Visited Saturday 2/1/2020. So unimpressed for a place with a long history. Band started at 9:40, instead of 9 PM. Female bartenders lacked any personality or friendliness, and chicken ceasar salad had cheap old lettuce. Are you kidding me ? Fire your management. Adios ! read more

If I could leave zero stars I would. Worst place I've been to all summer. Stay away. Food and service were horrendous.

Trish was the best!! Dinner was very good and the fire felt warm and cozy. Food came out quickly and was very hot.

Harpoon Willy's is always a great stop. Great food, great atmosphere and a great staff! We had Trish tonight. She is awesome!!!Great server and outstanding personality! read more

Aweful Restaurant.--Other reviews confirm my review which I hope steers diners to a wonderful venue and not here. For years I've wanted to find every reason to keep going back here only I simply cannot justify one more visit to this establishment. This restaurant is filthy. The floors, tables, windows and doors. Leads me to only guess how horribly dirty the kitchen is. The menu is overpriced and has absolutely no flair, uniqueness or fun. Whoever is running this place is definitely running it into the ground. Same stuff 10 years ago only smaller portions and higher prices. Only thing this place provides is a pretty cute semi-view of the River. We will never go back..and I will definitely tell everyone I know not to go there and to pass it on to their friends and everyone they know!!! read more

12/10/17 - Sunday afternoon at 4:30 pm is the best time to dine at a restaurant like Harpoon Willy's. Not to crowded, warm & very comfortable. We got a window table & watched the early sunset with our cocktails, very relaxing, no rush!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My wife had the Sushi Appitizer which was great! I had the Center Cut Pork Chop Medium with garlic mash & broccoli with Horseradish Cream Sauce on the side - Over the TOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My wife had the Angus Burger which said was just as good as Frankie's in PP. The only thing missing was the roasted clams which we will try the next time we return for another fine dinner at Harpoon Willy's Good Job! read more

I'm not a complainer but we were seated and waited a half hour for our server to greet us while other tables were seated and greeted by their servers. While waiting we helped ourselves to the bar for drinks. After asking multiple times to the staff around us the confused server greeted us and so we ordered food. The chicken was cold but the steak was ok. the mashed potatoes were instant (hungry jack or something). After desert the server asked if we wanted the check, we replied no because we were waiting for the band to start so we ordered more drinks. After 15 minutes the waiter came back and apologized and said we were at our limit for drinks and asked us to leave. I had 6 beers ( I'm a fatty 250 lbs)and my wife had a beer and a Long Island iced tea. We laughed because it seemed they we pushing us out to seat another guest. We left the table and went to the bar and the bartender would not serve us because of the limit. lol! For the record we took an Uber there! I would not recommend this place to anyone! read more

Absolute Garbage. Ordered takeout expecting the same quality I've received in the past dining in. Completely mistaken and they should be ashamed. First Issue: 1/2 pound steamed calamari over pasta with fra diavolo. Very tiny pieces of calamari with strong fishy odor separate from the sauce (a small cup) and pasta. See pictures that speak for themselves. Second Issue: mushy burger substituted with onion rings. THREE ONION RINGS. Disappointed and finding it extremely hard to ever return... read more

Harpoon Willy's - "1/2" pound of fishy steamed calamari. Atrocious. - Seafood Near Me - Manasquan, New Jersey

I don't get it. I've heard so many good things. Last night I had the most flavorless watery Chilean bass ever. My mashed potatoes were cold and chunky with NO FLAVOR. I never met a mashed potato I didn't like until last night. But the worst? The New England clam chowder. How does a popular seafood restaurant get that wrong?!! No clams no potato and full of carrots and celery and the oddest sweet flavor. I don't know who has the palate for this. It is bad food all around. read more

Fried cod tacos were very tasty! Caught some fireworks during dinner too. Service was good. Karaoke night was fun. Sorry no pics.

