Walt’s Wharf

My friend recommended us to come here for dinner. I didn’t even know this little quaint town existed! Although, after the dinner and drove around, I realized I have been here once before but during the day time.
The restaurant is quite nicely laid out. The ground floor is more like a bar scene, wine selections, a little bit more noisy and lively. Upstairs is more for «fine dining» and have a nice view from the second floor out to the streets, that’s if you got a window seat… like me!
The service was great, very attentive and friendly. Probably b/​c we knew the GM of the place, but nonetheless it seemed like they were attentive and fast to other tables as well. The design of the space upstairs feels like someone’s house turned into a restaurant. Kind of a home-​y feeling, which I like.
I love oysters so we had that for appetizers. My friend wasn’t too fond of the idea, but was willing to give it a go. «slimy yet satisfying?» — lion king. Could be his case, but I loved it. Freshly shucked and slurped down my mouth. It came with the cocktail sauce and onion vinegar. I prefer it with the vinegar.
I had ordered the oak grilled ahi tuna and substitute the garlic rice for the forbidden rice. The plate was delicious. It was paired with green beans, drizzled with unagi sauce. Asian flavoring.
My friend ordered the Grilled Mixed Seafood plate. He definitely loved it. Non-​stop «mmmmmmmmmmm-​ing» till he was done. I had a small bite of the grilled shrimp and lobster and it was smoky tasting. It was definitely good and a good choice for him.
At the end, I had the Meyer lemon cake pudding which was perfect for me. Not too heavy, light enough to sweeten my taste buds. My friend ordered the homemade apple pie ala mode. He loved it… mmm…what doesn’t he like??? The oysters, hahaha. Stole a bite from him as well and it was good, but it wouldn’t been too filling for me with all the butter crust.
Overall, the night ended with a fantastic meal, a walk down the pier, and went home for some shuffle board and bumper pool competition.

We go here pretty much every Friday for lunch. We sit at the bar, enjoy a glass of wine and a wonderful lunch. The Szechuan Santa Fe pasta is incredible. It is not on the menu but if you’re lucky Hernan will have made up some sauce. I’m a huge fan of the blackened halibut that Manny is amazing at making. You cannot go wrong with any of the desserts. Love Walts.

This is a tough place to go on a diet.
Truth be told, we rarely venture to Seal Beach anymore… I used to go all the time when I was younger and fished on the pier with brothers and friends. Alas, we got older, lives got busier, and on those rare times I get out in the town with Mrs. Picante, we tend to stay closer to home.
Every now and again, though, I’ll ride my bike down the river trail from Arcadia to Seal Beach. The 1,000+ calorie burn makes me feel a little better about having a big meal in the middle of the day. Not that there’s anything particularly unhealthy about the food here. On the contrary, they serve fresh fish, prepared in a variety of ways.
Service is always attentive, and prices are as you might expect for a fish restaurant… Not astronomical, but even without wine, you can drop a Ben Franklin here for two pretty quickly with appetizers, entrees, and dessert.
When I’m not avoiding carbs, I really enjoy the basket of warm sourdough bread brought to the table. It goes really well with their clam chowder, ceviche, or calamari appetizer.
Today, I met my parents (who in their late 60s, also rode down the San Gabriel River Trail from Pasadena today!) for lunch, and since I’m on a protein only-​ish kick, we ordered appetizers only.
I had the ahi sashimi plate, the deviled eggs, and a bite of mom’s crab cakes. Mom and dad also ordered coconut shrimp and the oak grilled veggie platter– half an artichoke, peppers, zucchini, carrots, squash… All grilled to perfection. No bread today, but I probably drank 6 ice teas– they have really good iced tea!
On past visits, I’ve enjoyed their salmon and grilled yellowtail plates, served variably with rice pilaf, veggies, or noodle salads– around $ 18 – 28 a plate. I’ve also enjoyed their oysters, but I’ve never tried the «turf» plates, and I don’t buy lobster ever. For a guy who is pretty committed to eating only seafood that I caught myself, I enjoy this place a lot.
A respectable wine list, too. Unilocal check in gets you 25% off a $ 50+ bottle… But that wasn’t part of the experience today. I don’t drink and bike… And it’s 30 miles back to Arcadia on the bike trail. Someday I’ll belly up to their bar, too, I guess.
There are probably nicer, more expensive seafood places around, but for a relaxed atmosphere, respectable food, and pretty reasonable prices, give Walt’s Wharf a try.

