Wahoo’s Fish Tacos

GREAT FOOD!
This place had some fantastic tacos, sandwiches and entrees. The «surf and beach» ambiance was fun… and the food was better than the price would indicate.
Like someone said, I am disappointed that they couldn’t work out a good long-​term lease. However, I will make the trip to Sunnyvale if they open there!
BTW, I don’t even like fish — but the fish tacos here are great. I have to think long and hard when I decide between chicken or fish tacos at Wahoo’s.

I have been addicted to Wahoo’s since they first opened in Costa Mesa years ago. When the Palo Alto location opened, I thought my life would be complete. Admittedly, franchises tend to dilute from original quality, and Wahoos is no exception. It is still good and my fish taco cravings are kept at bay.
Unfortunately, I stumbled upon the restaurant as it was closing for good. I am sorry to see it go (Sunnyvale is too far away) and I am sure a lot of people who have grown to love their food feel similarly. The good news is, I tried the fish tacos at the new LYFE Kitchen (167 Hamilton in Palo Alto
) and have found my favorite fish tacos! They turned out to be even better! So try them if you too are craving fish tacos or a healthy Mexican option.

Too bad the Palo Alto restaurant closed as they are unable to negotiate a workable lease. They plan to open another restaurant in Sunnyvale Spring of 2012. There’s one in Santana Row in San Jose.
Great fish tacos — fresh, grilled not fried, healthy, and tasty.
Brown rice — tastes great
Very friendly and efficient workers. Prices are higher than a cheap taqueria, but very comparable with other similar Cal-​Mex fast-​food restaurants and decent for Palo Alto. The line is still long and parking can be a b*tch during lunch hour.
Food: 3.5 stars
Décor: 3 stars
Service: 4 stars
Value: 4 stars

I came here to fulfill my fish taco craving. Let’s just say I’m still on my fish taco hunt only because I like my fish tacos fried and crispy.
Don’t get me wrong, Wahoo’s has some pretty tasty fish tacos. Just not the unhealthy ones I’m looking for. I do WAHOOOOO their white rice and black beans. OH MAN. I’d definitely come back just for those 2 side items. I also ordered the Wahoo’s shrimp salad with some cilantro/​green dressing salad for my coworker… and although I didn’t get to try it, it looked scrumptious!
Since Wahoo’s is close to work, I will return for their salad. FYI… I arrived a little after 12, and barely beat the rush of high school’ers!

«Yahoo»… I finally made it to «Wahoo’s» for their tacos.
Also with my visit to this popular Palo Alto taco joint, I just earned a «Mexi-​can» badge on my app. (tapping shoulder)
What really confused me is that the restaurant serving Mexican cuisines with the Hawaiian ambience. I see surfboards and palm trees and hear Hawaiian music playing here. Even the Latino workers greeted me with a «aloha»!
But still I replied back and greeted them with a, «Holia»!
From the menu, I had the two tacos combo platter meal. For $ 6.50, I get two tacos with a choice of meats and served with rice and beans. I chose the carne asada as my meats of choice for my tacos. And I chose the Brown rice and White Beans for my sides. And since I was really hungry, I ordered a third taco-​Grilled Pork taco for $ 2.50. The tacos are a nice size with a heaping scoop of meat, Pico de Gallo, and lettuce in a warm corn tortilla. The sides were pretty generous too.
For a little spiciness and excitement, I also added the restaurant’s Mucho Aloha Hot sauce with my tacos. The spicy sauce adds a tang to my meal. I hope the restaurant sell the hot sauce. It may taste good on my flip-​flops!
Can’t have a Mexican meal without a «cold» $ 3.00 bottle of Corona. The restaurant also have five beers on tap; PBR, Bud, Blue moon, and Coors light. There is also a Hawaiian beer, which is a special for $ 1.95 for a pint glass.
The restaurant is best known for its fish tacos. But I’m not a seafood-​eater. However I will definitely be back and try other foods from here.
For a franchise, I thought this place was very good. Workers were friendly, despite greeting me with an «Aloha». The restaurant is way better than La Salsa and Chipotle’s.

