Friday, February 29, 2008

Harbor House in Detroit

Originally published in D-Tales here.

East-side mainstay (Macomb County represent!) Harbor House has finally opened a second location, and this one is in Detroit.

The Harbor House in Clinton Township (on what I like to refer to as the barren wasteland that is Groesbeck, nearby other mysteriously long-running and lone-standing establishments such as the Rusty Nail Saloon and Chaplin's Comedy Club) has been open for 35 years now. Detroiters who might have never once ventured to the east side might still be familiar with the Harbor House, as they tend to make an appearance at every major food-related event (like Taste Fest...sorry, CityFest) and summertime festivals in the city. This is a pretty classic seafood, chicken, and ribs kinda place. Nothing too stand-out here; your culinary senses won't be set atingle by any means, but they're good for a nice old-fashioned American-style hearty meal of meat and deep-fried, butter-soaked fish.

The Harbor House is set up in the old Cock 'n Bull location at 440 Clinton Street (it's about time something else opened there...but please, a moment of silence for the fabulous and short-lived Cock 'n Bull). 'Tis a good place to grab a burger on a lunch break or before a Tigers game (Opening Day is 39 days away! Do you have your tickets yet? Speaking of which, I'd better make sure I have mine...). They're also really big on All-You-Can-Eat Seafood, which is really a good deal if you go on an empty stomach and eat your weight in crab legs. There are also 4 different levels of "All-You-Can-Eat," so if you don't quite want to fork over the dough for King Crab you can still have a big, bottomless meal of London Broil steak, shrimp, deep-fried mushrooms, and more--and at about half the price.

Parking in that 'hood sucks, though--just figured I would warn you.