Harbor Lights is your choice for the more formal dining room approach to seafood in Norwalk. Good indoor or outdoor options although the sun and heat had us choose indoor more than once. The seafood is fresh, well presented and tasty. Definitely runs traditional but not in a tired way. The crab stuffed shrimp (see picture) had real connection with the spinach and beurre blanc and as a result the jasmine rice was not dry or incidental to the dish. Service was good although we may have benefited from being a welcome no drama reprieve for our waiter. Given this is Norwalk and next to the harbor, it is perhaps not a shock to learn that entitlement could be on display. It literally was the "a lobster for you, a lobster for you, a lobster for you" kind of approach to ordering at the next table. And then come on man, really? The lobster is served and then you decide you want a sandwich instead and send it back? Showing off for both your kid and for your friend? Perhaps it my Midwest background that makes this so cringe worthy, but let's just say there is a risk of running into more money than sense. read more

Harbor Lights - Crab stuff shrimp with sauteed spinach, beurre blanc and jasmine rice as the sun goes down - Seafood Near Me - Norwalk, Connecticut

I was very wary coming here due to the reviews. But the service was absolutely wonderful. People are more likely to write a bad review than a good review. My advice? Give it a try yourself and make your own judgement. The vibes in there were wonderful. Absolutely beautiful inside and out. Although next we will sit inside where the AC is haha. We were sweating and not too much shade outside. The food was delicious. I got the steak sandwich and it was so good. The horseradish sauce wasn't my favorite but I'm not a big horseradish fan so I would take that with a grain of salt. My friends got a crab cake sandwich and another got an angus burger. Both seemed well liked by them as well!! The crab cake sandwich came with a tartar sauce that was so flavorful. Regardless, loved the food. We wore dresses and was able to take some pretty pictures. I would recommend. read more

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Amazing customer service! Everyone was so kind and welcoming. The food and drinks were delicious, and the view is absolutely beautiful. Such a great spot! read more

First time in a while... Service was Tremendous. Gabby deserves a raise. Oysters Rockefeller app & Tuna Dinner Terrific Lobster Bisque app very good Got the Shrimp Scampi special for dinner which was ok not Great... Overall solid...Service was too notch... Waitress and Support Staff Super.. read more

I just had the best grilled octopus in my life! Main course, seafood risotto was tops! The Cakebread Chardonnay was silky smooth. While taking in the summer breeze on the outdoor patio overlooking Long Island Sound and Norwalk Harbor; what a view! Our waiter Harley was very attentive and gave us VIP service. At the bar Alexandria makes the best Bees Knees you'll ever taste. read more

A summertime staple on the Norwalk shoreline. After some years I had the pleasure of being back a fews time recently and had a lovely time. As always, the Greek inspired dishes are great. The perfect place to linger with a waterfront sunset. read more

Harbor Lights was absolutely amazing! The view is gorgeous and creates the perfect atmosphere whether you're there for lunch, dinner, or drinks. The service was exceptional--everyone was friendly, attentive, and made us feel welcome from the moment we arrived. The food, the scenery, and the overall experience exceeded expectations. I can't wait to come back and would highly recommend Harbor Lights to anyone looking for a great meal with an incredible waterfront view read more

Doesn't get better than this! Sunset overlooking the water, attentive service and creative and tasty food. Their seafood is very, very fresh! Actually their burgers are also quite good! I recommend a cocktail at the beautiful bar before or after dinner. You can't lose either way! read more

I went to Harbor Lights last night and had the most amazing time!!! The food and the service were amazing The atmosphere was beautiful. 100% will be returning back! read more

