Finnigan's Cove Seafood Bar — Restaurant in Harrisonburg

I wish I can report that my review would be TOTALLY different than what has already been posted, but with no such luck. While visiting Massenutten Ski Resort, my girlfriend and I decided that we would partake in the Mission Statement of Finnigan's Cove according to their website.., "Finnigan's Cove provides customers with only the freshest of products and great service." While I must admit, at 10 o'clock at night, the outside ambiance of the restuarant looks inviting; however, once you navigate down an alley to the entrance, you are hit with a totally different reality. NON-SMOKERS BEWARE! Once inside, my girlfirend and I were hit with a thick cloud of cigarette smoke, so much so that it was unbearable to breath. We asked a burly gentleman who greeted us at the door if there was a place for non-smokers to enjoy a plate of food. He greeted us with a broad smile and pointed to the back of the resturant. We sat ourselves in this enclosed room and waited less than five minutes when burly guy came to tell us that we could not sit in the non-smoking section because it was after 10 and food wasn't going to be served, plus the waitress was sticking to that policy and refused to serve us. We asked could we talk with the waitress, because we were truely starved. The waitress came and we pleaded with her that if she served us, we would bus our own table. She agreed to serve us and we settled on some libation along with dry buffalo wings springled with obay seasoning and fries. (This after we were told we could not get oysters on the half shell) To our diappointment, the buffalo wings were old/discolored and tough to chew. They were heavily doused in Obay seasoning that when I bit into the first wing, I choked from the amount of seasoning. My libation; although, in a large glass, offered me no satisfaction of getting a buzz.., it was watered down. I must admit, the fries were on point. In a nutshell, I was TRUELY disappointed in this venue. I would not recommend this place to anyone looking to have fresh food. But then again, they may have done me a favor. I was LOOKING for oysters on the half shell, but because it was after 10, they refused to serve them. If the chicken was an indication of what they consider fresh.., there's no telling what conditions their oysters...

I leave this review in hope they will improve.

I am no foodie, or a gourmand, or posses even slightly sophisticated tastes. This place was awful. but for some things I'll give the benefit of the doubt. But what I do order, I do know what a decent representation of it is.

New England Clam Chowder is a specific thing and its ONLY that thing. If you have re-imagined it (like putting cheddar cheese in it which IT NEVER HAS) you should tell the customer. Whatever it was you served WAS NOT New England Clam Chowder.

Maybe you had a ton of business due to the big game between JMU ( season opener)and whoever the night/day before, and you fried up of ton of stuff. But you need to clean your oil. Hush puppies are not supposed to be dark crunchy little hard balls. The ones we were served we had to cut open. The mix inside was good but overcooked in dirty oil=BAD!!!!! It also ruined the crab cakes that appeared to be cooked from frozen, which is fine, but the dirty oil tainted them and they were cooked too long.

The steak served was low grade, very thin, and was apparently over tenderized or salted or whatever but whatever was served was so over seasoned and way too salty. It was like steak you'd get for steak and eggs at breakfast not at dinner. It was terrible and way over priced by any measure and because it was so thin it could not be cooked properly.

Bourbon Salmon. Nice attempt, but when it says "glaze" that has a specific meaning and does not mean "swimming in a pools of the "glaze" Done properly it would have been great but.... Terrible.

Move your trash cans so the are not by the front door and the diners have to walk by them to enter.

Get a separate entrance so the restaurant people don't have to go through the smokey and smelly bar.

Set it up so diners don't have to walk through the kitchen to get to the dining room and clean your kitchen its filthy.

Wipe down the salt a pepper shakers ours were literally crusty.

In general, perhaps we hoped for too much in getting any kind of sea food so far from the ocean, and but I think you need to choose bar OR restaurant because the restaurant is suffering.

The place should be named Finnigan's wake. Not Finnigans cove.

The server was ok.

Will not choose this place...

A big "Thank you!" to Finnigan's for proving to be the absolutely perfect place to have Thanksgiving this year. Conveniently located across the street from the Water Street parking garage, the non-smoking section provided a nice, relaxing atmosphere where it was possible for two people to enjoy eating and talking without having to talk over any music or TVs. The approach of having a core Thanksgiving meal for one price, additional Thanksgiving-themed items a la cart, as well as the ability to order from the standard menu worked very well. The core meal itself was very substantial … completely filling up a large dinner plate … and was exactly the type of good, down-home cooking one would want. I enjoyed the additions of the cranberry salad and fried oysters. And Mom and I both enjoyed our pies (pumpkin & pecan respectively). Little touches like having a gravy boat available on the table and putting the whipped cream on the side allowed for further personalization and ensuring people got to eat things exactly the way they wanted them. Katie provided excellent service. All of this just lead to a wonderful experience. I’m just always appreciative of anybody and establishment that provides such a wonderful experience as a great reminder that it is a holiday to celebrate and not just another day of the week. ...