Hate doing this because the restaurant business is tough. But what makes it unnecessarily tougher is not having a decent staff. 4 times in 2 years. Ready ? Here we go, 1st time- bartender broke glass in the service ice and kept using it. 2nd time- waited 20 mins for the only lunch bartender to give us menus and it took almost an hour to get the wrong food. We did receive a complimentary attitude for no reason when we tried getting a second round. 3rd time- went in for a quick pint.. ordered Guinness . They told us they only use CO2 For the Guinness not N2 combined with CO2. Yea, well , that's why it tasted like liquid pudding. And the 4th time- after all that , we were trapped meeting old friends that who insisted on visiting because they remembered the late 1990s and how good it was... well ... it never happened . We got there an hour early because we knew about the obstacles they have of hiring decent people. However, we sat at the bar for 17 minutes ( exactly ) while 3 useless humans proclaiming they are bartenders fumbling over themselves and not even noticing us. Bar was 1/3 full. And a couple sat down right next to us and got served 1st. When we were asked what we needed, I replied sincerely, " a bartender." And left. After about 30 years of going there, no more. I emailed the manager , and the response was almost professional , but I'm not here to help train them. If they would like that , they can hire me for the week. But I won't spend another second or dime here again. read more

Great atmosphere, with a beautiful view of the water no matter where you sit. The food was delish! I got a flat iron steak and my boyfriend got the napoleon chicken he says was great. Our waiter was so attentive to us and so sweet. Live music, good variety in songs too. Definitely a date night location! (Photos may not do justice I had to adjust lightening for them) read more

Harpoon Willy's - Flat Iron Steak - Seafood Near Me - Manasquan, New Jersey

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My wife and I were looking for a new place to try and we came across Harpoon Willy's on open table. Described as having scenic water views. If you consider looking through a parking lot in the distance you can see water. That aside we were not impressed with the food whatsoever. Although our waitress was very nice their serving methods were not. They brought our entree's 30 seconds after bringing our salads. No room for anything on the table. I am not sure how you can mess up a burger but they did. I took two bites. Waited for my wife to partially finish her meal and then we left. Certainly this is off the list read more

Harpoon Willy's - This is the scenic water view from the restaurant - Seafood Near Me - Manasquan, New Jersey

Just not good. Ordered 2 salads to go. Boring and lacked substance. Since when do you order a chicken Caesar and get the dry chicken in a separate container? read more

Def recommend Harpoon Willy's! Nice menu, nice atmosphere! You'll be happy you stopped by! ENJOY!

Willie was absolutely amazing - he dealt with all of our needs and we loved every single second of his service. What a sweet guy , haven't had service like that in a while ! read more

I have been going here for years. I have gone for drinks, dinner, with kids and even had parties there for my wife's birthday and for work. I like the menu and bar offerings. Tap list is alway pretty good. Staff has always been good and attentive. I also like the fireplace and the views. My problem has only been is sometimes it isn't easy to get a table so be sure to think ahead. read more

Group of 4 of us came here after spending the day on the boat. The restaurant is across the water from the marina where the boat is kept, so when we docked we called the restaurant to make a reservation. We were told they were at capacity and not taking reservations, although you could clearly see the tables outside weren't even filled. We decided to still head over and see how long the wait was. We walked in and were seated immediately and the place was far from being at full capacity. We were seated outside where we waited and waited and waited. 2 tables were seated and drink orders taken before we even saw our server. We went inside and asked about our server and were told he'd be with us shortly. He eventually came out and took our drink orders and said he'd bring a round of waters. Again we waited and waited. The table behind us who had come in about 15 mins after us got served food, and we still didn't have water or drinks! Finally another server came over and took our order again. We asked to be moved inside and after the hostess contemplated it, agreed we good move inside, except we had the same server! Our drinks finally came and eventually the food, with the appetizers and the meals coming out all at once. I got the sirloin steak sandwich, which was good, and the only reason this review is 2 stars instead of 1. The wings were dry and burned. I asked for some ketchup for my French fries, which I'm still waiting for...eventually I had to get up and find my own ketchup. The round of waters eventually came, after we'd been there over an hour and asked twice. Our second round of drinks wasn't much better. Both bartenders decided to take a break at the same time, just under 20 minutes to get drinks and we were seated in the bar area! The final straw was the bill, $150 for 3 sandwiches, a salad, a plate of wings and 2 rounds of drinks. Horrible service, waited forever just to get water and even longer for drinks and expensive food that was ok at best. Needless to say, probably not coming back here. read more

Nice view. Really nice female bartenders who were there on Wed afternoon. Great fish sandwich and awesome side salad. Really decent wine pours & house wines. Nice happy hour specials. Looking forward to going back on a quiet weekday afternoon to enjoy that river view. read more

