Oscar’s Mexican Seafood

Popular with locals and tourists alike, this tiny spot doesn’t have much signage but you’ll know you’ve reached your destination when you see the line out the door. Inside is a small kitchen and counter and restrooms. No seating. Outside there’s some seating along the wall and railing.
I’m not a big fan of fish tacos, but the smoked fish taco ($ 4.65) was excellent. The tortilla was filled with smokey, flakey fish and topped with cabbage, avocado, and cheese. The grilled octopus taco ($ 4.75) was just as excellent. The skirt steak taco ($ 4.50) and grilled shrimp taco ($ 4.50) were good too, but it’s the first two items that they’re known for. Don’t pass them up.
Don’t forget to grab some of the sauces on the way out. I’m not sure what they are, but the pink colored one was a great compliment.

Ah, Oscar’s! Last time I was here (sort of), my gf and I drove all the way from LA just to eat here. This was Aug of 2012 and unfortunately they were closed for renovation.
Was in town for sister’s UCSD graduation this week and was happy to have a chance to come here again. Surf & turf and ceviche. Yesss!

Great tacos. The grilled fish tacos are awesome and their salsas really maximize the flavor. Only complaint that I have is that I waited a while to order even when no one was in front of me. The place looked well staffed so not sure why there was gap in terms of cashier availability. Great location but hard to find a close parking space.

Hands down the best fish taco I’ve ever had. It was so good I could not stop talking about it to whoever would listen for two straight weeks.
We came on a Friday afternoon around 3pm and while there wasn’t a huge line it was still sufficiently crowded. I had the smoked fish taco and the fish ceviche for about $ 10. The smoke fish taco was delicious. There was a generous amount of flavorful fish, avocado, cabbage and what I can only call crack sauce. it was bigger than a usual taco so it is definitely quite filling.
The fish ceviche wasn’t the best ceviche I’ve ever had but it was generous in size and still quite good. It may have been a tad too sour for my taste. had they offered me salty tortilla chips instead of an unsalted tostada I think I would have enjoyed it more.
It has now been four weeks and I’m still dreaming of the day I can go back to Oscar’s for some fish tacos.

The best surf and turf tacos in all of San Diego. Make sure you upgrade the taco to a burrito for a dollar extra. Its much more bang for your buck! Try all the sauces and pick your favorite but they’re all great!
The staff is friendly and the food is made fresh. Love this place!

The fish tacos here are every bit as ridiculously delicious as they’re said to be. Perfectly battered, great quality fish, wonderful tortillas and salsas. I’m still counting my lucky stars as I went for the first time on an overcast day to find no line whatsoever, but I imagine this is a rare occurrence. Fantastic!

Located in PB near the board walk, a little north of the tourist area. Really great fresh tacos. Mostly only has seafood options, so make sure the people you bring will be OK with the limited selection. The inside and outside seating is limited, but this place does steady business. Super delicious, fresh, and local. Good sauce options for tacos too. There is small taco place across the street that has vegetarian options and chicken. Our one vegetarian friend got a burrito from there then came over and sat with us at Oscars.

I’m giving 2 stars for the overall experience: 1 for the food itself, and 1 for the customer service.
We stopped here just a bit ago and ordered the Oscar’s Combo (with Atun Adobado and battered fish, with rice and beans as a side) and the Fisherman’s Torta. We received the tacos and only rice, no beans. The torta we received was the Torta de Oscar, which is all fine and good but I can’t eat land animal meat without getting violently ill. Thankfully, my husband took a bite of the torta first and spotted the steak inside.
I went to the counter and informed them, nicely, of the mistake and asked if they could remake it. The manager looked visibly upset, like this had happened before, and spoke with one of his employees in the back. He said he would have a new one for me in 5 mins.
A few minutes later, I see the manager leave for the day. 5 mins after that, I went up to see what the status was for my Fisherman’s Torta. The manager that was head of this particular shift looked like she saw a ghost and realized that she forgot to remake my torta. She went in the back and asked one of the line cooks, who shrugged. She came back to me and offered me free ceviche while we waited. I obliged and shared it with my husband, who wanted to know if they spit in it. :/​
The manager on duty came outside and gave us our missing torta and apologized. I thanked her and we ate the sandwich, which I’ll admit was very good. But we won’t be coming back to this location because they can’t seem to get their shit together. Try to communicate better, everyone. It’ll only help in the long run.