I wish I could leave this place negative 100 stars. We ordered one glass of prosecco, six oysters, a steak sandwich, and shrimp on a croissant. Thirty minutes later, the oysters finally arrived. One was just an empty shell, another looked like it had already been chewed and put back, and the rest were completely dried out. We immediately sent them back. Then, instead of my steak sandwich, I received the wrong order entirely. My wife's $30 croissant had what looked like one tiny shrimp cut in half, while the rest was mostly celery and mayo. After waiting even longer, we asked to speak with a manager, who took another 15 minutes to come over. We explained that we were unhappy with both the food and the service and that we wanted to leave. Shockingly, she told us they prioritize serving their "important clients" first and that we were not a priority because they had a party spending more money. We honestly could not believe what we were hearing. She then told us we had to pay or she would call the police, even though we did not touch the food. Then she asked us to pay $12 for the prosecco. We gave her $20, waited for our change, but she never returned. We left very disappointed and appalled, and we will absolutely never come back. read more

Harbor Lights - 1 shrimp cut in half - Seafood Near Me - Norwalk, Connecticut

I really loved my meal at Harbor Lights! The food and ambience was so good! The servers were really friendly and I enjoyed sitting outside on the patio, the views were great! read more

Terrible service, rude waiters, very disrespectful to polite girls, overall bad atmosphere and negative experience.

One of the worst experiences I have ever had. Let's start with the complete mess of a parking lot. You take your life in your hands just trying to pull up to valet parking. We had a reservation for 6:45PM. It took 20 minutes for a waiter to come by just to tell us how busy he was and that he would return momentarily. 10 minutes later, he came back to ask if we would like to order drinks. We decided to order our drinks AND our food to save time. 10 more minutes passed and our drinks arrived. We were 40 minutes in and just getting our drinks! Meanwhile, people who arrived after us were getting their appetizers and second drink orders. Our waiter never came by to ask if we wanted another drink while we waited. Our food finally arrived at 8:20PM at which point we asked for to go containers so we could just leave. WE HAD BEEN THERE FOR AN HOUR AND 40 MINUTES BEFORE OUR FOOD ARRIVED!!! On the way out, we spoke to the manager on duty who just said, "we're very sorry". No offer to make things right, no further comment of any kind. Just "sorry". What made it even worse is that it was my wife's birthday and she just wanted a nice seafood dinner. Instead what we got was ignored while everyone around us was being served. NEVER AGAIN! read more

Service is AWFUL!!! slow, no followup. Waited over an hour for entrees. Waiter seems clueless

Amazing views in this place !! We tried Cherrystone Clams (very good!) and the Pastrami smoked salmon (also good, just missed the pastrami seasoning) Great service also ! We'll be back read more

Harbor Lights - Pastrami smoked salmon - Seafood Near Me - Norwalk, Connecticut

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We had dinner outside at Harbor Lights in Norwalk, and the setting couldn't have been nicer--right on the dock with a beautiful sunset view. I had the lobster roll, which was just okay, but the warm seafood salad looked excellent, and the Bronzino was very good. A lovely spot for a waterfront evening, especially if you choose wisely from the menu. read more

The ambiance is amazing, the oysters were fresh and the stuffed shrimp were yummy, the bronzino was not the best, but it was good. Waitress was attentive! read more

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OMG this is a super cute place on the water. So nice we sat outside it was a late lunch early dinner. Steak to die for and the procuitto sandwich was unbelievable. The apps were just as good I don't eat oysters but my hubby loves them and I the shrimp cocktail. OMG a definite must. Sat outside enjoyed the water breeze and everything with it. Service is so good. He was adorable! read more

This restaurant was like the hope of being a really good restaurant to eat out at in terms of seafood that is near a deck or around the harbor. However while the expectations of this restaurant were high it never lived up to what it should have been. My experience and my parties experience can only be explained as misstep after misstep food taking a long time and even the food not showing up, half of my party didn't get lobster rolls for a long time after and we even had to ask for bread twice. Yikes. However I will give it to them they gave us free desert and seem really sorry about it. However with price being more of a value over quality, missing food and long wait times for food it wasn't a good enough experience with what we expected. The view was the carry of everything. This was my initial review But here is the update that takes it down to one star, and that is the fact that I may have gotten food poisoning from the oysters I had. The next day was so painful and rough for me that it single handedly ruined my entire day and plans I had, thanks a lot. I know it. Could have not been that but still why, feed me rush food... read more

