Harborside Restaurant and Grand Ballroom

Reviews

• Kristina V.

  star star star star star 15 June 2026

  This place has a KILLER Happy Hour Menu. Plus it doesn't hurt that this restaurant is basically on the Marina! I love the food here but my all time favorite would have to be the coconut crusted salmon.
  
  My non profit that I am apart of has been doing banquets here for years. I cannot even begin to describe how excellent the service has been. We never feel like we are imposing and the staff is always happy (which is a huge plus because there is nothing worse than miserable staff). They are very accommodating and hands on. The food is always delicious. If you are looking for a great Marina view venue or just a great venue in general for any event I highly recommend the Harborside Ballroom.

• Grace L.

  star star star star star 14 June 2026

  Great happy hour prices in the bar with great Newport Marina View!
  A great spot to people watch! People getting off the whale watching boats, fishing boats, and duffy boats.
  
  What we enjoyed during happy hour, and its basically all day... Its highlighted, "Longest Happy Hour Ever!"
  
  1. Fried Tempura Calamari: good serving. Perfect fried. Not hard. Not chewy. Soft. Sauce sides: cocktail sauce and some green sauce (it was good).
  2. Clam Chowder: very creamy! Its a hearty one. It like buttery good!!!!
  3. Ceazar Salad: good serving. A big plate of it!
  
  Cold Beer!
  Its a great place to grab a bite before and after a fun outing at Balboa!
  
  Service is good. Fast. Friendly. Attentive for a bar!
  
  What I dont recommend:
  I wasnt that impressed with their shrimp cocktail. 3 pcs. Huge! But so salty! I need to chase it with a lemon or something.
  
  Totally coming back. Been here more than 2x. Totally planning more dates here!!!

• Ken K.

  star star star star star_border 13 June 2026

  We have dined here several times before and had good experiences. Tonight however, not so much. We waited almost an hour for our food and when it arrived, the Halibut was dried out and another entre was obviously under the heat lamp for a while.
  
  The waiter did his best to accommodate us and the manager discounted the meal for our trouble. Not sure what was going on in the kitchen, maybe it was short staffed or over worked, but I believe that was the problem.

• Kathy V.

  star star star star star_border 11 June 2026

  The food here was excellent. My boyfriend and so had just got done with a fishing trip from Davey's Locker and happened to stumble upon this place. My boyfriend ordered the mahi tacos and lobster bisque. I also had the lobster bisque but ordered the lobster tail instead. The lobster bisque was exceptional. You actually taste the lobster and there are lobster morsels in the soup. The lobster tail was delicious but was slightly saltier than I would have liked. They paired the dish with butter, lobster sauce, asparagus and wild rice. The asparagus and wild rice was delicious. The lobster sauce was almost like a liquid-ey buttery sauce. It tasted like a more mild version of the lobster butter found in the head.
  
  For dessert, we ordered the bread pudding. The presentation was gorgeous and it was topped with vanilla ice cream. It wasn't too sweet. I loved our view as well. We got seated next to a window that showed off the waters of Newport Beach. This place was quite romantic. The service was also stellar.

• Thamara N.

  star star star star star_border 31 May 2026

  Great happy hour menu! Make sure that you grab a seat by the bar to enjoy happy hour. My boyfriend and I went here on a Sunday night and the place wasn't that busy. We were famished and pretty much ordered everything on the menu. Haha
  
  For drinks, we got two rounds of margarita and mai tai.
  
  For food- oh my where to begin? We got the chicken quesadilla, coconut shrimp, crab cake, fish tacos, mahi taco, salmon taco, salmon cake, clams and fries (a must!), shrimp cocktail, and calamari tempura.
  
  We came out of the restaurant with a food belly! We definitely would love to come back here again!