$40 for two pre-formed store bought hamburgers that had almost no flavor. The condiments are very cheap....please just ALWAYS use heinz ketchup instead of generic garbage. Potato salad was bland and boring.
Rob Demine
Always a go to, great place, awesome service, wonderful food. The whole family goes every year we are in town. Kristen always does an amazing job!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Joe Coe
We had a party of 6 and I have to say Shirly took great care of us. Service was prompt and the food was great . A great experience . Thank you Shirly you took great care of us and got us out for our scheduled boat ride on time . We will be back.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Chris Byerscb2
I was with family and I got the nashville hot chicken sandwich. And the key lime pie. The sandwich batter was not my favorite but the pie was delicious we had Antonio for our server he was great got our orders done fast and made well I would recommend him
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Melissa Benton
Location perfect Survive good Food over priced and just ok!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 2
Service: 4
George T. Sipos
Seafood restaurant with various choices ranging from locally-sourced fish to classics such as fried calamari, clam and fish strips and clam chowder. Having eaten several times there, the food is hit and miss. Sometimes the fried fish is dry, or the calamari is over-breaded, while others you can get a more than decent clam chowder. The service is rather slow (even when not busy) and un-inspired, mostly provided by teenagers lacking experience. A bit overpriced for what it is, but popular nonetheless especially with out-of-town visitors due to its location by the lake.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 2
Ashley Marconi
Don't know where the bad reviews come from this place was beautiful and food was great.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Gloria
Smugglers' Wharf is a gem. Located in the heart of Erie's bayfront with lake views, Smugglers' Wharf is a laid back, seafood lovers, escape. When we visited, we tried the famed coconut shrimp, which were divine. My Mom had a heaping bowl of she crab bisque which was delicious! I tried perch here for the first time. It was beer battered golden brown and the fish itself was buttery and full of flavor. My Mom had a lobster roll. Which she really enjoyed. The house made potato salad was a tasty addition to our meals. I'd love to go back here! Service was great.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Kevin Parker
Sat at the empty bar for over 10 minutes for a club soda and Labatt draft for 11.50. No thank you.
Jen Mudrow
We were greeted cheerfully by both the hostess as she seated us and by our waiter. The waiter seemed like he was going to be great, but as the meal wore on, he became less and less attentive. We even got to the point where we started counting how many times the wait staff at neighboring tables filled glasses and checked in with their guests between visits from our waiter. We are not alcohol drinkers, but our water and soda glasses were often empty and we had to request EVERY refill we got. If the restaurant had been crowded or our server was serving many tables, I could understand his neglect. However, it was not crowded and I saw him serving only one other table. We should have checked the prices on the menu before we chose this restaurant so that we weren't surprised at how expensive every menu item was. I ordered the ahi tuna. I like it rare, but seared. This was so rare that it was raw and icy cold in the center. The flavor of it was quite bland - which has never been my experience with ahi before. In addition half of the steak was quite sinewy; so much so that even the steak knife struggled to cut through it. I would have preferred to have a small salad and vegetables with the tuna, however when the waiter let me know that having a salad would increase the $36 plate to $43, I chose the garlic potatoes. $7 for a house salad?!? The potatoes were good, but had no garlic flavor to them. I also had the vegetable of the day, which was zucchini and yellow squash sautéed with garlic. This was the most flavorful part of the dinner. My husband had the catch of the day (halibut) basket, blackened, with the same sides that I ordered. The halibut was delicious and very flavorful. He felt the same about the sides as I did. For the cost, you'd think there would be enough food to fill you up, but we both had room for dessert. The dessert was AMAZING! I order the peanut butter pie and my husband ordered the 3-layer cake. Both were excellent. If I'm ever in Erie again I'll go get the peanut butter pie again. No dinner, just dessert. The atmosphere was lovely. It had a beach-side feel to it. It was a hot day, so we are inside. It was quiet and uncrowded. If the service and the food had been better it would have been a perfect evening, despite the cost.
We went to smugglers wharf for our 36th wedding anniversary. We had been here four or five years ago. I forgot how good the food there is. I had the new york strip steak with mushrooms and French fries my wife had the prime rib with mushrooms and garlic mashed potatoes. Both meals were beyond fantastic. I asked our server to tell the cook that it the was the best steak and meal that I have ever had.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Paul Salow
First time visiting. The interior and atmosphere are great! Im not much of a seafood person, so I may not ve the best person to leave a review. I got the Nashville Hot Chicken sandwich. It was pretty good, but not the best I've ever had. I plan on return and trying something else soon!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Kelly Markiewicz
Bayside area in Erie loved the patios ambiance and view. Very quaint older establishment. Servers very friendly and attentive. Food was good.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 4
Debbie Wilkie Nugent Davis
On 08/10/2025, a Friend & I had dinner here at Smugglers’ Wharf. The food was Amazing.The best Supper I’ve had in a long time. I give this Restaurant a 10.
