Olde Port Fresh Seafood Market and Grill

I’ve gotten fish and shrimp here a few times, it’s right down the road from my house. Everything has always been nice and fresh. It’s a bit expensive, but that’s normal for seafood. The customer service could be a bit friendlier

Not sure why this place doesn’t get better reviews! It seems like many of the somewhat unsatisfied reviewers have only tried the fish tacos here. I’ve never tried their tacos, but I can say that this place would be somewhere to pick up fish to make on your own– it’s more of a market, not a restaurant. As far as the fish goes, I have never bought fresher, more delicious fish anywhere in my life. The smoked salmon is extraordinarily good– ask for a free sample.

So, I’ve seen this place for the last 18 mos that we’ve lived up here in Arroyo Grande. And the outside, little strip mall of shops, never made me want to try it. Until I read the reviews on Unilocal, and just happened to be looking up a «Fresh Fish market» where we could buy our seafood, and didn’t have to drive up to Morro Bay. This place is NOT a restaurant, which, I didn’t get, when we walked in, until some other people walked in and asked what food they could get here. There were only two tables near the front, and they’re outdoor plastic table with plastic chairs. So, I gathered right away that we were taking our tacos to-​go. The guy behind the counter said to the lady who asked, «Just fish tacos, made with only the Rock Cod. We’re not a restaurant, we just do the fish tacos as a bonus for those who want to purchase the Rock cod and have tacos made.» OKAY, COOL! Our family of 4 ordered 8 fish tacos, they are $ 7.99 for two, though what he does is WEIGH the cod out, and then make your fish tacos with the Cod that you bought! THESE TACOS ARE STUFFED with JUST ROCK COD! They are grilled, not fried. He put a different type of sauce, kinda gravy-​like, with some sour cream… there were grilled onions in the sauce and I LOVE ME SOME ONIONS! No cabbage in these, so not a Baja style… just fish. We’ll definitely be coming back for the fish tacos, and anytime we want some fish for the grill! So happy I looked up a «Fresh Fish Market» and found Olde Port!!! I would’ve posted a pic, but I ate my food! My 8yr old daughter ate BOTH of her tacos, GONE! She is not picky, though the tacos were so stuffed we could not believe she did it, lol! That speaks to how tasty they are!

I went in with my wife to try their fish tacos, we ordered and the employee, Mark, said he couldn’t begin to make our food until he refilled his display, approximately ten minutes, we decided to wait even though his priorities seemed askew. I asked for a shrimp cocktail, he told me they were kept in a refrigerator by the door. I went to get one and there wasn’t any in there. I asked him if there were any more in another part of the store, he came out and verified the refrigerator didn’t have one, and didn’t say if they were out or not. A couple of customers came in and were helped, but he wasn’t starting our food, so I told him we were leaving and he didn’t need to prepare our food. The customer is why the employee is there, Mark seems to have lost sight of that. Needless to say I will not return.

Fish Tacos so good employee very friendly and helpful. Will definitely go back. Good selection of fresh seafood.

I love little mom and pops that youd never find, unless your an avid Unilocaler. This is one of those places.
Fish tacos are one of the wife’s favorites. So I was on a mission to find some good ones. The idea was to get them to go, head down to the beach and actually have a planned picnic. Something we never have time to do.
The wife (and I) loved the tacos. Plenty of fish and seasoned just right. We also discovered a great place to buy fish when in town.
Note to the guy running the place: you might try to be a little friendlier. …You’ve worked hard to make this place go… it’ll help your day to day business!

In the past 6 months, I have been buying my seafood here. The location is very convenient for me. The guys who work there are always helpful and friendly. And most importantly, the fish is super fresh! I have picked up at least 6 different items throughout the last few months and the quality is always great!

Please do not give this place your business. My wife, son and I came in to buy some fresh fish and the guy working was SO rude we ended up walking out. He made us feel so uncomfortable and we were trying to spend money! Do not go here. I want to give zero stars but Unilocal makes you pick at least one star. Cant wait to see you go out of business.

Small place. One guy working. If you miss the sign out front you would not know what they make. Very plain. Crabs and fish for sell. But I came here for tacos. I also noticed they had shrimp cocktail. So we are going to try that as well.
SHRIMP:
small shrimp with a mild cocktail sauce. Added tapatio and lemon. It tasted pay good. Had chopped celery on the bottom. Made a little difficult to mix
TACOS:
these things have so much fish in them! Really impressed. He stuffs these things with so much true cod. I could of made another taco with what fell out. They say there is Pico de Gallo on it. But it’s more like a restaurant style salsa. Not that it is a bad thing. There is cheese and sour cream on it also. Only thing I would change is make the sour crème more like a cilantro lime crema. But the star of it is the nice flaky not battered cod. It is flavored perfect. This is the style tacos I like. Big fish portions and NOT FRIED!
Hole in the wall that does not dissapoint. If you are running around and want to sit on your tailgate and eat a taco this is your spot.