Food was overpriced and very bland. The grilled octopus appetizer was overly greasy, the Tuscan Shrimp and Scallops had no flavor at all and the spinach that came with the special was absolutely disgusting. The only thing that tasted good was the oysters. Would not recommend at all!! read more

What changed?? Normally the food here is great and the view spectacular, not sure what is going on today but i ordered a medium burger, it came out well well done.. like almost cremated and the bun was black, not toasty brown but like burned and bitter black. I asked the server for an untoasted bun and a new burger whoch wasnt a problem at all for them, comes out even more well done (im talking not a spec of pink in sight in that burger).. not being able to cook a burger to temperature is a huge red flag and one of the most basic tests for competency in the kitchen, service was great, food inedible... what a shame read more

Chose to eat inside as the outdoor tables don't have much shade. Enjoyed a lovely Pinot Grigio and a delicious Greek Salad with grilled shrimp. Shrimp was perfectly grilled. Staff (Kurt) was prompt and provided just the right amount of attentive service. read more

The location was excellent. The Berry Blue was another redeeming point. But the food menu wasn't impressive so we didn't eat there and went to Knot Norm. Parking was over enforced and a bunch of high school and college students on the staff took away from the potential ambience. Maybe less than 1 star would be fair. read more

Had my birthday dinner here with a few friends this week and had a lovely time! We all enjoyed the outside waterfront ambiance, which is why I picked this place initially. We all ordered different items and all enjoyed our meals. I got the lobster roll and though I've only had one other in my life, I thought it was good! Good service, though it was a Tuesday evening and wasn't very busy. Overall, would go back, especially if I have guests visiting! read more

Harbor Lights - Outside view - Seafood Near Me - Norwalk, Connecticut

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My daughter had her sweet 16 party here on the deck and everyone loved it. I have to say service was exceptional from manager to host to waiters. They couldnt have been nicer and more accommodating. Girls had a great experience, they liked pita w dips, burger and lemon tiramisu got high marks but Parisian sandwich was not rated well. All in all a great night. read more

Amazing servjce, great food in a gorgeous spot! The fish tasted very fresh and we all enjoyed our orders- got the salmon, bass, shrimp pesto. The beautiful waterfront seating outside was an extra plus. Highly recommend! read more

The view is great and that's the big sell for me along with delicious food. In the past years the owner has been a challenge when I booked large parties and it's been years since I was in the area to stop by again. Parking is always a challenge and I fully recommend reservations. If you're running a few minutes late, call or your table will be given away. It's busy on weekends and in summer. We were seated promptly and enjoying the view for sure. Our server took our drink order and that took quite a while to come, We Ordered some appetizers with intension to order dinner. With the menu still on the table we finished our salads and were waiting for the server to take our order. It was getting busy so you have to be proactive and flag down your server for additional drinks and to order. Dinner was delayed a good :30-40 min. Our food was served to half the table then the other half, I waited another :10. I loved the crab stuffed shrimp! 3 large butterflied stuffed shrimp on a bed of rice. Nice portion and crab stuffing was flavorful like a Maryland crab cake. Others ordered the burger which they also thought was a good dinner. We had to wait a bit longer for our waiter to return and ask other waiters several times to please send him over. I get it, the place gets busy. The water server is on it! It was a long process to order, and with our food being delayed, we were there for quite awhile, so when the waiter returned, we ended up skipping dessert and went to the rooftop at Marriott in SoNo for that. That was nice. read more