I generally hate going down into coastal La Jolla because traffic sucks most days of the week, there are too many tourists meandering on the poorly designed roads, and parking is almost always atrocious. We happened to be in the area and decided to pop in to give this Oscar’s a try. We’d already had the pleasure of eating Oscar’s Fish Tacos at the Hillcrest location and loved the tacos and especially the sauce (see review here:
). This location seemed to have many more reviews so we had to see what the distinguishing factor was for this spot.
I was not a fan of this location compared to the Hillcrest spot. It’s a little hard to find based on GPS (although once you identify the big blue shack you’re golden). It’s in a weird location with unique «La Jolla-​esque» businesses flanking it and parking can be tough since it’s street and metered type parking (if I recall correctly). Seating is all outdoor, slightly limited, and barstool — which was unfortunately for «8 months pregnant with multiples» me – but thankfully it was a cool and sunny day. The inside area where you order can be so very hard to enter if crowded. When we arrived, we beat the lunch crowd but by the time lunch was on full force, it was impossible to go back in to refill your drink and/​or go to the bathroom. The guys at the counter here were much less enthusiastic than the folks we encountered at the Hillcrest location, and they seemed apathetic at best about our presence as customers. Not rude, but just a very «bored with life». Perhaps they were just getting their bearings for the soon arriving lunch crush.
The food is pretty consistent with the Hillcrest location. They have the same sauces, the same menu (I think), and if anything, I think they were a smidge more generous with the fish (or we just got lucky with our filet slices). We scarfed down the tacos with the delicious sauces. Pretty tasty!
I could imagine this being a nice place to chill on a summer day with friends. perhaps on a day you’re all ditching work to enjoy some yummy and fresh fish tacos. The food is good, the beach is near by, the service was ok, the venue was ok… and I’m still very much in love with the sauce choices. so overall a 4. If you’re looking for slightly better digs, I recommend the Hillcrest location, but either way they both serve up a yummy taco.
4 stars. Recommend for trying it if you’re in the area.

TACOS. ARE. AMAZING.
I went here for lunch on a Tuesday and the place was pretty much empty.
The spicy grilled shrimp tacos were my favorite item on the menu. The key is to make sure you get the sauces on the side or get them out of the fridge because they really add to the flavor.
Don’t expect a fancy restaurant… you order at the counter and seating is limited inside.

5 stars all the way! Possibly the best tacos I’ve ever had, and they really stuff those things! Really popular place so you may have to stand and wait on free seating for a few minutes.
We had the grilled octopus taco, and spicy grilled shrimp taco. Both were on point. Don’t forget to get some sauces on the side, especially the orange one (sorry, not sure what it’s called but at least you know your colors).
Thanks oscars!

I wanted to show a family member a good taco on the drive up the coast. Looking at the Unilocal review Oscars seemed like the perfect spot. They were very informative in helping us decide what to order on our first visit. I ordered the smoked fish taco. It was quite filling for just over $ 4. The fish was nicely smoked and not too strong. A place on Unilocal with over 1700 reviews and 4.5 is very credible and a no brainer to try. You should have high expectations and I don’t think Oscar will let you down. All of the locations around San Diego seemed to have 4.5 stars which is a great sign of consistency! If you are in the La Jolla area Oscars must be on your mind when in the mood for fish tacos. I could bump it up to a five star review if I get a chance to try more food but I agree with the current 4.5 rating.

Whenever I am in San Diego, I always stop by to get my tacos, ceviche, tacos and tacos. They have delicious battered fish tacos but it’s the grilled that always have me coming back! I love their spicy grilled shrimp, grilled octopus, mahi mahi and tuna tacos! Their especial is worth mentioning too. I just love all their tacos! Their ceviche is so fresh, tangy, flavorful and you can see the fish and shrimp. You don’t have to go searching for their meat!
I love their green sauce, it has so much kick and flavors! I think I need some tacos, right now. Stop by, line goes fast but it takes awhile for the tacos to come out, because they make it when you order it. It’s fresher and better this way!

The ceviche… OH. MY. GOD. to die for. An absolute must get. I’m not kidding. I’m debating whether or not to drive all the way down to San Diego right now just thinking about it. A 2 hour drive is a small price to pay for such a delicacy. They offer a few different kinds, I got the mixed, and it was delicious. They say «Ahi Tuna not guaranteed in the mixed» and they’re not kidding. I didn’t even get one piece. But, whatever, it was still amazing.
The tacos on the other hand… meh. They were fine. Not worth the price though. Not really seasoned at all. I still haven’t been able to beat Hole Mole’s fish tacos in Long Beach. Now, THOSE are fantastic.
Next time I come, I’m skipping the tacos and going straight for the Ceviche!

