Oscar’s Mexican Seafood

Before coming here, I read the reviews ahead of time and was very excited to try. The other locations nearby had way more reviews but my friends and I came to this location since it’s the closest to UCSD. One of my friends told me on the way here that this was her least favorite location.
Parking was hard to find and the seating is very limited even though there is outdoor seating. When I first walked in, I was pretty disappointed. It is obvious that they put no effort at all to make the inside look nice. There was nothing on the wall except for one tv and the floor was cracked and old. I know this is Pacific Beach but making the place look a little nicer with a few things on the wall really isn’t that hard. At least this place received an A health grade though!
I ordered a fish taco, a surf & turf taco, and a spicy shrimp taco. The cashier asked if I wanted my fish battered or grilled. I randomly chose grilled without knowing that grilled is $ 4.85 and battered is $ 1.99. It showed as «mahi taco» on my receipt. They really should make it clear on the menu or at least inform us when ordering. They also messed up my order lol I got two surf & turfs and one mahi taco. I didn’t notice until I took a bite of my third taco and realized that it was another surf & turf. I told them and they were nice enough to make me a free spicy shrimp taco. Also, follow them on Instagram to receive 15% off your order!
Aside from that, I really enjoyed the tacos. They were really good! Except I didn’t like the mahi taco as much. I’ll probably try the battered fish taco next time.
Knowing that they close at 9 pm, I went to order something to go at 8:45. However, the guy making the food said that the cashiers already left and locked the station already :(so make sure to order at least 20 min before 9!
I would most likely go to another location next time but the tacos here are definitely above average!

I’m a shameless glut. Had 2 octopus taco and the brick size fisher mans torta. Yes, in one sitting…
Hard to find grilled octopus taco even in SoCal. This place def served the best grilled octopus taco I’ve had to date! Portions are generous. The fisher mans torta was a symphony of seafood goodness

Outstanding Grilled Octopus Taco!
This place knows how to grill some sensational seafood tacos!!!
I was apprehensive about trying this octopus taco I’ve heard so much about BUT so happy that I did.
The octopus was grilled perfectly that it melted in my mouth almost instantaneously. It was not the chewy texture or flavor I was expecting to encounter when eating octopus. It was seasoned & grilled perfectly.
I also tried the shrimp bacon taco which was also delicious. The shrimp was well seasoned served with two thick crispy strips of bacon. The house sauce rocked. The portion size of the tacos were perfect. The two tacos I had satisfied my appetite.

1.5hrs drive from Long Beach port, we were hungry!
The Fiancé and I remembered missing the chance to try Oscar’s the last time we were visiting.
Not caring that it was Prime lunch time, we drove.
So glad we made the trip!
We ordered
Ceviche; mixed = refreshing for hot day. Buce and tangy
Surf n turf taco = delish!
Spicy shrimp taco = delish!
Taco especial; spicy shrimp n octopus = reminded me of octopus in spain. Delish! My fave
Total: $ 20

Best taco I’ve ever had. Hands down.
I ordered the smoked fish taco and the octopus taco. Both were absolutely amazing. Great portion sizes; like two tacos could totally be a meal, and you’d be satisfied. There were so many ingredients, like generous slices of avocado. The taco to tortilla ratio was perfect. I never felt like the ingredients were overwhelming, just overwhelmingly delicious.
Each of the tacos were around $ 4.50, which might seem a little pricey, but considering the amount of ingredients and how they didn’t skimp on any of them, it was definitely worth it. Plus two tacos could totally be an entire meal. So it’s definitely not bad.
When I was there, the place wasn’t super busy, so we got our tacos in about 5 minutes. But I can imagine this place getting packed and having super long wait times during peak hours! So be aware!
Also, this location has somewhat limited seating. But there’s also outdoor seating perfect for the afternoon.

They had good tacos — we tried octopus, espical (really good mix of surf and turf) and spicy shrimp. Two taco per person is good on a regular day.
We reached around 8pm on Tuesday — at that time they were our of the torta bread. My recommendation would be to go early. They have limited seating, so be ready to wait or take a to-​go.
The day we went they were not accepting credit cards (although they have a sign of card acceptance on the door). We got to know this when it was our turn to place order. They only put up a small paper sign on register, so make sure you have cash before standing in the line.

Ridiculously amazing seafood tacos. I got the surf n turf, spicy shrimp and fish tacos and they all were so much better than I expected. I generally like seafood tacos and I always thought the ones I have gotten in the past were decent, but after eating here, I find that the ones I used to get suck! The ones at Oscar’s makes all other seafood tacos irrelevant.
The seafood here is fresh and has sooo much flavor. Not overwhelming either. Portions are also pretty large. I have nothing to complain about. The place itself it pretty small and has limited seating. Parking can be difficult around peak hours but it’s all worth it.

