More like 3.5 stars based on: Pros: -Indio beer -Good sized plates -Ok flavors -Great chips and salsa Cons: -Over priced -Not a sense of authenticity. I enjoyed coming to Hector's fine. I had their Molcajete Diablillo and it have good seafood: shrimp, scallops, octopus... It was good, but I felt like it was missing a wow factor. It was huge! I should've gotten the tostada with the same ingredients and probably would have been satisfied. I also tried their Popeye Clams, they were good, but again, nothing out of this world. I feel that maybe a seafood truck would offer the same variety and flavors for half the price and twice the ambiance. read more

I've been here 2-3 times now, and the food here is pretty good. I've only ordered a few items to date, mainly the turtle taco (actually a bit tasty and not as weird as it sounds) and the gobernador taco (good, but would just get a regular fish one). It's a relatively small space but the employees are kind and you can order from an array of items. read more

This review is based on a today's visit, my first. The experience was mixed. I will try this place one more time and update this review. Let's start with the menu: The breadth of options is exceptional. Unfortunately, it is difficult to navigate all of the options and get a good sense of what you want to order (or will receive). There is a section dedicated to "Shrimp Dishes", however there are also shrimp items strewn among other categories. What is the difference? And how would I know if what I ultimately ordered, the "Lobster Enchilada" (singular), was basically the same as the other "Enchiladas" (plural) items listed immediately above/below my dish, just with a different filling? The menu also didn't mention (pleasant surprise) that the "Lobster Enchilada" came with a delicious tomato-broth-based soup with big chunks of pollack, and with sides of salad, rice and beans. I also wondered what the difference was between what comprises a single taco vs. an "Order" (the former is obviously clear; the latter not). I hate interrogating the waiter anywhere, and the pictures on the menu didn't help much; they are printed in such low resolution that you really can't extrapolate the depiction into what your plate would actually look like. It would be better to use the space available with better descriptions of the items and what they include. OK, enough about the menu. Onto the food. I already mentioned the soup... rich and delicious, with two big chunks of pollack. The non-plural enchiladas appeared in the plural, as I guessed that they would. Two of them. My server suggested trying the dish with half red sauce and half green. I liked his suggestion. The red sauce was flavorful and tasty. The green sauce had no flavor at all. Order the red sauce. The enchiladas were okay, which is shocking considering that they were filled with lobster, smothered in yummy, gooey cheese and topped with sour cream. What detracted from the dish, oddly, was the lobster. To my surprise, it was plentiful, however it was much too salty, which completely drowned out the subtle tastiness you would expect. The sides? Ehh. The rice was strangely lemony, neither tasty nor not. Refried beans are refried beans. But the salad? It wasn't very cold and was served with a big glop of... drumroll, please... ranch dressing. WTF? Last comment is for the obligatory chips and salsa: the chips were just okay. The bottom half of my basket was tiny fragments, rather than chips. The salsa, though, was outstanding. The service was mediocre. My waiter seemed busy, and apologized a couple of times in the first half of my visit, but remained taxed by other duties - without apology - while I ate. By the time he checked on how I liked the food I had already finished eating. Very nice guy, though. I'll try this place one more time. A second mixed/mediocre experience, though, will tell me not to give it a third chance. As someone once said: "Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me; fool me three times and I gouge your f---ing eyes out." read more

Hectors on Broadway Last year I would have reviewed this place as our favorite Sunday spot to go to ( 7 mares for the hangovers the best not to mention the micheladas) Service excellent Food Better than Karina's , but ever since they started doing the remodeling on the place the services has been from bad to worst. Sometime in early January our family went to Hectors we sat down where the round table is in the back of the room, the waitress had no eye contact with us throughout the entire time we were there, we had to wait for chips and salsa for a while and when it came to refills on regular drink or alcoholic beverages it was just not happening, NOT GOOD . That time the place was half full but they did have the staff to accommodate us all and it was just not happening. We eat and left thinking they had a bad day, who knows ... Any whom the last time we went on a Sunday not that long ago. The place was empty maybe 3 tables waiting on service , you get to seat yourself so we did, I kid you not 15 minutes later the waitress comes and almost throws the menu to us my 2 kids my man and i looked at each other like, "Really did that just happen." Giving them the benefit of the doubt we stayed a bit longer( the food is great, what can I say... right???) but when 5 -10 minutes more passes and we saw that we were not the only once that weren't getting served not even chips and salsa, That's when we called it quits. We will not be going any Sundays or mon- Saturday to this place due to the service. I honestly hope that they can work on Customer Service because the food is good and the prices are cheap compare to other seafood places. Until then if we want Hectors we will be going to the one in Eastlake. read more

