Tj Oyster Bar – the Seafood Place

Very Slow Service. The food is ok not great. Not worth waiting for though. Good food but nothing special.

This place is delicious! The portions are great. Not humongous but in no way tiny! It’s a sit down place and the wait staff is really nice and most of them speak Spanish (a plus in my book) I always order their tamarindo Margarita and it’s excellent and the chilly powder rim is delish!
Their aguachile is one of the best i have ever had! its presented gorgeously and the flavor is on point. They are packed some times and it does require patience with your waiter to get to you. But they do and ive never seen them just hanging out and forgetting about me. However I do want to note that its sometimes too much business for the staff.
Come check it out! some of the best mexican seafood in the area!

Every time I come down to San Diego, it’s a must that we come to TJ oysters. My fiancé loves the Aguachile with verde sauce so much. I always get the smoked tuna fries. Wash it down with a sculpin and tamarind michelada!

Excellent happy hour! Tues-​Thurs from 3−6pm. Fresh seafood, great service & good portions! I just love their smoked tuna fries, agua chile, fresh raw oysters, cucaracha shrimps & their house tostadas just delicious! Wash it down with a chelada w/​modelo. Always a happy camper when I leave here! Happy belly!

There’s still usually a long wait during peak hours, this place is popular! But seems like they may have improved on their seating methods. And our customer service was great during our last visit. They were quick with everything.
See my old review for more!

The tacos here are really good. I ordered 4 different ones. Stingray was just OK. The Garlic Shrimp, Shrimp with Cheese Diabla, and Smoked Tuna with Cheese were all really good. Next time I’ll probably stick with these 3. The Diabla Ceviche and was very disappointed in. Wouldn’t order that again. Staff was really nice. Oh, they do need a better hot sauce there. Didn’t like the house made one in the bottle. But, the tacos really didn’t need anything added to it anyways.

I first saw this place on my instagram explore page and decided I had to try it out. When I think of tacos, I usually think of Tacos El Gordo and Oscar’s, but now I’m adding TJ Oyster Bar to my list. I got the garlic shrimp, grilled fish, and shrimp diablo tacos. Their shrimp were plump and juicy for their size and overflowed from the taco when I picked it up. I liked the garlic ones a lot, although they could’ve been more garlicky (I’m a big garlic person though); there was something about the flavoring of the diablo that I didn’t like as much, but I can’t quite put my finger on it. I was most impressed by how tender and flavorful the fish taco was, which was surprising because I usually am not a huge fan of fish tacos — doesn’t help I’m slightly allergic lol.
My main concern was slow service because it took a lot longer than I expected for the tacos to come out. However, the servers were all very friendly and welcoming, so that makes up for it slightly. The price is also a little on the more expensive end for tacos, but definitely worth it.
They have happy hour 3−6pm Tues-​Thurs so I’ll definitely be back to try more of their menu!

It’s a bit far from where I live, but ever since I’ve tried it at its original location down Bonita Rd., I’ve been wanting to try this newer place for a while! Finally, a friend motivated me to make the drive and meet her there for lunch.
Because I had been wanting to try this place, I went overboard with the menu. I ordered the smoked tuna fries to start, half dozen of oysters, fish ceviche tostada, and fish tacos. My friend only got aguachile because she knew I ordered too much and would have to help me: P
The smoked tuna fries came first, and it was HUGE. This was probably meant to serve a larger group of people, or at least two people who didn’t order a million items. This seafood twist on carne asada fries is amazing, and if I had no shame, I would order just this and eat it as my lunch. The oysters were fresh and really did the job on such a hot day.
Finally, our lunch came. The fish ceviche was great and everything I remembered from my previous visit to the other location. The fish tacos though came in a set of three! I thought I had only ordered one taco. So much food! My friend was smart to only order one item so that she could help me with the rest. Her aguachile was decently-​sized and full of flavor. Hers was spicier than she had imagined though, so it was difficult to finish, but every painful bite was worth it!
This place lived up to my expectations and more. I would absolutely make the drive again! Next time, though, I would just order the smoked tuna fries, tostada, and tacos.

