Kirbie's Cravings

Pacific Beach Fish Shop

Our current restaurant obsession is Pacific Beach Fish Shop. I’ve never been a huge fish taco fan, but I can’t get enough of the fresh fish tacos here, especially grilled with their special Fish Shop Seasoning.

Our initial introduction was a media invite, but we’ve since been back two more times in one month. The restaurant has a busy, casual atmosphere. There is seating inside and outside and you can bring your own wine with no corkage fee. As an added bonus, the restaurant has its own parking lot. Fresh fish is brought in daily as there are no large freezers on site.

The menu is pretty simple to follow. You choose your fish (12 choices!), your marinade, and then your style (taco, salad, sandwich, etc).

The restaurant has been packed every time we have visited, but luckily they have a dedicated phone line to take-out orders, which is easy breezy if you don’t feel like waiting around.

Here’s a collection of some of what we’ve tried:

TKO Fish Taco


Their TKO fish taco recently won best fish taco at the Pacific BeachFest. You can get it with either corn or flour tortilla. I usually like flour even though corn is more traditional, but I definitely prefer the corn for these. The flour tortilla is a tad too dry and flaky. The corn one is thicker and the flavor pairs better with the fish and salsa.


The mahi mahi is seasoned with their special Fish Shop seasoning, a secret bold blend of spices that will awaken your taste buds and leave them begging for more. It’s then topped with a generous amount of tropical salsa. I would have preferred a little less salsa as I felt the fish got a little lost in it. Still, this one of the best fish tacos I’ve tasted in San Diego and one I highly recommend trying.

Fish Shop Shrimp

We’re also a fan of the Fish Shop Shrimp, grilled shrimp marinated in the Fish Shop seasoning, with the addition of a spicy chipotle glaze. The char you seem to see is more of a caramelization of the glaze, which really added another dimension to the flavor. Savory, spicy and sweet all at once.

Seared Ahi Tuna Taco with Fish Shop Seasoning

This is one of Mr. K’s favorites. He loves the freshness of the seared ahi. We’ve tasted most of the various marinades and our favorite is definitely the Fish Shop seasoning.

Scallop Taco with Chipotle Seasoning

The chipotle seasoning is also pretty good, though I’m not as much of a fan of the scallop taco. They use large scallops and because of how expensive those are, they only use two per taco which wasn’t really enough to go around the entire taco.

Yellowtail Taco with Fish Shop Seasoning

I fished out the fish for these photos so that they don’t all look the same. This is a generous piece of fish and one of my favorite choices for the fish taco. It tasted wonderfully fresh.

Scallop Salad with Blackened Seasoning

For some variation, we also tried a salad. The scallops in this salad were quite large but the blackened seasoning tastes a little too bitter for me.

The tacos are a little on the pricey side (about $5 a pop), but it’s understandable given the  fresh fish. I don’t mind paying a little more for better food, though the downside is these visits have been getting pricey, especially since I can’t seem to get enough of the tacos.

If you’re looking for a good fish taco in San Diego, I highly recommend checking out Pacific Beach Fish Shop. The private free parking lot makes it easy to drive to. It has a great atmosphere if you want to dine there, including bringing your own wine with no corkage fee. If you don’t want to wait in the busy lines, you can order ahead and pick up your food to-go.

Pacific Beach Fish Shop
1775 Garnet Ave,
92109 San Diego

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8 comments on “Pacific Beach Fish Shop”

  1. I’ve been curious about this spot – I’ve seen it very busy and wondered if it was any good. The shrimp looks amazing and they seem to have a nice variety of fish available. I see they have fish and chips, too, so I should be able to convince Jake to visit!

  2. The shrimp looks amazing! I miss PB, I used to drive there from Scripps Ranch for my hair:) you make me miss San Diego with every post!

  3. I will have to try this place. It looks like a good place to eat after rollerblading on the boardwalk!

  4. Working as Troubleshooters this election, several of us met with our Field Coordinator in the parking lot across the street from this place. I was curious about it, but was working and the workers at my assigned Polls were feeding me snacks all day. Now I know The Mister and I are definitely going to stop here soon, thanks for this post.

    • Yes, you should definitely check it out. I usually don’t like to venture into the PB area, but we’ve really enjoyed the tacos here so much that we keep coming back. I never thought i’d find myself craving fish tacos.