Excellent good, service and ambiance. Definitely will return.

I was very excited to eat at another of Chef Paley’s restaurants & give Headwaters another chance. My Aunt & Uncle were visiting from Texas & wanted seafood and Headwaters was recommended. Although the prices seemed high and everything is a la carte (even the bread has to be purchased separately) the food was very good. I tried the chowder, which was delicious & worth $12 for a bowl. The Caesar side salad was good, but think I should have tried one of the more seasonal salad options. The flat bread and house rolls were worth buying on the side but I guess I am old fashioned and would like bread included with the service, at least the house rolls. We also tried the carrots and asparagus-the carrots are a must! The rock fish was heavily battered, so I don’t recommend, but the NY steaks were perfect & not too fatty-good cuts. But, if you would like a potato side with your steak which is already $36, there is no other option besides fries, which would be additional, so that was a disappointment for a few of my family members who really love potatos with their steak. My favorite part of the meal was the hazelnut brownie for dessert! We also tried the vanilla ice cream with caramel sauce and the chocolate ice cream, also delicious. The service was standard & our server was pleasant, informative and helpful, but a few of our drinks took way too long (approx 20 min) & we had to ask after them only to find out our ticket was lost-which can happen-and I do believe we were still charged for all 3 of them which seems sub par to me in the customer service arena as a person who worked in restaurants of various levels of dining for many years. All in all, we had a good time together and enjoyed our meals for the most part. Honestly, I don’t know if we will be back for dinner, but I wouldn’t mind giving Happy Hour a try sometime. Thanks!

Birthday celebration

Poor service, a long wait for food to be delivered, then VERY salty entree made this a bad choice for us while in Portland. I like salt, but this was WAY too much. The couple next to us also complained about too much dalt!

Steelhead was delicious.

I was really looking forward to eating at this restaurant but will probably not go back. Service was very slow and food was just ok

My friend and I attended the Tony Bennett concert on June 6 and opted to have dinner at Headwaters before the concert. We both had the Paella and it was wonderful and very authentic. Couldn't have been better. We ended our meal sharing the hazelnut brownie with coffee ice cream and it was so very good. Since both of us have wine cellars, we brought in our own bottle of wine and enjoyed a wonderful Merlot with our dinner. When we attend concerts at the Keller Auditorium, Headwaters is always our dining choice and we have never been disappointed.

Our server was excellent and all food and drinks delicious!

We are seafood eaters but we do not eat meat. So many of the seafood items on the menu also included meat, so our choices were rather limited. Also my husband ordered a Caesar salad and found it to be just so-so. We probably will not be returning.

We had a nice dinner but a few things stood out as aggravating. The main issue was that the entrees seemed to mostly be the meat or seafood by itself with not much in the way of accompaniment with vegetables or starch. The server let us know that and multiple times suggested we order a salad or sides to accompany the entrees. For me when a steak entree costs $36 they could include some sides. They also charge for bread and add 3% health and wellness charge presumably to fund employee health insurance. That was on top of the 20% tip included for a large party.

We capped the weekend of celebrations honoring our son and his graduation from college with dinner at Headwaters. They never disappoint. We enjoyed the scallops, whole fish, chowder and chicken. The Headwaters Salad was fresh and delightful. Our appetizers a huge hit! Our server listened to our likes and suggested perfect wine parings. My nephew enjoyed his favorite cocktail as well. Headwaters is suitable for an everyday meal as well as when times are more celebratory. The staff is attentive and we enjoy dining here whenever we can, as often as we can. You have a choice where you dine, I would put Headwaters on your short list.

Quality service, nice setting and meals were well executed.

Excellent food and service as always! Consistently on our list when we visit Portland.

Excellent. Had the app platter of various smoked fish. Delicious. Also had the scallops -- seasoned and cooked perfectly. Very enjoyable meal. A popular place for folks attending local plays and concerts. Get a reservation.

We were seated next to a very busy open kitchen with a high noise level. Initially the service was nonexistent until I flagged down a passing hostess to ask if a server had been assigned to our table. When a server arrived I told her that In my experience three women seated together were often ignored. Our initial glass of wine arrived 25 minutes after we were seated.

3/6 entrees were fine and other 3 were sub par. service was fine, but not exceptional. ambience feels like average hotel, rather than an upscale restaurant. it was comfortable for a 4 year old which was a plus.

Excellent memorable food served in small portions by great servers in a very noisy environment.

The food and service were wonderful and beat expectations.
Thank you

Tough with the construction going on, food was ok but waiter put it all in at once so main course was ready before two bites of our salad.

This is a place for all. Social and unique dining. Great cocktails and very fresh seafood selections

The remodel has caused the noise to escalate to an uncomfortable level.

Overall we enjoyed the meal and will be back. The service was a little slow and in spite of a half empty restaurant, he seemed to lose track of us. We had to get up and ask the hostess to send us a check. But the food was great and we thankfully had both time and patience.