Fast and furious kitchen prepares delicious and juicy Mexican food within 10 minutes. This place gets packed all week long, and it’s no wonder why. Variety of items thrills me, I always need some time to figure out what I want to order. I personally suggest to order to go, because it’s not super clean and cosy inside, but if you are low on time, then help yourself and indulge right there. I also want to say big thank you to awesome attentive people who work there: they’re super friendly, ask them for anything, I am sure they will respond accordingly. Good Mexican Place.

TORTAS & TACOS
Oscar’s has limited seating in this location with four square tables and a long bar set-​up inside, and higher tables outside. For a large group of 10, we stood and sat around half the bar. We had a mix of tortas and tacos, and it was more than enough for all of us!
+ SURF & TURF TACO ($ 4.60): The mix of skirt steak and shrimp is unbeatable! They have large avocado slices that add great texture to this large taco.
+ TACO ESPECIAL ($ 4.65): If you are a vegetarian or do not eat meat, this taco is a great option with a mix of smoked fish, shrimp, and scallops. Pair this taco with the hot sauce at the tables and you have a real hearty meal!
+ OSCAR’S TORTA ($ 10.99): The grilled bread is crunchy yet soft so that you do not cut the roof of your mouth when you bite into it. The mixture of spicy shrimp, skirt steak, and smoked fish is plenty in this giant sandwich. It is essentially the surf & turf taco in a sandwich form and much more substance! The bread was not too heavy and the perfect balance against the fish and vegetables.
MEXICAN SODA ($ 2.55): We had a mix of Jarritos, ranging from lime, guava, grapefruit, and orange. The GRAPEFRUIT was the best flavor! It was not too sweet and had strong carbonation and flavor that American soda seems to lack!

SO MUCH YES. Craving tacos? Make your way to Oscars for their $ 1.99 battered fish tacos. Establishment is very small with very limited seating. luckily we were only ordering our food to-​go. Although we had to wait 20 minutes for our food, I would have to say it was well worth the wait.
We ordered 4 tacos and the surf & turf burrito. The fish tacos were huge and very filling. Quite possibly the best fish tacos I’ve ever had! The Surf and Turf burrito on the other hand, was not up to par. I could’ve done without it. For $ 5.60 ish it wasn’t worth the price in my opinion. Presentation was poor – it literally looked like a giant soft taco and the overall taste wasn’t worth remembering. They have limes and sauces in the refrigerator – orange and green sauce are the best in my opinion.
I can’t wait to come back for more fish tacos and to try their ceviche! I saw so many people ordering the ceviche – it must be good!

I have been so stoked to try this place and had incredible expectations. Finally got to try on my last visit and was a little disappointed.
My friend and I both got food poisoning from the shrimp tacos or ceviche we both had. I found the ceviche to be really delicious and refreshing at first, but the sourness got to me towards the end. Which is saying something, because I love sour. I felt like a lot of the flavor for the tacos comes from the various sauces you can add. By itself they were just all right and overhyped.
But really, food poisoning? I ate at Southeast Asia street stalls and didn’t get food poisoning so my stomach is pretty strong. Not sure if it was just a bad batch, but I won’t ever be trying it out again.
Parking is terrible and seating is really limited, but that’s expected.

Came around 2 on a Wednesday and the line was out the door. Took about 20 – 25 minutes to get our order in.
Parking was terrible, had to walk a bit
Seating is pretty limited
They had a pitcher of (free) horchata out for those waiting? It went by pretty quickly and I wanted more and was waiting for them to refill it but no luck :(
Tacos were a tad expensive, like $ 4.50+ for one (except for the fish tacos $ 2) but they’re huge! Fish tacos are $ 1 from 3 – 5? Monday-​thursday? but we were already in line and didn’t want to wait another 30min to save a couple bucks. I tried the battered fish, spicy grilled shrimp and surf and turf tacos since I’m not from the area, but I would’ve been good after 1 ½ or 2. Three was definitely too much, but I wanted to try a couple different tacos. Good flavor, fresh & good portions. They were all good, but the surf and turf was my favorite.
Don’t forget to grab lime and sauces from the refrigerator! I tried the chipotle crema and spicy guacamole and they got me hookeedd. I love my sauces! Drenched all my tacos in both sauces. Tummy is happy :)
Oh, they also have a rewards program. Didn’t sign up because I probably won’t be in the area again anytime soon, but it seems as if you’d be able to rack up points and rewards pretty quickly (1pt for each dollar spent, free soup at 10pts, free fish taco at 20pts). Seeing as my three tacos cost about $ 12, it’d be totally worth it to sign up!
You should definitely check Oscar’s out if you like seafood and are in the area!

