California Fish Market Restaurant Reviews

Very nice place, we stayed with about 20 friends, the waiter Alex very helpful reserved the table, we took their specialty the crab while my daughters spaghetti with very good clams, we were really happy especially with the friendliness and professionalism of the staff. Congratulations, Recommendation definitely

This was a great Italian fish place. They managed to seat us on 4 July in spite of being super bust. Everyone wad friendly and the food was delicious. The wine was quite expensive by UK standards but it was nice and added to a really pleasant experience. Just what you want for your last night in California @

Nice restaurant next to 2 other Italian restaurant that share restrooms. Nice pasta with frutta di mare , pasta vongole; great selection of wines although a bit ( San Francisco style ) steeply priced ) . Efficient staff ; nice bread to dip sauces

I absolutely loved this place! Located in lively North Beach also known as Little Italy, this restaurant offers a tasty selection of fresh seafood dishes. I had the grilled spanish octopus and marin miyagi oysters. So good! I especially liked the ambience and service. I highly recommend this restaurant to all seafood and pasta lovers.

It was a very nice lunch with good friends. We sat inside but the window was open letting in the summer sun. Very attentive service, very professional. All of the food was good and we had a lot. A classic North Beach place.

My family and I walked here for lunch from the Exploratorium on a beautiful day. I wanted something fresh so I got the fish of the day which was a red snapper that was prepared as a whole grilled fish with a side of roasted potatoes and broccolini. The red snapper was perfectly cooked, and I enjoyed every morsel. The roasted potatoes were also very good. My husband had the risotto di mare, which had clams and other seafood such as mussels and white fish and prawns, which he said was very good. The servers were friendly and attentive. Service was a little slow, which I attribute to there being a lot of tables outside that day given that it was nice weather outside.

We had the crab chowder which was delicious, I liked it better than clam chowder. Not too salty at all, served with toasted sourdough. Followed by the Grigliata fish market, a grilled seafood plate with Chef’s Choice. It was amazing! Perfectly grilled and served on a bed of arugula just lightly wilted.

Went here after searching around for an oyster place for our first night in San Francisco. California fish market restaurant is located in the north beach area ( little Italy) We first asked the waiter what he personally recommends for the oysters as there were four different options. His first recommendation was to try the Kumamoto oysters ($10 for 3), he said they were from Mexico…obviously by the name you can already tell they are well known to be from Japan. His second recommendation was to try the British Columbia oysters ($9 for 3), so we got 3 pieces of each. Unfortunately they were probably the SMALLEST oysters I have ever seen! They were not that tasteful and definitely not worth the price. For mains i would recommend trying the grilled Spanish octopus, although the portion was small, The octopus was cooked nicely and had a nice drizzle of herb to go with it. The arugula salad was also tasty. The linguine granchio (crab meat) was also decent tasting. The portion of pasta generous and was cooked well but there was not a lot of crab meat on the plate. And The dish itself was more on the watery side. Overall, if you’re looking to try oysters I would defiantly search for other places.

We discovered this place a few years ago when the line at Sotto Mare was just too long. Lucky for us! California Fish Market is fantastic. The grilled seafood platter and the crudos are especially good, but everything we’ve ordered has been tasty and a good value. They also have daily specials in addition to the items on the printed menu. Service is friendly and attentive, and the overall atmosphere is casual and completely unpretentious. Nice selection of wines, too. A great choice for lunch or dinner in North Beach!

Phenomenally local and authentic fish experience. Service to top it all off and a most reasonable price to make you come back for more. Really enjoyed this place for a proper Italian fish lunch recommended by a dear friend. Thank you Mille Grazzie

Admittedly, we went here after Sotto Mare told us that we didn't have a chance of being seated one Saturday night. My family wanted cioppino and I was determined to find a place that made it! After seeing it on their menu, I asked the friendly but busy hostess if she could seat 5 of us that night. She said yes but it'd have to be in the alley (due to Covid). We accepted that mission. She seated us within 5 minutes between two gas lamp heaters which was nice. The service was good provided by a friendly and enthusiastic waiter. We ordered some wine, crab louie salads and of course, cioppino! We were all pleased with our meal and would definitely come back! Apparently they are hard to find on TA because their opening was around the time that Covid started so they've been hit hard. But they're open now and I want to give a shout out to this up and coming business. We wish them the best and would definitely come back!

So fresh and delicious. Came with the family and started with oysters, fabulous! Loved the Risotto (just right). And the chef choice grilled seafood..

I guess if you want mediocre seafood dishes with the worst service, this is your spot. I am not sure about the 4-5 star reviews. I just can't say that we were at the same restaurant. I will start with the service. The server seemed bothered to have be at work that day (and may it was true, but damn). When my guests asked questions about a menu item or how something was prepared, the eye-roll started. He then downshifted into full passive-aggressive mode by answering the questions in a quiet voice. Although there were six in our party, we booked it early and there were hardly any folks in the restaurant at the time. I did overhear the people behind us weren't all that thrilled with the service either (I'll let them review this place, I won't steal THEIR thunder). Drink orders too forever. And they were wrong. I didn't want to argue or cause any more delays so I just drank the beer I got. The clam chowder is on the thin side. If you prefer the chowder on the thin side and very low in seasoning/flavor - it is a must have! After looking over the menu, I opted for the Fish and Chips. It is a seafood restaurant with decent reviews, I'd love to see what they do with a staple like F'nC. They did not disappoint. I mean, Gordon's Fisherman must have been proud. I guess I was expecting something that was fresh(er) and bot something that seemed like it came out of a bag , pre-battered, and then reinvigorated back to life with some warmth. I'm not saying it was, but it tasted as though it was. Allegedly? The spaghetti with the prawns looked awful. I asked my guest how it was and he just said, "eh." Two ordered were incorrect (halibut crudo and the shrimp louis). The crudo was corrected, however the salad (like I presume my beer) was written incorrectly by the server. He was told SHRIMP and he confirmed it at the table (as he did with the beer)... still wrong and wanted to argue about it with my guest. I was embarrassed. There also seemed to be lack of management onsite. It was like the kids were running the show - their way. It almost seemed like they wanted to shut the place down for good. There was a couple sitting behind us, same server (he probably had 4 - 5 tables total) weren't happy with him either. We both got more attention from the bussers than we got from the server himself. We regret having eaten here. If you have a group of six - go elsewhere. If you like your chowder runny, this is your spot. If you like your service like someone is doing YOU the favor and are completely ungrateful for your patronage (or seemingly) - this is your place. If you want fresh seafood dishes and decent (at least decent service) - go elsewhere. You've been warned.

Ended up here because Sotta Mare was full. We were glad we did. The crab cakes were fantastic and the tiramisu was ridiculously good. Possibly the best we’ve ever had. Excellent Italian wines (try the Super Tuscan). Even the table bread was high quality. Great experience! Tip: Scallops were tasty but not as big of a portion as SM. Go w the whole crab dinner or surf n turf instead.