Been eating at the Catalina Fish Kitchen for years. Bill the owner & Chris the manager really do a great job. The menu is broad so everyone can find something they like. The Surf & Fish atmosphere set the tone for the delicious food! read more

The worst fish tacos I've ever had in my life. The fish was fried so rock hard you could barely bite into it. It has zero flavor and was SO dry. Will not be back. read more

Fresh healthy ingredients served at a reasonable price. Delicious food in friendly people what more could you want

I've been here twice over the past few years and have been disappointed. I had the clam chowder and poke w/chips. The clam chowder was lukewarm and missing the most important ingredient, CLAMS!! It only had potatoes. Such a bummer. The poke was DRENCHED in an incredibly sweet sauce making it inedible for me. I've never had soaking wet poke. Gross! Needless to say, I left hungry. read more

When I worked in the area 15 years ago, I used to come here every week for their amazing fish tacos. Now, whenever I'm in town, I still try to stop by. I'm so glad it's still around after so many years. They still have awesome fish tacos at great prices. You can't miss it! read more

I forgot how much I liked this place. Haven't been here in nearly 3 years. Feel like I'm in Hawaii when I walk in. Thanks for the great service and delicious food. Sauce bar is very good too read more

This place is the best!!! They have some of the best fish tacos around (and a killer taco Tuesday). The menu is really great and they have a mix of burritos, tacos, nachos, as well as burrito bowls and salads. They also have a fresh fish counter and beer and wine. Get the poke, you will not be disappointed. The staff is really friendly and helpful if you can't decide what you want. The vibe is like an old surf shack and is clean and open with great music and usually surf videos playing. Their salsa bar is on point - you should try the shark bite! read more

I love this place. The food is excellent. Why three stars then? Their chips are ALWAYS stale. Why is this? They make a great seared ahi nacho but it's ruined every time because their chips are constantly stale. read more

Great food, good happy hour! The lobster tacos are out of control they are so tasty and there is a small but good selection of beer as well which is always welcome for a relaxing happy hour get together. They also have an option that you can order online and pick up in the restaurant which I appreciate when I need tacos for lunch. I did this pretty recently and the guy at the register was super nice and super quick to hand me my order and wish me a nice day. read more

Being raised in SF ( for those of you who've done their homework, this is the birthplace of the burrito, not Mexico ) I have a high standard for a tasty burrito which only consists of about 5 ingredients: meat cheese rice beans and salsas. Catalina of course substitutes meat for fish, fair enough, but white rice rather than tasty red tomato rice, too much cheese and bland salsa not to mention bland flavorless beans. I was totally dissatisfied not to mention the price was around $16.50!!!! Comes with a horrible salsa and some wilted greens, I guess that's a salad? I would not recommend this to my worst enemy read more

I was very disappointed walking into this place and see that there are over 30 people dining in, no one has face mask and on top of that... no one wear face mask inside the kitchen, as well as the guy at the cashier. I brought it this his attention but apparently he didn't care. read more

This restaurant is one of those small hole in the wall places that are beloved by the "locals" and for good reason. The fish is delicious and the beer selection is excellent (do you need more?) some of the fried fish is served too crispy for my taste so go grilled if you like your fish tasty and flaky. I recommend ordering a variety in order to get the tastiest fish of the day. The atmosphere is family friendly but not "immature", very oriented to the surf community which is appropriate given the location. I love the kitschy decor. read more

Found it by accident but will definitely make plans to come here on purpose! Fantastic vibe, great food and great service. read more

Catalina Fish Kitchen - A fine glass of pinot grigio - Seafood Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

BEST LOCAL RESTAURANT! Very casual, but delicious! Fun surfy/beachy feel, incredible fish options. The manager is the nicest human, and all staff are kind and patient. I love taking newcomers here, so proud of this local spot read more

A few times the fish n chips have given me the runs. This is an update to my 5-star rating..

