California Fish Grill - Mesa, AZ — Restaurant in Mesa

I'm usually in this area in the morning for my coffee only or to run errands at the Wal-mart nearby.

It was a pretty straightforward set-up. All dine orders go to the left and choose a tablet-kiosk, or go straight to the front and pick up an online order.

Cheno helped me at the front to place my order: 1 entree: grilled salmon with two sides. The sides I picked were the kaleslaw and tomato with feta.

I also purchased the fire roasted corn!

Portions were a lot bigger than I expected, so that was great!

After I placed my order, I filled my drink and found a seat. They will call your name at the front when the food is ready and also ask if you want any additional sauces (I declined!)

Salmon is always a good choice, and I liked how it was grilled. It was not a very fatty salmon, but it was still flakey. The kaleslaw was surprisingly good and tender, and the tomato and feta were also nice. I would have expected a chopped tomato, but the slices were nice.

I purchased the fire roasted street corn, and that was a BIG portion. It was just expected - very good - but I should have gotten limes from the front and squeezed it over the corn.

I would definitely come back - the pricing is fair, and the portions are really generous. They push to be sustainable, and I appreciate it. They present the food to you on resusable dinnerware and steel tray. They also have recyclable containers by the fountain drink area for you to pack your extra food.

Great...

We ordered fish and chips, fried catfish, calamari, and fried green beans, all for takeout. I only live a couple minutes from the restaurant, so the food spent minimal time in the takeout containers.

First, the good: the green beans were great. Crispy, good flavor, and a generous portion. The fish that came with the fish and chips was also good. Nice and hot, crispy, and very large portion.

Everything else, though, not so great. The catfish itself was flavorful and a nice-sized piece, but the breading was incredibly soggy. I know fried food doesn't do great in takeout, but it was so soggy it was like somebody splashed it with water before they put it in the box. The fries in both dishes were hard and chewy, like they'd been sitting under a heat lamp for hours, the kale slaw had no sort of dressing on it at all (but was fresh and tasty other than that), and the calamari wasn't even identifiable as such. It didn't look, taste, or have the texture of calamari at all and I felt it really wasn't worth the price.

I'd certainly be willing to try the place again. Maybe for dine-in next time, since it seemed like most of the issues were problems of freshness. But I'd be wary of...

My husband and I came to pick up our order where someone who says she’s the manager was cleaning the store. She didn’t say she would help us so we thought someone else would be at the counter to get us our order. Given we didn’t see anyone behind the counter, I called out to see if someone could come and help us. Then eventually the “manager” who claims to be called “Angel” walks up in an annoyed way from behind us and says “I heard you.” I said “I don’t need the attitude.” Then she said with more attitude “I’m not giving you attitude.” So I said that she certainly is. She said that now she is yes because I apparently questioned if she was giving us attitude. It was a very weird and unnecessary interaction that could’ve been avoided by her saying “I’ll be here in a second.” in a nice friendly way when we walked in. It’s not like the restaurant was crowded and staff were stressed. It was completely empty. This “manager” needs better training. It’s not like we were asking her to cook a very difficult order. We just came to pick up our order....