Anthony's At Point Defiance — Restaurant in Gig Harbor

8/20/24- Update: We decided to give Anthony's another try and we are very glad we did! This time we came in to celebrate our 30th anniversary. Our meal started with the Dungeness Crab Cake appetizer which came out to the table "made-to-order fresh" and was hot, flavorful, and just the right size. We loved the ginger plum and butter sauces. My hubby ordered the 14 oz. Ribeye Steak with the "surf and turf" addition of scampi prawns and I ordered the Char-Grilled Halibut. Both dishes were cooked to perfection and delish!! We didn't skip a bite (hubby liked the halibut too). For dessert, we ordered the Peach Slump (like a cobbler) and Burnt Cream. A lovely finish to our meal!! Not too sweet and nicely done. Our waiter was very attentive and pleasant throughout our meal. Overall, we were so very pleased with our dinner for our special 30th anniversary. Thank you, Anthony's for making it a memorable and very tasty experience!! We appreciate you making it up to us.

My previous review- Came for my 65th birthday celebration dinner. Unfortunately, most of my birthday guests were disappointed. My brother ordered the Northwest Wild Salmon Duet (salmon and Oregon Coast bay shrimp).The salmon was way overcooked and he could barely chew it. He eventually abandoned it and shared a salad with my sister. My husband ordered the sirloin which also came out very well done ( he had requested medium). Another family member ordered the Smoked Salmon Fettuccine and said it " tasted off". I ordered the Fresh Blakened Rockfish which, thankfully, was delicious but I felt bad for others at the table. The appetizers were okay and also the desserts . Maybe we shouldn't have ordered from the Sunset Dinner menu and come during their Sunset Dinner hours. It was very very busy. Took forever to have our orders taken and an equally long time to have our food served. Kind of bummed because one doesn't turn 65 every day... We've been to Anthony's a number of times before and had great meals. We've brought out of town guests here because we've usually had great dining experiences. In fact, we were just at Anthony's the week before celebrating with a family member who had graduated from university. On that particular night, all our dishes were delicious. I guess it's " hit or miss" with Anthony's. This time, though, put us off. Not sure if we...

We went to Anthony's because we were visiting Point Defiance and several people highly recommended it. We will never believe anything they say again.

First of all, the service was lovely. I can't fault our server, who was attentive and efficient. However, the staff as a whole gave off the vibe that they didn't really enjoy working there.

The view was spectacular - but not worth the price you pay for it, considering it's the same view you can see from the ferry.

The reason I feel compelled to write this review is because the food was exceptionally poor. We ordered two starters, the seasonal dungeness crab cake and the clams ($24 and $21 respectively). The single, 2-inch crab cake was served on top of two sauces, a Thai chilli-style sweet sauce and a creamy butter sauce. The two sauces did not go together. We finished the crab cake in about six bites and had a ton of leftover sauce - but the only other item on the plate was a stack of candied ginger (why?! It didn't even make sense). The clams were just that - about 20 rubbery, overcooked room temperature clams in the shell served in a tiny 5-inch cast iron pan with a side of melted butter. Again, why? Who dips clams in butter when there's all that delicious white wine clam sauce in the pan? But since there was no way to eat the sauce - no crusty bread, nothing at all served alongside the clams - it seemed exceptionally wasteful.

We shared fish tacos for the main. The flour tortillas were nice and the fish was fresh, but the tacos were largely tasteless. There was no seasoning on the slaw and again the dish was served with practically nothing on the plate - a "side" of thirteen almost-stale tortilla chips and a tin of mediocre salsa.

Two starters and a main for two people should be plenty of food for a late lunch, but we finished hungrier than when we started.

We spent $70 on a thoroughly disappointing meal and definitely will not be back.

Pretty...

This is one of my only few 5 star ratings. I'm really surprised by any negative reviews and wish this had been our first seafood experience in WA state as opposed to Harbor Lights. The atmosphere is outstanding with the tranquil views accented by the architecture and details (artwork floor tiles and hand painted bathroom sink bowls to name a few.) We eat out with our two children ages ten and 12, which most restaurants tend to view us as trouble and we usually have poor service and/or poor seating, but this was not the case. We didn't have a reservation but were seated promptly and much shorter than the 15 minute wait that was stated by the hostess. The food was excellent if not outstanding and I enjoyed watching the chefs prepare meals. We had a varied menu, crab cakes, pasta, tempura seafood medley, and a hamburger (my son does not like most seafood but stated that was the best burger he ever had) and steamers for an appetizer. The crab cakes I sampled were the best I've tried in over 9 years. The pasta dish was better than I imagined, full of flavor and I was tempted to lick my plate. My husband sampled my daughters tempura fish and commented that was the best fried fish he ever had (that is the first time I heard him make a positive seafood remark in the 18 years we've been married...most likely because he grew up in New Orleans). The waitress was extremely pleasant and attentive without being overbearing. The prices were extremely reasonable for a nice restaurant dining experience and I highly recommend...