Not my first time a CFK and definitely not my last. This spot never fails to disappoint! A great place to go for lunch with friends. My co-worker and I ordered the shrimp ceviche and a Hawaiian Ono burrito. The ceviche was very fresh and the serving was quite generous. Served with chips on the side. The salsa bar here is also fantastic!! Tried the habanero one.. Beware because they are not joking around. It is spiiiicy! The green salsa was also quite good. My burrito was $10 and totally worth the price. Packed full with Ono, white rice, and black beans. The Ono was very fresh and flakey; melts in your mouth. I poured several of the salsas on it which provides a unique flavor with every bite. The burrito is served with a small salad and chips on the side making for a very, very filling lunch. Can't wait to come back :) read more

Catalina Fish Kitchen - Shrimp ceviche - Seafood Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

Lunch with my son always a great time, and he enjoys seafood and this place has amazing fish tacos and burritos and great dishes it's a must come read more

Catalina Fish Kitchen - Seafood Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

YUM!! This place is really good, has amazing selection of seafood in all forms in burger, platters, tacos, burritos and etc 1. Food: Seafood is fresh and it taste great. You just have to try it. The salsa bar is to die for! I got the tacos and wow, all different types of grilled fish so delicious. Tried salmon burger, and the bread was really tasty and salmon was so moist. I cant wait to try the other selections. 2. Decor: Looks like a tiki shop, really unique interior decor, the outside location is a bit weird and a little hard to find if you dont know where you're going. Def a cool joint to hit up after the beach, dont expect like a formal sit down. 3. Price: Not the cheapest place but decently priced for getting good portions and fresh food. 4. Service: Great! - I would most def come back again and try something else on the menu. - They have really great specials, taco tues and etc so if you can make it down during the week check it out! read more

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Crab cakes were made with imitation crab in their special, fish tacos had tiny pieces of fish with mostly cabbage, clam chowder had no clams

DO NOT GO TO THIS PLACE.... HORRIBLE FOOD!! The food was really gross and the service was really bad. I'm not sure how they have 4 stars but please take my advice and do not waste your money or your time. read more

Taco Tuesday! $1 draft beer, discounted pitchers and tacos. Ordered: -ono taco - $2 (not my fav, the fish tasted chalky & was overwhelming, first time trying this kind though, I ate the whole thing but wouldn't order it again) -calamari taco - $2.95 - this was delicious, I really like that they aren't stingy with the cheese on top the tacos & the salsa bar has a variety to choose from - the habenaro salsa is a bit flavorless but spicy, I liked the black pepper one best. -tiger shrimp - tried a bite of this one and it was good, this was closer to $4 Really like the ambiance, its cozy w/picnic style seating & lots of decor... reminds me of alittle joint in mexico! ordering style similar to bear flag/baha fish taco - but I like the set-up in here better than both, has more of a restaurant feel even though you order at the counter. Baha still has my fav fish tacos though, but I'll def be back here to try their other specials. read more

Catalina Fish Kitchen - Salsa bar - Seafood Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

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The service and atmosphere were great. So was the food. However, they served tilapia as a fried fish with fish and chips and did not tell you. They said either tilapia or cod. No where they I know serves fish and chips with tilapia. I noticed because it tasted pretty bad, no lie. Cod is the only way. Just letting y'all know. Take care. read more

Great for lunch, a total surfer hang out. We used to live in Huntington Beach and this place took me back few years. The interior is decorated eclectic. They have a small refrigerator for seafood purchases. Their claim to fame based on the orders from the customers were the poke bowls, even though I did not try one. The shrimp and bacon nachos are something to try because they are unique. The fish tacos not so good a little to crunch the batter was corn based and a little dry. They do offer a decent salsa bar as well. read more

Catalina Fish Kitchen - Bacon and shrimp nachos a must and Baja fish tacos - Seafood Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

This place is a gem! I can't believe how much food I received for what I paid. Plus, the swordfish was excellent.

My wife and I were in the area for a conference and a friend of mine who lives in the area recommended this restaurant. It's a gem. Fresh, high quality ingredients. I ordered the poke salad. Very light and refreshing. My wife ordered the steak and grilled shrimp plate. Decent sized portion but the food wasn't overly seasoned and did not leave her feeling weighed down. Would definitely recommend to those folks looking for a healthy alternative! read more

First time trying this place and DEFINITELY the LAST time. Girl did not even get my order right. Food looked and tasted like it had been cooked hours ago and just heated up. White clam chowder (well that's what they called it) was runny and had a sour flavor. Bottom line.... It was pure TRASH! Would NOT recommend. read more

First time to this restaurant. I ordered Mahi with mango sauce & added sword fish with teriyaki sauce. My G/F ordered a catinlina cheese burger. I thought my fish was very delicious I think the fish tasted great. The hamburger my g/f said was delicious, tender & juicy. I agreed. When we ordered my G/F wanted fries & they were very crispy..Yumm!!! Overall on a ten scale the food was 9.5 & the customer 8.0. Only improvements I could suggest is order a side of seving sauce to dip the food in. read more

