Harbor Crab Co. — Restaurant in Town of Brookhaven

I was doubting to give one or two stars but even 2 star review was going to be flattering to them. I was on vacation with family and friends. Even 3 days before we were on vacation I made a reservation. I specifically mentioned “seats by the water”. I also called them a day before and received a confirmation that our place by the water is ready. However when we showed up on time we were placed outside right next to the kitchen right next to an empty wall under full sun. They had canopies above for the sun directly coming from the top but they did not have canopies on the side and it was full sun shining onto us. I asked if it is possible to go to the tables by the water with umbrellas and the guy I asked told me that they are reserved and I mentioned we had a reservation and we were confirmed. Anyways, after asking one more time we were like ok, let’s sit where we were since they were not cooperative but it was such an uncomfortable early dinner with us sweating and getting a sunburn. The food was not cheap and it was just ok. Well when it came to check and payment, they lost my friend’s business credit card. The check took like 20 minutes to arrive. I read in another comment that this was also an issue for another commenter. Well, at least as a courtesy they could have done something nice. I also run a business and when something like this happens I would do more than apologizing. If they don’t have that mentality and courtesy , there is not much that can be done and it means that they are not top notch but mediocre restaurant. But at least, the business owners should have ears and listen to bad reviews to fix their mistakes instead of constantly thanking to 5 star comments. Consequently, this was not a good experience for us and we won’t remember that place with good memories because of the experience that they made us have. In the meantime, the tables we wanted to move did not even fill up when we were leaving. My friends made a comment and they said we ate a stale lobster and we are cooked like a lobster. Would we come again? Uhm I guess no. Life is short and the place that does not treat you well does not deserve another visit. Hope I can warn the future customers about what they should be expecting if they choose...

I never leave reviews especially negative ones but I have to with this one. My family and I came here for my sisters birthday dinner a month ago. The entire experience was actually out of a horror movie. first of all we were dodging spiders the entire time. Granted we were on the upper deck, but the entire place was infested. My brother in law had one drop on his head. We spent the entire dinner killing spiders no exaggeration. My sister got a big seafood plate, and towards the end turned over her crab to find leach eggs all over it. No we didn’t know what it was, and when we asked the waitress not only did she tell us that it was leach eggs, but said it’s completely normal. My sister was so disgusted and asked if they can do anything for us between that and the spiders and she said verbatim “not for nothing but you ate your whole meal already.” On top of that, I was able to scrape all of that off with the back of my butter knife, so were they even cleaned? While this was all going on, the party next to us was having a similar issue, with the same combative waitress. They ended up leaving without touching any of their food. We waited over 30 minutes for them to bring us our check and then come back to get our money. They didn’t offer any kind of discount. We complained again about our awful experience and they offered us free dessert. We literally all wanted to vomit over my sisters disgusting food, let alone wanting to get out of there because we were literally running out of our seats because spiders were dropping onto us and the table. That was poor. The waitress fought with us the entire time instead of apologizing and on top of it the busboy came up to us and told us the kitchen is infested with bugs. I will never ever go back to this...

We used to love Harbor Crab Dining Room. The old fashioned sea farer decor, and the lighting, was a cool vibe. Now with the new owners it is very ordinary. Not a huge deal at all but just a note. The newer bar area is super nice. I recommend hanging out there and ordering food.

The food was good but my SIL had a hair in her food. The server took it back to the Kitchen. But brought it out with the same hair. Then she blamed it on my SIL; who was a server herself for 10 years. So that game just doesn't fly with her. It wasn't even the same color as her hair.

When we passed by the Kitchen none of them had hair nets nor had their hair up. Guys with long hair just hanging down.

There was no offer to take her food off the bill (she didn't eat it) or give her a free glass of wine. We obviously won't go back. And it's sad because we were going there for years.

Had they just handled it well, we would feel differently.

Also: When we arrived there were only 2 other parties in the dining room. We asked to sit by the window. The hostess went and asked the manager and she said no.

The entire time we were there not one other table was filled. So what was the problem? Funny thing is my friend used to work with the Manager at her day job. They said she was not nice there either. And reading other reviews it seems to be a trend with her.

We will stick with the Oar where they always accommodate you. And the view is a lot better. Maybe once the Bowling Alley is gone it will be nicer.

I wouldn't not try it out since hopefully our experience was a one off. But we don't want to...