The Galley — Restaurant in Chula Vista

UPDATE: We wanted to give the fish and chips another try. We took a chance ordering it to-go, for fear it would not taste good by the time we got home. However, we were pleasantly surprised. The fish was hot and were quality size pieces. The fries were a little limp and soggy, but we just stuck them in the air fryer for a few minutes. The tartar sauce was a good amount. Overall we were pleased and will return for the fish and chips, but will definitely do takeout. The music is way too loud and according to other reviews, the service is still slow. Might as well enjoy it in the comfort of my own home. I added another star. ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️

PREVIOUS review: Being a Chula Vista native, I used to frequent The Galley quite often but it’s been about 8 years since my last visit. The circulating Instagram reel of their fish & chips “reeled” us back in. Let me preface that we waited several minutes at the hostess stand to be seated and another lengthy time waiting for our server to arrive with water and ask for drinks. It was about 5:30 PM on a Friday, so slightly busy but not full swing yet. My husband and I both wanted the fish and chips but we didn’t want to order the same entrée, so I ordered the BLTA and he got the fish and chips. My son ordered the prime rib melt sandwich. The pirate punch cocktail was reasonably priced at $12 and was very good. A runner delivered the sandwich entrées. Twelve minutes later and my husband still has not received his fish and chips. Our server came by to check on us and was surprised he hadn’t received his meal. She presented with it a few minutes later. Sadly, the fish and chips was nearly cold and limp by that point. It was probably ready at the same time as ours, but clearly overlooked. Our sandwiches were mediocre; nothing stellar, but edible. I could tell the fish and chips has potential if served in a timely manner, so I do want to return to experience it hot and crispy. I am willing to adjust the stars in my review if I’m pleased with our next visit. I do want to mention our server was pleasant and doing her best...

If you enjoy waterfront dining, this is essentially your only option in Chula Vista. Growing up, my family and I LOVED Jake's, which is basically a deserted shell just down the street from this spot, but this isn't too far off, especially since the change in ownership last year, or whenever that happened.

Their food improved a lot (probably 2-3 stars before, to maybe 3-5 now, depending on what you order) and they started offering live music many evenings a week during the summer. They started offering a happy hour, but we had a dog, and it's one of those that only applies in the bar area, so we were SOL on that one. I recall a BIG jump in food quality right after the ownership change... and I don't know if that is fading, but it didn't seem quite as good this last time. Maybe it's just me.

They seem to be putting in some effort to continuously improve, so I hope they keep that up. They added a screen near the front that displays their live acts for the month, which is a nice touch.

Some menu items just simply don't mention price... like beer and cocktails. I thought maybe they were simplifying by keeping that updated only through their website, but it's not listed there either.

In short, it's our go-to when we feel like remaining more local, but has plenty of room for improvement to compete with certain spots in IB, OB, Downtown, Coronado, etc. Hoping they continue to invest in getting it to those top-tier levels. Besides labeling prices and extending the happy hour to the full restaurant, I'd say the bathrooms could use some help, as they seem WAY behind...

Extremely disappointed. We were there for an occasion and ordered 3 prime rib dinners, two of us have an allergy and they initially brought out food that would have sent us to the emergency room. When they did finally bring out the correct ones only two of us received the condiments that come with it. After politely asking three times we still never received them. All three prime ribs were way over cooked and absolutely the worst cuts of meat I've ever seen. Honestly questioned whether it even was prime rib. It didn't look like it or taste like it. Our server was horrible, she came around a couple of times in the beginning then was MIA the rest of the service. We even got up and looked for her, asked other servers for her and no one had seen her. Given the occasion this put a huge damper on why we were there in the first place. I was so embarrassed that I paid for all three of our meals out of absolute embarrassment. No one should pay $30 for what we were served. Because it was a larger gathering, they automatically tack on a Mandatory 24%!! What a joke! Apparently, that means not wasting time or energy on trying to service the table because she literally doesn't have to do a thing and gets a huge tip. This place is nothing like it used to be 10 years ago, its quickly gone...