I ABSOLUTELY love this place. I only wish they had one closer to me. Whenever I come here there’s usually a bit of a wait but Def worth it.
I love their shrimp Diablo, fish and octopus tacos. My favorite is the rock shrimp and smoked tuna salad. They do have happy hour but not on wknds. Happy hour is the best time to go. They have amazing specials on both food and drinks.
For the amount of time I’ve been here, service never wow’d me. It wasn’t terrible just wasn’t great. Lucky their food compensates for it.

I would like to rate this place 4.5
It’s literally a fancy version of the tiny tj oyster bar down a block from this location. Most of the prices are jacked up & it doesn’t taste the same as the other location. But! I still like this place a lot.
You have to pay $ 2 for one fish taco here (other location is $ 1 for one fish taco). Plus, you have to get 3 tacos for $ 6, unless you come here during happy hour. But it doesn’t really matter to me because the interior & the service here is awesome.
What I ate:
* 3 fish tacos (somehow, my bf & I felt like it tasted different than the usual)
* oysters, pretty fresh! I like mine with lime & tabasco.
*shrimp cocktail, shrimp was a bit over cooked but still tasted pretty good.
As for the service, a waitress named Sasha served us. She was so bubbly & friendly. I usually don’t tip well, but I gave her over 20% tip of our bill which was about $ 60. I usually don’t tip well, but she was a great waitress :)
Overall, I prefer the other location. But if I had a guest or someone from a business meeting, I would bring them to this location.

Came here on Tuesday around noon and we were seated immediately. It took a moment for our server to come by to get our drink orders and took about five minutes for her to come back with our waters and then to take our orders.
I ordered the fish tacos. Their fish tacos do not disappoint. They don’t skimp on the piece of fried fish that they give you. It’s also topped off with tomatoes, cabbages, and white cream sauce. It’s so simple, yet it’s enough to keep me satisfied. That’s all they really needed to make this one of the best fish tacos I’ve had.
I really wish that they brought over the $ 1 fish tacos to this location, because here it’s set for 3 fish tacos for $ 6. I usually eat 4 pieces in order to get full, so I can’t feel full without getting something else, which is a bummer because I don’t really want anything else except fish tacos.
I also got their shrimp ceviche, and it was pretty good too. They put a decent amount of it on top of the tostada. It comes to you on a plate and it’s still all juicy. If you like your ceviche to be tangy, you should get this one.
Service was pretty slow, though. We waited a while to get our food, and my little bro and I both finished our waters for a while before someone asked us if we needed refills. I tried to wave someone over to get the refills and to get the check, but no one really acknowledged us. Another thing is that they take plates without really asking. My little bro wasn’t really finished with his plate before they took his plate without looking at either of us. Also, when we paid in cash, our server came back with our change, but then told us that they were short a few cents to give back to us, and asked if that was okay. They were short 14 cents, so it was fine for us, but I would think that they should have enough change for us, considering the place has only been open for a good couple hours.
The food here is good, and it’s a nice place to hang out, but they need to work a little more on the service here. It seems pretty disorganized.

Absolutely amazing food and the service is awesome as well! Absolutely loved the smoked tuna fries and tacos. The shrimp and cheese tacos were delicious as well. The tamarind margarita is amazing!!!
One key thing is that they do close down the kitchen and stop seating a good amount of time before closing time. I would recommend arriving 45min to an hour before the closing time that is posted for each day.

I’ve been here a lot of times. One of my best fave Mexican seafood restaurant in Bonita/​San Diego. Great foodie, great place, great service ! ZAGAT rated My all time favorites are always the smoked tuna fries, shrimp tacos, Rock shrimp, seafood broth and fave drinks are tamarindo michelada, mango margarita, tamarindo martini ! Salud! QueRico!!!
Of course Hubby loves the house ceviche and the oysters of course! Overall, This place rocks! Highly recommended to everyone ! Lots of parking they’re next to Von’s. Well? Happy tummy tonight! We didn’t wait too long less than 10 mins, awesome! but they’re always busy!