We had a party of 15 and the service provided by our waiter was excellent. He was spot on for his recommendation of food and drinks. We had a large party and they were great! The food was also AMAZING! I would highly recommend this restaurant for anyone looking for great food, good atmosphere and friendly service.

Absolutely did not disappoint! My husband and I were so pleased with our experience. Up there with its sister restaurant, paleys place!

Unfortunately, Headwaters just wasn't prepared for Mother's Day. INCREDIBLY SLOW SERVICE. And then the food just wasn't worth the money spent. Had heard great things about their Sunday brunch, so I decided to bring my wife & mother-in-law (and two kids) for a special Mother's Day brunch. The "special meal" turned into an exercise in frustration and trying to find other ways to nourish ourselves.

We showed up right on time for our reservation, but they were running behind. Really not a huge problem, could understand that on Mother's Day. After about 10-15 minutes of waiting, we got seated. Then everything just ground to a halt. Our meal ended up not showing up until an hour & 15 minutes after our reservation. The wait staff was trying, and kept telling us it was "close", but it was excruciatingly slow especially for a brunch (meaning late morning). To make matters worse, they never even offered us fruit, toast, or even bread just to hold us over until the orders arrived (remember, we had kids with us too). It got so bad that my wife ended up digging a bag of mixed nuts out of her purse just to get something to eat.

And finally, when the food did arrive, the pancakes were underwhelming, the eggs were a bit runny, and my eggs benedict was cold.

Honestly, was so bad - we will not be returning, and will advise our friends the same.

In fairness to the wait staff, they were friendly. I just think their management and kitchen did not prepare well for the crowds.

The food was so-so

Second Mother’s Day spent and more than likely the last. We went last year and this year, both the Saturday before Mother’s Day. Booked on open table but because they cancelled my reservation I never got my points. Bartender was condescending which cut his tip down but mostly we were bothered by how much time we were left with no food or drink or a bill to pay. We sat for nearly 25 minutes waiting on our bill after our food and beverage was gone. Now I understand we sat in the bar however it was not busy. I not saying I’ll never return but not on this particular day and not in the bar.

We were greeted as soon as we came in by an amazing manager named Melissa who was very courteous and professional she made our evening even more amazing. Service was great as well as the food. We started with a bowl of clam chowder to share and two house baked rolls. The chowder was delicious with lots of bacon and fresh clams in shell drizzled with house made hot sauce and pickled red jalapeno one of the best we have had, the bread was good too.next we had the seafood tower which was very fresh and delicious we especially liked the smoked mussel shots. Next we ordered the crab cake which was ok kinda wish there were two instead of just one big one and we ordered a side of the broccolini which was good . By this time we were pretty full and just ordered desserts which were also just ok nothing especially amazing we had the pudding and the cheesecake but the amazing manager Melissa ended up buying them for us just because, she made our experience amazing and we are very greatful for her. Definitely will be going back!

Good! Food was great and it ended up being a nice night. Reservation was made spontaneously but we were well accommodated

This was our first experience at Headwater. We were able to order from the happy hour menu even though we were seated in the main restaurant. We really appreciated the service and the food was delicious. Thank you, it's a must for a Pre-theatre event.

Excellent experience. Wine was great. Everyone’s food was exceptional. Very good overall

I've been with my family before, and wanted to share this restaurant with extended family that really enjoys seafood--everything was delicious, and they loved everything--clams, chowder, whole fish...YUM

Wonderful food and service. Actually had our oysters served by Vitaly Paley.

Food really was great and loved sitting at the counter watching the food prep.

This was my second visit to Headwaters, the first being for a great lunch. We were there for dinner before the Chris Botti concert. Great food from a great chef. Restaurant was crowded with 95% going to the concert. Service was second to none. The owner/chef was seen throughout the restaurant making sure everything was being run smoothly.

Only real disappointment was paying $20 or $22 for one crab cake? Seemed a bit high to us!

The menu isn't huge for lunch, but there are options for most everyone. The "Impossible Burger" is amazing!

Top notch service in beautiful space with food to match.

Did not eat there. Walked out due to poor service. Seems like it would have been a nice meal, but the wait staff did not come to where we were seated.

Overall it was a good visit. Portland has no shortage of great brunch spots and this place is amongst them.
The food was great. Strongly recommend the sticky buns and pancakes, though all our dishes were good.
The service needs a little work. It was NOT busy and bar service was slow. Also, the food presentation was a little sloppy. Plates were kind of set down without a lot of care. Also, I ordered the smoked fish platter and kind of expected a little more explanation of the plate since it was a little hard to figure out what was what.

I’d go back for sure, but room to improve.

Convenient location for attending a theatre performance. I have been to the restaurant before and liked it a lot. Pretty mediocre this time. And SO loud.