Went here after playing golf in the rain. The staff was incredibly nice and they make a good drink. However, the food was subpar. The New England Clam Chowder came out barely warm and had almost a ginger taste to it. The Cajun wings were ok but bland. Then there is the crab cake sandwich. First of all there was far too much bread. Second the crab cake itself was not crispy on the outside and you could not taste the crab. Add in the undercooked French fries and you get a disappointing meal. It is shame since the atmosphere is good and the staff is friendly. read more

Having come to the Brick area for years during the summer months, my gf and I are always entirely underwhelmed by the chains and gimmick crab shacks that, frankly, never seem to utilize the adjacent FRESH bounty of the sea. Fast forward a brief search on Yelp and this place came up at the bottom of the list, though for the life of me I can't imagine why--it is FANTASTIC! We went on a Friday night around 8pm and still had a 25 min wait which went quick as we explored the nearby by marina at sunset (an added bonus)--they texted us when a table was ready and the food came out super quick. Even our wait staff was completely on point which was made for a great experience. We ordered a half-pound starter of the clam strips which were incredible! Really massive strips of delicious fried claims that tasted fresh caught that evening. We then got the 'Willys sea bake' which includes a large crab cake, scallops, clams, and some of the best seasoned shrimp I've ever had. Also got there 'So Cal' burger with added Swiss and it too was top notch for a very reasonable $13. This is obviously a crowd favorite spot and well worth the wait. Absolutely phenomenal food and highly recommended! read more

Harpoon Willy's - Willys sea bake (onion ring not included) - Seafood Near Me - Manasquan, New Jersey

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Went for Jersey Shore Restaurant Week for the price fix menu. Food was so good and portions were soo big! Even if it hadnt been restaurant week the portions were big. I had plenty of leftovers except for the delicious pork chop cooked to perfection. Our waitress was a little bit all over the place but the food and wine more than made up for it! Went on a Saturday night very lively place and cozy feel in the bar area. Would go back for sure. read more

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Underestimated the time it would take us to run a few morning errands, pick up grandma in Lakewood, eat lunch, then make it to the airport in time for our evening flight back to Denver, so opted out of lunch in Point Pleasant and opted for Harpoon Willy's as it was directly on our route. May or may not have been the best decision, but I will explain. I've actually never eaten here but had heard good things about the food. Unfortunately the service, as mentioned in a ton of reviews, needs a lot of work. The restaurant is located in a lovely old Colonial home, complete with beautiful stain glass windows in the entryway. Upon arrival, we were told we could sit wherever we wanted, and since we had my grandma with us, we chose the dining room because the bar was quite loud. Yet when we actually chose a corner table by the window, the hostess stated we couldn't have that table because it was for 6 people and there were only 4 of us. Okayyy, except it was 2pm, after the lunch rush, and you said we could sit anywhere, but whatever. She then ushered us over to a table for 4 in the bar area. Fine. Except we couldn't hear each other and were now essentially invisible. We waited and waited and waited. Our server did eventually approach us, took our drink orders and promised to be right back, but - and this is not entirely her fault - she was clearly swamped with too many tables. We waited over 15 mins for her to return, which never happened, so my mom got up and asked to speak with the manager. Our server was then guided back to our table (she was also working the dining room), took our food orders and promised to put it in as a rush. Which she did, but we never saw her again, until we had to track her down to pay our bill. 2 stars for service. As for the food, it was actually really good. It's a shame the service is inconsistent at best. I went for the scallop special, which was Asian influenced with sesame seeds, mandarin oranges and served over a bed of greens. So so tasty. My bf ordered a cup of clam chowder, which had just the right amount of creaminess. He and my mom both got the lobster wrap, served with either a side salad or fries. My grandma got the lump crab sandwich. Portions were large and my mom and grandma both took half of theirs to go. Everything was prepared and cooked well, the flavor combinations complimented the dishes perfectly, and the presentation was beautiful. 4 stars for the meal. Alas, 3 star average. If the service could get it's act together, I would not hesitate to return. read more

Harpoon Willy's - Scallop special. - Seafood Near Me - Manasquan, New Jersey

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Apparently the menu prices on the Yelp site are off by2/3. The $12.50 burger is now $17, the quesadilla is also $17, not the $12 on the Yelp site. The food was average at best read more