All time favorite place to go for seafood tacos!!! They have 3 different bottles of sauces: red hot sauce, spicy guacamole and chipotle crema. The food might come out slow but that just means they’re busy and the food is so good! A little pricey for the tacos but so worth it. But the tacos are quite large. My favorite is the surf and turf tacos (shrimp and carne asada) I also like the ceviche, it’s fresh.
Con: The parking space is sorta limited.

Not the absolute best tacos I have ever had, but certainly a very good taco. We came here for an early lunch before taking a walk along the beach. Ordered the surf and turf, chicken, and steak tacos. I liked all of them, and the quality of ingredients was outstanding.
I will say that to my personal taste, the tacos here tasted a bit bland. They give you a lot of sauce options, so that is not a huge deal.

We had a lot of tacos while we were in San Diego and Oscar’s was my favorite! We went to the Emerald St. location to get take out and took our food to eat on the beach. Oscar’s was packed and for good reason. Everyone wants the tacos! They cook to order and so you know it’s fresh.
Since we wanted to try a variety, the three of us ordered different tacos including the surf & turf (shrimp and steak), smoked fish, battered fish, grilled octopus, and taco especial (smoked fish, shrimp and scallops). The tacos were quite large, so 2 per person would have been ample. I thought the battered fish was one of the best as well as the surf and turf. The grilled octopus was a bit bland. We also got the mixed ceviche which was quite good. It was topped with almost half of an avocado. 7 tacos and 1 ceviche for less than $ 35. Great location by the beach.

Yum yum yum, amazing Mexican seafood steps away from the beach!
I’ve had the torta de Oscar before and it is to die for. This trip I came in during breakfast hours and went for the breakfast torta with steak. The bread was perfectly toasted, the steak was so tender, the eggs and cheese and potatoes were perfectly seasoned so that you didn’t even need to add hot sauce (but if you want to, there are about 10 different kinds to choose from). Bonus, you get a half avocado for no extra charge!
Parking is easy during the am hours and the service was quick. Later in the evenings and during tourist season, forget about it! Good luck finding that parking, but so worth it when you do!

This place has great value along with delicious and fresh food, there’s nothing to dislike.
The portions are fairly large so if you don’t eat much, I recommend maybe sticking with two tacos or even one!
The fish tacos are what I came here for and they’re great but I actually think the spicy shrimp taco is the stand out here. It’s really fresh and one should fill up a small eater and two a big eater. Sauces are hot, beware. Pair it with their house orange sauce and some Guatemala spicy green sauce, whew!

I’ve continuously stated that the original Oscar’s has the best fish tacos I’ve ever had. Never had any reason to come to the Pacific Beach location though. Reason is simple: OG spot has decent amounts of street parking… sometimes you’ll find something in front of the place if you’re lucky. But PB? Yeah, good luck with the parking situation. With that said, just so happened to already be parked and within walking distance of the PB location… so here we go!
All I’m asking for is the same excellent quality fish tacos that the OG location provides. Ordered a full load: the better battered fish taco, the grilled shrimp taco, the smoked marlin taco, and the taco especial (with scallops). And you know what? It’s JUST AS FREAKING GOOD. Good to know that quality has not dipped with the opening of another location.
As for the location itself, I suppose the tradeoff for the crappy parking situation is that there there’s actually a significant amount of seating! Other place has like… maybe 10 seats? Not really sure to be honest. Only thing is that if you want the sauces to take to-​go, you’ll probably have to find it on one of the tables there because it’s highly unlikely they’ll be in the fridge.
Overall, I expected the same level as the OG location and that’s what I got. Thank you Oscar’s, you are still awesome!

Oscar, you have made all of my Mexican food wishes come true.
Six stars!!!

Omg! I’m such a piggy! Or at least that’s what the staff would probably say when they see me! I came here TWICE in one day over Labor Day weekend and I fell in absolute fish taco love, with a capital L!
They are amazing!!! It’s a whole in the wall and the line and wait can be so long but it was well worth my both trips! I had the battered fish taco and fish ceviche with horchata and it was absolutely scrumpalicious! The food was authentic and fresh and the horchata was probably the best I’ve tasted in like my whole life.
You gotta try it for yourself you won’t be disappointed. Only downside is portions are small so the ceviche, well you maybe gotta order two lol,