20 years I've been eating at the Harborview Café. I've had the halibut at least 10 times but something was off this visit. The sauce tasted burned. The fish was dry, and the serving was small. Something was lacking. The beef tenderloin was cooked perfectly tender, medium rare needed a little bit more seasoning peapods were crisp mashed roots are always the same.boring flavorless. I hope to see some new items on the menu, the margarita was amazing. I forgot to get the bartender's name, but she really put some love into that shaker. read more

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Took a drive Saturday to one of our favorite restaurants in the area!. We go here a couple times a year to enjoy both the food and the search for Eagles. Once again we observed around 5 Eagles soaring above the Mississippi's main channel and its backwaters and at the Harbor View Cafe we were greeted by a friendly staff and feasted on Grilled pork tenderloin and Chicken breast pan fried with roasted garlic chipotle sauce. OMG!! Both dishes were excellent and plentiful. We stopped short of full so we could share a piece of Georgia Walnut Pie with Ice Cream on top. We look forward to numerous repeat sojourns here this summer!! read more

Harbor View Cafe - Georgia Walnut Pie with Vanilla Ice cream - New American Near Me - Pepin, Wisconsin

Hostess staff were very rude and unfriendly. This was my first visit and I won't go back. Food was overpriced and only fair. Their charcuterie board was horrible. Our server was a nice young man, but looked like he frightened, of the older staff. The seats are very uncomfortable, books don't necessarily make for atmosphere. read more

Came to Harbor View cafe for dinner on a Friday night and it was very busy! I loved the quaint vintage decor the moment we walked in. The menu is only on a chalkboard, no handheld menus which was fine because we could easily see it from our table. I was with a group that wanted to share dishes so I was able to try several of the mains. My favorite was the braised beef. I also liked the ahi tuna and the chicken. All meals were huge portions and very delicious. They also come with a soup or salad. The cheddar broccoli soup was wonderful but my favorite was the salad with a blue cheese vinaigrette, soooo good. Beautiful setting if you sit outside as well right by the harbor. read more

Can't say I was impressed with the looks of the food so we only drinks and have to say they were lacking. bloody Mary was horrible. Menu is on a chalk board only. Buy it was clean and nice looking i side read more

Harbor View Cafe - New American Near Me - Pepin, Wisconsin

Food is not good here. The view is one of a kind. Don't order the beef and chicken curry! Service is great!

The best from-scratch food you will find in the area. Lovely atmosphere and incredible view of Lake Pepin.

On a Friday night, we ate dinner at the Harbor View Cafe! Fantastic Old-Fashioned, a delicious meat and cheese tray, and then a phenomenal Braised Beef Roast with Balsamic Reduction and Blue Cheese! Loved the decor and the view! read more

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The 3-star rating reflects the significant changes that have occurred compared to the previous 25 years ( that we have been coming) of consistently excellent recipes that we had experienced. The Caesar salad used to be the best ever, with pronounced garlic and anchovy flavors. The fresh bread is now just mediocre. The chicken breast was swimming in sauce that also did not have much flavor. Please don't change anything from the way it used to be. We will give it one more try, but if our experience is as mediocre as the last one, we won't be back. -- read more

The place lives up to the hype! All staff members were friendly and very attentive. Everything was very fresh with a variety of flavors and the view is delightful of the harbor. Be sure to check their Facebook page for their current menu as it changes frequently. read more

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I have only been coming here for over 40 years, one year back in the 90s it was 42 times. In recent years it has only been a few times a year. Often I eat at the bar as it mostly just me. Not today! Sat at bar ordered a small beer and said I also would like to eat. She said they weren't serving food at the bar. Didn't offer me an alternative, like maybe a table. Nothing offered, at best rude! I left, after 40+ years! read more

Just put the menu on your website. Not everyone is into social media or has access to it.

The food and service is fabulous, one of the best restaurants I have ever experienced, I recommend the harbor view highly

My husband and I had an outstanding meal today, exactly what we expected from the Harbor View! Seared scallops on a bed of roasted vegetable hash on a layer of mustard butter. Beef tenderloin with a root vegetable mash and bright green broccoli. Hand crafted soup, salad dressing and chocolate torte. Every bite was delicious! A culinary tradition worth the beautiful river dive. read more

We were a party of four and everyone agreed that the quality of the food has gone down. We have been going to Harborview for years. But last couple of years thing have not been good that's what reflects the 2 star rating. My Caesar salad was just OK. And that was the best part of my meal. My wife's lobster Roll was not or even close to all other rolls we have had. Just a mix of something on a hamburger bun with some greens. They should send the chef to Maine for training. 2 of us ordered the stuff mushrooms the paste was plated in a soup like runny sauce. Making it hard to eat without bib. read more

Excellent food. Prompt service. Beautiful, calm ambience. Will be back. Great views of the lake.