My first visit -it's Labor Day & the place is absolutely jam packed. Thank goodness we had a reservation & to my surprise, we were promptly seated at 1:30. We told our server, Lauren, it was our first time and she was friendly/patiently answered our questions about the different offerings/and at the end, said she hoped we enjoyed our meals and would come back. Excellent customer interaction despite the super busy lunch time pressure being presented. I loved the all day menu idea so if you want an entrée, you don't have to wait till 5 pm or get a smaller portion. The New England Clam Chowder and Chicken Barley soup was good, the Braised beef short ribs were very tender and tasty, the pan roasted day boat scallops were absolutely cooked perfectly and had a wonderful taste. Wish I had taken pictures of the entrees but when I thought of it, there was nothing left on my plate to show you! read more

we always like to use restaurant week to try new restaurants. we decided to give Harpoon Willy's a try knowing we like Half Moon Point which are same owners. I would say it was just ok. we ordered from Restaurant week menu figuring it would be best option and were more disappointed than pleased. apps were Clams Casino and Eggplant and both were subpar. i will day i had the pork chop for my entire and it was very good. My wife had the chicken and again nothing special. same for the deserts carrot cake and chocolate cake were just ok. service was ok. with all the good restaurants around, not likely to go back. read more

Cut above pub grub and seafood is surprisingly good. We're not quite regulars but have been here several Saturdays and really enjoyed good music, drinks, and atmosphere. Just a solid fun place -especially with a group. read more

Harpoon Willy's - Seafood Near Me - Manasquan, New Jersey

Can't rate the food...didn't get any! Just left...no dinner. My son and I were seated and given menus...we sat for 35 minutes while 3 tables that arrived after us were served. It was literally as if we were invisible! As we exited...I informed the hostesses as to why. Not nasty...veey matter of factly actually. Never offered to get a manager..nothing Unbelievable! read more

Good food and drinks. Specials daily on wine , drinks and special dinners. Always fairly busy and reliable for a good dinner. Favorites are the Tuna Poke, Buffalo Wings, all the burgers and clam bake night. read more

Harpoon Willy's - Seafood Near Me - Manasquan, New Jersey

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Your bartenders are fantastic. Your food is to. Lately your chefs are way to heavy on the garlic. It takes over

Great views of the Manasquan River, fireplace, large bar area... But come for burgers, clams and beer!!! Tables are near a fireplace, open grill in the middle of the bar. Definately get the roasted clams, they are best. Burgers are cooked to order. Other items on the menu worth trying are the buffalo shrimp, Willy Whaler (crab cake sandwich) or the fish burrito. read more

Was there today Food was good beer was cold . Had a very nice server name Sabrina made us laugh.

Situated on the waterfront of the beautiful Manasquan River this local haunt highlights much of what makes seaside dinning a pleasurable experience. During the Covid world we live in all dinning was outdoors, tables were well spaced and all employees maintained proper PPE. We enjoyed raw claims and fried calamari for apps, the clams were fresh and cleaned properly and the calamari was light and airy. For our main courses my companion enjoyed one of their signature burgers. These are huge, delicious and she could only eat half. I enjoyed the fried fish tacos. These were perfect for a summer night and hit all the high notes that one would expect from this dish. As a plus both of these came with steak fries, which is a huge plus in my book. Dessert was obviously a chocolate lava cake which was a perfect ending to the meal. I would highly recommend coming here for a casual atmosphere with food that will leave you thinking..."what am I going to have NEXT time" read more

Waitress was nasty. Lobster salad was fishy. I am a local and been here many times. This was my last.

There is a bit of an odd nostalgic feeling entering Harpoon Willy's since, other than a sign, the restaurant's exterior appears to be an older-style house, complete with multiple windows, a yard, and a traditional front door that you enter through to get into the restaurant. I wasn't sure what to expect the inside of Harpoon Willy's to look like, but it appears to have been completely regutted (and expanded), but with some of the character of the house that it used to be before these major renovations, including a fire place. Being right on a bay is a good addition to the atmosphere, which has an interesting character. The menu has a very good seafood, chops, and sandwich selection. The meal started with blackened grouper bites, which came with a pineapple and bean salad. These were good, but they left a little to be desired compared to the distinctive grilled/broiled taste I'm used to with blackened fish, and the texture of the grouper's coating wasn't exactly how really great blackened fish should taste, either. The buffalo wings we had also gotten were great. There was more meat on each wing than you'll usually get, the wings are crisped almost perfectly, and the buffalo sauce is very flavorful. I had ordered a 16oz NY Sirloin, which was cooked medium rare with a great consistency throughout. It was very flavorful and cooked well. The fries here are great, crispy steak fries. Notably, the mushrooms and onions that came with my steak tasted noticeably fresher than I'm used to at some of the best steakhouses in the area. The calamari looked interesting, served by the pound in a big bowl (as is a lot of seafood on the menu). The poached lobster avocado sandwich and the burgers here particurally, as well as the rest of the sandwich menu, make Harpoon Willy's look like it could be one of the area's best places for lunch. There is a good amount of charm here, with both the food and the atmosphere. I would return to Harpoon Willy's after having one of the better steaks I've had in central Jersey. read more