Happened to be meeting a friend in Newport Beach so decided to try something new in the area.....I'm not very familiar with part of OC, but had always wanted to explore a bit, and here I ended up after Yelping a bit....and I'm glad I came here. Quite the quirky little corner surfer/beach style restaurant.....very casual.....and in fact, if you're not wearing shorts, t-shirt, and slippers then you're going to feel somewhat overdressed. Just kidding, kind of.....it seems the nicely dressed office crowds frequent this place too. There were lots of really cool surfer type decor items which filled the walls and the tables were actually picnic tables, small high bar style tables, or counter......you'd actually feel like you were dining at a hole in the wall right on the beach. It may be a good idea to take a look at their menu online first because if you're not familiar with the menu, you will end up spending quite a while gazing at their amazingly extensive menu of different really yummy looking items.....from seafood to steaks and chicken.....there are breakfast items, salads, bowls, burritos, tacos (with a long list of fish types to choose from....and chicken), sandwiches, fish & chips, snacks, appetizers, chowders/gumbos,...oh boy, the list goes on and on.......and they serve beer and wine too!.....excellent! As a first timer here, I played it safe and went with a bowl of white clam chowder and the fried Alaskan cod tacos.....which comes with (white/brown) rice and black beans beans, but I sub'd the rice for grill veggies. The chowder was piping hot and very tasty, but seemed slightly salty to me. There was a decent about of clam pieces and potato cubes, but the best part I think was the taste.....very flavorful.....ignoring the saltiness. The fish tacos were very good.....the cabbage and onion salad in the tacos came neat....no sauce....and made the taco a bit dry. However, there was a good amount of fish and shredded cabbage/onions and cilantro to make it quite yummy.... and in fact, tasted just like the fish fingers I loved and grew up on as a kid......not the batter fried type. There's a salsa bar where you can get all kinds of sauces to go with your chips and other food.....different salsa, tartar sauce, lemon wedges, etc. All in all I think this was a pretty good experience, but I would really need to try most of the other items on the menu before I conform how good this place truly is. Service was very helpful and friendly, from the guy who took the order at the cashier to the very friendly server who would shout out your name and then bring all the food to the respective tables. Nice find :) read more

Catalina Fish Kitchen - Fried Cod Tacos. - Seafood Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

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Since ppl who reviewed this place kept saying good things about it for lunch, I wondered how it would be like to eat here for dinner. Obviously, I know why ppl eat here in the daytime... My initial reaction was, "Okay...I get that it's late but there's barely anyone here...oh well, plenty of parking." But that made the parking lot creepy-looking because of the desolation. I initially wanted to order the taco meal but when I said, "No beans and no rice" the cashier said that those were the two sides that made the taco meal an actual 'meal.' So then I ordered 2 tacos a la carte instead. I obviously received my tacos in a jiffy because no one was there. Okay, the whole restaurant had a beachy theme which made me assume that it was why I received my tacos on a paper plate. However, I still thought it was cheapy. I mean if you practically overcharge for bite-sized tacos that you can finish within a matter of seconds, then why can't you afford plates not made out of paper? Not even plastic? Come on...seriously. My 1st taco I have to admit was awesome. I forgot what I ordered but the taste reminded me that it was lobster. Chunks of chewy and flavorful lobster. However, my 2nd taco was incomparable....it looked like stringy worms. When I took a bite, I still didn't know what it was. It just tasted fishy and dirty...I know that clams always have a little dirt in them, but in calamari??? My stringy calamari taco had sand-like dirt in it! That really bothered me. I complained about it to my friend who ordered a salmon taco and she replied, "Yeah, my salmon has dirt in it too." Geeziz ppl....rarely in my life have I tasted dirt in my seafood, and I eat a lotta seafood! I'd only expect it in clams and that's why I barely ever eat them. read more

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Stumbled across this little gem while in the OC - thanks to Yelp! Likes: laid back atmosphere, island life/surfer decor, large variety of fish, menu with daily specials. So my bf and I came on a day that I wanted to eat healthy. I just had fish tacos the day before so I asked our waitress for any alternatives for recommendations. Of course she says, Oh the Mahi Mahi tacos! So, on I go scanning over this rather LARGE and almost confusing menu. Aha! I chose the healthy alternative - Grilled Ahi bowl with steamed rice and vegetables. ;) I'm an island girl myself so this is a "typical" meal for me and thought, how can one screw this up? The fish - fresh and tasty but my only qualm was that there was way more rice and vegetables and not enough grilled ahi (fresh avocados were a plus). I mean, I wanted to eat healthy and nothing fried or battered but come on! The boyfriend had the fish and chips (of course when I want healthy) and it was DELISH! I am not however, reviewing his experience of course so I am only giving 4 stars instead of 5. Next time I will try the fish tacos as I have no doubts it will be yummy. Good value for the inexpensive price but please add more fresh fish (ahi) to your bowls!!! read more

