Red Sails Inn

4 star for atmosphere, but 1 for the food. Clam Chowder was too hot, and almost like paste in texture. Fish was ok, but the waitress short changed me a $ 1 The bill was $ 27.53, I gave her $ 40.53, came back with $ 12. Learn to count lady, she got less in a tip, that $ 1 is part of her tip. Second time I try this place, and still wasn’t very good. This place is for locals who don’t care and tourist, who don’t know.

Still one of best seafood restaurants in San Diego, add the patio ambiance, location, and great food you have the right place for price.

Cute little restaurant on the edge of the water! The cute décor inside makes it worth the trip! The food is decent. Not horrible but not the best in town. It has a lot of parking across the street so that makes it easy…

Great Bloody Mary with a secret mix that’s been around for 40+ years. Out of this world with atomic horseradish sauce, olives to garnish.

Honestly, the only good thing about our meal at the Red Sails Inn was that we went for lunch and didn’t waste a nice dinner there. This is a seafood restaurant, but the 2 seafood options we had were just bland and seemed like they were frozen.
Everything was just bad for us. The service was absolutely terrible, even though the restaurant seemed fairly slow for Sunday lunch. We started with the calamari strips, which we had to send back, because they were over-​cooked, chewy, and had absolutely no flavor.
I ordered the burger, which I was so looking forward to. It seemed like it was typical frozen patty. My husband ordered the fish and chips, which was a joke! He got 3 tiny fish sticks. At least we had a good laugh thinking about how a seafood restaurant would pass those off as fish and chips. Local bars have better fish and chips.
Our waitress didn’t come over once while we were eating to check on us, and we had to sit and wait for the check. We are just glad we didn’t try the Red Sails Inn for a nice seafood dinner. I’m sure we would have been disappointed.

I was impressed with this restaurant. I had the crab stuffed salmon with Newburg sauce on top and it was really good and fresh. My daughter had the kids fish and chips and clam chowder soup and really enjoyed it also. The staff was really nice and the views were cool. If you sit outside you literally are 20 yards from a sailboat dock with 50+ sailboats, maybe even more. (The price was about $ 18 and up for adult dinner entrees just in case anyone was wondering)

Four stars for what it is: a local restaurant/​pub with hearty fresh food that’s your basic American fare in a pleasant and relaxing atmosphere. We stopped in for a late lunch, verging in being hangry. My husband and I split a veggie sammie with the addition of bacon, which was perfect. They actually took the time to bring it out on separate plates. The fries that came with it were delish. Our daughter went for the crab Louie salad which was fresh and so good. We ate on the patio overlooking the marina and enjoyed the gulls and pigeons and the quiet of the venue. I will come back next time we’re in the area. The staff was super friendly and we felt the love.

I’ll give it 4 stars for atmosphere and ambiance… 1 star for quality of fish. The mani tasted extremely fishy and the fish and chips tasted like Tyson’s. There seemed to be a lot of people eating burgers so to be said… Perhaps it is more of a burger drink spot… The bar looked pretty cool… But I DEFINITELY would not recommend any fish !!

I have bypassed this restaurant for 30 years, what a mistake! Requested a seat on the patio and walked through a charming old school marina bar. The view and ambience were great for after church lunch. I had the calamari sandwich and my husband had the grilled shrimp Caesar salad. He paused on ordering it because of the price but it was a generous serving of shrimp, and salad (!) and of good quality. My sandwich was fun old-​style and tasted pretty good, the fries could have been hotter.
What a fantastic marina view, the shade kept the sun off but not too cool. Our server was good, busy but friendly.
Metered parking is a pain and expensive so we parked a few blocks away for free in a large lot and had a delightful walk to and from the restaurant.
We will definitely return and make up for lost time!

They not only serve chip beef on toast it’s delicious.
Good food, outstanding location and good servers.
I’ll be back!

This patio setting is absolutely lovely and your pooch is welcome. Sweet gals serving, fresh food, (the crab Louis is loaded with crab,) and I can’t wait to come back. Okay, I docked a star because of the butter in silly little plastic pods and because the food is not absolutely fantastic… but I want to hang out here all the time! Lovely!

This is old school San Diego in a nutshell. Relaxing atmosphere, great bar service, big out door patio with amazing view of the water and yachts. You can hear about great fishing trips or sailing voyages around the world from an eclectic group of hearty sailors and captains at the bar or just enjoy the nautical décor.
Red Sails Inn is one of those charming places that hasn’t changed much probably since it opened over fifty years ago. We didn’t have to wait too long for a table out in the patio. It has a huge fountain in the middle of it. Don’t waste your time eating indoors when the weather outside is beautiful like it was the morning we went. Don’t let the plastic patio furniture and checkered tablecloth scare you away from ordering!
We had lunch there and the menu is really simple with about fifteen items to choose from. The portions will never leave you hungry. It’s a nice place to grab a bite if you’re staying in.

