Harpoon Harry’s Crab House in Pigeon Forge Review: Is It Worth It?

Alliteration? Check.

Jaunty nautical theming complete with a giant blue crab over the entrance? Check. 

A menu with decidedly non-seafood options like frog legs and mountain trout? Check.

Ladies and gentlemen, I can officially declare that Harpoon Harry’s has everything you’d want in a seafood restaurant located roughly 400-600 miles from saltwater. 

Who owns Harpoon Harry’s?

Harpoon Harry’s Crab House is the successful amalgamation of a pair of successful concepts put together by Smuggler’s Restaurants located in Punta Gorda, Florida. 

The Harpoon Harry’s website proudly notes it was created from Smugglers’ top two concepts – Harpoon Harry’s Restaurant and Sports Bar and Laishley Crab House.

However, I feel somewhat sorry for Smuggler’s other concept, The Captain’s Table, which apparently finished third in a three-man race. 

To quote the imminent Judge Smails, “The world needs ditch diggers, too.” 

Is Harpoon Harry’s a chain?

Harpoon Harry’s Crab House isn’t exactly a chain, a second location recently opened in Tampa. It is part of an apparently thriving seafood empire of five restaurants. Personally, this gives me comfort when ordering seafood so far from shore. 

One of the best things about Harry’s in Pigeon Forge is that it inherited Laishley’s sushi options. In fact, Harpoon Harry’s offers a robust sushi menu. 

Good sushi isn’t exactly easy to come across up in the mountains, and while Harry’s may not compete with the world’s great sushi restaurants, it does offer the best sushi in Sevier County.

That’s like being the skinniest sumo wrestler, but I’ll take it. 

Read Also: What are the best seafood restaurants in Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg? Our top 6

When you’re at a seafood place, try the seafood

I’m pretty easygoing about most things. I roll with the punches so I survive.

But there’s a code, a creed, a bedrock principle that I will not disrespect or violate lest I lose my very identity. 

It is this: If a restaurant has the name of a food in the title, I’m eating that food. 

You don’t go to a steakhouse for chicken. You don’t go to a barbecue joint for the salad and you don’t go to a crab house and not eat some crab. 

And this, my friends, is my reality-bending dilemma with Harpoon Harry’s: There’s no blue crab on the menu, at least when I checked. Long ago, I swore my allegiance to blue crab.

When my Hoosier grandparents moved to the Florida coast – a couple of hours above Punta Gorda – their next-door neighbor was a crabber named Alvin. 

Alvin was a hard-working man, up before the sun catching crabs, breaking off a single claw and tossing the crab back into the gulf so it could regrow the claw and keep the circle of life going or something. I don’t know. It’s just the law. 

Alvin would come home from the water tired, but not finished working. 

The claws had to be boiled right then to preserve the meat inside. If you wandered over while he was cooking, he’d skim a few floaters out and you’d both feast on the freshest crab meat possible.

I’m sure Dungeness crabs are good. People love Alaskan king Crab. There will be riots at buffets all across Florida this Saturday at 4:30 pm when the retirees battle over the snow crab. 

And while I’m told the blue crab is a lesser crab, I’m a blue crab man.

And even though there’s a giant darn blue crab hanging over the doorway, this crab house ain’t got no blue crab on the menu. At least not right now anyway.

So what’s a man to do? Adapt. 

What to order at Harpoon Harry’s

In this specific case, I’ll order the shrimp bucket with red potatoes, andouille sausage and corn and pretend that I’m sitting in the Harpoon Harry’s Restaurant and Sports Bar side and not the crab house side. 

This is the compromise I have chosen. A man devoted to good seafood divided against himself cannot stand. Lincoln said that. 

If you’d like to eat something that doesn’t look like a giant sea bug, may I humbly make another suggestion?

My grandparents grew up fishing in the lakes of Indiana. Bass. Catfish. Crappie. These were the fish my grandparents knew – we did have a Red Lobster a couple of hours down the road, but the larger point remains. 

When they moved to Florida they were astounded by the variety of fish they caught near the gulf. My Nanny became enamored with redfish, it was her absolute favorite.

Then Papa found a secret spot out around Ozello that was good for redfish. One day, Pap and I went out with my uncle Mike and we got into a large school of redfish. The bait no quicker hit the water than a big redfish was on the line and in our boat. 

We caught our limit quickly and returned triumphantly. Nanny was thrilled. 

And so, in her honor, may I recommend the Sailor’s Catch. It is pan-seared Gulf redfish fillet with a roasted garlic cream sauce, broiled jumbo shrimp, and sea scallops in a white wine garlic butter served with rice pilaf and grilled asparagus.

When you order it, tell them Wilma sent you. They won’t have any idea what you’re talking about, but it will be cool all the same. 

Read Also: 16 restaurants in Pigeon Forge that take reservations

Harpoon Harry’s menu: Is it expensive?

Harry’s offers appetizer options that include items like frog legs, Captain’s Nacho’s, gator bites and a jalapeño sweet onion hushpuppy basket.

They also offer an array of salads, soups, burgers and sandwiches. Sandwiches range from $13 to $18.

Then, you have your entrees. For non-seafood fans, they offer filet mignon, ribeye, pork chop, chicken and pasta. Those options range from about $16 to $28.

Seafood buckets start at about $23. There’s also market pricing for the catch of the day, so ask your server about the daily preparations.

And for those young ones 12 and under, kids meals are available. Dishes are from $9 to $11. For a full menu with prices, click here.

Finally, if you chicken out and order the adult chicken tenders from a seafood restaurant, the only way to redeem yourself is to ask the server how old a chicken has to be before it’s considered an adult.

Harpoon Harry’s is located at 112 Community Center Drive in Pigeon Forge TN. They are open from 11 am-9 pm at the time of this writing, but remember that hours are subject to change.

Have you tried Harpoon Harry’s? What did you think? Let us know in the comments!