Harbor Inn Seafood Restaurant — Restaurant in Columbia

On Sunday Jan 12th, my family visited to celebrate my mom's birthday. We were seated around 2:00 pm. Our waitress was assisting a large party next to us and seemed overwhelmed and frustrated. When she came to us, she didn't introduce herself, therefore we didn't/don't know her name and she had a bad disposition (attitude). While taking our orders there were so many restrictions and upcharges. For ex. I ordered the combination platter of 3. I asked for Fried Jumbo shrimp, and two baby shrimp. I was told I wasn't allowed to do that, it had to be one of the other selections offered so I changed it to a 2 combination platter. For a side I wanted fried okra, there was a $1.00 additional charge for that. I didn't want coleslaw and asked about a salad and was told there's a $2.00 extra charge for that. Other family members would express they didn't want something and she brought the plates out with the item on the plate anyway. When she was asked for things, she rolled her eyes and was huffing and puffing like a child. While getting her attention for a glass of ice, she ignored me to where I had to keep saying excuse me and raising my hand. Once I finally asked her for a glass of ice, when she brought it, she slammed it on the table so hard to the point everyone stopped conversation and looked; it got the attention of the whole table. Everybody looked at me like what was going on. I had no idea what was driving this behavior. My aunt was drinking Coke, when she needed a refill, the waitress filled her glass with Tea and she still had coke in her glass. When she told her she had coke, she corrected it but with an attitude. Another family member tried several times to get her attention for a steak knife as it wasn't brought so her food was getting cold waiting on the waitresses attention to get the knife. She was very dismissive, rude, no manners, disrespectful, non-hospitable and is the very reason I will NEVER come here again. She had me livid to the point I played over my food and I was disgusted with the whole experience. I told my husband not to leave her a tip AT ALL but he chose to give her a tip anyway. The decision is mutual amongst the other family members as well, we won't be back. No, I didn't speak with the manager because I didn't want free meals or apologies. I AM COMPLETELY DONE!!!!!! If she was not a people person, then she should have never accepted the terms of the position. For the caliber of food being served, there is TOO MUCH competition around with much fresher seafood with no restrictions and upcharges to even deal with any of the above. Maybe this isn't the position for her and she needs to try her hand at something that doesn't require her to interact with people physically. Signed an unhappy disgruntled, never...

I’ll never go back nor will I recommend this place to anyone ever. I called in to order. I ordered a triple combination platter with double fish (2), and baby shrimp (1). I confirmed my order and had my order taker read it back to me. I asked for the price. He gave it to me and I left home. When I received my food I checked my order to ensure that everything was there before I left. When looked over my order I was highly dissatisfied. Please see attached photo for reference. Remember, I ordered & confirmed a triple combination platter. When I looked in my box, this place had given me two peices of fish and a whole bunch of shrimp. I told the cashier that they have given me the wrong order. I stated my order again to the cashier. He then tells me that “We couldn’t do a triple combination platter. So I only charged you for a double.” I told him, “I didn’t order a double! I even confirmed it over the phone.” I then asked to speak with the manager. The manager comes out. I could already tell by the way that she approached the window that I wasn’t going to get my fish because she was probably back there eating it all. So I explain to her what the problem was. She then tells me, “It’s all about “portion size””. I told her that “I don’t care about portions. I ordered what I ordered! If you needed to up-charge me, I understand, but give me what I ordered! She then tells me, “We can give you some more fish, but you’ll have to pay for it.” I then said, “That’s what I ordered in the first place!” I then told her, “It’s ok, won’t be coming back. I don’t order from restaurants that gives you what they want you to have instead of just fulfilling my order. It’s about my time being wasted at this point.” I told her that I was going to write them a negative review. I then walked out. You would think that a business would be transparent about their services, but not this classy place. You would be better served by going to McDonalds.

Just fyi, read the reviews on this place. I read them before I ordered. I wish I had never gone against my instincts and ordered anyway. I wouldn’t have been disappointed and gotten my time wasted. Food was very mid AT BEST. You can probably get better seafood...

6/18/25 - redeemed! As usual, the food was good - calamari and everyday special with okra. And, the service was excellent - shout out to Kemiya! I'll be back - it'll be sooner than than 2 years😀. By the way, congratulations on 23 years in business!

3/4/23: the food as always was good. However, the service, especially our server, the GM, and even the owner are not very costumer focused. Our server made a mistake with our order by ignoring our request for a pick 2 plate for my husband and I to share to and brought two fullsized orders. When he brought the plates and we pointed it out, he didn't take time to explain what he had did which was charge us for 2 orders. When he brought our ticket, we pointed it out again and did not admit his mistake when he passed us to his GM So, the GM approached us in a slightly hostile manner and basically told us we were in the wrong and the was nothing he could do. This was also the owner's mindset too. I guess the GM and owner are so use to people trying to get over, that they no longer give customers the benefit of the doubt. Btw, once the GM talked with us, or server basically ignored us and did not finish serving us.

Finally, I will miss this restaurant as I have so many memories from this restaurant being able to break the "Quincy curse" to stay open and be successful to knowing it was my grandma's (RIP 2014) favorite restaurant. But from this experience and the one 2 years ago, I guess it's time to move on. Good bye.

Normally, both the food and service are spot on. But on 11/7/20, the service was very slow even the restaurant was...