Came with a friend during happy hour and the food was soo good! I don’t know if it was because we were both extremely hungry but everything was gone so quick. Portions were perfect so it definitely wasn’t that the food wasn’t enough. Everything was just satisfying.
We ordered the smoked tuna fries to share and they were amazing! I had the fish tacos which filled me up instantly. The tacos were very simple but tasty and filling. My friend ordered the shrimp burrito which came with a side of rice and salad. We thought it was somewhat of a weird combo on the plate like that but no complaints there.
We sat outside as it was more peaceful. We expected it to be busy since we came during happy hour but to our surprise, it was pretty calm and the waiters served us in a flash. They accommodated us well and filled our water glasses up once they saw it needed refilling. Great place to go to for something simple, cheap, and fulfilling!

Stopped in here for Father Day with a friend to enjoy some food. We ordered Shrimp Ceviche, Tuna fries (I don’t remember the full name), and I ordered two shrimp tacos; one spicy and one original.
Shrimp Ceviche — B+ — pretty flavorful, but not as many tomatoes as I would like. It was more lime-​juicy and tangy — not bad.
Tuna Fries — B+ — The tuna tastes like bacon bits, its pretty good. Let them bring you the chipotle sauce. Its liquid crack.
Shrimp Tacos — sigh. I need to simply stop ordering them from anywhere else but my favorite spot… C. — just shrimp and a tortilla. And they forgot to bring the other one…
The place was clean and the staff was really friendly! I enjoyed my visit! I would go again…

Even though the waiter messed up on my order, it was good and we will be back!
Food: Fish tacos, shrimp tacos, fish and house tostadas. I would say the fish tacos and shrimp tacos were really good. The fish tacos had a nice slight charred taste topped with their white sauce, oh it was good! I really liked their white sauce that they use. The House Special tostada is made with octopus, scallops, shrimp, imitation crab, and fish (though I don’t recall eating it). I liked everything but thought the scallops were too raw for me. The fish tostadas was good but really wished they gave us the shrimp that we ordered.
Will come back though!

Pros: smoked tuna fries were delicious — but portion size is too small for what they charge.
Cons: fish tacos were good, not memorable.
Customer service was average. When our waitress was around she did a great job. She probably could have done a better job checking on us.

This is not a place to get food to go…
Family requested fish tacos from TJ Oyster Bar. The smaller bar (which is cheaper) closes earlier on Sundays. Since fish tacos were requested, ended up going to the restaurant. Ordered fish tacos and shrimp tacos, two orders of each.
All the fish tacos were on one plate and same with the shrimp tacos. They looked pretty small. When we got home, the tacos looked pretty flat. The tortilla came apart pretty quickly and was getting soggy.
I’m sure the tacos are a thousand times better fresh (at least I hope). For my first time eating food from this place, this wasn’t the best experience. Willing to try again next time I’m in the area.

It’s nice to have a sit down location of this classic place but the wait can be a bit long. The decorations are cute with the sea theme and the menu is more varied than the original hole-​in-​the-​wall location.
Aside from the fish, tuna, and octopus tacos try the smoked tuna pescadilla, 7 seas soup, shrimp ceviche tostada, calamari, and fries ;)

Finally got to try this place!
The seafood burrito was $ 7 or $ 8 and stuffed full of shrimp, calamari, and fish. My eating partner was impressed by the amount of seafood and not much filler. Thumbs up.
I got the fish fillet veracruz style. I paid $ 3 extra to get mahi mahi instead of tilapia, and it was like $ 15 total. It came with tortillas, rice, and a salad. The fish was a bit smaller than I expected, but the portion size ended up being fine. The sauce was tasty with the tiniest hint of heat. The only negative was that bites including olives were too salty, but I think that is a common issue with veracruz sauce. I still enjoyed it a lot.
The dining room was cute but noisy, with these metal chairs that make the worst loud scraping sound anytime someone moves. (But most people probably wouldn’t notice that.) There is an outdoor seating area, too.
I look forward to coming back and trying the fish tacos and other things! Why isn’t there a TJ Oyster bar in San Diego proper?