I like coming here , Luis took care of us today . He gave excellent customer service . Very polite gentlemen !! The service was great !!! The food was delicious !!! read more

Hector's Mariscos - Molcajete Diablillo !!! - Seafood Near Me - Chula Vista, California

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After my second experience at Mariscos Hector's I can officially say that I will not be back. It's not the food, although I've had better mariscos. It's not the prices, although they are definitely on the high side. It's the utter lack of anything remotely resembling service. My first experience was at the Eastlake location shortly after opening....what maybe four years ago? The service was so poor that what should have been a relatively simple dining experience painful two plus hour ordeal. I vowed then that I would not return, but as they say time heals all wounds and like a sucker, I decided to give their other location a try. This time, I took the wife and kids and the experience was no better. We had to seat ourselves (the hostess was MIA), made our drink order twice (with the same forgetful waitress) before we got our drinks, were stopped mid-order so the waitress could leave and get a pen (she returned about 10 minutes later, pen in hand) and waited more than 40 minutes before our order came out one dish at a time. It took another 20 minutes to get the check after specifically asking for it. I don't know how this place survives with service like that in the crowded mariscos market that is the South Bay. Save yourself some time and go to one of the fourteen other mariscos shops on Broadway. read more

Evelyn's a very very good waitress and she's been taking care of us for a long time. Food is very good not pricey.

Great location for Mariscos. It is located in a strip mall and I almost missed it. The restaurant is a good size and when we walked in I was rather surprised that it was completely full since the parking lot didn't look busy at all. The food was great! I had the small cocktail and the Hector tacos. Horchata was the best I've had in a really long time. read more

Hector's Mariscos - Great michelada! - Seafood Near Me - Chula Vista, California

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seafood here is amazing definately kicks karinas and perla negras ass... love their calamari....and well ive tried many things and nothing has dissapointed me here. very friendly and attentive service read more

Food is good; however service IS HORRIBLE every time I've gone to this place the service is by far the worst I have ever gotten. Has anyone else experienced this??? I will NEVER go to this location.. Hopefully the one is Otay Ranch will be better.... read more

To be fair, this review is based only on two items ordered off the menu and the free chips and salsa. That said: Chips and salsa were OK. Chips were thin, crispy, fresh & warm. Salsa tasted like decent store bought jar quality -- it lacked the freshness and brightness I expect from a fresh made salsa and could use more acidity and heat. Fish ceviche tostada: fish of dubious quality. Texture and taste did not indicate freshness. Ceviche didn't have the acid punch that I enjoy in this dish and fish was mealy as if it was a gefilte fish meatball in a previous life. The avocado on top of tostada was a little sad: browned and mushy. Gobernador taco: shrimp was not cleaned (deveined) and overcooked. The taco was more of a simple quesadilla with shrimp and a few chopped bell peppers, sort of lacking the "gobernador" flavor excitement. The tortilla, however, was deliciously grilled with a crisp bite and beautiful, flavorful grill marks. I really longed to have something delightful within this crispy fold. Service was great! Quick and friendly. Ambience was low key and cozy with the Latin tunes welcoming you to the Spanish speaking part of town. read more

We keep coming back for the large shrimp ceviche appetizer and fish soup. The service is always good and their $1 fish tacos on Tuesdays are delicious. Love!!! read more

Love love love Hector's! My family and I have been satisfying our Sinaloa style mariscos cravings at Hector's for 17 years now. The micheladas are always made just right and the food is excellent for the price. They really do have the best comp chips and salsa in San Diego. Other marisco spots are very pretentious, just not my family's vibe. Sometimes service can be a little slow, but really the servers make every customer feel like family even if it takes a little longer of a visit. read more

Some of the best Mexican seafood I've had and the service is phenomenal. They know how to treat their guests to ensure they come back, and I will! Even when they're busy, I always get acknowledged and greeted with a warm, genuine welcome. Even "high-end" restaurants can't compete with the service Hector's delivers. Muchas gracias! read more

3rd time here great friendly service. Nice atmosphere And great food when craving for some Mexican seafood. Clean restroom. read more

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Had myself a seafood craving and ran into this place thanks to yelp. I had the Campechana seafood mix cocktail. It was awesome! The michelada was even awesomer!!! read more

Hector's Mariscos - Breakfast time!! - Seafood Near Me - Chula Vista, California

So for the huge ceviche connoisseur my boyfriend is he would say this place has the best shrimp ceviche. He's from LA and I've taken him everywhere near and far and all the recommendations and this is the place he keeps wanting to return to. Plus I'll admit the salsa served with chips is really good. Spicy yet chunky and very tasty. But for me I've tried several things on the menu and dislike a lot of them. Only thing I can order that's good, not excellent is their shrimp cocktail. Pretty boring but that's the best I've come up with at this place. Needless to say I don't go there starving, just being a good girlfriend and sharing a meal. But never my first choice read more