We had our annual sibling get together here. Good choice! Loved the oysters, wife loved the grilled artichoke. My grilled halibut was perfect. Her crab Louie was good, maybe not super special. Thumbs up for the Bloody Mary’s. Prices are reasonable given the location.

Idaho Trout! Sourdough Bread!
I like this place, it has its charm, the staff is great and they make every effort to accommodate your taste in fish. I told a friend I had wanted a nice trout meal, hadn’t had one in a few years and this is where brought me. As others have stated, the bread was wonderful, the sides were good and the service was excellent. I was so happy, I can’t see how you can go wrong here.

We were craving a good dinner and Walt’s Wharf did not disappoint. We started off with hot bread and dirty martinis… could have stopped there and been happy… but we didn’t! I had the Oak Grilled Brochette with filet mignon and shrimp with rosemary roasted potatoes and grilled brussel sprouts on the side. My hubby had filet mignon steak also with the Rosemary roasted potatoes and brussel sprouts. We finished it off with their mud pie served with warm caramel sauce and chocolate… delicious! Everything was cooked to perfection. Great service too… they were all very attentive.

Great house wines /​wine list
Great happy hour $ 5.00 specials
Amazing fresh seafood
Excellent ambiance & service!
Love it there~

Walt’s is always a solid choice. I’ve never had a bad meal there! A few favorites from the menu — oak grilled artichoke, Walt’s salad, Ortega steamers, carmalized salmon… all are amazing!
The prices are a bit higher than most restaurants in Seal Beach, and they don’t take reservations. If you are okay with grabbing a glass of wine and waiting at the bar, you can get a table pretty much anytime.

First off I’m a total foodie & was a server. Our service from Casey was fabulous I can not say enough wonderful things about her! I hope she get a raise! I will be back! We had the mussels, chilled seafood platter & the house smoked fish everything was so Fresh & delicious. Thank you Casey! You made our night, we left 40 minutes ago and are still talking about your service & wonderful attitude! I will be bringing my family & friends here!

Good restaurant and good service. Others give it a 4 to 5 stars. I feel like a 3 star rating. Great seafood salad. My mahi mahi was smallish and the menu mentioned lots of ingredients. Unfortunately they were ground up and not recognizable. The calamari sandwich was good. The drinks were flowing. I was hoping for something better. All in all it was good.

Sea food is excellent. Fresh oysters are the bomb.
The Ahi Poki (poke) was done little differently, but still good. The service was oustanding, not pushy, because it was very busy.
The seared Ahi was again, different, unlike the local back in Hawai’i. Over all it was a very enjoyable experience.

A bit on the pricey side compared to the look of the inside but delicious and worth it. We sat near the open kitchen so we could see everything rolling out. The sourdough bread was great. The waitress knew the menu inside and out. She gave great recommendations and knew we were jet lagged and starved and had our food moving quick to us. The glazed salmon over leeks is fantastic. I opened up with a squash soup that was seasoned and drizzled with cream exceptionally well. Others went simple with the fish and chips and liked that. We were too tired to try the expansive wine list but it looked tempting. Overall we will go back there again and spend more time!