Catalina Fish Kitchen - Seafood Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

Service, food, Hawaiian flare ambiance, ceviche, salsa/ toppings bar, and mostly the COD AND LOBSTER KONA BOWL with brown rice or extra veggies and side of yummy sweetish bbq sauce... hubba hubba come to mama Miss this old fave spot I got my folks into. Fajitas are yum too read more

First time here. The quality and quantity of food for the price is UNBEATABLE!!! The service we received was excellent. We had the shrimp ceviche and Ono fish plate. It's a must try if you're in Costa Mesa. The place is hidden. Place has free Wifi and the restaurant is closed on Sunday's. read more

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My husband and I really like this restaurant, foods great!! Comfortable atmosphere and really casual.. But the prices are up there and seems to be getting more expensive. We ordered 4 tacos(Mahi) 1 beer, 1 smoked salmon app and it was $37 and change... I didn't get a receipt but I looked on line and the tacos are $5 each. It's not a $5 taco and charging $10 for two is tough. It's good for a once over read more

Wanted to try a new place and found the spot on Yelp. The staff here very friendly, attentive and I am sorry to say that is about all that was good. The food took about 30 min to be made and it was not even busy. The food is very bland not much flavor. The rice and beans had no taste at all! The salmon I had seemed fresh but all in all very disapointing. Not sure if I will go back here again. read more

Catalina Fish Kitchen - Fajitas - Seafood Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

I waited 35 mins for three fish tacos 15 bucks and my stomach hurt after I ate them and later into the night. :/ not really worth it. I dont know why its 4 stars. Shouldn't have gone. Not fresh. read more

Price change and for the worst!! Been coming here for over 15 years and is a shame to say I will not be back. Rip off out of nowhere. Not down for that. Went from a good deal to whoa.. no way! Bummer read more

My husband found an article on 'foodbeast' that featured this restaurant and since we were in the area, we decided to check it out. The article he showed me featured a LSB burrito that was a size of a newborn baby. We ordered a calamari dish and this LSB burrito, thinking we will be able to share the dish since the burrito featured in the article was so HUGE. I don't know if it's a marketing ploy on the restaurant's part or the blog posting but the burrito was as big as Del Taco's potato burrito. Atmosphere was definitely quiet, and the sauce bar was okay but we were unamused with the food overall. read more

We had lunch with my wife, daughter and husband, and my other daughter and my grandson and granddaughter. It's located in a commercial center among auto shops and small businesses. It was hard to find because it blended into the other smaller shops and local business. It's not very fancy...sorta of '70's surfer decor complete with picnic tables and booths, tikis, aquariums. You order and pay up front and they bring the food to your table. They have condiments of salsas and sauces in a cold table and a glass refrigerator displaying fresh fish cooked to order. I ordered the fish and chips. The chips were like an overly crunching fish sticks and the fries were coated with a spicy coating. I'm a purist and like my fries natural...no spicy mix. The clam chowder was a little too watery and very little clams or potatoes. The cole slaw was tasteless and bland. My daughter ordered a burrito with cheese, rice and fish that was a cheesy mess. She couldn't finish it. Parking was OK and the serve (what little there was) was OK.The food was average and we probably will not come back. read more

$14 for the LSB burrito, and it is by far the most disgusting seafood burrito I've ever had. What a crime! Soggy rice, mushy bacon, shrimp and lobster looked like it was boiled in dirty bath water. Not a lot of meat. The "salad" was just wilted lettuce. Everything was flavorless. Nothing was fresh! Tried my hardest not to throw up! I feel violated. read more

Catalina Fish Kitchen - Everything was disgusting, and most of it was white rice and beans! Yuck! - Seafood Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

If I could leave no stars I would. This place is disgusting!! The ceviche is not ceviche at all. The clam chowder is bland and the crab cake is fake crab!! I never seen such a thing like that in my life. This is my second time trying to give them a try. This is years in between. Still the same nasty food!! How are they they still open? read more