Jetty Restaurant

Wow! Today we ate there again and not only was it very good we learned our greeter was not the owner as we thought. He will be leaving for family reasons and we love the reasons why. He praised the owners and we will continue to dine there because of him and more so because of the owners and great food! Something special when an employee comes across as the owner! God bless, and will miss and best of life to your family!

Sad, I expected more. The food was blah and we waited 45 for it. The manager apologized saying there was a party of 13 ahead of us. On a Friday night. Come one, handle it. Disappointing. $ 115 for four people. We won’t be back.

We have moved to the area recently and are exploring the restaurants as we enjoy a good meal. We saw 2 locations for the a Jetty and we went to the one on E. Foster Rd. When we arrived two large parties were seated before us. We ordered glasses of wine, there are 2 of us. They brought out a beer style glass, explaining they had run out of wine glasses. The glasses had more than the wine glass would hold, and when it was time for a second glass the manager brought and filled the glasses. Nice gesture and good business practice. We ordered the Onion Rings as a starter, and was not disappointed in size and taste. The Clam Chowder was tick, had plenty of clams and did not have the usual floury taste, excellent. We also had the Clam Strips and Popcorn shrimp, they were good with the cocktail sauce and the tartar sauce. We will be going back to sample the menu further. Nice experience. The waitresses were excellent and on top of it at all times.

They have really improved since the new manager, Patrick, started. He is very nice and always makes you feel welcome. Good food, friendly staff. If you haven’t been in awhile, it’s worth checking out again!

Flies everywhere and frozen food was plenty. Not to mention the mediocre clam chowder.

I decided to try the jetty for a early dinner I used to eat at the jetty in LOMPOC years ago and I thought that the Santa Maria location would be the same food quality boy was I wrong, they serve frozen fish not fresh, the only good thing about my experience at this place yesterday was the friendly service but if you want fresh fish this is not the place.

The food was great. We had the fish and chips and the lobster roll special. The lobster roll was a little dry for my liking but still good. The fish and chips were beer battered and perfect. The service was great. The front man had us sit in front of the hostess table and took our drink orders. We will be going back.

One night the food was good hence I only got a salad and clam chowder. Later that week week went back for fish and shrimp basket and it was horrible. Frozen not fresh so close to the ocean.

I’ve been going to the Jetty since 1980, maybe earlier. This was always a great place to take a date or business clients. It was always excellent. But no more.
I was there with my mother and other family on Nov. 5 and it was a joke. The menus were just paper and sticky at that. I thought these were kid’s menus but nope, that’s the normal menu. Just paper.
The choices were nothing like they used to be. No salmon, no halibut, no big fish combo, no salads. No nothing. Just fish and chips like you could get at any fast food place.
This hurts to write this, this was an excellent place for decades. Now it’s crap. I won’t be back.

Are you kidding me?! This place only exists because the only other seafood restaurant in Santa Maria is in the barrio. The clam chowder came out of a can. They tried to hide this fact by adding potatoes and carrots to it. My salmon salad looked like it came out of a bag and the salmon was clearly frozen not fresh and they overcooked it. The hours suck as well, they close at 8:30PM! By the way, the 50’s music is nauseating and makes this restaurant feel like your in your great grandmother’s house.

Okay let me spell this out for you:
If you like above average seafood with RIDICULOUS (in a good way) portions… come to Jetty. I went after a long day of work, Wednesday evening. I knew immediately while walking to the establishment that this place was going to be authentic. I read on the door and they had normal hours, I think closing around 8pm — not your «Applebee’s open til 1am but servers stop caring at 9pm hours».
I ordered the black Alaskan cob (dinner portion) with a side order of fries. Way too much food… but I ain’t mad at it. The reason for the 4-​stars is because I think that the alcohol is overpriced but it is what it is.

Love the Jetty! Besides the amazing service the food is so good! Literally everything myself, my husband and my mother have tried we have all been more than happy with! The fish tastes fresh and the clam chowder is really good, I also love the deep fried scallops! Great price for great food!!!

Best seafood on the central coast!
It’s always been great & still is!
Clam chowder delish!

