the south.
I have had a few meals at the Harbor View Grotto and found them to offer passable "seaside town" fair. The reason we have chosen this establishment is that it is at least consistent. Until today.
We arrived at the end of lunch/beginning of dinner to only a handful of diners, and there were six in our party. The hostess (my first comment to our party was that I hope she wasn't a server as well since her caked-on makeup was in danger of sliding into someone's dish. Seriously, she belonged in a death-metal video, not hostessing at a restaurant) was less than pleased to have to seat us, and tried to squeeze us into a four-setting table. We requested a larger table by a window as we always had (why else would you eat here except to enjoy the view?), and she huffily told us it would take her 10-15 to clear one up for us. Since she was clearly put out by having to do her job, we hesitated as to whether we should just go elsewhere....but told her to set it up, we'll wait. She clearly drug her feet and cleared as slowly as possible, then snottily told us to sit. Sit we did, and waited.....and waited......and waited. Tables came and went in the ten minutes we sat, and the ONE waitress didn't even stop to acknowledge us. The hostess put water on the table of another party that sat after us, but we were ignored. One glance at the menu indicated the prices had increased substantially since we were last there in MAY, and that was all we needed to get up and walk out. We took our $100 food order and $20 tip to another restaurant down the harbor and enjoyed it. Too bad they didn't want our money at the Harbor View.
Recap? Watch out for the snotty hostess, don't ask them to do their jobs and serve you, or better yet....just skip this place and find something better. I'm certain any of the choices available in Crescent City will be better than this place!
This is the worst food my husband and I have had.  We are staying in Fortuna and figured we would drive up the coast for good seafood. This is right near the water but was a bad choice. My hubby order the grilled shrimp sandwich and I the crab sandwich. We asked if the onion rings were homemade  they said yes...they weren't, they were bland and frozen. The sandwiches were disgusting. It was tiny bay shrimp with mayo on bread with american (bland). Mine, the crab, was the same, no flavor. It was so bad that both of us had to use ample amounts of ketchup to eat it. You live you learn. Will never be back. Service was good though.
Review Source:if i could, i would take away that one star as well.
took forever to get water in super dinky cups...it was a joke to get a refill. we got mediocre bread with no butter.
clam chowder tasted like it was simply outta a can.
my bf got the market price salmon...super expensive and super bland.
btw it took about an hour for our food to come out and he only took two bites...i tried his entree...so gross....like it was microwaved
my fried platter was actually good. fried oyster, scallop, prawn n fish was tasty. vegetables were a throw away. baked potato sucked also and i love me some potatoes.
service was a joke. fifty dollars wasted. my bf said that my idea of going to taco bell was such a better idea.
This place was our second choice as the first was closed at 4 pm on a monday. How stupid during summer? Â The clam chowder was great (actually the best chowder of the trip and I am picky on my chowder) and I should have stopped there. Â The fish and chips were fair. A tad greasy but edible. There is no kids menu, but there is a lite menu. I know this is a tourist town and all but this wasn't worth the money we paid. Â We ordered from the "lite" side, a couple of bucks less, but more than enough for us.
Review Source:When it comes to CC, your restaurant picks are limited. Its not the place you drive to another town for but when your're here, its whats good. Try the coconut shrimp, they are my moms fav by far. They have a good vegetable soup and a good clam chowder when its on. Sandwiches are usually my pick, philly cheese or blt and I'm not disappointed. Good views of the ocean and harbor and even more fun on stormy nights watching the rain crash on the windows from up high.
Review Source:Nothing nice to say about this place from the moment we arrived. Â The hostess and waitress acted like they'd rather be ANYWHERE but at work. Â The food belongs in the distant past. Â I know that in small towns on the west coast innovative food is risky but decent food should the goal. Â The prices were too high for the quality and they should have paid us to eat there considering the attitude of the staff.
My husband and I both ordered grilled oysters (known everywhere else as pan-fried). Â The coating was tough and hid the flavor of the oysters without adding any flavor of it's own other than dense white bread crumbs. Â The vegetable side was steamed frozen cauliflower, broccoli and carrots (though the spoonful tossed on my husband's plate didn't include the carrots.) Â They were soggy, dripping water and bland. Â The coleslaw side was dressed fairly heavily in an ordinary slaw dressing that was a touch too sweet.
Unfortunately we were just passing through on a day that would have us in the car for 11-12 hours, so no time to bail on this place and find something better. Â We'd hoped to eat at another nearby restaurant (better reviews in Yelp) but they were closed on a mid-afternoon in January.
Because the waiter replied "ok, two real martinis" when my wife and I ordered gin martinis, and because it was the first martini I'd had since leaving Massachusetts a week and a half before I was going to give them an extra star, but they ticked me off a bit.  I got a cup of clam chowder that was perfectly decent and on par with a lot of the chowders you get back home--after reading criticism after criticism of non-Californian burritos by Californians on this website I was really hoping to be able to mock the  chowder you can get out there.  I couldn't, so loss of star, which would be unfair but for the fact that the martini-based star was a pretty shallow one in the first place.
My halibut was ok, though the veggies on the side were pretty mushy and oily--I expected more given the prices. Â Also, the house wines that we tried weren't very good--not sure if this is the norm in CA (as in many places in the East), but I sort of expected it'd be a bit more like France or Italy out there, where most places offer pretty solid wines for the house selection.
Our server was nice enough, but we did not get water and we had to ask for the specials. I ordered poached halibut, a smaller portion for $20. The regular was $28. The halibut was served in the liquid it was poached in...kind of gross. I'll say I was going out on a limb ordering it cooked this way, but I don't think poached fish is supposed to come out in the liquid it's cooked in. I dumped it out. The fish was a bit rubbery. Also served with frozen veggies warmed in probably a microwave. I'm on a mission to find the best clam chowder in town and this was not a winner. Just very average...the clams were very hard/rubbery. My husband had the snapper special (broiled) with a side salad of iceberg lettuce! At least he got a lemon and tarter sauce with his fish. It didn't look very appetizing. The prices on the menu were very high for the fish; $16.99 all the way up to $49.99 for Australian Lobster? You'd think with prices this high we could get fresh veggies and nice leafy greens. Overall this place was very disappointing. It was closed all winter and we were really looking forward to trying it out. Glad we did, because now we know never to go back.
Review Source:Best Seafood in Crescent City and the area in general (we were coming up from Klamath just to eat here - 18 miles).
Prices are reasonable (10-15 for fresh, fresh fish done any way you want) and the service is always awesome. Â We've eaten here twice now and will certainly go back again for seafood in the future.
If you're in the area and looking for seafood and want to know where the locals go, check this place out.
One time a bunch of us stopped here while on a USGS volcanic sites survey (don't ask) -- one of my favorite places ever -- heavy metal band (judging by tattoos) up from S.F. to make some cash playing real old country and western music. Women line dancing wearing those denim skirts with the calico details that were popular during the Carter Administration. Old men in those dressy Western shirts with pearlized buttons. But when a slow tune came on these old men asked their old wives to dance and they danced like they'd never been more in love. They laughed and held each other tight. It was really lovely. You just don't see that in the city very much.
Review Source:
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