Seafood Taco Time!

I'm not one to turn down some good seafood Mexican food so when I was invited to have lunch at Oscar's Mexican Seafood in Pacific Beach I was totally down to go.

I had hubby, my two boys, and my cousins in tow when headed down to grab some lunch. We met up with a few other family members and got in line to order our food.

I was very surprised when we arrived. I was expecting a typical eat-in taco shop which Oscars is not. It is pretty much a taco "stand". When you enter, there is a small space of about 10x8 to order and pick up your food. Within this space is the soda machine, a small refrigerator there the self-serve salsas are kept, as well as the napkins, utensils, and hot sauce on a small counter opposite the cash register.

menu on the wall

kitchen and order counter

Front Door

There was a line about 15-20 people deep the entire hour we were there.

The only "seating" available are very narrow and unshaded counter seating right outside the order "room". Here is my family squeezing together while we waited for our food. Our party took up half the available seating.

Our tacos took about 15 minutes to come out.

I ordered the:

TACO ESPECIAL (Smoked Fish, Shrimp, Scallops) Served with Cabbage, Onion, Tomato, Cilantro, Avocado and Cheese for $4.65. The fish, shrimp, and scallops in the taco were miniscule. I hardly tasted it. Also, the taco only had one tortilla so it quickly crumbled as I tried to eat it.

Hubby had the:

CUCARACHAS (Battered and fried Shrimp w/ Shell On) Sesame seed oil/ginger dressing with grilled Fish or octopus for $10.00. We waited over half an hour for this order. The shrimp tasted old, tough, and rubbery. The sauce it sat in was very greasy. There was no fish or octopus that accompanied it either.

The verdict:

Not a good spot for kids. Space is very tight for squirmy kids. My kids like quesadillas, and the one they got here they didn't eat. They said "I don't like the way it tastes".
Pricey for what you get. A $5 taco should be WOW! This taco was "womp-womp".
The tacos sounded great on the menu, definitely mouth-watering. But when I got the taco itself, I was disappointed. I grew up in National City where taco shops reign were born so my expectations are pretty high.
The long line outside is deceiving. It's not worth the wait!

I can't write about seafood tacos without giving you suggestions on where to get some legit seafood tacos. I solicited the help of my fellow foodie friends and here is our top 5 seafood taco spots in San Diego:

1) TJ Oyster Bar