Harbor Lights - Crab stuffed shrimp - Seafood Near Me - Norwalk, Connecticut

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An utter disappointment from the start. We made a reservation and asked for outdoor seating as this was a special event. We were told they would try their best but couldn't guarantee as outdoor is on a first come basis. When we arrived on time for our reservation, the hostess said it would be at least 45 minutes for outside because so many other parties had just sat down. We took an indoor table near the door to the patio. Within 10 minutes of sitting, she proceeded to then put four different parties of all different sizes who arrived after we did, outside. We asked why we were told it was a long wait but now she was allowing others parties. There was a fumbled answer, a few instances of walking away from us mid sentence acting busy but she took little responsibility. We then firmly asked to be seated outside at an open table for 6 (we were 5) but she said it was reserved. Which made little sense because the policy is "first come, first serve" for outdoor seating. How can it be reserved? At this point, our current (indoor) server saw the lack of customer service and took control to ensure that the customer is satisfied. He had us seated outdoors and stayed with us as our server all night. Here was a true professional at his craft doing the right thing. Mgmt take notes! Moving on...the food was also a complete fall down. Fried calamari appetizer was close to raw. Not totally raw as it did require a quick bath in oil to get the breading to fry, but the calamari itself was like eating rubber bands. The theme of undercooking seafood continue to my entre, the warm seafood salad. Calamari raw, scallops.... disgustingly raw and clams... hard to tell but they smelled like they just came out of low tied. Luckily, we were smart to not take more than one bite and sent it straight back. Other dishes like the lobster roll were below the quality you'd get at a fast food fish fry. Overton's next door could do better. This all from a restaurant that holds itself to be a premium venue. The market price for the lobster dinner that night was almost $80. I can only imagine how that would have been presented. In the end, the only thing that saved the entire evening (and why I give 2 stars) was our server, Sean. He was top quality but sadly he had to work double overtime to make up for where most of the other staff fell short. I have been harsh in this review but think it fair to also be constructive. I simply suggest that mgmt. invests more time in training the entire staff. From the kitchen to front of house. The location is premium and their outdoor seating is a hot ticket. But there are many other waterside restaurants from Stamford to Westport. We wish you luck but we won't be back. read more

Absolutely in love with Harbor Lights! We had a fantastic dinner sitting by the water. The staff was attentive and professional, and the valet parking was appreciated. The view was stunning at sunset, and all of the food was delicious! We tried oysters Rockefeller for the first time here and were impressed. Beautiful presentations and a really nice menu with many more things we hope to come back and try. We'll absolutely be keeping this in mind for beautiful water view restaurants in the state! read more

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Excellent food, incredible outside deck on water and a great overall venue! The butter lobster roll is simply the best that I've had in a long time. Surprisingly, the fries were just as good! Go when you are not in a rush and enjoy the view. read more

I would consider our dinner to be a 3.5 for 7/3/23. Not too full so not sure why it to9k so long to get anything. Drinks or food, with our nice waiter making the fried calamari himself. The calamari was perfectly cooked and not oversalted. Small portion for.the price which was consistent with all our food. $18 for the grilled oysters which were tasty. The shrimp stuffed with crab was king of bland for 3 shrimp with 5 asparagus spears and very plain sticky rice for $30. Almost no sauce to speak of which would have helped season the rice. The seafood with linguine was good, but similar to Jordan's which would.be less. I guess we pay for.the view. The noise level was super loud as there was nothing to absorb the noise and only the sunroom was full. The Interior of.the restaurant was empt. I won't go back for a meal, but would go back.for drinks and sit outside. read more

Loved the food, ambiance and service. The only weird thing was there were no oyster forks with the oysters. When we asked for an oyster fork, they gave us a regular fork. Cocktails were great. read more

We arrived at 4 PM on a hot July Saturday to a lovely table on the water. The seafood was excellent, but our water glasses never got refilled, my husband had to ask for bread four times before it finally arrived, and our waitress checked in on us only at the very end of our meal. We felt a little abandoned. I hate to write anything put positive reviews because I know restaurant work is hard, but this was our experience. read more

