Lou’s Fish Shack

Overpriced (as most restuarants can be in SF) and underwhelming — ordered a crab louie salad and it was surprisingly small for a $ 27 salad! Wouldn’t go back next time I’m in town — definitely better options in the surrounding area.

After searching for a place to eat, I decided to come here since the outside is very modern and inviting. I didn’t look up many reviews, and I wish I did. I ordered the tomato basil pasta, and it was soggy pasta with a bunch of water in it. On top of that, I ordered a small house salad — which came with absolutely no dressing on it. I asked our waiter for some more dressing and he seemed angry that I asked. About 10 minutes later, still no dressing. He came back upstairs (where our table was) and didn’t even acknowledge our table. Another 10 minutes and he comes back upstairs and I decide to flag him down again… STILL NO DRESSING! So I tell him and he says «oh yeah… sorry…» in a snide voice. He comes back in about 5 minutes and finally brings the dressing.
My friend ordered the clam chowder bread bowl, and it was sub-​par. The bread was soggy by the time it got to our table, and the chowder seemed like it came out of a can.
Moral of the story, this place has HORRIBLE service and the food is god awful.

I normally avoid touristic dinning places but this was pretty good.
Mussels were delicious with sourdough toast. Broth was perfect.
Kids burger for $ 8 with fries and drink was a steal and generous portion.
Clam chowder was nice and seafood past was good — a little more al-​dente would have been perfect.

This was the best crab bisque I’ve ever had. The salmon BLT was delicious. I give this restaurant a 5 out of 5. Very impressed. Will go again.

Went here on a fluke on a Sunday night. Wasn’t crowded, got seated right away. We ordered 2 chowders w/​bread bowls and parmesean fries. Wow, I was impressed with the chowder. Super flavorful, huge portions, and the parm fries were great. Great ambiance, very clean, service was good, and bathrooms were clean! Whew! Lol I’d come again! The drinks look good too :)

Ordered clam chowder with fish and chips, food was good, server was nice, kitchen got our food out fast, had a great experience.

Came in for late lunch with 5 kids and 6 adults. Service was quick and the server was helpful. Loved the clam chowder bowl. Very good bread and the soup was spicy. Not too pricey.

A very quick lunch here on the way back to drop the parents back to their cruise. Very friendly staff :) I had a the prawn cocktail, was expecting more, was very average for the price.

After a long walk over the hilly landscape of San Francisco I was pretty damn hungry. Many places on offer on this fisherman’s wharf area but I felt like some seafood. So I stopped in here for a local draft beer with muscles and fish and chips to set my self up for the long term home (although. I wish I didn’t have the beer later haha). Asides for the us dollar exchange rate killing me the muscles were tiny but delicious so I also got a box of fish and chips which were fresh and delicious but I have to say for $ 44USD it wasn’t amazing. The staff were friendly and helpful and the location is nice with lots of people watching to be done while you eat. The price was the killer for me but otherwise it was ok.

I ended up at Lou’s Fish Shack looking for dinner in the wharf area around 8:00 pm. It’s pretty crazy how such a busy area can become somewhat of a ghost time at night. While I had somewhat low expectations for a restaurant in a super touristy area, the restaurant delivered.
Here’s what I liked about Lou’s:
1. Nice indoor /​outdoor seating
2. Good service — our waiter checked in on us multiple times and was very prompt
3. Ordered the popcorn shrimp — decent size shrimp pieces and crunchy exterior. Also had a bowl of the clam chowder to which my husband said were really big and soft clams… something we definitely didn’t expect.
Not sure if I’ll return if I’m not in the area, but good place to check out if you need dinner in a rush. My only qualm was the prices at the restaurant were relatively expensive but definitely priced competitively based upon the other restaurants in the area.

Like most I vacation to this area and as a tourist paying top buck for this restaurant I expected much more. Over priced and service was below par. Other reviews make say something different so maybe I just went on the wrong night. Not sure if I would try again however I can be convinced.

My mom, best friend and her mom were out in California visiting and we were looking for a place to get a good seafood meal. We were out on the piers and as you know some places are great, some aren’t, some are pricey and some are on the money with cost. We just happened to luck out with quality and service because when we saw this place our feet were tired and we were ready to park it and eat!
Food was really, really good and the live jazz band is great. Their giant tropical drinks are perfect for sharing and quite delicious. The service was pretty on point. The atmosphere could use some work, as it wasn’t anything special. Lou’s is definitely a more casual, low-​key place. If you’re looking for GREAT food, close to the water that isn’t TOO overpriced… this is the place!

Wir waren sehr angenehm überrascht, die Beurteilungen gegen hier ja sehr weit auseinander, sodass man sich manchmal fragt, ob es sich um das selbe Restaurant handelt? Aber die vielen Kunden auf der Terrasse und in dem Restaurant haben uns veranlasst doch hier essen zu gehen. Und das war richtig so! Wir hatten 2 x Fisch (Lachs und Mahi-​Mahi), beide Fischarten waren unterschiedlich und hervorragend zubereitet und gewürzt, dass dazu servierte Gemüse war bissfest und sehr schmackhaft, der Reis Pilaf sehr typisch so wie er sein sollte. Der hausgemachte Salat mit Citrus Dressing hat uns auch sehr gut gefallen sowie eine Flasche californischen Cabernet Sauvignon. Dies lies leider kein Dessert mehr zu, wir würden auf jeden Fall wieder kommen!

I had the popcorn shrimp and it was pretty good. My husband had the fish and chips and those were good as well. Nothing amazing, but totally worth going to for the price. We would eat there again, no problem.
The sangria was really good. My husband doesn’t like that sort of thing and drank a whole one.