Beware of birds stealing your food. Out of your plate, out of your hand, our of your mouth! You heard it right, and you will thank me later. Beware of birds stealing your food!!!
Went there for the first time for breakfast. This place has an interesting vibe. It’s dark and red. Like those old dive bars, but with a carpet. A red, old, dark carpet. We sat outside for the view and because it was early, were able to get a table close to water. Waitress was friendly and attentive but that was it. No explanation on the menu, no extra mile.
I had an omelet with meat and potatoes because I was scared of some reviews I read about the food so I wanted to play safe. I mean, it’s an omelette, you can’t screw that up. Food came out at a decent time, and it tasted ok. Nothing mind blowing. We had to ask twice for a coffee refill which was annoying. I wasn’t so hungry so I ate half of my food and decided to take the rest home. Then the fun began:
As we sat there talking and waiting for the box, a seagull flew by, (they are all over) landed on my fedora hat, and took my omelette away! Like, bam! I mean, the thing was so heavy, when it flew away it pushed my fedora out of my head. Everyone at the restaurant was shocked and the waitress came by saying «this happens all the time, they actually steal food from people’s mouth».
So there I was, vulnerable, embarrassed, with no half omelette to take home, a pooped fedora and a bunch of strangers staring at me.
I know the restaurant can’t control Mother Nature but I paid for something a bird took away. And if it happens so often like she said, can’t they just find a solution for it? Hire a kid to scare them away and pay him by the hour.
I’m not coming back to have a heavy bird landing on my head and eating my food. Thank you very much.
P. s. View is nice, tho :)

Went last night for dinner. Was not impressed. The clam chowder was flavorless and so was the halibut. The vegetables tasted like frozen and then microwaved. The food was overall bland so was the service. Would not recommend. Extremely over priced for bad food.

The Red Sails Inn is a harbor-​side diner, with a bar. The pours are generous and the smiles are genuine. It is the perfect place to kill a few hours with new friends or old. If the weather cooperates and it almost always does, sit out on the patio, shut off your phone, take off your watch and enjoy the afternoon, old school…

Back in the late seventies and early eighties this was one of my favorites to go to and take my visiting friends and family. For nostalgia’s sake I I took my grown children there 2 weeks ago. I was embarrassed at my choice. Food was tasteless, fish sticks were served and still partly frozen after having been fried! Took us 45 minutes to get food not worth the wait. Please use fish fillets in your fish and chips dinner instead of tasteless fish sticks. Try to salvage this Shelter Island icon! Left very sad that seemingly no energy is being spent by the Red Sail owners to attract the locals or the visiting public! Right now all I can offer is a Luke warm one star, about the same temperature as our food was served!

It has a hole in the wall feel. It is a bit pricey but for a seafood restaurant it is still a nice vibe. The service speed was so-​so. But when our waitress was at our table she was nice and polite. She brought extra spoons for my one year old son to play with. She brought us anything we needed. The view from the back patio is very nice and pleasant. It is on the harbor and you can make out the downtown skyline. It is just a nice laid back spot to eat some fish.
We had the macadamia nut crusted halibut and the shrimp alfredo. It was all good. The salad was little bland but thats because its salad. The halibut was moist and had a lot of flavor. I would recommend this place.

Came here on Saturday because Bali Hai just had the worst customer service ever. We ordered a few items because we were starving. We had crab cakes, crab legs, oysters, battered shrimp, garlic herb cheese bread. I ordered the fish and chips as my entrée and my boyfriend ordered the bacon blue cheese burger.
Everything was delish. The owner was really nice and the staff was very friendly. Our waitress was delighted to serve us. She said not very many customers of our age come by. We sat outside over looking the ocean and boats. Will definitely come back here again.

Our food was delicious but wow I’m not sure if our server was just hired and this was her first day but I can tell you she was awful. We asked for Titos Vodka (gluten problem) in our Bloody Mary’s she didn’t remember and didn’t offer to have them remade. Our drinks (water & coffee) were not refilled without asking another server. The 3 stars are for food and food alone. Like I said delicious food

Maybe I give away stars too easily, but I really feel that this place deserves four. Having grown up just up the street, how did I not know about this place? Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day and this is a perfect breakfast setting… I was here for lunch, but that is neither here nor there. Imagine sitting on a patio with a view to the harbor– the water within feet of your table. You are bundled in a sweater, reading your favorite book, while drinking a hot cup of coffee. At that point, does it really matter what breakfast tastes like? The answer is no. Give me some toast and bacon and I’m a happy camper.
Today I had fish and chips for lunch. It tasted like fish and chips.
Looking forward to breakfast.