I have been going to Harborview for 30 years. This last ownership change has been terrible. The quality of the meals has gone dramatically downhill. The Cesar dressing used to be to die for now you can't even call it a Cesar dressing. The bread used to be delicious now it is just so so. The last time we were there which was a few weeks back I asked for a sample of the Cesar and it was terrible so I ordered a Hungarian Mushroom soup which was tasteless and shouldn't have been on the menu. Many of the longterm favorites are no longer on the menu. It makes me sad but we probably won't be back. read more

We walked by the tables outside of the Harbor View Cafe on our way to a different restaurant and a couple was sharing a decadent looking piece of carrot of cake. Yum! When we got to our destination and asked to be seated outside they said the deck was closed. So, we left and went back to the Harbor to eat outside. My husband and I shared the chicken breast in champagne grapes on linguine. Wow! Who would have thought warm, tiny grapes would be so delicious in champagne sauce with chicken?! such a large portion that even after splitting the meal we had left overs to take home. Desert? Of course! Carrot cake! We did have to order our food to go to eat outside but the waitress, who has been working there for 20+ years, brought our food to us. Highly recommend! read more

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Beautiful view!!! Beautiful menu, nice servers and staff. World class restaurant is a beautiful setting. read more

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People may say Harbor View is a hidden gem on one of the most scenic roadways in Wisconsin. In reality it's not hidden at all as soon as the doors open the waitlist starts. They move that line quickly and the food is so worth the wait. Daily menus are posted each day on Facebook to assure the highest quality. Can't wait to go back. read more

Harbor View Cafe - Daily menu. Items go quick so plan to have a second option ready to fire. - New American Near Me - Pepin, Wisconsin

Great food and great service. When there isn't a huge wait I'm a big fan. When there is a huge wait, I applaud HV for being that good.

I had expected a great dinner based on Some local people First this chalkboard menu was hard to read and I didn't want to stand there trying to make a good decision in front of the bar our meals were fairly good and one sorta bad. It was not what I expected. I think if you're a regular you know what to expect but we didn't. The staff was fine the ambience fair I'll never know if they change menus because I'm not going back hoping of a new dish only to read the chalkboard. read more

It's been a lot of year's since we came upon this amazingly awesome establishment! Still here THANKFULLY, still consistent still worth the trip ! Service outstanding, chill, you get to view trains going by , sailboats on lake Pepin - you've got to check it out it's so worth the trip from Eden Prairie- Sunday drive- read more

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This is the best food in the area set in an older home overlooking lake Pepin great service and friendly people. Enjoy a drink outside while waiting for your table. The views are terrific. read more

Cute restaurant with friendly service! The dishes are quite large with good flavors. If your looking for a place thats not "bar food" check it out. We would come back Forsure! read more

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I had been to the Harbor View Café several times before. But this time was a disappointment. I will give readers here a bit of advice: the menu is on a chalk board. However it is really incomplete in describing the dishes. Ask how the entre is prepared and what are the sides / vegetables - which are not mentioned. Today I ordered a "chicken breast with garlic and chipotle sauce". What I got was a breaded, deep fried chicken breast (if I wanted that, I could have gone to Chick-Filet.) But the most strange: it was covered with at least 20 roasted garlic cloves. Pieces of the fettuccine were 'stuck together and hard' - this happens when you don't give the noodles a stir or two. The service is good. It's a nice quaint café, but it's slipped from previous visits. read more

***Please note this would be a 4.5 if not for the bartender*** This restaurant has come highly recommended by friends with good taste. As we were bumming around river towns on a glorious October day with no real time schedule, we decided to put our names on the dinner waiting list and were told an hour plus wait. No worries! At that time, the hostess indicated that should seats open up at the bar, we were welcome to eat there. We wandered around Pepin for an hour, circling back to see two seats open at the bar. Next to us, a couple was enjoying lasagna. When we inquired with the shirt-haired, stocky, breast-tattooed bartender about ordering, she raised her voice and melted down. "WHO told you you could eat here? You can't! We close at five and I have ALL THIS to clean! I am not serving food here! Drinks only! I'm out at five!" She was clearly very concerned about getting out of there promptly, and let us know in no uncertain terms that we were cutting into her evening gaming time. Perhaps there was a Pokémon raid scheduled she was potentially going to miss out on. Others at the bar, and at least one coworker, seemed embarrassed by her behavior. We promptly got up from the bar and went back outside to wait for our table, which was ready a few minutes later. Our server, Carissa, was lovely, donning funky earrings and still smiling after her beautiful & busy fall day serving hungry Citiots like us. The menu is unique, especially for small-town Sconni, and you'll find something new to try. We enjoyed our dinners, a Hawaiian Opakapaka and a MASSIVE portion of stuffed mushrooms with linguine. We took desserts to go, and the buttercream pie was particularly sublime. Prices are definitely on the high side, but the place, and Pepin businesses in general, is/are aimed at a metros-with-money crowd. My husband and I have both spent years on the other side of the bar, and we have ZERO tolerance for bad service. And, as it were, the bitchy bartender was still there when we left an hour plus later - and, in fact, they continued seating patrons right up until 6, so she clearly missed her D & D date. There is absolutely no reason to EVER let a customer know they are interfering with your evening plans. The bartender's craptastic, "me me me" attitude colored what would have been a positive experience at Harbor View. If help were easier to find, she should be fired. It's not easy to hire right now, so they must be scraping the bottom of the bartender barrel. Had this woman been my employee back when I ran a restaurant, she'd be out the door that very day. So - good food, nice atmosphere, great waitress, horrible, rude bartender. She doesn't have the service bent to even make the cut at Wal-Mart. read more