The actual rating is between 3 to 4… The experience offered everything in a 4 stars standard: friendly service, warm bread was served (I love warm bread!!), the restaurant’s environment is neat and nice…
I ordered an Ahi sandwich, the fish is fresh and well prepared, but the side items — the pasta salad, the little salad pieces and the sandwich bun — I can’t help but compare them to supermarket deli items… Well they are just the sides so I don’t think I should weight them too heavy on the rating… So 4 stars it is …

5 stars: clam chowder — not your canned soup version. Clams are cooked to perfection and not tough. It is slightly more runny than typical thick chowders, but I kinda prefer it this way. You won’t regret it if you order it. Highly recommend as a must try.
4 stars: scallops — so juicy, soft, and delicious. Not overcooked and tough which is a common mistake.
3 stars: Hibiscus margarita — they were way too generous with salting on the rim, and i think a lot of it fell into the drink. All I could taste was salt, and very little hibiscus.

A great place for lunch or dinner. I used to eat there frequently when I lived in the area and was delighted to find out it is still top notch when I was in the area on a business trip.
My recent lunch there was excellent. Service was outstanding, courteous, quick and attentive without being obtrusive.
The oak grilled fish is amazing. I had a swordfish steak that was perfectly cooked and with that extra flavor that comes from grilling over oak. My grilled artichoke was delicious and cooked perfectly. A lot of restaurants don’t get artichokes cooked quite right when grilled, but Walt’s nailed it.
Nice selection of wines by the glass, including a nice Roussanne – a wine that is hard to find.
I don’t know of a better restaurant in Seal Beach. I highly recommend Walt’s Wharf.

I’m giving Walts the upgrade that it deserves. Hubs and I stopped in here for dinner last night, and sat in the bar. Service was on point, really damn good in fact. My hub loved his clam chowder and salad, and my shrimp and crab Louis salad was fresh, crisp and delicious.
I’m putting in the regular rotation!

I always like to try the appetizers first if I’m trying a place for the first time. I was really excited to check this place out because of the great reviews.
To start I ordered the steamed garlic butter mussels. Our server was awesome and the food arrived so quick. The mussels are good but not like OMG I want another one…
Next, the grilled artichokes came… it was interesting as I’ve never had grilled artichokes before, there’s a secret sauce that comes with it that tasted like ketchup and mayonnaise… hmm thank goodness there’s that bread and butter so I just used the butter for the artichokes… again, it was good but nothing really special.
I guess I’m kind of a food snob as I’ve seen a lot of reviews about the clam chowder being the best. Yes, it’s the best out of the 3 appetizers that I ordered but it’s not the best that I’ve had so far (I still think San Francisco wins)
Overall this place is good, the service is fast and the ambiance is wonderful. Maybe I’ll go back to try the main course one of this days when I’m in town…

Although I work locally in the area, and have heard about this place for years, last night was my first time.
Overall, I can only give it 3 stars because everything was extremely pricey for a two $$ restaurant. The portions were tiny, for the price. Not sure who rates the $ in Unilocal,but now after being here, I would think it should be rated $$$, at the very least.
I use Unilocal a lot, mostly because I’m a visual person, so I did my homework before I took my husband here for his birthday last night.
The clam chowder WAS excellent, great flavor and not watered down at all. The grilled artichoke was nice, but the dipping sauce was a bit sweet for my taste. I asked if I could substitute the grilled Caesar for the house salad that came with the entrée and offered to pay additional. THIS is what disappointed me most. I literally got 3 «very» small spears of Romaine lettuce on a huge oval plate… and was shocked they charged me an additional $ 4. Now I’m disappointed in myself for not complaining, but I didn’t want to ruin the evening.
The waitress recommended the Halibut, because she said it was in season and their freshest fish of the night (odd way to explain it), so I went with that. My husband selected the King Salmon. Both, were grilled and unfortunately very dry. So sad about this because since this is a «fish» place… you’d think the quality and taste would be above par.
We went with the mud pie for dessert. I’m a dessert fan and, I’ve had better. I expected way more ice cream & less chocolate, which was overwhelming. Let me just leave it at that.
The service was excellent. They were very attentive. Water, bread refills, clean up. Nice.

