Pacific Beach Fish Shop — Restaurant in San Diego

I live in Pacific Beach, so I go to this location all the time. I usually stick to just ordering the fish because it’s always fresh and it’s always cooked perfectly! But, tonight was my 10 year anniversary with my boyfriend, so we decided to order some things we usually don’t to celebrate. We ordered the coconut shrimp, and we also ordered the fish shop lumpia. We also had the Seabass as tacos (a few ways, elote style was pretty good)! and the red snapper as a sandwich. The fish is always cooked perfectly, never any complaints on that. But, the lumpia was $10 for two pieces (cut in half, so you get 4 smaller pcs.) There was very little filling, and I could not tell if it was made from scratch, which I was expecting for that price point. For the price I would expect at least four pieces of lumpia, because of how mediocre the taste was. The coconut shrimp was actually very delicious. And the price point seemed fair, so no complaints on that. But, the last thing that we ordered was the fish shop chowder. Which, is basically a clam chowder with andouille sausage added. But, when we received our food, we got regular clam chowder without the sausage. And it was super thick, like it had been sitting and was the end of the batch so the taste of flour kind of took over and it needed some dilution with water at home to give it a soup consistency.

All this being said, I love this place. And I will always come back because the fish is always cooked so well! But, after diverting from my usual order, I have to say I was very disappointed by the other menu options. I wouldn’t have been so sour about it, but it was our anniversary, and so I chose to explore the menu at this place that I love so much and it fell flat for me. Hopefully this feedback helps others if they are ordering from this menu for the first time! ❤️

Still love, this place! Would still absolutely recommend it!...

Very poor customer service, rude waitresses and management. I am honestly shocked. We had family in town and were so excited to bring them to our favorite restaurant. We ordered online and sat down at the picnic tables in the parking lot area. We go to pb fish shop on a weekly basis and have been doing this every time. We ordered beers at the bar and brought them back to our table because our food wouldn't be ready for 30 minutes. When our food was ready, we brought it back to the table to eat. The manager came over and told us we needed to leave because they had signs "posted everywhere" that ordering food ahead of time and eating it outside was against the rules. Like I said, we've been ordering our food ahead and eating it outside for several months now and this was the first time we've ever heard this. The manager came over and brought a printed out picture that said "no eating takeout orders here". We obviously want to be respectful of the rules, so this would have been a good fyi for us to know and abide by in the future. But no, the manager straight up made us pack our food up and kicked us out. It was a very embarrassing experience to be treated that way, especially with guests in town. Overall I am shocked by the lack of customer service. Also, the picnic tables were half empty and no one was waiting around for a table, but we were told we were "cutting the line" because everyone else had to "wait for their food"......even though we placed the order online and waited equally as long as people in line (30-40 min).

I am very sad and disappointed, not at all how you would expect management at a good restaurant to treat regular customers. Please inform guests over the phone, online, and on food ordering apps of this policy or have some kindness and compassion vs kicking out a family of 4 after they spend $80+ to sit and eat the food they purchased in your...

Came here for dinner with my family.

Parking: I think there might be some parking in the back, but we parallel parked on the street.

Interior: You can eat inside, outside on picnic tables, and there is an outdoor section with little fire pits by the bar. It’s not super large nor super small. Maybe the size of a Chipotle. I really enjoyed sitting outside. A staff member even brought us our meal when it was ready which was nice.

Food: You pick a fish (grilled only, which is great), pick a marinade, then pick a style. I got the halibut taco with fish shop seasoning ($7.00). I really liked the taco but wasn’t crazy about the shredded cheese on top. I want to come back here and try the Fish Shop Shrimp ($12.50) which looks really good in the pictures.

My husband got the red snapper sandwich ($11.50) and enjoyed it.

My family members also got the clam chowder bowl and the house chowder bowl (each $10.25) and enjoyed them.

The guy who was taking the order and working the cash register looks like a quintessential California surfer.

I also ordered food (some soups and shrimp) to go for our family members, but it was a little hard to know when the order was done. I kept going inside to check and ask.

There is a kids menu available, and my child got the fish and chips. I’m glad they note the type of fish in the fish and chips (cod). They accidentally charged me the adult price ($16.25) for that, but when I pointed it out on the receipt they were apologetic and refunded the extra charge.

Beers on tap available. I ordered a Juneshine (a kombucha beer I think) for $11.25.

I would definitely come back here...