I would give 5 stars for the food. It’s delicious! The clam chowder is wonderful and the fish is light and flaky. Fries aren’t so great, I could have done without. Lower rating reflects the time we sat and waited to be helped. Someone finally came for our drink order so we gave our food order also so we wouldn’t have to wait.
Then we sat and waited and waited. Food took forever. Two tables that were helped AFTER us got their food first. There were 6 of us, but I don’t think that is a huge party and we all pretty much got the same thing, fish and chips and a couple of burgers. Drinks were refilled quickly so that was good.
I think the waitress just needed more help, she was all alone on the bottom floor of the restaurant, but there weren’t many other parties there since it was late on a Wednesday night.
She was very nice though and seemed apologetic that it was taking so long.
A little pricy, but good sized portions.

My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed the Jetty tonight and I can say it’s currently our favorite, and probably the best seafood restaurant in the Santa Maria/​Orcutt area. The reason I gave 4 stars instead of 5 is because I have had better seafood and it wouldn’t be fair to better restaurants if I gave 5 stars. I will recommend this restaurant to anyone in this area who is looking for some great clam chowder or fish and chips. As I discover more of the menu, I may be able to make a more accurate review, but as of right now, I have had the fish (Cod) and chips, and had them throw in some calamari strips as well (I was in the mood for some fried squid!!), and tried my wife’s clam chowder (good, but not the best I’ve had, but I still recommend it). I will be trying the fish tacos next time as I hear they are great.
And by the way, the service was EXCELLENT (our waitress and the hostess were awesome). We tip big for great service!

Great Fish tacos… fresh and flaky. Great price too! Also great crisp fish n chips. Decent beer list.

Only been here a few times. Is pretty good, but not great (except for service, which is great). Last time I had a salmon platter, was a bit dry, over cooked. This time had just a bowl of clam chowder, which was pretty tasty, but lacked sufficient chunks of clams, had mostly chunks of potato. Wish they had Tapatio hot sauce as a choice but only Tobasco which was ok. Always asked for fried Twinkie, but always out, then take off the chalkboard if not served anymore! Will have to try one of the all-​you-​can eat days.
UPDATE: Increased to 4 stars. Ok, i’ve eaten here several times and had pretty good food each time. The ahi salad was very tasty.

No offense to the staff that was kind, but this place is a step above Red Lobster. I haven’t been to a Red Lobster in years (as a kid?) so maybe they might be in the running for better seafood over there. Can someone please recommend to me a good place for seafood in this town? Or just do a short drive to Santa Barbara?
The fried shrimp looked and tasted like something taken out of a bag in the frozen seafood section of your local market. The tarter sauce was WAY too tart. KFC makes better coleslaw. The fried fish actually wasn’t that bad, but completely average and I have had better. I except considerably more when paying 14 for a dinner.
To wrap it up with something positive, the scallops were actually pretty good. Sweet and not cooked all f#$ked up. Scallops are difficult to master in cooking, so I have to give some kind of credit where it is due.
I won’t be coming here again. Sorry.

The Jetty is a good restaurant but I purchased the fried chicken and from the first
bite it was awful.
Please don’t buy cheap frozen chicken and think customers don’t notice.
JETTY OWNERS, who ever told you to buy frozen chicken and your customers
wouldn’t notice, you should really fire them.

Just an FYI for those thinking about a trip to the Orcutt location of the Jetty …
I drive past this restaurant frequently, and have noticed an empty parking lot the last few days. Granted, lately it has been pretty sparse there anyway, but now it is flat-​out deserted.
A couple of signs on the door that I couldn’t be bothered to stop and look at, so I just assumed it was another restaurant biting the dust. So many closures in this town, it’s disheartening.
But I did manage to make my lazy fingers dial the phone today. Got a recorded message that they are closed «for a few weeks» since the end of April for remodeling. No ETA on completion or other details.
I hope it IS a remodeling, and not just stalling the inevitable. I don’t see where they’ve been busy enough to cover the enormous costs of a remodeling job, but hey, more power to them. I’d hate to see this establishment just fade away like the others.
Will update as I find out more.
Late July Edit in early August:
The Jetty has reopened recently. I was there in the last couple of weeks, and they’ve moved some things around, freshened the place up, but it’s still The Jetty only with new menus and staff. Ownership is apparently the same, from what the waitress said.
The fish & chips is now made as a beer-​battered dish instead of the breaded style from what it has been for years. Not bad, but I still like the breaded better (which they will still make, but discourage you from going that way).
Hope this gives them the boost they’ve needed to succeed.