The Purple Door

Ten of us had a fabulous meal on Saturday night. We ate a variety of appetizers, entrees and desserts. Pork chops, filet, salmon, shrimp, polenta, French dip, tilapia and mahi mahi. All were excellent! Calamari, brussel sprouts and bread for appetizers and finished with key lime pie, chocolate cake and carrot cake. Highly recommend. We will return!!

Outstanding restaurant in small town Iowa. Food was perfectly prepared and seasoned well. Atmosphere was quiet and personal. I was a little under dressed, but felt welcome. Music playing in the background was relaxing. Service was great, very attentive. Best food I've had in a long time. Great date night restaurant. Will definitely be back.

Nice little hidden gem with great food and great service. Classy place with unique atmosphere and art on the walls (Picasso). Good music in the background for ambience. We were just driving through Harlan on our way to St. Joseph & Atchison and stopped for supper on Friday night. The food was great. I would highly recommend the tomato basil soup. Fantastic. We both had fish tacos which were very good. Carrot cake for dessert. Reasonable portions (especially the soup and dessert) and fair prices. Highly recommend this restaurant. Excellent service as well.

Nestled in a small town was the most amazing dining experience we have had in a long time. The appetizers (steak kabobs, fried green tomatoes and the Brussel sprouts) were amazingly tasty. Everyone couldn’t get enough. When ordering our meals they said they were out of the Iowa bone in pork chop, however shortly after the owner stopped by our table and as we were picking and joking she said they have some as she just brought them. She quickly went and changed the order ensuring everyone had what they wanted. My husband ordered the salmon with mashed potatoes and carrots, I don’t like fish and I throughly enjoyed the bite of his salmon. He said the carrots were amazingly tasty as well. I had the pasta primavera which I LOVED, my husband enjoyed a few bites as well. Our child had a cheese burger, house salad and some accidental fries. He traded his fries for the house salad and still had fries but he said both were amazing and if he had to choose again he’s not sure which he would choose. The burger was massive, he usually eats quite a bit and could not finish his burger. Overall if I could give the restaurant more than 5 stars I would! If you like tea be sure to try out the raspberry sweet tea!

We had a wonderful dinner experience here. The atmosphere was nice and quiet without a wait. The hostess and waitress provided excellent service as we continued to get our glasses filled with water.

Higher end restaurant for the town, they do have a kids menu so we decided to go for lunch. The bread plate was okay but the kids did not like the pesto, and the edges were a little dark/charred for my taste but still decent. The salmon tasted excellent but the texture was a little chewy/hard edges. Veggies and potato sides were awesome. The kids had chicken tenders and felt some pieces were a little too grisly, but they loved the fries. Was a good experience, definitely recommend a cocktail and the lemon water is very refreshing.

I highly recommend this cute little romantic place. I would also highly recommend placing a reservation, we got lucky and had one table left. Food was amazing and full of flavor. Service was super friendly. Plenty of parking.

These delicious pieces of bread are all that is left of a sumptuous meal at The Purple Door in Harlan. Oh my. I enjoyed half the bread plate (pictured) and every morsel of the pasta primavera. You can add the meat of your choice, but I didn’t and was not disappointed. Silky garlic sauce over al dente spaghetti and fresh spinach, cherry tomato, green peppers, mushrooms and Parmesan. Service was superior and the house Cab was very nice. I’ll be back!