Fish Tale

We usually come here for happy hour but this time we came for dinner. The tilapia came out raw in the middle and the waitress took it back to get a new one. Service was just ok, it took quite awhile for water refills. We also ordered the clam chowder and fish n chips and they were both good. Normally the service here is better and we will be back.

They CLOSED. :(Will be an EJ Malloy’s soon. EJ’s is good though! Good Gorgonzola fries!

I will deeply miss the Fish Tale, not only for the food but for all the amazing memories that I have associated with it. This place will truly be missed by many near and far from Long Beach. I have been eating food from here my entire life, literally, since I was in the womb. Fish Tale has amazing quality of seafood that is very fresh and clean which can only create high quality, top notch seafood delicacies.
As everyone else has mentioned here, the clam chowder is so creamy and scrumptious. The sourdough bread is by far the best I have ever had. All of the appetizers are amazing! Especially the artichoke, which sadly is not on their Last Call menu. The entrées as well are no exception to Fish Tale’s high standards. I most recently had the shorebird, which is a Cajun style chicken breast on their sourdough bread with some sauce I couldn’t quite tell (probably mayo?). It was fabulous! The chicken was very moist and juicy, living up to its Cajun roots with a kick. It came with a side of coleslaw and French fries. I personally don’t like coleslaw so I gave it to my dad who just gobbled it up! The fries were golden brown with a crispy outside and soft warm inside.
This place does NOT deserve all of these terrible reviews. I really think that it is the best seafood restaurant in town. The Fish Tale wouldn’t have lasted 37 years if it was as bad as people said it was here. Fish Tale will always hold a special place in my heart, not only for its amazing food but also for its quality of its amazing staff and crew.
Goodbye Fish Tale! We love you!

Can’t wait for this place to close. I just read the manager’s comments to David T. Thats pretty unprofessional if you you askme. I’ve never been a fan of this place anyway (the food is pedestrian and boring and the sewage stench is ripe). I wasnt going to say anything but John crossed the line.

Wish I could change my review to 0 stars, as the manager (?) just emailed me to tell me I’m a *#%^ for leaving a negative review for a business that is closing. That doesn’t excuse my horrible experience.

Very good seafood in a rather unexpected place.
Came here with a large group and everyone seemed to have a nice time. Service was a little slow at times, but nothing we couldn’t stand.
The clam chowder here is quite good. Very thick and creamy with good flavor, goes very well with the hot sourdough bread.
I had the parmesan crusted halibut and it was delicious. Perfectly cooked, very tender on the inside with a crispy crust on the outside. The fish didn’t even need the tartar sauce it comes with… although it was definitely a nice addition! I had the rice pilaf as my side and it was pretty standard but tasty. Prices are a bit high but I suppose that’s typical for seafood places. At least here the food is worth the cost, unlike some other places I have been to…
Would definitely recommend this place to others and I can see myself coming back in the future.

If you want to pay a ridiculous amount
Of money for mediocre food.
This is your place !!
To John B. Of Fish tails
I understand the price of sea food fluctuates
But how do you explain the taste of your food? The price of the food and quality do not match :/

I haven’t been here for years so I thought I would give it another try since I was in the area. I thought something was up when the waiter didn’t show up for 20 minutes! I ordered the crispy calamari strips which was served to me soggy and dripping in oil. Next came the salmon and fettuccine pasta. The salmon was dry, over cooked and smelled really fishy so I opted to eat most of the sourdough bread and butter! If you try this place it’s at your own risk !

E-​yuck! Came here on a Wednesday night with no one there and ordered the daily dinner special. Waited 30 minutes to be served a way overcooked Parmesan crusted cod. The fish was rock hard and in edible. Left really disappointed and very hungry. So much for this place.

High prices and small portions. Sourdough bread was good. Left feeling ripped off!
JC

Another time I knew I should’ve listened to my fellow Unilocalers, but I took a chance anyways.
My friend was craving seafood, but I was not in the mood for sushi. I had bookmarked this place a while back, probably because it had a Groupon I was willing to try, and a couple of the menu items looked decent enough to try.
Not worth it. The food hardly makes up for the pricey menu. The clam chowder is too bland, the fish isn’t seasoned enough, the oysters were smothered in so much sauce you couldn’t even see or taste oyster anymore, and their paella had soggy rice and unflavored fillings.
Not worth it.