Disappointing, lobster was oddly dry, it was a whole lobster not sure what they did with it to prepare but i have never had a whole lobster taste stale? the butter they served with was not real butter but some odd tastless oil. Their MP is pretty high not sure why a restaurant on the sound is selling stale lobster at such a high MP. read more

Definitely nice scenic outdoor dining , but that's about the only good thing about it. Food was very mediocre, but not terrible. Expensive for the quality I think. My tuna tare tare app was bland so I asked for some soy sauce. It was the manger that i asked. She never came back with it. My Linguini with clam sauce came out cold and politely asked them to heat it up. It came back the same temperature. Told the waiter, I'm not going to send it back again, but it's still not hot. I paid the bill and left a 20% tip. On th way out I spoke to the manager about my experience and she initially said she couldn't take it off my bill because I already paid. No offer of any kind to make up for it, but got plenty of attitude from her. Then reminded her she forgot to bring the soy sauce. On my way out the door, she was talking to my waiter, and i said to the waiter, i did tell you it was cold the second time. He said, well you ate more than half so we can't do anything about it. ( truth is i didn't eat more than half). The problem with this place is that they have very young people running it and have no idea how to talk to a customer who just paid $35 for a cold plate of spaghetti. This is my first time there and would not go back. Terrible experience with the manger and ultimately the waiter. If the owner is listening and cares about his business, he or she needs better people to run it. read more

Overlooking Norwalk Harbor, Harbor Lights offers year-round dining. Floor-to-ceiling windows provide a breathtaking panoramic view of the harbor, a highlight of dining here. I imagine that if one comes here during the summer, one will enjoy a glorious sunset, whether dining indoors or on the seasonal outdoor patio. Unfortunately, I went during winter when it was already dark at dinnertime, but it was a lovely view nonetheless. I dined with a group of eight and we had a great time. The staff was friendly and attentive to our needs and requests. Great drinks. The food is just OK. A bit bland. I started with a bowl of lobster bisque. It was creamy and rich and ended up not sitting well with me (which is my own fault because I should have remembered my stomach doesn't do well with heavy creams). But what was also surprising was that the lobster was "sprinkled" onto the soup rather than cooked in it--which is a bit suss when I think of it in retrospect. The broiled salmon in a caper burre blanc was good, but the citrus farro served with it was uninspired. No citrus flavor (other than a very little glaze around the helping of farro); it was just farro, diced carrots, and celery. The staff was kind enough to bring out a piece of tiramisu with a candle when everyone mentioned it was my birthday. Dessert may very well be another highlight here besides the view! Harbor Lights isn't a bad place. Its views and ambiance coupled with its friendly staff certainly make it worth visiting. I would go again, especially once the weather is nicer so I can enjoy watching the sunset over the harbor out on the patio. read more

Harbor Lights - Lobster bisque - Seafood Near Me - Norwalk, Connecticut

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Food was average for what you pay. The Salmon was DRY as the shrimp but the additional fish was good. The rice was good as well. Portions were small , price was $44. The service was excellent and the ambiance was as good. Being a SAT. night or early evening the place was full. reservations are a must. Valet parking only. read more

We travelled by boat early on a Friday evening. After docking (and tipping) we were told the 30 tables that were open were all for reservations. Although we said they would be quick, they insisted that all tables were spoken for. We remained in the harbor for over a half hour and still the majority of tables were empty. Mismanagement at it's finest. Will not be going back. read more

I usually avoid restaurants on holidays, for obvious reasons...I was so pleasantly surprised by the service, the wait times and the food. The location on the water is a given, but had a perfectly lovely time, great service, outstanding food(lamb lollipops) perfectly cooked. Everything went really well. Very nice afternoon. Thank you. read more

Wonderful Restaurant, wonderful service, wonderful food! Wonder view!Tuna Tartare Tuna Tartaren read more

Harbor Lights - Barbour - Seafood Near Me - Norwalk, Connecticut