Harbor View Cafe - Menu - New American Near Me - Pepin, Wisconsin

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This was my 4th trip to Harbor View Cafe and every time has been amazing. My go-to is always the garlic chipotle chicken breasts but everything I've had here is excellent. The entrees come with soup or salad and bread with butter and their house made salad dressings are delicious. There is usually a wait, so just be prepared for that and grab a beer at the small bar next door while you wait it out. They post their menu daily on their Facebook page, so check it out. They always use fresh, high quality ingredients. One of my favorite restaurants! read more

Harbor View Cafe - Chicken breasts with roasted garlic chipotle sauce on linguine - New American Near Me - Pepin, Wisconsin

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Wow the food quality has gone downhill In the past few years. Friendly, people the food value was terrible. The Halibut was the most expensive thing on the menu and was just bad. No wait on a Sunday afternoon should have been a warning. The drinks and great view made up for some of the experience. read more

Great view!! Great menu!! Family has been dining here several times per summer for over 20 years!! Keep up the good work!! read more

Delicious meals! Took a trip to Pepin to visit this gem, what great food & ever changing menu. Once an item is gone, they erase items from the board. We saw two items erased during our visit. Wait about 20 minutes to get a table @ 3pm, but worth it! read more

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I expected top-notch service AND food from this place based on the things I have heard over the years. The food was very disappointing--I got stuffed mushrooms over linguine and my dining companions got the pork shank, the halibut, and the marlin--so I tasted four things and there was nothing I would order again. The halibut is trumpeted as one of the most delicious things on the menu--when i tasted some of this I could barely get past the smell---oh so fishy and the sauce was overpowering apparently to cover up stinky fish, The curly Kale that was underneath the pork and marlin was not cooked appropriately and was somewhere between raw and done. I would take either way but it has to be one or the other not just flashed under some steamy water. The pork was tender but had a sweet sauce and tons of it all over it so you could not really get past the flavor to embrace the meat. I think the sweetness came mostly from carrots. The Marlin was dry and bland. The salad was swimming in dressing My stuffed mushrooms had a ton of bagged cheap cheese in and all over it... I took three bites. The wines were not very good and I have had way better bread at most places. I just don't know why people think this is good food because there are so many other dining choices where you can really get a chef inspired and created meal. I think they are all just heady with the view of the water and being in this quaint little town. Two things I would eat again---the pear crisp and the root vegetable puree. The prices here are averaging around 20-25 a plate and i think they are going for an elegant yet casual dining experience. The service was not overly eager to explain the food --and you have to get up and stalk people behind the bar to try and read the teeny tiny chalkboard menu so of course you still have questions about things as they put about 12 ingredients in everything--they need to practice some restraint and let the food flavor speak for itself with perhaps a little enhancement of sauce or dressing. I had to ask for water three times. When my companions got their 7.00 dessert it was a chocolate torte sitting naked on a plate. No raspberry drizzle or anything. Seemed like just another disappointing plate and not the fun joyful celebration dessert should be. You will have to wait 45-minutes or better to get seated here more than likely---I don't think I will make the 60 mile trip from the twin cities to experience this ever again. read more

Harbor View Cafe - Stuffed shrooms - New American Near Me - Pepin, Wisconsin

It doesn't even deserve one star. Took my parents both which had dementia for a drive today. Thought we'd stop and eat there. My father got a slice of pie from a place and Stockholm was worried it was going to melt because it was sour cream and raisin brought it in to keep it cool they got all in an uproar, which is odd because I've managed restaurants and most restaurants have no problem with you bringing in something as long as you didn't bake it nor was he going to eat it there. So I put it in my purse. I was then told I couldn't even have it in my purse. Then my mother wanted a burger which they don't have so we decided to leave the owner, then followed me out and accosted me had her finger in my face and asked me if I was rude to her weight staff I was not rude. I just didn't understand why I couldn't have pie in my purse, my personal belongings for my father, who has dementia and my mother as well. I asked her to please stop because both of my parents have dementia. She wouldn't stop kept in my face. Total bitch would never eat there would never recommend it have never been treated so poorly in my life She should be embarrassed as a business owner. I have never in my life I have managed restaurants all my life and never ever have I treated anyone that way or would I ever read more