Husband brought me here based on Unilocal reviews & it was worth it. Whoever made my fish tacos thank you cause they were so friggin good! Not going to explain it because you should just go there & try em.

Although I love the salmon and would buy it every week if it didn’t cost so much because of market value I have to say that the FISH TACOS are my favorite in town hands down… Thanks mark !

Forewarning: This review is based strictly on their fish tacos. I’ll keep it short: the fish tacos taste really good but are DRENCHED in oil. I’m not exaggerating when I say there was literally at least a tablespoon of oil leftover in my dish after the tortillas soaked up most of it up. Proceed with caution.

Came here to try to fish tacos. They were just okay. The tilapia is marinated nicely but chopped up into tiny pieces, almost into a mash which weirded me out. It was piping hot, but covered in a ton of cheese and icy cold salsa. It was a bit too tomato saucy for my taste. The quality of the fish was okay, I just wish it wasn’t mashed up, and that there were some greens and more pico de gallo-​ish salsa on the taco.

FYI, I’m not a pro I’m just a normal guy who loves to eat. I started Unilocaling so I can help people find delicious places to eat.
So, right off the bat I have to say that this place is not a restaurant. It’s a fish market and they sell tacos as well. As soon as I walked in, I was a bit confused lol. I asked for some shrimp tacos, and the dude said «no.» Straight up no! I was a bit unsettled by this. I asked for snapper tacos, and he said no again! After he saw my confused look he then explained that they’re a fish market primarily and only sell tilapia tacos. He then went on to promise the tacos would be good. I just went with it because I was quite disoriented. I felt like the guy was really rude, and all I wanted were some fish tacos. I let it pass me by because the dude probably thought I was a douche. I came in wearing a tank top, sunglasses, and I’m a pretty built dude so I guess I looked the part.
Anyway, the dude delivered on his promise. The guy turned it around and asked me if I wanted everything on my taco (sour cream, cheese, and pico de gallo) and was polite from then on. He probably realized he was being a dick.
The tilapia was hot and fresh! Not too hot because the sour cream and freshly made pico de gallo cooled it down. These tacos didn’t even need a special sauce. The tilapia was seasoned perfectly and it had tons of flavor! Oh, and the tacos were filled! I mean there was so much tilapia that I had to eat some with my fingers before I could eat it in the taco. Definitely a decent portion and taste for the price. I highly recommend this place.
Would be 5 stars if the dude wasn’t a dick at first. He did recover and was polite afterwards once he realized I was a nice guy. Hopefully he learned, «don’t judge a book by its cover.»

Fishy smelling fish tacos. Canned salsa. Waited 20 minutes while the guy ran out to buy tortillas. Not a good experience.

Wow, thanks Unilocal for this find! On our vacations to Oregon, I always enjoy live Dungeness Crab. Then I found this shop. They cooked and cleaned a live Dungeness Crab for us for a super reasonable price. Crab was cooked perfectly. On top of that, super friendly and helpful. Highly recommended!

Came in for that famous smoked salmon, got some tasty eat in food to boot. Yum fish tacos were insane! Great local feel/​friendly, funny staff that were able to help me think of new ways to cook my fish!

Stopped by Olde Port today to pick up some King Salmon after receiving an email about a sale price on fresh caught salmon. I stopped by to just get the salmon, happy to pay the price for wild salmon, and while there, they had an excellent assortment of other fish and shrimp. Also, when I was there, I was able to sample the smoked and candied salmon — delicious! Picked up some of the BEST fish tacos I’ve ever eaten, and they make them right in front of you. Took them home, and we ate them while they were still warm. So yummy. So if you’re looking for the best fish tacos in town, stop by the Olde Port Fresh Seafood Market! We’ll be eating very well tonight!

I come here to get crab whenever I don’t have the time to drive to Giovanni’s in Morro Bay or their other store in Avila Beach. The only seafood I buy here is the crab so I can’t say much about their other food.
But, I do have to say that their customer service is excellent. Recently purchased live Dungeness Crab at $ 7.99/lb and he was able to clean and gut them for me because god knows it’ll take me forever and an hour to do it myself. He was really nice and didn’t mind at all. Yay! Before when they sold live Rock Crab, they wouldn’t do it when I asked but maybe because it’s a different person?
They have interesting metal art on the wall raging from $ 150 to $ 1000! They do look pretty cool though.
Anywho, this will continue to be my go-​to place for amazing crab and service! Will have to check out their dining options soon.

While this is a small, almost hole-​in-​the-​wall type of location, the selection of fish is ok. The selection varies according to what the fishermen catch (i.e. you may be surprised or disappointed by the selection depending on when you go), but they generally have items such as shrimp, scallops, and smoked salmon.
So, if you are looking for a local selection of fresh fish, but don’t want to drive out to Avila Beach to buy it, go to this location. And remember to bring an ice chest.