California Fish Grill — Restaurant in Upland

An Interesting Concept!!

This was my first experience with California Fish Grill. I was looking for a new place to eat in the Rancho/Ontario area after I had been to so many places to eat in that area. I decided to venture out a bit and googled some local seafood places. California Fish Grill caught my eye as their mantra was to provide sustainable and responsibly sourced seafood. No-brainer huh? So off I went and discovered it was in a shopping area/mall type location. Parking was easy as cars were coming and going from the parking lot.

Once inside I noticed that this wasn't your typical sit-down restaurant. There is a big sign waiting for you when you walk in so lift your head up and heed the big sign. The sign contains all of the offerings that you can get including starters, salads, sides, Grilled Fish, Featured fish....well you get the picture, you order from the sign. Want some advice?? Look online before you go, as there was a crowd of guests in front of who couldn't make up their minds. Luckily for me after standing line for about ten minutes I had plenty of time to decide what I was going to have.

Since I was looking for something on the lighter side ( after having Famous Daves for lunch ) I choose the light and refreshing Ahi Poke which is sashimi-grade Ahi ( that's right its raw folks), tossed in a poke dressing, topped with a cilantro cream drizzle and served with house-made tortilla chips. This starter could have been a meal, so I suggest sharing it. This is a light, refreshing and very well prepared dish. The Ahi was fresh and the chips were warm even after a few bites of the Ahi.

Next up was the main course, since I was looking for something different so I went with the Barramundi. Barramundi is a tender white fish with firm flakes and a mild flavour and found in the waters off of Vietnam. This was my first time having this fish. To finish off the plate, I added Fire Roasted Corn, Asparagus and a Cajun Style sauce. This was a great selection as the fish was amazingly tender but still cooked right through, the cajun sauce has a little kick to it but it didn't overpower the fish. The fish had a nice flavour to it and it was fresh. I washed it all down with a Red Wine Barrel Aged Red Trolley, an Irish style Red Ale from the Karl Strauss Brewing Company.

This was a great and filling meal. The fish was fresh, the service was great, what more can I say? I would...

I recently visited California Fish Grill and was thoroughly impressed with the entire experience. From the moment we walked in, the atmosphere was welcoming, and the staff was friendly and attentive.

I decided to try the fried fish sandwich, which turned out to be an excellent choice. The fish was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, perfectly seasoned and cooked to perfection. The sandwich was complemented by a side of French fries. While the fries were delicious, I felt that the portion size could be a bit more generous. This small adjustment would make the meal even more satisfying.

My partner opted for the branzino Cajun style, served with cauliflower rice, diced zucchini, and rosemary, accompanied by a side of Brussels sprouts. The branzino was exquisite, with a perfect blend of spices that enhanced the natural flavor of the fish. The cauliflower rice was a delightful, healthy alternative, and the diced zucchini and rosemary added a fresh, aromatic touch. The Brussels sprouts were also a hit, cooked just right with a nice balance of tenderness and crispiness.

Overall, the food at California Fish Grill was outstanding – we both rated the taste a perfect 10/10. Each dish was flavorful, well-prepared, and satisfying. The quality of the ingredients and the skill in preparation truly stood out.

In addition to the great food, the service was top-notch. The staff was knowledgeable about the menu, and they made excellent recommendations. The ambiance of the restaurant was casual yet inviting, making it a perfect spot for a relaxed meal.

I highly recommend California Fish Grill to anyone looking for delicious seafood in a friendly and pleasant environment. Despite the small note about the fries, our visit was a fantastic culinary experience, and we will definitely...

The first part of this review pertains to the online ordering system. It is stated online that meals would only take 7 minutes to prepare to be picked up upon ordering. It follows, then, that if one ordered online at 8:22pm, and even went so far as to indicate a later pickup time of 8:45pm — a suggested pre-set option on the website that would alleviate the stress of cooking the order immediately — then simply accepting one's money to prepare such an order for pickup would be, as it were, a walk in the park.

However, upon placing my order, I was returned with a spinning "loading" circle which I assume corresponds to the waiting time for someone on California Fish Grill's end to accept the online order, whereupon my order was denied. Appalled, I tried placing my order again, and was faced with the same sequence of events: the circle mocking me with its insolent spin followed by humiliating denial.

Having almost lost all hope, I thought that I might try the slightly less convenient but more conventional route of calling to order, futilely grasping onto the slim chance that I might still get my order through. Alas, my fate was even worse. Nobody picked up the phone, and I was forced to listen to a comically horrendous and so horribly compressed and dynamically-limited rendition of Edvard Grieg's "Peer Gynt" that I thought this treatment must constitute a Sartrean hell. After inhabiting said hell for around 7 minutes, I hung up and tried dialing again, to no avail. I was promptly sent back into a limbo more bleak than that of Christopher Nolan's "Inception."

I would expect such an establishment to at least pick up the phone to let customers know that it's too late to place an order (even though it probably isn't) rather than leave them perpetually...