OOooooppssssiee. I can’t believe I haven’t reviewed this place yet!!!
I only go to Wahoo for either their GRILLED FISH Tacos or their Chicken tortilla soup :)
Chicken tortilla soup is hearty and delicious with chunks of chicken that will satisfy your cravings for meat. I’m not usually a soup person at the restaurant but it is one of a few on the menu that will make you full for under $ 7 :)
Tacos are not the tiny little tacos from the usual taco truck. it’s larger so usually my friends with smaller stomach will be satisfied with just ONE Taco. For me… I could easily handle TWO for lunch :) But I only like their grilled fish tacos as I don’t like their style of americanized carne asada tacos with lettuce.
The Plates are generally large in portion BUT I don’t like their rice and beans. not the best.
Chips ARE NOT FREE, boo!
It does get crowded during lunch time and you get a mixture of stanford students and working professionals there. but the line usually moves fast

*lots of food
*food tasted excellent
*service was great, the employees are very friendly
*fast
*cajun chix bowl
*Maui Onion Rings — delish!

The fish tacos here are weak, especially considering the name of the place; Bland, bland, bland; I tried both the plain and «spicy» types. The latter was indeed a little spicier, but otherwise lacked flavor. 2 stars.
On my second visit I switched over to a burrito, to see if they could do better:
– Carne asada «banzai» burrito, wet: ($ 7.45) incl. brown rice; An OK price, considering the fresh veggies inside and the sauce on top. But no chips or salsa bar were included (fail). The burrito itself was a good size but fell a little flat; The carne asada itself wasn’t very flavorful, and the enchilada sauce on top was so bland it tasted just like stewed tomatoes right out of the can. 2.5 stars.
As for the good things:
— Nice, eclectic surfer and skateboard vibe here; Not your usual taqueria décor.
— Prices are pretty good. The two taco combo with rice and beans was only $ 6.25.
Still, if you’re gonna name yourself after a food item, you better make sure that item is worth coming back for!
Dan B’s Taqueria checklist for Wahoo’s:
Food? — meh
x Prices? — good
Portions? — average
Light crowds — No
Standout items? — none found
Chips + salsa included? — Negative!

Love their Maui Onion Rings… (beer battered and suuuper crunchielicious!) I often order their Maui Bowl for $ 7.99 and chip & salsa for $ 2 – 3!
I often visit this location when I’m working in the area, it’s walking distance to work and their service is awesome here. They have a lot of servers working on your order even during lunch rush.
They will personally bring out your order to your seat or if you’re just sitting down waiting for take out. I like to phone in my order for pick ups, and the wait is only 10 mins which is plus because I’m always hungry!
I enjoy their casual and hip atmosphere, it makes you feel relaxed somehow with all their cool surf décor :) For some reason I always feel like going to the beach to ride some waves after visiting… haha

I’ve came here twice so far, and I still think the food is alright. The first time I had the fish taco plate and I thought it could of have been better. It’s not the beer battered deep fried fish you’d expect, but instead a lighter, grilled fish. Yesterday I ordered the #1 — One chicken enchilada, rice and bean plate. I chose the green sauce over the red sauce for my enchilada. It ended up being a light green, creamy sauce, that tasted like mustard to me. Wasn’t really a big fan. I will stick with the red sauce from now on.
My coworker ordered the chicken banzai burrito and he said it was good. That thing was massive. Maybe I will try that the next time. My other coworker ordered a veggie burrito, wet. There were mushrooms in it, which I thought was weird.
Menu selection is definitely more healthier than what you would find at Rubio’s.

Awesome food here cept you dont get your free chips and salsa.
Their shrimp burritos or shrimp plate is on point. There’s like over 50 shrimp on that thing! Def worth your money. The place even serves brown rice! Awesome for you health freaks.
The one at santana row had $ 1 beers. even heff! I don’t know if they still do it but that’s awesome! Tacos and beer yee!

Recommended by my San Diego native friend that Wahoo’s would be a good catch for some fish tacos, we decided to stop in for some wishful sunny So-​Cal vibes on this miserably rainy X-​mas shopping day.
Wahoo’s offers a nice, lighter alternative to the Rubio’s battered & deep fried version (which I still love). I had the «Kahuna Grande» Combo platter, which includes 1 taco & 3 taquitos, beans & rice. I chose the grilled spicy fish taco & chicken for the taquitos, black beans and brown rice. In addition, I ordered a ‘spicy’ taco a la carte and a Primo beer which they have on tap.
The ‘spicy’ fish taco was not spicy at all, but was moist and flavorful. A generous aliquot of chili sauce was much welcomed. Overall, the food was good and the portions quite large. I know I’ll be coming back when I’m in the area looking for a quick healthy bite.

The fish tacos are cooked and seasoned very well. It’s a unique combination of Latin and Hawaiian flavors.
It can be a light and healthy lunch, or add side dishes of beans and rice to fill up.
I visit every time I’m in the area.

No way Jose!
This place specializes in their fish tacos and they were terrible! I’ve been here once before but at the Santana Row location but I thought I’d give it another try. Well it was worse then the 1^st time the fish tasted old, and was a bit tough. I will never step into a Wahoo’s again.

