Brad’s Restaurant

We come here every time we are in town. Chicken strips are amazing! Their BBQ sauce is the best too. I have tired a lot of other dishes and they have all tastes great! Their service is awesome. Sometimes the wait is shorter at the gate outside than the wait for inside. Their breakfast, lunch and dinners have always been very good. Staff is very attentive even when there’s a lot of people. highly recommend!

One of the first times my fellow Unilocalers let me down. The food here was disgusting. Kids got the chili and wouldn’t even touch it. My husband got the sea food platter that tasted like mush. Definitely frozen out of the bag and confirmed by our waiter.

We were seated immediately even though they were packed. The friendly efficient server, Ashley, was always attentive and we never waited for anything from drinks to salad to dinner. Need more tartar sauce? In a flash it was there. She needs a raise!
The fish and chips were good but the small salad was excellent. It seems to be an art to get crispy french fries so I’m not going to dis them for the less than crispy fries.
See you next time we are in town!

So so yum!!! Had the fish and chips and just loved it! Was pleasantly surprised by the food and service (considering the low star rating on Unilocal). Definitely happy we tried this place!

You want to get FOOD POISONING come here.
Had lunch here yesterday me and my family, hours later all of us were in the restroom with vomiting, diarrhea. We ended up going to the emergency room to find out we all have food poison. Thanks to Brad’s restaurant we spent our vacation in the hospital vomiting. The hospital had to put fluids for us as we lost a lot of it.
HORRIBLE Experience. Don’t eat here unless your ready to spend your day throwing up and ending in a hospital room.

There were 7 of us and Phil graciously accommodated us! He was so attentive and friendly to our demanding group. The Patty Melt was fabulous and there’s even a senior menu! Outside dining is comfortable with heaters & umbrellas. I highly recommend this friendly place.

I’ve been here more times than I can count. As a local, we would come here often. As a tourist, we come every time we visit. Sometimes the wait can be a pain depending on the weekend if it’s a holiday or not. Other times you can get right in. They have indoor seating, which is nice when it’s cold. They have outdoor seating that is nice for larger groups and to enjoy the outdoor weather and atmosphere. We prefer to sit inside, believe it or not, especially because our boys love the aquarium.
Their service tends to be average. Most of the time we have very accommodating and friendly servers. My recent visit, not so much. But, I won’t let that get in the way of my love for this place. People rant and rave about their competitor across the street, but to me, there’s NO COMPARISON. Yeah, I’m talking about that café that starts with an SP and ends with a LASH. You can’t get better clam chowder anywhere than Brad’s, seriously! And, it’s good either way they serve it. In a bowl with their yummy French bread on the side or in a bread bowl. You can’t go wrong!
Not only is their clam chowder amazing, but pretty much anything on their menu. I LOVE their BBQ cod or BBQ halibut. Their BBQ shrimp sticks are to die for. I also love their fish and chips and their seafood combo or fisherman’s choice. One of my girlfriends said their fish and chips were the best she’s ever had and I have to agree with her. I also love their tartar sauce.
So, skip that line across the street and long wait and head to Brad’s. It’s so much better!

Brad’s? Not bad, not great, it’s just like 3 stars says, A-​OK.
The wife and I went to Brad’s a couple weeks ago while taking a small break in Pismo. Looking for some fish and chips we descended upon Brad’s. We couldn’t sit in the main area because we had to have a high chair, and that would break fire code because of the way the tables were set up. So, we were seated on the patio. They had heaters set up, and the day was cool, so it made for a pleasant temperature.
We ordered two Cups of Clam Chowder, and split a Halibut and Chips. The food came out quickly, and was smoking hot. The chowder was pretty good, however the Halibut and Chips were pretty greasy, and didn’t have much flavor. I am not saying they were inedible, I am saying they just were not mind blowing, they were just average. I would say our entire experience was average. Personally, I would expect more from a place right next to the ocean, and the ambiance seemed a little café like.
I think I try some other places before I go back to Brad’s.

Excellent. Really liked the clam chowder. Super yum and thick with lots of paprika. Service was friendly. We liked the salad and the waitress picked the iceberg lettuce out of it for us so it was mostly a good spring mix. I am a big fan of a great blue cheese dressing. It is homemade here and yumm! The fish and chips were not the best I have had. Fries were a bit cold and fish was okay but breading doesn’t hold consistency very well.
Great place to sit with a nice seating and overall awesome service!

Meh. The trip tip sandwich was whatever. Mostly I was happy to have a nice seat in on a nice patio near the beach.