Great Sunday brunch not a long lines
Great oyster bar amazing Bloody Mary mmmm

Despite negative reviews, this place is packed during happy hour. They do have some great specials. We seem to find ourselves in here weekly, either dining-​in or ordering take-​out. I believe we love this place because some of the servers are such a delight and certain items on the menu are worth coming back for.
The GOOD:
Warm crusty bread: Love this bread… ahhh… Try to share with everyone at the table.
Filet and baked potato: Always cooked perfect — ask for some freshly grated horseradish, too! Hard to find baked potato in the neighborhood. Fish tale has the standard butter and sour cream for theirs. :)
Giant Manila shrimp: Sweet grilled shrimp. These babies are delicious just with a little lemon — almost like small lobsters. YUM.
New England Clam Chowder: (Yes, the white one) This one is great, when it its good. They use bacon in their chowder, however, there have been some inconsistencies in the quality of the chowder. Some nights we have had thicker chowder than others. Mostly good though.
Tilapia: Broiled with lemon butter — (Order it without the Parmesan cheese, it does not belong on the fish.)
Mahi-​mahi: I do like that Fish Tale will prepare your fish in a way that you will request. I prefer to have Mahi-​Mahi charbroiled, simple with only lemon on the side. That’s the way they did it, and it came out just perfect. (None of that salsa stuff.)
The DECENT:
Crab Cakes: They boast that it is their own recipe, and it is a-​ok. However, it seems the crab cakes have filler (maybe krab) and may be on the salty side. Be sure to ask for the Jalapeño Cream on the side.
Spicy red seafood chowder: Another homemade recipe, usually a choice with your dinner. The recipe varies (probably due to who is preparing the soup that day.) Some nights I have had this and it has been mild with large chunks of fish. While other nights, it has knocked my socks off with the spice and bits of fish and lots of vegetables.
Blue cheese dressing: a dinner salad is one of the choices with your dinner. If you like blue cheese dressing, this one is pretty good (especially to dunk crusty bread in) .
«No thank you’s» for me:
Shrimp toast: tried it pass –not sure why I ordered it — At least I can say I tried it.
Paella: Not the paella you are expecting, I promise. There’s no crusty/​toasty bottom. There is way too much liquid in this. Choose something else.
In all, Fish Tales is pretty good place. Definitely check out their «specials calendar». They have something listed for everyday of the month and they have some pretty good lunch deals. If anything, just go for happy hour!

Nothing fancy and not among the outstanding seafood places I’ve tried. However, food is good and cheap. Fish choices were good and the service was quick and friendly. I will definitely return.

THis review is only for the weekend brunch:
We had a gift card to this place so we figured what the heck, let’s check it out. I’m not the hugest fish/​seafood person and i’m allergic to most shellfish, so I wasn’t really expecting much when I came here last weekend. My husband loves seafood, so he ordered himself some fried clam strips off the all day happy hour menu, and was surprised at how large the portions were for $ 4. He enjoyed the clam strips which came on a bed of rice, and said that it filled him up.
I ordered off of the brunch menu and got the malted waffles (which are basically belgian style waffles) with berries-​not bad at all! It definitely gives any other breakfast place a run for its money, and it was only $ 6.
I’d come back here for brunch, but don’t know about dinner. We saw the salmon dish as the server walked by and it didn’t look very impressive. Guess we can’t knock it until we try it.

Its Sunday, last day for a fun day, and I want to get buzzed but its not quite noon yet…
Have no fear, fish tale is here!
Yummy huge breakfasts that come with a champagne for about 10 bucks are served for brunch. Need more booze? Additiona champagne or HUGE glasses of Bloody Mary’s for only 5 bucks more. And I mean HUGE… I got a buzz with just the Blood Mary, alone.
Not in the mood for breakfast? They have happy hour all day on the weekends, which includes half-​prices on such yummy appetizers as crab cakes and clam chowder. The décor is old-​school so minus one star for that, but really, who cares, worth coming to!

