harbor house

one of the worst experiences i had in a long time.  staff is not willing to accommodate clients,
andservicewas as slow as one can possibly imagine about it.  we arrived on saturday at 2:35 for a late
lunch after visiting a brewery.  we were
told we could not seat in the main lounge because dinner was at 5 pm, and lunch
was not served after 2:30.  we were forced
to seat at the bar, where no accommodation are made for people with wheel
chairs or/and a 4 years old whose head was barely above the high table.   when i suggested the manager to let us seat
in one of the dining table, she just did not care, and followed the rule by the
book.

not good food. sorry, i usually like bartolotta restaurants. the setting is beautiful,servicejust okay, and food sorely lacking...yikes! what happened? i absolutely love, love the steaks at joey gerards, but while tender, this one tasted funny, like wild meat. (and i'm used to natural corn fed beef.) not worth the prices. there was nothing about my meal that i could comment positively about.

slow service; bad food.. for a high end restaurant one would expectserviceand food to match the views.

harbor house misses on two of the three.

two visits with one month with executive level colleagues for celebrations.

service was brutal from the start to the point of bring almost surreal.

side dishes and other platrs camr out cold or unseasoned. i will say truthfully the cut of beef was amazingly tender and flavorful again.

complaints of both fell on deaf ears.

... at least we had tome to enjoy the view of downtown and the lake.

been two times. same result.

none of us will be back.

great place, overcooked tuna. i really like this place but always leave feeling the food doesn't measure up to the location, interior and service. i had seared tuna tacos which were ok and could have been great if the tuna wasn't cooked completely through.


-----27 oct, 2010-----

good and just ok. had dinner last saturday night with 2 others including an out of town guest who's a bit of a foodie.
the "goods" were inside design,service(i'd give this a great), bar scene and service,
the food was just ok, except for our guest's ny steak which she described as spectacular. the two seafood dishes were ok, but not great in any way and lacking creativity, flavor and color. they also served us a tomoto salad that should not be offered once fresh heirlooms are out of season and a cup of bisque that would have been tasty if it was served hot rather than lukewarm.
fun place, but i'd opt for more creative places like crazy water, lpb, or hinterland; next time i'll opt for the steak here

loved it!!! i had the almodine trout and it was so delicious, greatservicebeautiful view of the lake... definitely coming back : )

great for a special occasion. i went there with my family for my birthday, and everyone loved their food. the crustacean bisque was a great starter and the lobster was amazing. theservicewas great, and they brought out two desserts on the house for my bday :)

great atmosphere. scallop appetizer was delicious as was the swordfish. chocolate cake was mediocre. excellentserviceoverall a good experience.

great food and service!. i dined at the harbor house today for lunch, and i had a lovely experience! i enjoyed a simple mesclun greens salad with red wine vinaigrette, followed by the steamed salmon, and finally their chocolate cake. each course was the perfect serving size, the presentation was beautiful, and each course was delicious.

theservicewas also great; garrett served us today and could not have been more accommodating and attentive.

mediocre all around. we went to harbor house for my birthday. it is a beautiful place with an amazing view. however, the food andservicewere mediocre. my husband's steak, ordered medium, and came out raw in the middle. my shrimp and lobster were good, not exceptional.servicewas slow for drinks, finally got a water refill after my meal was finished, and just not very friendly. just not up to the same level of detail as mr. b's or other baralotta restaurants. i would possibly return for an appetizer and drinks on the patio.

disappointing. why this place was so packed on a sunday night is beyond me. with such poorserviceand average food, there is no reason my fiancée and i will ever go back.

i'm willing to forgive a serve lapse or two. but, i had to ask for bread, steak knife, small fork for crab legs, and for water to be refilled. seriously? this is in addition to long waits between our waitresses visiting our table.

the fresh seafood bar was excellent... i'll admit that. the oysters were amazing. but, my lobster was salty and the steaks and crab legs were average. i could have easily gone to sendiks and enjoyed a better meal at home.

perfect evening. i had drinks and dinner here this past week.

theservicewas outstanding, the view was perfect and the food excellent.

the manager actually bought us a glass of wine because he thought our entrees were taking too long. we didn't think it was long at all and hadn't even said anything.

that's proactive!

love harbor house--great view. great bar. fresh seafood--had the stone crabs from fl, amazing east coast oysters and great crab cakes.serviceand valet was also good.

great food, view and wine. i went there last night with a friend and we sat at a high top and drank wine and had small plates. i love this place and had no problem with theserviceor the fact that the valet was 4.00. i live in chicago and so that's not a high price for parking right on the lake for me anyway.

the food was great, the view was amazing and i will be back.

resting on laurels. bartolatta and cudahay, could not care less about you as a patron or even a person .
in fact it's obvious all they are seeing when you walk through the door at harbor house restaurant are dollar signs.
i know now in my heart that the days of loving your customers and really being truly glad they came to your establishment are gone.
i gave this restaurant two chances to make me love it and they blew it both times.
the first time i actually told bartollata about my dreadful experience and he basically had the attitude that "we opened it here and they will come"
so with that kind of turd at the top , well gravity can only send it in one direction.
he sadly is correct , they come in busloads .
it is the place to be seen. if you have a problem with yourserviceor your meal , please keep it to yourself because "we don't care what you think.. just look at the mobs of folks who line up and keep on lining up..
we can afford one or two or three fowl ups..
oh and i was also told that perhaps i should have gone some place " not so busy" for my birthday .
really great business ethics there you two pillars if the milwaukee business community.
when push comes to shove all we americans have left us our choice of where we want to spend our cash...
oh and word of mouth advertisement ...
that's something that always works in our favor.
definitely will not go back to harbor house.

what a shame. went to dinner last thursday evening with 2 other couples, we were all very excited for our first trip to the harbor house, unfortunately it will be our last. on a positive note, the oysters were excellent. however things went downhill quickly . theservicewas unacceptable for a restaurant that only offers valet parking, we repeatedly had to ask to have our dirty plates and glasses cleared from the table. we had bread plates and butter knives and had to ask for bread 20 minutes into our seating. they seem to print their menus weekly but were out of the first two bottle of wines that we ordered. the seafood bisque was void of any seafood. the plates were served with the warning "be careful the plates are very hot, please do not touch them"..what does that mean?? yup, they've been sitting under a heat lamp for some time. my one, split king crab leg showed the sign of heat lamp drying both of the scallop plates just shouldn't have ever left the kitchen. who here likes chewy scallops? i asked for a med rare steak, it was served quite rare. no problem, i'll take a undercooked steak every time. even after being sent back to the kitchen for more heat, it was still rare. the halibut was described much differently on the menu than it was served. it came in a broth and frankly why would you serve a breaded fish in a broth? who likes soggy breading? the location was beautiful and it is just a shame to waste this location on food that isn't worthy of a 2 star hotel restaurant. maybe it was an off night, maybe some key personnel were out. in my mind there is no excuse. mr. bartolatta either need to make some vast improvements or remove his association from the harbor house.