David Nagy
I was a big fan of the Fish Market Palo Alto, Sunnyvale, and San Jose locations over the years, then they folded. I stumbled upon the Solana Beach location recently and had lunch there. It was as good as I recall, with tasty dishes, fresh fish, and great service in a very comfortable environment.
The fish & chips are excellent, with two big pieces of cod lightly battered and properly crispy. The fries were not soggy like many, and coleslaw is included. Even the tartar sauce was unusually tasty. The warm sourdough bread with whipped butter is a nice touch considering many places don’t provide good quality bread, especially for free. In contrast, for only $1.00 more at Monarch Ocean Pub you get three bigger pieces of cod that are also perfectly crispy and delicious, plus steak style fries which I like more than the standard style. But no coleslaw of free sourdough bread. Since I can’t eat three big pieces of fish, I prefer the Fish Market version with coleslaw and bread.
The ceviche was superb, with shrimp, “white fish”, and the usual hot peppers, pickled onions, and cilantro topped with a lot of avocado and accompanied by very good tortilla chips. They don’t automatically bring Tapatio sauce (required for ceviche!), so you must ask. I love the shrimp and halibut ceviche at Monarch, but here it’s just as good, and a bigger portion topped with much more avocado for about the same price.
I read that the two remaining Fish Market restaurants, in San Diego and Solana Beach, were acquired by The Brigantine inc. last year which said they’d keep the same branding, recipes, etc. That’s fortunate since the fish & chips I had recently at their Escondido restaurant were about the worst I’ve ever had.
… moreWeon Lee
The scallop was absolutely delicious.
It paired perfectly with the coleslaw and the lemon herb rice.
Not only was it flavorful, but it was also easy on the stomach.
I’d definitely order this again
next time.
… moreSammy Calhoun
So amazing, me and my family came in around 20:40 and the staff was incredible, not to mention our waitress Kayleigh who was an absolute angel. The food was light and flavorful and came out quick (bonus for the mints on the way out that tasted like lemon miranges!!) would definitely recommend!
… moreRobert Abbott
Same as it has always been! Quality food with great service. And atmosphere. They are updating the dining rooms and remodeling looks great. Try the au gratin potatoes… Best I’ve ever had. And the sourdough bread too!
… moreM Wong
Overall, we have an excellent time at the Fish Market at Solana Beach. We were treated well and all the food came out wonderfully. I particularly liked the seafood pasta dish and looking at the pictures makes me want to go back. One thing you might want to plan for is the parking situation.
… moreMina Sardashti
Best seafood I’ve had in a while, and Hailey was an awesome waitress. I’ll definitely be back soon.
We loved the crab spinach artichoke dip, prawns, and swordfish. Such a unique menu with tons of tempting choices! Tons of gluten free options as well. We are happy to have found this gem.
… moreD Gutierrez
First time here for my daughter & me. Came with my husband on a Saturday night at 7:45. Katlyn was our server. We were seated immediately. Received warm bread with butter as an appetizer. My husband ordered the Teriyaki salmon bowl, my daughter ordered the grilled salmon with pink peppercorn sauce & I had the coconut macadamia crusted Alaskan halibut. Every single dish was perfection! We all cleaned our plates, nothing was left. Absolutely fresh & delicious. The service was excellent! We will be back for sure!
… moreJami Seibert
Food was very good!! I had the shrimp linguine and my husband had the grilled prawns. Our server was efficient, but definitely treated us noticeably different than the tables on either side of us. She was very friendly to the other patrons but honestly seemed very disinterested in waiting on us. It was almost uncomfortable at times. She started to drop off bread at our table (she had a loaf in each hand) , and then quickly retracted it, and asked if we wanted bread. We said yes and she said “it’s in the oven” and would be out soon, then delivered the bread she started to give us to the two tables on either side of us…one of which ordered their food after we did. It was honestly super weird.
So five stars for the food, but three stars for the service. Not sure I would go back.
… moreEric Lu
I rarely leave bad reviews, but my wife and I were really disappointed with the food here. Grilled lobster was absolutely overcooked, event burnt on the edge. Crab cioppino was SO BAD. Crab was clearly precooked and frozen such that it’s cold compared to the cioppino. Its meat was tasteless, dry, probably the worst Dungeness crab I’ve ever had.
… moreChris Vaughan
It’s mostly for old salts and maybe their wives. The menu seems to change more often than not. It’s now apart of Brigantine restaurant up the street on the boarder of Del Mar and Solana Beach. At Fish Market location, staff is nice and parking is plentiful. It’s worth a visit especially if you’re over 50. Outside seating looks nice but not much to look at.
… more