Sabrina Deeter
Great atmosphere and service. Food was good. Views were nice. Definitely glad we stopped in on our way to the tower.
$40 for two pre-formed store bought hamburgers that had almost no flavor. The condiments are very cheap....please just ALWAYS use heinz ketchup instead of generic garbage. Potato salad was bland and boring.
Always a go to, great place, awesome service, wonderful food. The whole family goes every year we are in town. Kristen always does an amazing job!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
We had a party of 6 and I have to say Shirly took great care of us. Service was prompt and the food was great . A great experience . Thank you Shirly you took great care of us and got us out for our scheduled boat ride on time . We will be back.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
I was with family and I got the nashville hot chicken sandwich. And the key lime pie. The sandwich batter was not my favorite but the pie was delicious we had Antonio for our server he was great got our orders done fast and made well I would recommend him
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Location perfect
Survive good
Food over priced and just ok!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 2
Service: 4
Seafood restaurant with various choices ranging from locally-sourced fish to classics such as fried calamari, clam and fish strips and clam chowder. Having eaten several times there, the food is hit and miss. Sometimes the fried fish is dry, or the calamari is over-breaded, while others you can get a more than decent clam chowder. The service is rather slow (even when not busy) and un-inspired, mostly provided by teenagers lacking experience. A bit overpriced for what it is, but popular nonetheless especially with out-of-town visitors due to its location by the lake.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 2
Don't know where the bad reviews come from this place was beautiful and food was great.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Smugglers' Wharf is a gem. Located in the heart of Erie's bayfront with lake views, Smugglers' Wharf is a laid back, seafood lovers, escape.
When we visited, we tried the famed coconut shrimp, which were divine. My Mom had a heaping bowl of she crab bisque which was delicious! I tried perch here for the first time. It was beer battered golden brown and the fish itself was buttery and full of flavor. My Mom had a lobster roll. Which she really enjoyed. The house made potato salad was a tasty addition to our meals.
I'd love to go back here! Service was great.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Sat at the empty bar for over 10 minutes for a club soda and Labatt draft for 11.50. No thank you.
We were greeted cheerfully by both the hostess as she seated us and by our waiter. The waiter seemed like he was going to be great, but as the meal wore on, he became less and less attentive. We even got to the point where we started counting how many times the wait staff at neighboring tables filled glasses and checked in with their guests between visits from our waiter. We are not alcohol drinkers, but our water and soda glasses were often empty and we had to request EVERY refill we got. If the restaurant had been crowded or our server was serving many tables, I could understand his neglect. However, it was not crowded and I saw him serving only one other table.
We should have checked the prices on the menu before we chose this restaurant so that we weren't surprised at how expensive every menu item was.
I ordered the ahi tuna. I like it rare, but seared. This was so rare that it was raw and icy cold in the center. The flavor of it was quite bland - which has never been my experience with ahi before. In addition half of the steak was quite sinewy; so much so that even the steak knife struggled to cut through it. I would have preferred to have a small salad and vegetables with the tuna, however when the waiter let me know that having a salad would increase the $36 plate to $43, I chose the garlic potatoes. $7 for a house salad?!? The potatoes were good, but had no garlic flavor to them. I also had the vegetable of the day, which was zucchini and yellow squash sautéed with garlic. This was the most flavorful part of the dinner. My husband had the catch of the day (halibut) basket, blackened, with the same sides that I ordered. The halibut was delicious and very flavorful. He felt the same about the sides as I did.
For the cost, you'd think there would be enough food to fill you up, but we both had room for dessert. The dessert was AMAZING! I order the peanut butter pie and my husband ordered the 3-layer cake. Both were excellent. If I'm ever in Erie again I'll go get the peanut butter pie again. No dinner, just dessert.
The atmosphere was lovely. It had a beach-side feel to it. It was a hot day, so we are inside. It was quiet and uncrowded. If the service and the food had been better it would have been a perfect evening, despite the cost.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 3
Restaurantji Recommends
We went to smugglers wharf for our 36th wedding anniversary. We had been here four or five years ago. I forgot how good the food there is. I had the new york strip steak with mushrooms and French fries my wife had the prime rib with mushrooms and garlic mashed potatoes. Both meals were beyond fantastic. I asked our server to tell the cook that it the was the best steak and meal that I have ever had.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
First time visiting. The interior and atmosphere are great! Im not much of a seafood person, so I may not ve the best person to leave a review. I got the Nashville Hot Chicken sandwich. It was pretty good, but not the best I've ever had. I plan on return and trying something else soon!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Bayside area in Erie loved the patios ambiance and view. Very quaint older establishment. Servers very friendly and attentive. Food was good.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 4
On 08/10/2025, a Friend & I had dinner here at Smugglers’ Wharf. The food was Amazing.The best Supper I’ve had in a long time. I give this Restaurant a 10.
Great atmosphere and service. Food was good. Views were nice. Definitely glad we stopped in on our way to the tower.
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