Excellent battered fish tacos.
Great spicy shrimp tacos.
Ok Mahi Mahi taco.
Orders take time, but worth the wait.

Overrated.
My friends made such a big stink about this place that I believed them… then the long and disorganized line had me believing that this place was going to be a jewel…
Womp, womp… my expectations fell flat on its face.
The seafood soup was just plain salt water with a chunk of avocado floating in it… there was no umami flavor. Everything else was mediocre that we actually went out to another taco place (near circle k) just to have the «hit the spot» feeling…
Will I be back? No, not unless I’ve totally missed their one known specialty item but otherwise, I’ll be sticking to my other go-to’s.

The Quick: Authentic, no frills, hole in the wall, delicious tacos. Multiple salsa/​dressing options, fresh fish, and the most unique taco offerings I’ve seen at a crazy reasonable price. Worth grabbing a taco to go if you’re nearby.
The Details: Oscars is not a sit down restaurant at this location. There are ample seats outside/​standing area, but you pay at the register and go. That being said, I was extremely impressed by the staff and cleanliness of this spot.
Locals raved about Oscars, and now I see why. We loved the tuna al pastor, as well as multiple other interesting options. Make sure you dress your taco with one of their salsas, as they leave that up to you. Will definitely return.
The Damage: The tacos range in price, but they start at $ 2 for a good size street taco

Great tacos!
We loved the battered fried fish taco!
We had the spicy shrimp which was okay. However the fried fish tacos is where it’s at!!!

This place is as good as it gets when it comes to local, hole-​in-​the-​wall places. We are so happy we live walking distance away from this place. The food is great and it comes out quickly. They’ve got a variety of things on the menu, but the shrimp ceviche is the most popular item. This place is busy, so it may be difficult to find seating. Though with extra long tables outside, people are generally willing to share.

Accidentally walked into this place and by far the best Tacos I have ever had! We came back 3 times that weekend (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) so so good!
The management was very helpful and nice as well. Overall, great experience!

OMG this place is so good!
Drove past it so many times thinking it was a bar next to the smoke shop with no sign.
Their shrimp ceviche is so sweet and delicious. Tons of hot sauce to choose from.
Pro tip: If you get the ceviche, it comes with two tostadas… they go fast. Heap that ceviche and avocado on the tostada pieces!

Get the surf and turf taco with a flour tortilla. This place’s Unilocal is chock full of people saying burrito, but if you say that (as I impishly did) they’ll not so kindly remind you they do not have burritos, but can instead offer you a flour tortilla at your convenience for a dollar extra. This is not a trap. Do it. You get a lot more bang for your buck. Ha. Anyway, you will be swept off your feet by the flavors this place’s food, but you’ll be underwhelmed by how hot it is and their lack of cooling devices. I get it, you’re at the beach, but please! Install an aircon. Me and the 7 sweaty people in arm swinging distance thank you.
Oh! And as spooky as getting water of that painter’s bucket is, it’s really refreshing. Maybe they only had that «rustic» contraption in use since their soda machine wasn’t working, but boy was that water good enough where Adam Sandler would do that silly voice for it.

YES. A million yes’s to infinity and beyond. I literally drive for an hour and a half to get to this place from UCI and
.definitely.worth.every.single.minute.
I LOVE the fisherman’s torta and I was SUPER tempted to try their somewhat new (?) atun adobada tacos but urgh alas, I was too full to eat anything more. The Fisherman’s Torta is literally what the Sea Gods (if they exist) would serve up to humans if there was ever an exchange of cultural food.
The 3 sauces that they offer, which I just discern by color (green, orange, red, lol) are SO SO good it’s almost like they’re tailor made to fit the Oscars taste. I can ramble on and on about how the food makes one salivate even though they’re an hour and a half away (with no traffic), but I’ll just end it simply by saying: Go here. It’s not a waste of time. In fact, you’re wasting your time reading this review because that’s time you could be using to be eating a Fisherman’s Torta.

Wow this food was amazing! The grilled shrimp tacos were so so good. The shrimp was probably the best I’ve had in San Diego. So so juicy and flavorful.
The smoked fish taco was so worth coming back for! It tasted and looked just like pork! Unfortunately it’s cooked with a buttload of butter and a lactard like me has been… struggling for the rest of the day. Still worth it.
Seating is sparse, almost all outside and competitive but it’s a nice quiet street. Amazing food. I’ll be back.