Classic Pismo. The worlds greatest fish and chips.
Seriously awesome fish and chips.
But you already knew that.

Good solid breakfast. We went on a Sunday morning while staying down in Pismo.
We caught it during shift change, so the service was in transition. But that is really the only negative I can come up. Good place to grab breakfast.

Clams sign up to be turned into soup here. I simply don’t make a trip to Pismo without a stop at Brads. If you are looking for a meaningful sea food Louie this is also the place for that as well.
Lunch or dinner can be adequately fulfilled with the trip tip steak sandwich on the patio. The choice of location is to permit the olfactory nerves to join in.

The food was okay. Can be inconsistent when it comes to thickness of the clam chowder.
My Biggest Problem: the staff.
I went there with a friend and right away we noticed an unequal treatment of my friend and I versus the others in the restaurant. Yes, we aren’t regulars so we weren’t expecting a full conversation with the waiter. BUT he was rude and continuously trying to push us out and it was obvious. My friend and I speculated it may have been an either a dinner rush issue or even an age related issue assuming we are the same age as him (the waiter) so therefore our quality of service is less deserving of equal respect as to anyone else.
Needless to say, I won’t go there again.

Okay hoping for better place to eat since we just walked out of another restaurant that failed to acknowledge us and again, horrible
Service! We sat forever before anyone came to take our order and they weren’t even busy! We left discouraged and hungry! Sorry Brads! I was really looking forward to the BBQ clams. You disappointed me so :-(

This place is not expensive. Seating is not a problem to find on most days. The Clam Chowder is good, not the best in the area but good none the less. The fish and chips also good. The meat was fresh, firm and very white. The ribs are the ticket here! Sweet, tender and great as a leftover.
The server was friendly and pleasant. I would recommend.

i heard great things about Splash Café, which is right across the streets, but when we got there it was packed. even the line for pick up was a 20+ min wait and i was starving so we went across the street, literally 7 steps over to brad’s place. there are 2 ways to enter into this restaurant. either the patio section or the door near splash café. if you want to enjoy the outdoor weather, enter in by the patio side. fyi.
honestly, this place ain’t too shabby. the food was quick, service was good and no wait at all.
We ended up getting the Brad appetizer, clam chowder in a bread bowl with crab on top and fish and chips. honestly, it was a lot of food for 2 people. we had left overs, but decided not to take them home because we didn’t want our car to smell like fish for the next 3+ hours. lol
the brad appetizer was pretty good, especially they gave out three different types of sauces. the sweet thai chili one was my favorite. the appetizer was just a bunch of fried things you’d find at most other bars and restaurants. nothing too special.
for the clam chowder in the bread bowl, it wasn’t bad. i wish the clam chowder was more rich and if it had more clams, i’d give this place a 4 stars. but for 6 – 7 bucks? not too bad. next time i’ll opt out on the seafood toppings on the clam chowder. not worth it in my opinion.
for the fish and chips, they were standard. nothing special, but it did its job. i’d say a little too soggy for my taste, but i think that’s my fault for adding too much malt viegar. lol
parking is difficult, so just park down the block in the parking lot. i believe its about 75 cents an hour?

Like several other reviewers have said… We came here due to the line being insanely long at Splash Café right next door.
We were seated right away which was nice.
3 different people came up and asked us for our drink order? Idk if it was because that’s how long it was taking for the 1^st person who asked to get them made or what. Weird.
Anyway… the food was very good! My baby girl loved her kids plate that had a corn dog and a good sized plate of mixed seasonal fruits.
We had the tri tip sandwich that came with chili –omg so good! Highly recommend trying that plate.
I had the 2 piece fish and chips which were so good! Lots of fish too for it only being 2 pieces.
We really enjoyed it here. Service was meh. But I can understand that sometimes, it’s a very busy place and season here in Pismo Beach.
Brads, 4 stars!

Café environment serving «average» quality seafood
We were there for dinner. The place has potential but the food misses its’ mark. It’s a café environment which is okay. But the food needed some more pizzaz. The entrees tasted a little «bland».

Enjoying wine all day without eating lunch probably wasn’t the best idea but finding Brad’s literally saved us for dinner. While everything we ordered was a potential heart attack waiting to happen everything was fantastic. My girlfriend ordered the clam chowder bread bowl which I thought was seasoned well and delicious. For an appetizer we ordered the fishermans basket, lightly battered fish, shrimp and clams. I ended up doing the 3 piece fish special which was fantastic, the fish just melted in my mouth. The restaurant is definitely a tourist attraction so get there early and enjoy some fried food!