Great dinner tonight Salmon poached in parchment was excellent! The Ahi tuna was medium( not rare ) But good. Great service. Attentive staff, read more

Harbor View Cafe - Poached salmon in mustard butter! Excellent - New American Near Me - Pepin, Wisconsin

This has been one of our favorites but it seems like we get seated at the worse possible tables. A table for two in the upper back room that is mostly used for large (noisy) parties or in front of the chalkboard menu. I really like the food here but they could make it more suitable for clientele by making a few simple changes. Move the menu board to the hall wall or pretty much anywhere else. Most people take a picture of it on their cellphones so they can be seated and peruse it. Print off a few copies for the elderly who can't stand there forever moving side to side as your kitchen help pushes through the door while they are struggling to see the menu board as their friends and family are shouting what the selections are ... ugh! It's ridiculous. read more

I've been eating at Harbor View Cafe since it opened. Even through previous owner changes they maintained the essence of the restaurant which is QUALITY ingredients and locally sourced food. The newest owner has, unfortunately, strayed from this. The ambiance is still wonderful and I overheard others who liked their meals. I'm glad they had a good experience. But from the start of our meal it was obviously changed. The bread quality is not the same. Did we get bread? Yes. Was it good bread? Meh. The gazpacho was terrible. I ordered the salmon Niçoise salad and there were two deviled eggs, which were unfortunately made from boiled eggs you buy already boiled and pealed in a bag. The taste is unmistakable. I'm pretty sure the salmon was farmed, I didn't ask. The dressing was mostly olive oil (and way too much oil) and very low on flavor. The halibut wasn't the same. The Caesar salads weren't the same. This isn't the restaurant we knew and loved. I'm sad and won't be back. read more

This place is a treasure. It is cozy and with a great decor. And it is great that the menu is always posted on the chalkboard behind the bar! I used to come here when I lived in Rochester decades ago, so it still is so much the same. My wife had the same stuffed mushrooms ($22), which she loved then as much as now. That was worth the visit alone. I had the halibut with black butter ($34), which I just don't get. The black butter is so overpowering, I couldn't taste the fish. Hint: Ask for the sauce on the side, as it was excellent with rice that came with the dish, but not the fish! Otherwise, the bread with the meal was good, and the wine selection was very good (try the Barrel Road for $7/glass!). The restaurant closes for the season November 18th, and reopens in May. It is up for sale, and I sincerely hope that the new owner keeps this treasure alive for all of us to enjoy. read more

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A nice day trip from the cities! My husband and I make an afternoon of it driving along the river on the WI side doing the many wineries/cideries then ending the day at the harbor view. This time we got an earlier start and had lunch instead. I was told the wait was 45 mins but we got in around 20mins. We didn't mind though, we grabbed a drink at the bar and went outside to sit in the shade in a couple of their cute chairs. Everything on their chalkboard menu looked amazing and the prices were more than reasonable for what came with the meal! Our fish entrees that came with a soup or salad and sides were roughly $30. This is on par if not better valued than some of the nice seafood places in the Twin Cities. We got the Haibut and the poached salmon, both were phenomenal! Looking forward to this yearly tradition every summer! read more

Harbor View Cafe - New American Near Me - Pepin, Wisconsin

Great food and service inside or out, with nice views. Our meals were tasty and well presented. Tables were well spaced and take out was available. read more

Harbor View Cafe - A great meal, too big for me to finish but it was good the next too. - New American Near Me - Pepin, Wisconsin

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We decided treat ourselves to a nice dinner as this place is supposed to be great. We should have left immediately. The hostess wanted to seat us at a street side window where the sun was shining in brightly ( it was 90 degrees outside and we were looking for a cool place) so we asked to be away from the window. The restaurant wasn't even half full, so there were plenty of other options. She was very abrupt and unfriendly and angrily took us to another area. The menu is written on a chalk board hanging on the wall. This is hard to read from some of the tables so we stood there to read it and felt like they were not happy about that either. We ordered the prawn skewers and steak skewers. They both came on a bed to steamed kale that was so tough you couldn't even cut it with a steak knife! And none of the food was hot, it was either just warm or actually cold. Definitely not worth the $100 we spent for 2 meals! On the plus side the busboy was very friendly and the waitress, when she got to us, was very friendly and nice The glass of wine was good. read more