Lunch. That meal I always pack and bring to work.
And on the fluke off-​days, Wahoo’s pulls through.
Wahoo’s is:
Easy — Fast. (even faster if you phone in your order) — Friendly — Got options. It’ll even pull through for the vegan or vegetarian in you. And yes, it’s even possible to get a healthy meal out of this place. Wa-​hoo!
For a franchised taco joint, the quality is pretty high across the board in terms of flavor and freshness of ingredients. A lunch will run you $ 8 not including a drink or other additions.
Last visit: tried the new chopped «super chopper» salad — chicken, rice, beans, carrots, a whopping 2 pcs of tomato, lettuce and raw mushrooms & zucchini. The cajun chicken and white beans had enough flavor (and kick!), no additional dressing was needed. Not a bad pick but not sure I’d get it again.

So happy that Wahoo’s has finally made the trek up from SoCal. Came for the 2 for 1 deal and was very happy.
It is hard coming here when my local ‘hood offers so many local ma & pa options but occasionally when I want a little more refined burrito this fits the bill.

2.5 Stars
My boyfriend and I were starving the other day while we were strolling California Ave and wanted some fast, cheap food without getting… cheap fast food lol. I remember a coworker of mine mentioning that this place was pretty good so we decided to walk around the corner and give it a try. It’s funny because it was really overcast that day and we walked into this place that was supposed to give off a surfer/​Hawaiian vibe in the middle of Palo Alto. Well, that’s a chain for ya. Anyhoo…
I ordered the a Wahoo Spicy Chicken bowl with brown rice and spicy cajun white beans. I like spicy. Bf got the Wahoo Bowl (fish) with brown rice. We also got chips and salsa.
A server brought our meal to our table, which was nice. The chips and salsa were ehhh. Nothing special. My entrée? Hmm… I probably should have gotten black beans instead because the chicken was over-​seasoned to begin with and the side of cajun beans made the overall effect overwhelming. Thank goodness for the brown rice, which was well-​cooked and dulled out the flavor A BIT. Bf said his fish was super dry and it looked the part. His decision to substitute beans for more brown rice didn’t help that cause lol. He tried dousing his fish in hot sauce but there was no rescuing it. Kinda disappointing to get dry fish from a place that’s called Wahoo’s Fish Tacos.
Anyway, this place isn’t terrible, just not good either. I liked that the menu has several healthy options and you can easily customize your meal to your taste buds’ liking. Anywhere that serves brown rice gets brownie points from me. No pun intended. And a spicy/​not-​spicy option? Thumbs up.
On a side note, the playlist or radio station that was on while we were there was so random. It featured Hi-​Five and Alanis Morisette to give you an example.

Slow and poor service.
I understand that lunch rush gets a bit busy, but how can my easy order be messed up?
All I wanted was a flame-​grilled fish burrito with no salsa, easy on the rice to go. NO SALSA. The guy asked me 3 times to confirm the no salsa part. Yes, I want no salsa. Not a fan of pico de gallo (onions).
Out comes my order 45 min later. Really now … Strike 1. Headed back to the office. Styrofoam box says ‘No Salsa’ — looking good so far. But why is the rice not inside the burrito? Strike 2. I start on the burrito and its dripping … water ?!? hmm … Continuing on, the burrito is a bit crunchy and tastes funny. I look inside and low and behold– SALSA. Strike 3. Needless to say I just gave up, cut it open and ate the fish.
fail. I won’t be returning. I think we took this out of our lunch rotation too.

One out of the three locations in the Bay, I’m a fan of Wahoo’s!
I love the hang loose surfer shop feel of this place.
Its not gourmet or authentic, but who cares?! The Fish Tacos are the good and what other fast food Taco Joint can you have a Corona? ;)
Not only are the Fish Taco’s good, but the Wahoo’s Green Sauce on a Carne Asada Enchilada, is yummy!

If it weren’t for the healthier (fake) Mexican food here, this would probably only be a 2 star review.
I like that they put veggies in the banzai burrito ($ 5.95 incl tax). Real veggies, not just iceberg lettuce, but peppers and onions. Yum. I also like that their burritos aren’t huge, so I don’t feel obligated to eat something the size of my forearm and feel explode-​ready afterwards.
Now onto the bad. Their burritos are really sweet for some reason. Maybe it’s the salsa? The veggies? Something about it isn’t right. Their service is fast and friendly, but kind of in that, please-don’t-keep-asking-me-if-I-need-anything way.