Whale’s Tail Restaurant

Sorry to HAVE. to give a poor review. The ambience here would be good if the service and menu were better. It really feels like the workers are unhappy with their jobs. They need more employees because there really is enough room to attract groups like work dinners or the like.
I would like to see the owner of this place whoever they are, put some effort into public relations, in other words = Build it and they will come !!!

Been enjoying the Whales tail for 20 plus years. No longer. Always enjoyed eating upstairs. Now that Mike is no longer the owner the lower portion of the restaurant is closed.
The location is now run by the County. The menu is very limited and service is slow. On Sunday the brunch crowd is upstairs as well (used to be downstairs) which really gets packed and the service is slow. Still has the great view though.
Wish the Lobster Trap across the way was still open.

We had our office Christmas lunch here and I was not impressed at all. The restaurant just primarily had us as the main customers. When we first walked into this place the smell of spoiled fish was very strong! I have been at other seafood restaurants and they will smell fishy but not overpowering like this place. It looked pretty old and dated. The staff were not that helpful and barely conceded to splitting our check at our table to make it easier. I would have preferred separate checks but they would not do it even though we were pretty much the only ones in there. Since I was not impressed with the smells I went with the burger. The burger was ok but the sweet potato frys were burnt. My coke was flat and I asked for a replacement and it never showed so I had them remove it and just had water. I left thinking this is the first and last time Ill eat here. They do have a great location overlooking the harbor but what a shame inside.

Drinks can be good when they get your order right. Service is spotty at best. Customer service is not in their vocabulary. If they weren’t the closest place to me I would never go there. I do enjoy listening to the free music from my boat, so I guess I have to give them 2 stars.

We had reservations on a busy special event night and I expected to a wait a little while for service, but after ten minutes of sitting outside on the cold patio, no one came to even check in and see if we wanted water or coffee. I had to go all the way to the front hostess to ask if we even had a waiter. When we did get service, it was sporadic, and after asking for water three times, I got it after I had already eaten the smallest oysters I’d ever had in my life. Way too much money for those things. Also, my boyfriend asked for a whiskey neat… And it came with ice… So that gives me very little confidence in the bar tenders. We paid our check right after we got our waters and then I come to realize today they overcharged me. I honestly was willing to go back there again on a regular night because the clam chowder was decent and the food looks like it would be good, but after this, absolutely not.

I made a reservation for the Whales Tail restaurant for 6 of us this evening. When we arrived they said they did not and do not reserve tables. As I looked around the tables said reserved and we would have only 1 available table in the middle of the room. I specifically requested a window seat.
So disappointed with this terribly disorganized restaurant that supposedly does not reserve specific seats. We left and went to a lovely restraint down the street.
Such poor management and poor reception that I think the food could not be much better

Seriously the worst dining experience of my life. If you want quality seafood, do yourself a favor and go anywhere other than here.
We made a 6:00 pm reservation because we had a boat appointment at 8:00 pm. Their restaurant was so understaffed and poorly managed that we didn’t get our food until 7:45 and we had to box up all our food to go!!! $ 50 meals like lobster, steak, and crab all boxed up to go and we didn’t even get to eat our meals. AND some meals never even came! The waiter claimed to take those meals off our check but just handed us a receipt with no items listed! No manager came to apologize and there wasn’t even a manager around to complain to…
You cannot come here unless you have hours to waste and you like dealing with crabby irritable servers and hostesses who are also annoyed that they are understaffed.
In regards to the food, it isn’t anything special in comparison to the numerous seafood competitors since its on the harbor. So save your money on quality seafood for a place that can actually deliver a good dining experience. This is not the place.

Stopped in on Thursday for Happy Hour (3:00 PM — 7:00 PM) with some friends. Came in at 6:50 PM and was given menus for Happy Hour and a table by the window overlooking the water. However our waitress told us that the Happy Hour menu was not available as the computer turns the menu based on the computer clock. A bit disappointed and curious to the whole layout of events (why give us the menus then?), but she came back a few minutes later to inform us that we could order from the Happy Hour menu as the computer would allow it. Just curious, but were satisfied to be ordering from the Happy Hour menu as that was what we wanted. We ordered the WT clam chowder bowl, burger, WT tacos (grilled fish), popcorn shrimp and blue cheese wedge. Add to that a few cokes and a very tasty and smooth Manhattan. (Having had lousy Manhattans in the past, this was a pleasure in the drinking and on that alone will make me endorse the bar if nothing else!!!) All the food was decent and portion sizes were large imho. Here’s a quick rundown:
Clam Chowder Bowl: Creamy and thick with lots of goodies. Huge portion size and very filling. Highly recommended.
Burger: Recommended by our waitress; it does not disappoint!!! Served on a brioche-​like bun with beer batter fries. Ordered ours with cheddar which imho made the burger. You can custom burger with avocado, bacon, etc.; I’d highly recommend it. My friends thought that the burger was a bit salty, but I thought it had good flavor and was tasty. I would definitely order it again.
Tacos: We ordered the grilled fish tacos. A larger taco with shredded grilled fish, not pieces. Could use some sort of «sauce» as I found them rather bland, but pleasing to eat. Definitely worth a try, but used to more authentic style fish tacos. These are «gringo-​fied», FYI.
Popcorn Shrimp. Tasty. Shrimp on the small side and they come with a dipping sauce which reminded me of thousand island dressing. If you let them sit, they tend to get a bit «mushy». Not sure I would order them again but worth a try.
Blue Cheese Wedge: Refreshing salad and good portion size. My friends were pleased with theirs. I would order it again.
The restaurant wasn’t overly busy; the hostess greeted us immediately and was friendly. Our waitress was attentive and helpful but was off to a rocky start with that Happy Hour business in the beginning; she redeemed herself and we tipped her well as she made up for it in service with a smile. Parking was plentiful and the environs were casual and old school Cali friendly. Bathrooms were clean and modernish. Happy Hour menu is reasonably priced and good value. I plan on returning again during a weeknight in the future…