Definitely the best seafood Mexican I've had. I went for Valentine's Day one year with my man, and he ordered this fish with this amazing chipotle sauce. You can't find this ANYWHERE. Seriously. Really good margaritas. Who cares if it's pricey. It's seafood. It's nice and clean. And what makes you know it's really good too, is the fact that their menu was in Spanish! Just try it. And you'll see. read more

The grilled seafood combo was good (a little on the salty side). The horchata was excellent. My wife ordered the mixed seafood an it was awful. They used canned tuna right out of the can, don't even think they rinced the tuna. read more

I usually stick to Carne Asada steak whenever I go mexican but this place has changed my mind. I had some scallops tacos and shrimp in a spicy green curry kind of dish (yes, I can't remember the name). Both were quite excellent (insert air guitar here). A lot of seafood variety and the grill combinations were mouth watering. Definitely gonna go back. Be warned though. My taste buds' skills were used to the baja freshs, chipotles, and an occasional rio grandes so this place was F-A-N-T-A-S-T-I-C to me. read more

I have been wanting to try this place for awhile and today was the day. I ordered the Fish Fillet in Diabla Sauce. The chips they gave me with the salsa were less than stellar. The chips seemed a little hard and greasy and were not fresh. They had a lime cut in halves but it was old. The salsa was good though and chopped up more finely than most salsas. The plate arrived and it was a good sized fillet but the portions on of the rice and beans were miniscule, just two tiny mounds. The salad was your average variety salad with some white dressing that I never touched. The fish after looking at it was lightly floured and sauteed and had a nice diabla sauce. HOWEVER, the fillet itself was extremely thin so I am just about positive that the cook took a knife to it lengthwise and make two fillets out of one. Believe me not even a flounder is that thin so they are saving money by cutting those fillets in half. A big no no to me. I thought the prices were a little high for what they are serving. The sauces are given the most attention and they are very good actually. Honestly I think I would rather make my own renditions of these dishes at home and save at least 60%. For a 20 dollar lunch including tip it really wasn't worth it. read more

I have never had a bad meal here. The menu has a great selection and Hector's is well-priced. The Eastlake location is more expensive. The Marlin tacos are excellent! read more

Not fresh tasting seafood. The clams tasted canned. Their fish filets are "basa." This is frozen, Vietnamese catfish. The chipotle sauce tasted like a chain-restaurant's: very salty & too creamy. The octopus was overcooked to the point of mushiness. Not appetizing at all. Pretty poor offerings for a seafood restaurant, especially one so close to the ocean. Why not serve fresh, local seafood? And what needs to be shipped in should be fresh also. There's no excuse for this kind of corner-cutting. They greeted us quickly & were very nice, but the food took forever to arrive. We drove an hour out of our way to come here, based on the reviews. We were very excited to taste their food. Was a waste of time & money. So disappointed. read more

As of Jan 2015, the margarita special no longer exists. There is also no more chamoy added to their frozen margs, but the tajin remains and a cherry has been added. read more

Hector's Mariscos - Margaritas now, no more chamoy! Jan 2015 - Seafood Near Me - Chula Vista, California

I have been eating at this place for 8 years or so. I love the food. I used to love the service also. However the last two times I went there, the service was awful. I was very disappointed. It took at least a half hour after we ordered to receive our food. We probably saw the server three times during our meal and not once did she come and check on us. I like to tip generously, I honestly did not want to tip at all. I think someone ended up tipping. I'm hoping that this was just bad timing or something. I love the Popeye style oysters and the fish soup. The shrimp enchiladas with green sauce are also a favorite. I will try once again (I'm a sucker for the Popeye oysters) and I hope that the service will be as before my last two awful experiences. I do not want to have to find somewhere else to go. Oh ya did I mention the micheladas? Best hangover cure ever! read more

Hector's Mariscos - Siete mares Caldo, tostada de shrimp ceviche n a michelada. Pure bliss - Seafood Near Me - Chula Vista, California

It's got to be Our favorite Mexican restaurant! Shrimp cocktail to their tacos.., yum! "Ed! I'm hungry let's go to Hector's!" read more

Clean and very good. Customer service can improve just a little but they are hiring so explains why they are short handed. I consider this a hidden gem. read more

