Tin Fish Oceanside — Restaurant in Oceanside

Very well done plates of great fried fish! Chips, slaw, and condiments. I didn't like the , "add a tip" when you walk down flights of stairs to stand in a line, to order, to stand in another line to have your name called by microphone and rudely if you walk within an ears shot away. I'm paying to park, walking up and down stairs, have birds & bees fighting for and wanting to sky-dive the grub and so why tip? Anyway, too much of that going on with 3.5% inflation currently and a plate costing 22.00 in cardboard. For the staff blaming the beach- YOU don't have another option for customers so that is totally ON YOU, not the beach. The beach are the bees and birds home. Provide better accommodations, tent...screened indoor eating...as an option. THEN, if people choose to be out in the elements that beg for their food then you can state such an absurd statement that, "its the ocean, not our fault". Definitely stop providing a closing transaction of a page for a tip. Offer a plastic jar and let people choose to do so without being quilted into tipping in such an environment. Goodness great fried fish tho. Work on the attitude too before your business goes south. It always starts with that upturned face of an attitude... 🙏

Like I said, see the Owners response and invalidating of a customer's review. If you want to lie and say there are No Birds or bees at the beach, please customers- reading reviews, check out the pictures of bees others have posted and if you don't know about birds at the beach then yeh... I'm going to predict this place goes downhill within a yr. The attitude of places like this brings its establishment down. We've seen it on restaurant and bar review tv shows. And I had a good day. Why would you imply I had a bad day because of an honest review? Place a plastic jar that says tip. But having somebody pay and showing them a screen and telling them to finish the screen is an air of entitlement in a world where inflation is 3.5%. Chill. And good luck. I am grateful for the good fish. Thank you and don't say you made it as if it's a chore of a job. It should be a pleasure. Ergo....breathe...and recall what it means to be in the...

TACO TUESDAY, BABY!!!🌮 Normally, I do TexMex, but after visiting the Top Gun House, and taking a nice walk on the Pier here in Oceanside, I decided that variety is the spice of life, and dropped by a local fav, oft recommended to me: "Tin Fish Oceanside" because they advertised: "$1 off for Taco Tue" How could I resist? There, I met Taylor (not Swift), and she made me the best Grilled Halibut Taco I ever had in my life! So good, that I went back for a Halibut Fish & Chips Platter and some Hush Puppies, and fell in love with seafood again. You must understand, I recently moved from the Midwest, living in a triple-landlocked state, where you had to travel at least 3 states to touch any major body of water, to find a billion-dollar port of trade and/or any FRESH seafood. The best they had was frozen fish sticks, mostly made of cod or pollock. River trout and all the imported stuff always ended up tasting VERY fishy, so as a Midwestern kid, I HATED seafood. I don't know what happened to my DNA and taste buds (so different from parents/grandparents), but I've always hated seafood, cilantro (Devil's weed that tastes like soap), avocados, and raw tomatoes. Love pizza with anything, but NO ANCHOVIES! However, as an adult, my taste buds changed a little, so after eating at good, expensive oceanfront restaurants, I sometimes get a craving for a nice fresh pink salmon, or a fresh, mild halibut soaked in buttermilk to eliminate any hint of fishiness. Tin Fish on O won me over, and I know I can bring friends there now, any time we visit the Oceanside Pier, since it is right there, inland, at the Pier entrance next to Rotary Park, tucked away at the bottom of the ramp/stairs between Strand & Pacific. Bravo Tin Fish O! And...

Hard to give this place 3 stars because the service is really good!!

I'll preface this with that I am visiting from Honolulu and Pacific Islander, so I am a bit spoiled when it comes to fresh fish and seafood.

Ordered the 6-piece shrimp cocktail, the daily special of the Fisherman's Basket that they let me modify to just have scallops and the fresh local halibut and have it grilled instead of fried as listed, and a local mahi mahi taco.

Given the pricing of the shrimp cocktail and it being served on a bed of ice, the price was good for previously frozen shrimp. But I'm just disappointed it wasn't fresh shrimp :( Would have easily paid for 2 or 3 fresh jumbo shrimp for the same price.

Scallops were cooked well but again just would have taken two nice sized scallops over the four I got. Halibut was really nice. Housemate coleslaw was really nice, just a little on the sweet side for me after a few bites. Granted it probably goes better with the fried items than grilled.

Was hoping for an housemade tartar sauce... hopefully next time...could maybe be on the hardy side? and maybe pair better with the existing coleslaw?

Really enjoyed the local mahi mahi taco. Really well done and good balance of all ingredients. In hindsight, wish I had just gotten a variety of tacos.

My boyfriend got the Tin Fish Basket. Breading on all items was heavy handed but the coleslaw helped cut thru that. He ended up not finishing most of his meal though. But he did like the mahi mahi taco as well.

Oh I love love LOVE the waffle fries.

Pretty much, get the tacos. And stick to anything that is fresh and local, usually the halibut and mahi...