![]() Worth a trip from anywhere in Southern California.), 2 (A good place to go for a meal. What the stars mean: 4 (World class! Worth a trip from anywhere!), 3 (Most excellent, even exceptional.Atmosphere: This Disneyland for fish is a wild multipart restaurant and market, with a long history and some very fresh seafood, right on the harbor.When: Breakfast, lunch and dinner, every day.Address: Ports o’ Call Village, 1190 Nagoya Way, San Pedro.Merrill Shindler is a Los Angeles-based freelance dining critic. Email Pedro Fish Market & Restaurant For me, it’s at least one of the busiest - and a local phenomenon that reminds me we’re not in Kansas. Is this the best seafood restaurant in California? It is to the legions digging their way through the shrimp tray. And reward for the patience required to get to them. They do a fine cioppino.Īnd though I do wish the fries were crispier, the orders of fish and chips, shrimp and chips, and calamari and chips, with a pitcher of cold beer, eaten looking out over all the container ships in the Port, are a happy way to spend an afternoon. I go for the oysters and clams on the half shell, the cracked crab, the king crab legs, the steamed clams, the octopus salad. You also can add roasted corn, garlic bread and tortillas. The easiest way to order is probably the numerous plates and platters, combinations of shrimp and fish, barbecued and fried, served with onions, tomatoes, bell peppers and potatoes. This is chow that’s got you bending an elbow and wondering if those stains will ever come out of your Guns N’ Roses t-shirt. This is not food eaten in small delicate bites. This is oceanic abundance that’s intensely sauced, admirably spicy, and in more than a few dishes an exercise in batter and crunch. And I’m not sure it really matters, for the portions are large everywhere, the fish is fresh by definition, and the preparations are not subtle. What we have here Is the seafood restaurant with its monumental shrimp tray, along with the Crusty Crab and its wonderful ceviche tostadas, along with a Café International - though in the semi-chaos of all the queues, it’s hard at moments to be sure which of the options you’re waiting for. (As if you’d wear anything else – shorts, sneakers and flip-flops are the dress of choice.) But do remember to wear comfortable shoes. If you’re not an SP Fish veteran, or it’s been so long you’ve forgotten the drill, a walk-around certainly doesn’t hurt. The lines - at least on a weekend - are immediate and seemingly endless, as are the complications of where you’re going to eat. ![]() The self-parking lot isn’t as big as Disneyland, but it’s big enough that you can lose your vehicle if you don’t pay attention. This is seafood consumed by the boatload. Where Nobu, for instance, is minimalist, San Pedro Fish Market & Restaurant is maximalist. On a warm weekend afternoon, with the city emerging from the enforced cocoon of the pandemic, much of the fish-loving population is here - waiting on long lines for a chance to order the “World Famous Shrimp Tray.” For the newcomer, the experience isn’t just overwhelming, it boggles the senses. To the point where it takes up much of the Ports O’ Call Village, with a market in the midst of it all - but mostly an assortment of restaurants, fish stands, seafood dishes. The next year, the market moved to the LA Waterfront.Īnd it started to grow, and grow, and grow. It dates back to 1955 - prehistoric in LA terms - when founder Mackey Ungaro opened a small street corner fish market called Vista Seafood. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’ve long been a big fan of the San Pedro Fish Market & Restaurant - the original more than the numerous mini-mall branches that have opened in recent years. Sorry, Le Bernardin, but you didn’t get as many reviews!) Which also resulted in the best in New York being a Cajun seafood chain called The Boil. (Their methodology, as the site explains, was built around Yelp, both the ratings, and the number of reviews. And what did “Eat This” name in California? San Pedro Fish Market & Restaurant. ![]() It was a list from the always-intriguing, often-eccentric site called “Eat This Not That.” This one was the best seafood restaurant in every state.Ĭalifornia is blessed with great fish houses, from the venerable Tadich Grill, and slightly less venerable Sewan Oyster Depot up in SF, to our own Nobu, Broad Street Oyster, Coni Seafood - and so many more. Recently, I came upon one of those many (many!) lists of the “best of in every state,” cranked out as click-bait by the numerous websites that pop up on my electronics. ![]()
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