Was a FANTASTIC night for the three of us! My Wife and Son LOVED the food. We sat upstairs in front of Bobby Spiderweb and his Blues band!
I’m givin 5 stars cuz the night we were there was so magical! We were gonna go to a couple places we went to on the Pier before when we were in our late 20s. But we saw Lou’s and decided to check’t out. We were initially sat on the 1^st floor not too far from the door bearing the cold SF night draft.
On display at the sidewalk host stand was the fishbowl drink of the night. «Somethin old, somethin new, somethin borrowed, somethin blue!» is what I call’t, but it was prolly a blue Hurricane I think! I didn’t order’t, but it was beautifully enticing. A clear blue luring crystal ball that overpowers any weak thirsty man like a topless Siren!
We went upstairs to warsh our hands before settlin in and came across a Blues band settin up for their performance. We were escorted without chagrin after requesting a seating change upstairs to be seated in front of the band. I felt bad for the downstairs servers cuz they’d lose business to the upstairs sections.
Bobby Spiderweb w his KICK ASS ROCKIN BLUES BAND followed by a Cameo appearance by vocalist Filmore Slim was AMAZING!!!
Food…
Also AMAZING!
We ended up ordering a full bowl of Clam Chowder after our small bowl cuz it was jus that damn good! The calamari was on point which I dressed my medium rare cheese burger along with some left over calamari. The shrimp Capellini (up charge) was out of this world! We had simple beers. Blue Moon and I had some Anchor Steam. Can’t go to SF and disrespect The City by not having a local brew!
We were lost in time together! We forgot how tired we were from work. We were exalted to a state of bliss w what was goin on! Totally submerged in the moment!

Best crab cake sandwich I’ve ever had. This place it’s right by the pier. It’s rustic décor and casual ambient makes you feel right at home. Our waitress was really nice and on top of things. She took our order promptly and our food came out quick, drink refills kept coming. Only thing, and this is true of most places in this area, it looks a little dingy. I guess it’s because its by the pier. Great place though.

I stopped in after walking down fishermans warf looking for dinner. I sat outside and started with a cup of clam chowder. The clam chowder was bland and felt like it needed a boost of some sort. I’m not sure what but maybe some seasoning. But my entrée made up for the bland chowder. For dinner I had the fried prawns. The prawns were delicious and well seasoned. Sadly, I was unable to finish because I made the not so smart decision of gulping down two glasses of lemonade.
I somehow managed to save some room for dessert. I had a cheesecake. Upon first looks, I was disappointed. It was the tiniest cheesecake I have ever seen. But don’t let looks deceive you. It was a pretty good cheesecake.
To end, Lou is a great seafood restaurant. The food will leave you you satisfied and full but won’t blow your mind.

First time in a long time I hadn’t checked out Unilocal reviews for restaurants and I got badly burnt. This place deserves 2 stars: 1 for the service and 1 for the bacon in their clam chowder.
Came here on 4^th of July and it was one of the places still open after the fireworks display so we stopped by. If I can live off of seafood, I would. Being in fisherman’s wharf, I wanted clam chowder.
The mussels were ok. The bread that accompanied the plate came out BURNT. I’m not talking about just a little burnt, but BLACK. I had to scrape the burnt pieces with a butter knife. I thought the first thing you learn how to cook is toast?!
We ordered the seafood pasta and clam chowder in the bread bowl. The food came out incredibly slow and I was getting irritated because the folks next to us came in after us already got their food and we were still waiting for ours. The bread bowl was cold and chewy and I wished they baked their bread bowl. Again, the bacon in the clam chowder was its sole saving grace.
The seafood pasta was the worst excuse for a plate. They probably just took a box of linguini pasta, a can of crushed tomatoes, and a bag of frozen seafood mix and cooked them all together. That’s how it tasted and how it was presented to us. No flavor whatsoever. To charge $ 21 for it is highway robbery.
We thought we’d have time to eat and make it to the train. By the time we left, we were late. They say fisherman’s wharf is a tourist trap; and congrats, Lou’s, you definitely trapped us.

OK. First, I will add the caveat that I don’t eat seafood. So, you can take this review with a grain of salt. That being said, this place was so-​so. The folks who did have seafood were underwhelmed. Food seemed a little slow, and then they dropped my hamburger as they were serving it. You would think if they were in a hurry the next hamburger would be a little underdone. Nope, overdone and dry. Service was ok, nothing bad — but not thrilling.
I am certain you can do better on the wharf.

Out of all the restaurants along Jefferson Street, I chose this place. It’s a fun casual place. I was in the mood for a salad, so I had a cobb salad w/​ranch dressing. My boyfriend got the only steak dish on the menu, the NY steak w/​garlic parmesan fries & grilled zucchini & broccoli. The food tasted good, but due to the location of the restuarant, quite overpriced for the amount of food you get.
My cobb salad wasn’t that big, had a few tiny bits of hard boiled eggs, avocado, etc., but for the small size, that was not worth $ 17. For that amount, I could buy enough ingredients to have a salad like that to last all week long.
My boyfriend’s meal was nice and the parmesan garlic fries and grilled veggies were good. The portion sizes could have been larger. Again not worth the practically $ 28 price.

Crab bisque. Very good. Yummy.
Service: quick and attentive.
Happy hour: 4.50 beers and house wines.
Calamari was good! Caesar was good! Baked half of a crab-​good!
Price: way too high. Seemed very touristy.
Bathrooms are wayyyy upstairs and are not separated by sexes.
Not bad, but not Scomas, either.