My husband and I wanted to go out to eat an early dinner, so I pulled up Yelp and looked for restaurants near our house and we picked this one. There are two entrances to this place, and neither were labeled to indicate it was the entrance door. The blinds were down, so that wasn't any help either, but as soon as we walked in, it seemed like it didn't really matter what side you came in. We sat ourselves since no one really greeted us, and a few minutes later a man came over with menus. I have to agree with what Christopher V. wrote about the menus, the menus were a little tricky and I had a little trouble figuring out what was what. The waiter came over quickly with chips and salsa, then asked what we wanted to drink. Two thumbs up on the salsa. I thought maybe I would just pick out something based on the pictures, but instead asked for an order of the shrimp tacos, my husband ordered the shrimp fajitas. The wait wasn't bad, but I never thought I would see ranch on a taco, and I thought the shrimp would be grilled, not battered. Regardless, it tasted good. My husband really liked the fajitas, they came out on a hot plate, and you get to assemble them to your liking. I would eat here again, but it's not a place I would go out of my way to eat at. read more

The food was absolutely amazing!!!! Homemade goodness which came along with a great welcoming staff and great service. Portions are giant so its definitely good to share. Would definitely recommend this place read more

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Half of my ceviche is still on the plate, was was so flavorless we had to literally put half of the salt shaker in all of our dishes. I only ate because I was starving. But I honestly didn't like any of the food that was served. Service is also not so good to be this empty read more

Hector's Mariscos - Seafood Near Me - Chula Vista, California

Amazing mariscos. Great place. I'll come back anytime I can. Paella was great n the 7 Seas Soup was amazing. You'll be happy here read more

This place was so good. My friends and I loved it. Customer service was great. Micheladas were good. Even the nacho sauce was delicious. I will definitely come back here when I'm in San Diego again. Very clean environment. Quality of food great! Server was very attentive. read more

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My boyfriend stopped to order to go and we got tacos de pescado ahumado, tacos gobernador and aguachile de mariscos. It was so delicious! I'm very picky with mariscos because I grew up eating them and I know what I like, well this place was so similar to the mariscos I grew up with. Sinaloa style didn't even need to add extra limon or salsa. Food is good as is! Definitely will be back. read more

Food is amazing and service is great as well been coming here for years , definitely my go to seafood restaurant

Hate to do it to this place but the other day we came here and my mom Ordered a campechana toasted it came really raw the lemon hadn't cooked the seafood at all we waited and ate the other thing we ordered and it was still Completely raw. Mushy and just no flavor. We hate sending stuff back but we ended up telling the waiter if he can change it for one that the seafood is cooked. He was very polite and said yes and we asked for the to put it to go. (After all we did pay for it ) when we opened it later on at home the "cook" had just put the same raw tostada in a foam cup and added some chopped cooked shrimp mixed in and pieces of the soggy soggy tostada were all Mixed in. It was gross and uneatable. Love there eastlake location but not this one. Would never go back and do not recommend. read more

Horrible service! Couldn't even eat comfortable, tortillas were cold tasted like plastic.

My family and I went there for dinner last night. We got there probably like 30 minutes before closing. When we entered GREAT customer service from the very start. The two guys up in the front who seated us to the really nice waitress who was really sweet to my daughter who wasn't feeling good. Now the food was DELICIOUS!!! I'm not such a big fan of mariscos, but there food blew me away!!!! Greatest seafood ever!!! We are from out of town, we are definitely going to come back to Hector's Mariscos. read more

This place is awesome, even though it was busy we got sat right away. Our server Laura was great. She brought our food in a timely fashion and helped me chose an amazing dish that I would not have tried otherwise. The chipotle shrimp plate.. Bellisimo. I know I know it's not Italian. But dang, it was that good.. read more

Customer service was good, but I wasn't impressed with the food. It tried 3 different tacos: asado, fish and gobernador. They were alright. I've tasted better at other restaurants/food trucks. read more

OMG! If ya'll wanna get some 'real' Mexican seafood...Hector's is the biz! Nothing can compare to this restaurant. My kids and I have been going there for over 5 years now, and I still have not find restaurant that can even come close. And it's not actually just seafood. There's your regular carne asadas y tacos, gigantic cheese quesadillas and chips w/ the best salsa ever! But I don't go there for the 'normal' stuff..I go for the combinations like Fillete de Popeye....So good! I also love the shrimp cocktail and so does my Jake. The fish soup is out of this world and my kids prefer the 'Siete Mares'..I would love to eat that soup also, but it has squid and I'm allergic to squid :-( The fish ceviche is so good...Even my mom and step dad was completely shocked the very first time they went there. They said, they've never had anything like the quality and taste of food there. Mexican dining was never gonna be the same for them again! If you have the chance, go check it out! The absolute best! read more