Review El Pescador Fish Market - La Jolla

WOW… Now this was one of the freshest and best seafood market experiences I’ve ever had! This neighborhood place is the local fish market, loaded with tons of fresh fish, shellfish, etc and lots of amazing and fresh ingredients to make anything you want! They have some incredible looking soups/chowder too. We tried a snapper plate, a sea bass sandwich (Boregga style), and their tuna fish tacos and all were prepared to perfection with only the flavors that come from very fine and fresh seafood! The staff was very helpful and friendly and the décor is comforting and warm, especially for a “order counter” style of restaurant. Highly recommend stopping in here if you are looking for amazing seafood!

So good. Sautéed clams were divine—sumptuous and full of rich fresh flavors. I could have gone without the grilled octopus (chewy) but the west coast oysters were also delish. Line was quick and service was fast and super friendly. Absolutely would return!

One of my absolute favorite places to go! This is the freshest fish/seafood I have ever experienced. The oyster shooters are a must; their quality of sauce combined with the fresh oyster is just simply delicious. The menu layout is wonderful. To simply walk in and get to choose what type of fish you would like and then how you’d like it prepared with different spices and sauces and then how it is presented (sandwich, filet, taco, burrito) makes the combinations endless. I could go here everyday and never have the same thing twice for a long time. And of course, the selections of fish is overwhelming: shark, yellowtail, tuna, salmon, anything you can think of, if it’s in season they might just have it. I originally found them because they were the only place serving thresher in San Diego and boy I’m glad they were because I have now been back a dozen times, collected three of their shirts, a few pint glasses, and tons of great memories of the incredible food. 10/10 recommendation, an absolute must San Diego stop for fish & seafood delicacy.

This informal fish market has fresh fish delivered everyday. Their variety is incredible. They display everything from octopus to the ordinary like Calamari, Shrimp, and flat fish filets. They have a menu to eat in or take out. You can also buy raw fish to take home. I ordered a breaded Calamari over a salad with Avocado and blue cheese dressing. It was outstanding.

Scored parking behind this market/restaurant, heading down Pearl, just west of Draper. Proper. We came in search of fish tacos and we would not leave until we tasted them in our pie holes. I demanded local fish so we were recommended sea bass and yellowtail. The sea bass was phenomenal but the yellow tail lacked flavor and is the reason why they got four stars. Otherwise everything was a five-star experience from start to finish. I'm thinking just a little bit of salt or pepper could have saved the day.

Despite living nearby for years, had not until recently made the run to El Pescador. Our lost opportunity to fix now - this place has incredible selection and variety of seafood. Fresh, fresh, fresh. Perfectly cooked swordfish in homemade dressing on a soft roll. Crab cocktail excellent (and I'm typically not a huge fan); perfect heat level in the sauce. The grilled octopus cookery made us permanent devotees. Great service staff, lots of seating and ample beverage selection. Planning our next visit already!

Excellent food, excellent service! They even have a selection of Bobboi gelato to cap off the meal. Never been to San Diego in my life until this weekend, and we ate here twice. Definitely will be back!

There's not many places in the area where you can get some really fresh fish. It's one of the best. We got seabass and opah fish 🐟 😋. Also, West Coast oysters were definitely delicious. Highly recommended for people who want some healthy and good taste food.

It’s our second time in this place. FRESH and DELICIOUS fish 🐠🐟🦀🦐🐡 We ordered salmon hamachi, Fish tacos, Fresh local White sea bass, Fresh Wild Alaska Halibut and sides of brown rice, black beans and grilled veggies(forget it the grilled veggies) The energy is amazing. The staff are very friendly and helpful with the clients. Of course we will come back

It was our last day in La Jolla… decided on a leisurely lunch. Pretty unique / buzzy place. Restaurant and pick up / takeaway. I went for the swordfish.. more adventurous wife the octopus which she loved. Order at the counter delivered to the table. Friendly, helpful and chatty staff.

This place ROCKs! I will definitely eat here every time I come to LaJolla, in Southern Calif. When you walk in the place is shining with spot on cleanliness, and with the tantalizing smells of seafood your mouth will start watering For some Fresh by the way, not frozen , seafood (Fried, Grilled, Blackened ) They have every way and any kind of seafood prepared to perfection! Hats off to these awesome Californians who made this Texan, hate to leave this place behind. Hey maybe they deliver via Amazon! Works for me! I give it a five star for sure! MCE-Austin, Texas

loved everything we had. I had a Cajun shark sandwich that was phenomenal. all the flavors just mixed so well. it was the best sandwich I've ever eaten. my daughter got her clam chowder that she devoured! again so tasty. my bf got calamari and it was made a way we've never had it. it almost tasted like a desert. it was breaded and fried but so damn good.