Every special day of the month, my girlfriend and I go somewhere special. Almost every place is special, but this is the day every month that reminds us that we became part of each others’ lives. With out frequent visits to one of our favorite parks, its just quite comforting that we are dining at a famous name. In Seal Beach, you’ll find Walt’s Wharf.
Just located about two to three blocks north of the Seal Beach Pier on the corner of Main and Central, you’ll find Walt’s Wharf. At first, it doesn’t look what its named after. We’ve all been to many various wharfs which are usually located near the ocean or the bay. Walt’s Wharf is located inland. My girlfriend wanted me to experience this place as she loves this place. She is used to coming to lunch, but dinner was a different subject.
We arrived around 6−7pm during the week. Walt’s Wharf is probably one of the popular places to dine. It was very crowded when we visited and we were taken to the second floor of the restaurant. I believe my girlfriend said that she was used to sitting downstairs. Upstairs seem to be much more quieter than the downstairs dining area. For us, it would be a little more romantic. We were seated at a table and our server for the day was Carlie.
She took our drink orders first. My girlfriend ordered a lemonade ($ 2.50) and I just got a glass of water with lemon. As soon as she left, my girlfriend and I were talking about our day. I leaned back and to the corner of my eye, I saw a little spider come down right in front of me to join us for dinner. When I saw it, I believe my girlfriend saw it too. It wasn’t a big spider, but it was fast one. I called one of the other hostess, to come and grab it. In a way, it was funny, but also very cool to see a spider just come down in front of me, but almost ruin the meal. The staff offered another table, but we decided to stay still. We did get new utensils since the spider went toward my area and wanted to see what I was going to get.
Our waitress came back, but I don’t think she knew what had happened. She took our dinner order. My girlfriend got the Grilled Halibut with a cup of Boston Clam Chowder ($ 30.25) and I got the Chimmichurri Shrimp Salad ($ 17.95). Since they didn’t have Jasmine Rice that evening, she opted to get the Mash Potatoes. Its very weird that they only serve Jasmine Rice for the lunch, but not dinner. Our order was very. One of the other employees brought us a basket of free bread. Who doesn’t love free bread? They brought my girlfriend’s Boston Clam Chowder, but she gave it to me. Thank you Honey! The Boston Clam Chowder was very creamy and pouring out of the bowl. With the Oyster Crackers, it complimented the meal very well both out and in the chowder.
Our main meal came and we started snapping photos of our meal. I hadn’t realized, but my girlfriend had noticed the family that we were taking photos of our meal. Sorry… We’re Unilocalers! My Chimmichurri Shrimp Salad was a simple salad with the greens, seeds, vinaigrette, and of course, grilled shrimp. I loved every bite. I even had shared my food with my honey. She gave me a taste of her halibut and it was just as savory with her carrots. I can see why she loves this dish.
I see Walt’s Wharf as a local favorite to dine. The name sounds marvelous, but when we see the name, we think of the bigger wharf with an open fish market. I like the place and sure is interesting. I would love to try their lunch one day and then enjoy the Seal Beach Pier. Now, if Walt’s Wharf was a particular park, I am sure the name would be big and blown up for the billions of guests.
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Mixed seafood grilled un vrai régal, badoit servit de manière très classe, comme du vin dans un beau verre ! Assiette très bien présenté digne d’un grand restaurant. Nous avons passé une très bonne soirée.

What brought me in here was Seal Beach restaurant week. For $ 18, I got a 3-​course meal. I was seated by the window but in the bar area so I was being served by the bartender. I watched parking enforcement chalk the tires since parking on the street is 1 hour in some spots.
Bread was offered and I took it. I ate the sourdough with the clam chowder. It had really good flavor and an abundance of clams but low on the potatoes which is fine. What’s funny is that I just got back from Monterey Bay and this clam chowder here was better than the several I tried up there.
Main course was the seafood curry. This indeed has some spice to it but it wasn’t overbearing. A piece of delicate white fish, a scallop, 2 mussels, 2 clams, and some rice swimming around the curry sauce is what comprised this dish.
I was short on time so I had to take my small piece of crème brûlée to go.
I felt it was a good deal. Service was great. Was greeted by the host at the front door and a staff member let me know the other bathroom was unisex while I stood in line for the lady’s room.