I went to this place last night based on Yelp reviews and the fact that most of the other area places had about a 30 minute wait and we were hungry. Very disappointing. The grounds are lovely being right on the inlet. We got a lovely tour of River Road because their address for GPS is incorrect. So once we found the place, it looked promising. However, the restaurant was dark and very noisy with the waitstaff rushing around crazily. We got seated right away and perused the menu which wasn't huge but had a nice variety of food. My friend and I both ordered the crab cake sandwich and a cup of New England clam chowder to start. Bad idea as both of the offerings were not good. The chowder was grey, watery and strangely sweet. That went back to the kitchen. No need to get sick. The crab cake sandwich was just ok. It was a nice sized patty with a crunchy coating. As with most crabcakes, the crab was barely noticeable. It had a nice crab flavor though. Sadly, it was served on a kaiser roll that was too big and hard. Better idea would've been a regular hamburger bun that would've been easier to eat without destroying the crab cake. We both got the side salad which was fine but no choice of dressing? Our waiter Matt was very nice and took the chowder off the bill. We won't be back. read more

Usually love this place. However, tonight was over 2 hours to be seated and served. In fact, we are still waiting for our food. Seriously. Update: 6/16/16. Again service is unbelievably sloooow.....and it's not even that crowded. read more

Great place ! Would definitely suggest making reservations . We went there with another couple and we did have to wait a while but sat at the bar had a few drinks ! The bartenders were very friendly the atmosphere is very friendly and fun ! Place was packed. The was was worth it since the food was delicious. Will most definitely be back again this summer! read more

Harpoon Willy's - Seafood Near Me - Manasquan, New Jersey

Herd mentality for overpriced - mediocre food. This place is always packed. Not counting the chains, I thought that was a sure of sign of good food quality. WRONG. Another disappointment in the NJ dining scene. I should have know that this is a BAR also serving food. From the other reviews, I was led...no...make that ...led myself, to believe that this was a decent place to have a relatively GOOD meal. Especially, if they are charging $20+ for most entrees. They don't know how to fry seafood - for sure. I ordered the Captain's (or whatever it's called) Mixed Seafood Platter. This was listed as "broiled", I asked if was available fried. "Yes, of course" , said the waitress...What a dissaster. (A little voice in my mind told me this may be a mistake....but I rely on the guidance of supposed professionals, like the waitress. When you are paying $ 25 for an entree, I expect a waiter to have some knowledge of the food being served in addition to just writing down the order. ) The breading was falling off the Calimari. The rest (Shrimp.Scrod, Clams) were done in Panko bread crumbs, which just didn't work. It made the seafood hard, not crunchy, just unpleasantly hard on the outside. I know that Panko is all the rage, but certain foods just need good breading or batter. My GF found what looked like a piece of toothpick in her fish wrap ....not on it, holding it together, but inside the wrap. In addition it was luke warm inside, , seeemed like they took the wrap filled it with stuffing that had been refrigerate, microwaved it and sent it out. We of course sent it back. I mentioned this to the "waitress" and she shrugged like it's not her problem, as if i was telling her my neighbor plays the music too loud at night. They are so busy, (I attribute this to people going for drinks and deciding that they need something to soak it up) that it really doesn't seem to phase them if you like the meal or not, Let's be honest, if you're half in the bag, a truck tire, while chewy, tastes kind of OK. I guess if you go to just drink, the bar is pretty decent & the bar food (nachos, wings, etc) is no worse than TGI (except it's significantly more expensive). But do yourself a favor and don't make this a dinner destination. read more

Host sucked she was clueless on seating people. Appetizers were good. Main course was a joke for the price. My sister in law got stuff shrimp and they weren't peeled, my dinner was Willy sea bake and it was mostly fries and the crab cake was so dry you couldn't eat it. It also was so loud you couldn't hear the person next to you talking to you. Very disappointed I will never go back to this overpriced cafeteria read more