I was really excited to try Oscar’s but was really disappointed in the end. Obviously this isn’t a high end place, but it should at least be clean. To be honest, it looked like a chaotic mess from the second I walked in.
I ordered the fish tacos. What I got was more like a tablespoon of fish and the rest was burnt batter. Really disappointing.
The only redeeming quality I found about this place was the chipotle crema, which is pretty good.
My friend got the bacon and shrimp tacos and liked those, but I don’t think I’ll be back.

Two words — Holy. Crap.
Oscar’s Mexican Seafood is the best taco place I’ve ever had. I think I’ve probably waited almost an hour for my tacos, but daaaaaammn it was so delicious.
I ordered the mixed ceviche, 1 surf & turf taco, and 1 taco especial with scallops.
The ceviche is already made in tubs, so I was glad I got that right after ordering or else waiting for my tacos would’ve been the longest time of my life. There’s a good mixture of avocado, onions, fish, and shrimp in there. It comes with tortas & you break off a little piece, put some ceviche on top and eat it together.
After waiting like 40 minutes, I finally got my order of tacos. I love how every taco comes with huge slices of avocado on top of it. They messed up my order and gave me an extra free taco — the taco especial with octopus. Surprisingly, the free taco was my favorite! I thought octopuses in tacos sounded a bit weird, which is why I ordered scallops instead of octopus, but when I tried it — I think I visited food heaven for a few seconds. The one with scallops was yummy too! The surf-​and-​turf was also perfect. The steak was perfectly cooked.
Don’t know what sauce to get? Try the ORANGE or GREEN sauce! The orange sauce is my favorite. I don’t know what it is, but I’m sure you’d like it. The green sauce is more for people who can handle spicy stuff.

Solid eats. Pounded the smoke fish, grilled fish, steak and shrimp, steak tacos and a mixed ceviche. All spicy. Would do them all again except the smoked fish. I bit mushy texture.
Great sauces to top the food with that are a must.

I fly to san diego to eat at this hole in the wall. It’s that good.
Fish tacos, breakfast burritos, whatevs — crazy good and I’ll say
some of the best in the WORLD.

Came here for a food adventure all the way from Chino, such a disappointment. The boyfriend and I ordered shrimp ceviche, fish tacos and steak taco. The only thing that was good was the shrimp ceviche. The battered fish tacos were bland, covered in onions and was nothing spectacular to rave about. I don’t know how it made it on Unilocal’s top 100 list, Unilocal you disappoint me.
Warning! Wait for tacos is AT LEAST 30 minutes FOR FISH TACOS!!! That’s ridiculous!
Was so excited, but at least now we know. All hype!

I really wanted to love Oscars!
My significant other who is a UCSD alum kept raving about Oscar’s fish tacos and how
they are, so we finally made the trek up to his alma matter town and broke my Oscar’s cherry.
I ordered the battered fish taco, the surf and turf, and shrimp ceviche. I came on a Friday afternoon, it wasn’t super crowded so that was no excuse for why my food too forever to come out.
I’ve had better fish tacos in the Bay Area. I felt as though these were incredibly bland! It was just pieces of fried battered soft fish and a bed of pico and cabbage slaw. To get any ounce of flavor I had to douse my taco in in their sauces. It was a disappointment in my book.
The surf and turf taco on the other hand was delicious! It was stuffed with wonderfully flavored shrimp and skirt steak, although I felt the steak was a bit too tough and chewy and the corn tortilla was a bit too hard, almost stale.
The shrimp ceviche was also mediocre. It was almost too tart! The plus is that it comes with huge chunks of shrimp so they definitely don’t skimp on the seafood.
Overall, I think this place is just alright. I’d probably come again to check out their other offerings, but wouldn’t make it a point to stand in line because it definitely doesn’t live up to the hype.

I LOVEE seafood and this place has it on lock. I normally get the Torta de Oscar, Surf & Turf tacos, or the Taco Especial.
The Torta and Surf & Turf both have crunchy shrimp and perfectly seasoned juicy steak. IT’S BOMB. The Taco Especial is in a whole new class on it’s own. With the choice of either scallop or octopus (which are both divine), you really can’t go wrong! All of their tacos come with salsa and huge chunks of avocado!
Although their special tacos can rack up a bill, it is definitely worth it! These tacos are big so they will fill you up!
They have several locations but I always come back to this one! It’s so cozy and near the beach minus all the crazy traffic! Parking can be hard to find so be sure to come during off peak hours!
TIPS:
–Street parking is limited, so try to look across the street
–Seating is limited as well but if you wait around 15 minutes something should open up!
–The cilantro cream sauce is BOMBBBB and has a nice kick to it! MUST try!!!

