Smart Fish Company

Used to trust these guys, really the go-​to fish vendor at our local farmers markets here in Silverlake & Atwater Village. And you have to trust them because you can’t smell the packaged fish. Unfortunately, my recent purchase smelled so bad coming out of that bag I gagged. So much for freshness. Reached out to see if they were interested in somehow making up for it but no comment. So long.

Just started coming to the Old Town Newhall Farmers Market.
Probably the best fish we have ever bought and way better prices than Whole Foods.
We go back every week and get some fish every time. It’s THAT good.

This is absolutely the worst place to order food is you are really hungry, we waited in line about 30
order then another maybe 20 to 25
get your food, this place is very loud and crowded, this is a seafood restaurant also a seafood market that was est. in 1961 recognized by the city of Los Angeles as a downtown landmark restaurant open Mon.-Fri.10:00am to 3:30pm the seafood market from 8:00am-5:00pm from the lunch menu you can order deep fried or char broiler shrimps, scallops, mojarras, frita calamari, halibut, salmon, swordfish, mahi-​mahi, sea bass, tuna, orange roughy, tilapia fillet, boned trout, tiger shrimps, lobster tail, sand dabs, cat fish, seafood cocktail: has in it shrimps, clams, and octopus, shrimp and crab cocktail, also they sell beer and wine orange and lemon bang,(which is so good) there is one small and a large parking lot plus meter parking.

I stopped by the Mar Vista Farmer’s Market yesterday in search of some fish for a Moroccan Tagine dish I was hoping to make. I ended up getting several flounder filets from Smart Fish Co. The fish looked good, was kept cold and iced, their stand didn’t smell too fishy (which can be a bad sign), and the prices seemed really reasonable. The tagine ended up great — once cooked, the flounder was incredibly flaky and had soaked up the marinade beautifully. I look forward to buying from them again.

Just finished a dinner of sauteed John Dory fish from the Smart Fish Co. vendor at the Riverside Farmer’s market. Delish! I’d been reluctant to try the fish from the farmer’s market, because, well, you just never know. But my husband loves fish and we decided to see if it was truly fresh fish, or just like all the rest. We were recommended to try the John Dory (I’d never heard of it before) because it’s a very mild sweet fish. I’ve never had anything like it! It was astoundingly good! The fish is pricey, but the quality is clearly there.

My fiancé and I buy fish from Jennifer at the Melrose Farmer’s Market every week. We always eat it the day we buy it, like we would with any fresh fish, and we eat the sashimi grade tuna raw, so I would certainly notice if there was anything «fishy» about their quality. Sorry for the pun.
Jennifer is always in good spirits and brings great fish week after week. Despite the initial review below, which sounds terribly uncomfortable for the person involved, I would recommend their fish to anyone and having purchased and prepared their fish many different ways I would say you should buy with confidence this delicious quality product.

I have had one great experience with Smart Fish Company. I purchased shrimp and salmon at the sellers suggestion at the Melrose Farmer’s Market sometime in February. We had the shrimp the night we bought it and it was the best I have ever had. We had the Salmon the next night and my children (2 and 4 years) asked for 2nds and 3rds. I am surprised to hear from the reviewer who had the terrible experience and I’m really sympathetic! There is nothing more disappointing that bad customers service. Hopefully, that is the old Smart Fish Company and I will be able to continue to enjoy their friendly service and great product.

I buy fresh fish from one of their vendors all the time at the Mar Vista Farmer’s market. While I don’t love their selection as much as the guy at the Tuesday Culver City Market or the guy that used to go from the Friday Venice market to the Hermosa market that noon (both of whom sell from the backs of ice trucks), the fish is always fresh, tasty, and chosen from sustainable stocks.
Since these fish are always stored in coolers and packed on ice, it’s very important to keep in mind the surroundings. I rarely buy from them on hot, sunny days unless I am at the market fairly early on. I always make sure the fish is double bagged with some extra ice, even though I live only a couple of blocks away. I always carefully inspect and wash the fish when I get it home.
It’s always important to make sure you know what you are getting when buying fish from any source, but especially from one where there is a chance for something out of the ordinary to affect the product.
It’s also important to know something about the product you are purchasing. Escolar, for example, is widely known to cause gastrointestinal distress among many eaters.

I stumbled upon this fresh fish company at the local Melrose Place Farmers Market a few weeks ago and purchased a number of items from them. One of the types of fish they had for sale was called ESCOLAR, a white tuna and it looked really great. When I asked about the gentleman working the stand about this fish, he only answered that all the fish was fresh and amazing.
With his advise, i bought 2 escolar filets for my husband.
I made the escolar from the directions they had listed and my husband got extremely sick the next day! I had never seen anything like this in my life. He has a stomach of steal, being from the the mid-​west where fried food and brats are a part of life, but something really got to him.
He became so ill that words can not explain and had to leave work!!! He never thought it to be the fish and thought that he had something terribly wrong with him. He said he would give it a day and he did end up being better.
Later that night he ate the left over fish (not thinking it was that who made him so ill). The following day, he got the same stomach issues.
At the time, I was concerned for his health and began research on his symptoms. It then dawned on me to look up about Escolar.
I was in shock when I found many blogs about this awful fish that causes illness to may who consume and has even been banned in Japan! I could not believe that this fish had this reputation and the sellers did not even warn me!
When i approached the Smart Fish Company a few weeks later, i saw that they were still selling the fish and they really had nothing to say about my husbands illness except that he probably had a weak stomach. I was completely nice about the situation and thought they should know about the side affects of this fish, but they were extremely rude and could care less about their consumers.
I never write reviews, but i find it extremely important to let people know that you could become ill from this fish and the sellers feel no need to warn those who buy this fish.
BEWARE of escolar and do not buy from these people!