My family and I recently took a trip to Cali… making stops in Anaheim and Long Beach.
We met up with a friend in Long Beach for lunch, I was in the mood for some yummy clam chowder so he suggested Fish Tale. I am so glad he did! It was the best food experience we had the entire trip.
Service was a bit lacking, we sat unattended for several minutes when we arrived, but really wasn’t anything that some good food couldn’t erase.
First their bread and butter is amazeballz! It seems like something so small, but a nice warm loaf of bread and soft REAL butter to go with is heavenly! Then we ordered, I got the soup and salad (Chowder and House Salad), so did dad, man friend had the crab tacos, and our friend had one of the fried platters. Everything was great! My salad was perfect, the honey mustard is delish! The bread bowl with the chowder was perfect, they took out a lot of the bread so we didn’t get skimped on the chowder.
We live in Phx so not sure when we will be back, but if I was a local I would make this a regular stop on my food train!

I hate walking away from a meal disappointed, especially when it was seafood.
My boyfriend wanted to try this place and since I love all things from the ocean I was totally down.
We walked in to a semi-​cheesy bar area, kind of a cross between Long John Silver and Coco’s. The hostess really tried to push Happy-​Hour on us and normally I would be sold, but it was Wednesday.
The menu was a bit pricey, even for seafood. I ordered the Blackened Salmon Salad and my boyfriend got a plate full of fried things and a side of Clam Chowder for me!
I tend to order things differently than how they appear on the menu. I know it’s a pain in the ass sometimes but, ehhh. So we place our order, which thoroughly confuses the waitress and we have to review all items step-​by-​step until she got it.
The food: My salmon was actually really good! The rest of the salad was pretty plain.
My boyfriends plate of fried stuff was what you would expect, nothing spectacular.
The chowder was on the upper end of «good», but again, nothing special.
I think that’s the overall feel I got. The food was «okay», the service was «okay», the atmosphere was «okay». Everything was just oookkkaaayy. Nothing great. But for the price you’re paying, I think you should have your hair blown back just a little.
I will, however, give 5 stars to my magnificent boyfriend for keepin’ the romance alive with «date night!»

My girlfriend and I came here after going to target for our «Date Night» dinner… Which by the way if your in a relationship, you should have date nights… it’s a great time for your girlfriend to corner you and you HAVE to listen… :)
Anyway we ordered DEEP FRIED CALAMARI An old world delicacy! Served on a bed of rice with tarter sauce and cocktail sauce as an appetizer. They were decent sized, hot, but a little lacking in flavor.
For our main dished, I got the CAPTAINS PLATTER Fresh fish, clam strips, shrimp and scallops. And she got the CAESAR SALAD Crisp Romaine lettuce and crunchy croutons tossed in our own Caesar recipe (no raw egg used) with Salmon.
My dish was large in size, hot, but again lacked flavor. The scallops didn’t taste all that fresh (probably farm grown), the fish was good but a bit overcooked, the clam strips were very good! I did not taste her salad, but the salmon looked as it should…
Our waitress was a bit off, but her service was good enough to earn her the 15%.
All-​in-​all, it was a good place, but for the price, it wasn’t what I was hoping it would be. All that food, plus a coke and a water, with tip, cost 58 $!. Considering you are in a beach city, you can find better seafood for that price if you head a little closer to the water.

This review is for Happy Hour only. My self, partner and a friend all came on a Friday night. No problem getting a table outside at 5pm. My partner and friend had dinner salads (half price at 3.50). Would have been extremly overpiced at 7.00. It was a basic salad with some very hard croutons. I had the clam chowder that I’d read about as being «the best clam chowder in LB». Ummm, no, its not. Whole Foods makes better chowder. This chowder was so thick, but not in a good way. It was thickened with way too much flour. It tasted starchy and had no real discernable clam flavor. I also got an order of calamari. Weird, weird, weird.
It was breaded with some cracker type crumbs or maybe panko. It was strips vs. rings and tenticles. It wasnt good. My friend had some potato skins with chicken and jalapenos. She said it was good. My partner got some garlic cheese bread and it was so loaded with cheese, it looked soggy. I thought it was a potato skin at first.