Taco especial with octopus
Skirt steak taco
Mahi taco
Small place mainly for takeout or eating outside on the communal tables. Easily missable unless you know where to look (blue painting on wall). Was going to order battered fish taco but a stranger said to get grilled fish instead. Please come with an empty stomach and plan to eat on the communal tables because it won’t taste as good if you take it home. It won’t be fresh!!! Oh I’m sure it’ll taste good at home but personally as a tourist, why would I bring it back to the hotel 10 – 20 minutes away agonizing in the car waiting to sample it when I’m already there.

OSCAR’S MEXICAN SEAFOOD, I LOVE YOU SO.
How to enjoy Oscars:
1) Order 3 tacos especial (scallops and octopus are both delicious).
2) Stake out a seat outside.
3) Wait for number to be called.
4) Walk inside and get order at counter.
5) Put a generous amount of secret orange sauce on tacos (hot sauce optional).
6) CONSUME AND BE CONTENT.
7) Post on social media to rub it in others’ faces (optional but highly suggested). Will get a ton of likes if that matters to you (fess up, it does).
This location gives off more of the San Diego vibe with the beach breeze and outdoor counter space, as opposed to the location in Hillcrest. That said, it could get cold but SUCK IT UP for the most amazing tacos you’ll ever taste. END OF STORY.

The service here is nice and fast.
Go in, order, go out, wait for order number, eat!
The order area is small so don’t lounge around in there.
I ALWAYS order the F I S H * T A C O S & the C E V I C H E (fish, shrimp, or mixed; sour from lime juice)
They have great sauce to go with the tacos as well so be sure to try some!
The protein for the taco can be cooked in different ways.
For example, fish can be battered or fried.
The F I S H * S T E W is also good (veggies & fish in warm broth)!
Only issue I have here is that sometimes the tortilla is a bit hard so I’m thinking they either cooked it or something too long. or it’s old. Idk, but that doesn’t happen often and it’s not a big deal. Everything else is great!
Limited seating/​space so you may want to order quick and get some seats or have someone save some!
Enjoy!

Oscar’s definitely just jumped to my top 3 favorite taco shops. Last night I ordered the Fisherman Torta and it was so flavorful, tasty, loaded with fish, and huge! I’m not a big fish person, however this was the best Torta and fish sandwich I’ve ever had.
We also tried the spicy shrimp taco and loved it as well. My parents tried a couple of the fish tacos and raved about the flavor.
I will definitely be coming here more often. The flavor and freshness of all of their dishes is amazing and I highly recommend!
This little taco shop has it going on.

Dang, these tacos were good, but they were also HELLA expensive. Almost $ 5 for a single taco – one tortilla, eliminating the possibility of spreading the filling into two! I’d go back though.
I tried the taco especial with smoked fish, shrimp, and scallops (choice of scallops or grilled octopus) and the spicy grilled shrimp taco. Both were excellent and packed with seafood. They come on a corn tortilla that’s soft but has a bit of bite to it; it won’t break in your hands.
They have several salsas inside and on the tables outside. We took ours in to-​go cups to eat in the car.
The place is pretty crowded. It took maybe 10 minutes to put in our order and 20 minutes for it to be ready. The time passed quickly though, and it was worth it for the yummy tacos! I’d give them 5 stars if they were just a little bit cheaper~

Crazy, good, battered fish tacos with plenty of juice fish in the taco. And only $ 1.99 per taco!
The things that gives this place 5 stars in the octopus taco, doe. DOEEEE. The octopus is so freaking tender and tasty. The taco is huge and amazing with the avocados. Must try.
Don’t forget the 3 sauces and limes they have in their mini-​fridge. All delicious.
Thanks Oscar if you’re real!

Yummy yum yum! My BF took me here several weeks ago and boy, the best tacos I’ve ever had — yumm! The carne asada taco was flavorful and perfect taco size. I also love the green sauce from this place, yummy yum yum!
BF told me how busy this place gets, but luckily when we went on a Saturday afternoon (lunch time) there was no wait.
**seating is limited and are only outside
**street parking
**parking in the back for I believe $ 5
I’d like to come back here again and try their ceviche and watermelon juice since they were out of it last time.