Pic Nic Fry

This place SUCKS bigtime. GREASY, crappy fare prepared in a filthy sweatshop. It’s the absolute WORST place to eat on the entire isle so AVOID this cockroach infested hole in the wall. The teen punks that work there are the same gang bangers that beat the shit out of visitors that come here to spend $$$. DO NOT PATRONIZE THIS CRAPPY BUSINESS.

this hole in the wall stand has great ice tea and bottled water prices–
didn’t have the food but I appreciated the hot hot work environment staff were slaving in and they were all cheerful and fun people
Catalina is expensive but you can get a burger, taco and fries here cheap and its made fresh–
all the city staff and beach locals were eating here

By far the BEST chocolate dipped soft served vanilla cone I’ve ever had. The ice cream itself is a good portion and delicious, and the whole thing gets covered with a nice layer of chocolate to bite through. They’ve even dipped other flavors! I keep going back every time I’m on the island. Friendly ladies too.

Hungry?
Want an inexpensive snack or meal?
Near South Beach or the Mole?
If yes to any of these questions, this is the spot for you!
Chocolate and Vanilla Swirl Soft Serve … Frozen Bananas … Chili Cheese Fries … American and Mexican food … it seems like everything is on their enormous menu.
The line gets longer in the summer months, but it’s well worth the wait!

Good food cooked and prepared in front of you. A great value for your money. No indoor seating but plenty of places to sit and eat along the beach. We had breakfast burritos, ceviche, fish tacos and ice cream. We could eat at a restaurant but cost would double and the food is not any better.

Good food be careful with the home made flavored waters. I had the jamaica and it was bad!!!

For a simple food stand, Pic Nic Fry is awesome. The ladies make some outstanding tacos among other things. Their food is prepared fresh, and the quality of the ingredients is good. They seem to use some of the oil from their carnitas to prepare their asada, which lends it a rich delicious flavor. The portions are nice and the salsa is good and spicy. Prices are fair…$ 3 per taco for example. There is no seating here, this place is truly just a stand along the beach front, but worth going to for a quick bite in the afternoon.
The menu board is pretty extensive, many people order frozen chocolate dipped bananas. They offer hot dogs, burritos and nachos among other items. Several items can be ordered with fish instead for additional charge. A neat little place.

Posole! Yes, you should order it. Don’t talk yourself out of it. She will give you salsa, lemon, onions and cabbage for it. Ask for tortilla instead of chips on the side. When I return, I’d be eager to have the ceviche.
There are no pics because I ate it all. FAST.
Ice cream here is delicious. Probably had a cone each day we were here. The classic vanilla is so rich :)

You can get better than this place. Had to do it as I hustling to the last ferry during off season. No ranch sauce at a greasy grill sucked. 8 pieces of calamari for 8 dollars is ridiculous. They give you a pound of fries to try and hide it. The employees are mean and rude. And to top it all off its a known gang hangout where people have been stabbed and shot before. Avoid.

Mediocre food but it’s fast if you’re in a rush. Ordered a chicken burrito and it was filled with chicken and beans, and wasn’t that yummy. Also got chili cheese fries that were soggy and not that great as well.

Great food, great prices!!! I had the carnitas torta & my friend had the al pastor burrito, the both were tasty & affordable compared to other restaurants. This is just a pick up window. No seating or dining service. But worth it!!!

Like much of the dining on the island, everything is grossly overpriced and done poorly.

BEST drunchie food ever!!! We ordered 7 boxes of the chili cheese fries, no joke. They were only $ 5/​order and soooooooooo goood!!!
I also got an horchata from here during the daytime but it wasn’t very good. Too much chunkiness in my opinion. The root beer float was refreshing though :)!

Two words… Ice milk. The ice milk soft serve is the best thing on the entire island of Catalina. I usually get 3 a day in a waffle cone! That good.

While Avalon is completely affordable and no worse than the usual beachtown prices landside, having a place like Pic Nic Fry gives you a chance to save a couple bucks for a quick bite.
Having just disembarked and told check-​in wasn’t for a couple hours, me and my friend’s plan to unpack and make sandwiches from the supplies in our cooler became a total bust. Thus, we wandered the streets, wincing at the $ 10-​$ 12 fish and chips plates being advertised and cursing that our ship had come on time, well before happy hour.
Then Pic Nic Fry’s window caught my eye. Fish and chips were $ 6.99. For that price, I certainly didn’t need a table as the beach was across the street complete with perfectly adequate benches and a spectacular view. A bottle of Snapple was $ 2.50, so I balked and asked for a water, expecting a tiny plastic cup containing half a mouthful of tepid tap water. Instead I got a full sized styrofoam cup with a generous scoop of ice, which she was happy to refill for me once I’d gotten my food.
CONS: Wait seemed a bit long considering most things are just thrown in the fryer. $ 0.45 for extra tartar sauce. Drinks are kinda expensive. The french fries are the super thin, pre-​frozen kind, rather than the larger steak fries.
PROS: It was towards the better end of deep fried food, meaning that it tasted good and it wasn’t dripping with grease when it came out. It turned out that with the lemon wedge and ketchup, I didn’t need extra tartar. I really enjoyed eating my piping hot fish and chips on the beach. I wasn’t looking for tuna tartar here and if there were a choice between Pic Nic Fry and McDonalds, I’d pick Pic Nic Fry every time.
ADVICE: Snag a can of soda from your hotel room, pick up something from the fry window, head to the beach, and enjoy.