Local food by locals. The poke is the best. Yellowtail is the best. Scallops are the best. Rice is yum.

Awesome place with great food and a friendly staff. I wish I could take the place back to Tennessee with us...lol..I highly recommend this place!! �

This place should be cloned but it would take away from the charm; casual but excellent blend of SoCal w/Pacific seafood cuisine --you will never get this "flavor" anywhere else!!

My wife, my 8 yo son, and I had supper here during our trip to LaJolla. I had the yellowtail, my wife had the ahi, and my son had the salmon. It was all amazing. Great place. My wife’s ahi was the best I’ve ever had. I didn’t try my son’s salmon because he inhaled it so fast I couldn’t get a bite. Great experience.

My husband and I have been regulars since they were a small fishery. We absolutely love El Pescador!! The fish sandwiches are my fav. Husband always gets the fish plate and yesterday we splurged on a dozen oysters. Omg!!! So so yummy! You have to try!! This and the Fish Market downtown will always be my fav....

To die for! Best fish I have ever had! They source locally as much as they can! Simply delicious fresh food!

Order: Yellowtail sandwich and Octopus Steak sandwiche with added Avacado and Jalapeño Price: $23 Pros: Amazingly good fresh food, some of the best octopus I've ever had, fair price for what you get, great combinations of flavors for the sandwich, very helpful staff Cons: Little/communal seating (not really a "bad" thing in my opinion, but it could make large groups challenging) Thoughts: While doing some advanced scouting for some amazing restaurants leading up to our trip several people had mentioned El Pescador so we made a point to go. The way it is set up resembles more a fish market than a standard restaurant. You wait in a line leading up to the counter, place your order there, get a number, find a table, and then wait for them to bring you your order. The line was fairly long when we showed up, but not out the door and it seemed to be moving pretty quickly so we decided to stay. I was a bit worried about finding a table since the place was absolutely packed, and they didn't seem to have that much seating to begin with. Ignoring that for a moment we focused on figuring out what we wanted to eat. The options we kind of overwhelming but fortunately the guy taking orders helped us out. He recommended a few things and helped us narrow down our options. We finally settled on two sandwiches; Yellowtail and Octopus steak, both with added avocado and jalapeños. We went off to find out seat and it took a few minute to wait on a table to empty out, and when that happened we shared our 4 person table with another couple. While the seating is clearly limited during peak hours that doesn't really bother me if the food is good. Any dear Lord was the food good; like out of the world, possibly the best seafood I've ever eaten good. The octopus steak was a piece of octopus that had been pounded into a flat, sandwich sized piece of epicness, then breaded. You might think the pounding could make it tough, you would be so wrong. Hands down the best piece of octopus I have ever had the pleasure of eating in my life; really hard to accurately describe how good this sandwich was. The Yellowtail was also exceptionally phenomenal (as was the Sea Bass when we came back a few days later). The fish itself was incredibly fresh (as you would expect) but the sandwich as a whole was what surprised me. It wasn't just a piece of fish on bread, it came with sauce that enhanced the flavor. The tomatoes and lettuce were both fresh and tasty. It was really remarkable how well they made everything come together. This was definitely a highlight of my eating experiences during the trip to San Diego. It wasn't at all overpriced for what you got, and I'm not really sure how you could get fresher ingredients. The worst part of eating here is knowing that I won't be able to get anything like it once I go home. If you're going to be in the area (like within 30 minutes) it is one of two restaurants I would beg you to go to (see my reviews for the other). If you love nearby and haven't gone; WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU? No worries it can be easily remedied by taking a quick trip and eating some of the best seafood of your life.

Great place! We had "el pescador" sandwich, the swordfish sandwich, the callamari steak.. and the shrimp and scallops burro. Everything was super fresh and cooked perfectly. They also had draft beers and wine.

Clean, great looking fish counter. Incredibly fresh looking opaque fish fillets. Smoked and other nicely finished salmon and other fish. Clam chowder was great. I will return.

My husband and I both loved this place! The food was amazing! Just what we were looking for.....fresh, some locally caught, not fried seafood. So many options! We had the clam chowder, yellowtail and squid burrito, and the Borrego yellowtail sandwhich. All were great!

The thrasher shark really is the steak of the sea. The grilled veggies were very flavorful. I came on a recommendation and would pass one along. The prices are extremely reasonable.

The best seafood ever! Sean....Open El Pescador in Encinitas...please.

Very good clam chowder! Fish tacos and shark sandwich were so yummy! Only bad thing was that we sat outside and were forgotten...😪 otherwise I would have given them a 5 Star! We will definitely go there again for sure.

Wasn't impressed... had the dungeness sandwich but felt like I should have gone with a plate instead.