A beautiful location! Sitting on patio overlooking boats. If someone could bring the food up to par this place could rock! We all said we will go back for a cocktail but while the wine was priced right it was an under pour. Go for drinks and view… skip the food until they get a new chef who can turn this place into what it deserves to be!

A great view, great food, but poor service. The waitress an older lady did not want to show us the happy hour menu (fyi…when you arrive at 5pm you want the happy hour). She upsold every drink she could and when refused she got moody. If she was planning on a bigger tip she should have known we have been there more than a dozen times and always tip over 20%. This time we did not. After she could not get her way it was hard to have her come our way. We did not even get offered water. The music for the crowd is inappropriate, the restaurant is trying to be something they are not. You don’t play Nirvana to a population of diners who are over 60. Stop upselling and play better music!

Went for champagne brunch, 10 dollar bottomless count me in baby.
Great cheap oysters as well. Superior service and no wait

Our party of five went for my grandparent’s 59^th wedding anniversary; not one of us was impressed. We arrived at the reservation time but had to wait for anyone to come to the reception area for 10 mins. Once we were seated, the waitress took a bit of time to come over and take our drink orders. When she finally did come over, dad threw in an order for steamed clams. The clams came, but she did not supply us with appetizer plates to eat on. My dad had to get up and ask the bar tender for the plates and salt/​pepper because our waitress was no where to be seen. The broth in the clams was super salty, so we couldn’t finish it. Later, once the food came, my sisters steak was delicious but the rest of the food was slight bland. Grandma enjoyed her clam chowder and I enjoyed my asparagus but that was pretty much it.
The food was alright but the service was awful. The only reason I would come back would be for happy hour at the bar because the drinks were tasty.
I wouldn’t recommend this place to anyone.

So here I am reading the reviews since I posted my own well over four years ago back in January, 2011 & from what I’m reading things haven’t improved since then; if anything they’ve deteriorated.
To make matters worse, there aren’t even any responses from the business itself to all of the negative customer reviews. Perhaps they feel they don’t need to respond. Obviously, the beautiful harbor view isn’t going to disappear overnight, as it continues to bring in unsuspecting customers.

The server was pushy and rude, the food was below average and we waited over one hour for our food. I felt as if was at a cheap used car sales lot rather than a restaurant. I understand that people go for the view, but for us that’s all there was. Cross this hole off our list. There are so many other better places, like Andrea’s, that are so much better with a view. I would avoid the Whale’s Tail at all costs.

Caution this is not the Whale’s Tail! I don’t know what happened to this place but all I can say is stay away until these new owners/​management learn how to run a restaurant. I have been coming here for years and each visit to Oxnard included a trip to the Whales Tail but never again. The only reason I didn’t give zero stars is the waitresses. They were very nice attentive and were doing their best given the circumstances.
My son chose the children’s menu penne pasta. What he got was elbow macaroni plain! No sauce no butter nothing! My daughter and I split the crab legs and when it came out they provided two sides of what was supposed to be drawn butter. It was brown and tasted like cooking oil. When I sent it back I asked the wait staff to try it and even they wouldn’t. Luckily they brought butter out after I complained that was actually butter.
For a «seafood «restaurant on the water you expect fresh fish options. Not here! Not one fresh fish option on the menu. The explanation I got was its Sunday and they didn’t have any but usually they do. Needless to say we will not be back.

Very nice servers, food showed up quickly on a slow Saturday afternoon, beautiful location overlooking the water, and pretty good clam chowder. Went here with a party of 8 and we all enjoyed ourselves.
The bad? Overpriced food, small servings, and you could get better tasting food for a lower price nearby.

Brunch was really good. However, I believe a seafood brunch should have crab. We were a party of 4 and they add 20% gratuity. It’s buffet style and not like they are bringing food to us. Not happy about that!

Mother’s day brunch was great. Beautiful views of the Harbor with some Smooth Jazz while we dine. Great atmosphere to bring your loved ones.

With a party of five, it was nice spot to dine for lunch while enjoying the view of the harbor. I enjoyed the Fried Fish Tacos (3 stars). It’s what you expect from fish tacos that’s crispy topped slaw on corn tortilla. I asked for the chipotle sauce on the side, which a little smoky, creamy, and a tad sweet. Since the salsa was mild, I wish there was something more to make it spicy. I devoured my tacos since I was so hungry.
In my table, others ordered the Fish and Chips, Shrimp and Chips, and Steak Sandwich. Everyone at the table seemed happy with their choices. Since I was full I didn’t try anything else or their delicious sounding desserts. Service was good (4 stars). It’s a good spot if you are in the area.

The best spot in the harbor for a great view. The food is average but combine that with the music and you got your self a winner. It’s a great way to unwind after sailing on a Sunday afternoon. Give it a try the ambience is just right.