Literally a hole-​in-​the-​wall. But a charming hole-​in-​the-​wall! What fond memories I have of roaming the streets of Catalina after dark, queuing up at the Pic Nic Fry window for the dark chocolate dipped ice cream with nuts, and then proceeding to eat it listening to the waves on Front Beach with my family and friends.
Now, I know what everyone is saying below… «How do you know the food is actually any good? You were probably drunk when you ate there!» Well, as I don’t drink, I can assure you that the chocolate dipped ice cream is indeed very good! Can’t say anything for the food though, I’d be hesitant to try it.

If you don’t care about food being healthy, and you want something cheap and on the go, this this place is perfectly located on the island for a quick grad and go spot.
We got their chicken quesadilla and it was cooked to order and had just the right amount of cheese and chicken. Plus it came with a side of salsa that was actually spicy! This is when I knew I was back in CA again (I live in Boston currently) since there was actual spice in my food! Amazing!
The food was ready pretty quick, even for actually cooking up the chicken on the spot – yup this hole in the wall order at the window type of place actually cooked at least our chicken to order for our quesadilla and it was $ 6 well spent to get us a good snack to keep us going on our day. Matt J. and I split this quesadilla and it still worked like a great snack for the two of us, so it is decent in size too!

Me and the fam wanted to eat something quick and cheap so we stopped by this little hole in the wall and ordered all the junk food one could stuff into their face. Total was over $ 70 for 4 people, no joke, that’s how hungry we were for some fried heart attack grease. However, it went all downhill after ordering.
The food literally took over 30 minutes. What happened to fast food being fast? Thinking about it just makes me want to curse out loud. Once we got it, it was all over the place. The chili cheese dog was wet as heck and you couldn’t even find the hot dog in there. I had to fish it out in order to eat it. No chance in hell someone is supposed to eat it without a knife and fork without looking like hannibal lecter.
All the other stuff was really subpar too. Carne burrito eh, chili cheese fries eh, chicken nuggets eh, eh eh eh eh all EH
It’s hard to find something good on the island that won’t pick pocket you but honestly, you’re better off spending the bucks for some real food and service.

Ok, in a world of pretentious people walking around their overpriced island, this was my place. I loved it. I was very down to Earth, kinda plain and very comfy. The staff spoke little English, but that was OK with me.
I ordered the nachos and a corn dog. They were both delicious. Let me tell you… the nachos were the best value on the menu. Don’t expect to have some hippie vegan health nachos here… they are cheesy, finger dirtying wonderfulness. The corn dog was just a bit over fried which is just how I like it.
My wife ordered the fish tacos. I had a bite and wished I had more room after the nachos and corn dog. We had horchata to drink, and it was horchunderful!!! Simply put… delicious.
I wish I could have brought this place home with me. It was my favorite eatery on the island.

‘As a number of Unilocal*ers mentioned — «They’s serves up somes soft-​serves ice cream!» ‘And are open late to get your drunk, after-​hours grub on!
Sadly, EP & I came here for neither… ‘Not for the vanilla/​chocolate swirl nor to satisfy our inebriated hunger pains! ‘We were simply curious… ‘And a bit hungry.
This is NOT a sit down restaurant, walk-​up window only.
Photo —
EP ordered the «Fish & Chips.»
Photo —
I took a bite of EP’s order, nothing special, pretty basic… ‘But when you’re hungry, «basic» is delicious!
I decided on a large, «Nachos Maria.» (Recommended by another out-​of-​town visitor who witnessed several people ordering it.)
My order was about the same, basic nachos, average taste… BUT frick’n, a lot of it!
So much, that the lid couldn’t close properly.
Warning — ‘Lift with your knees!
Photo —
Pic Nic Fry in a sentence — «Quick bite to eat/​greasy spoon.»
— Aloha
Food: 3
Service: 3
Ambiance: 3
Value: 3