Brophy Bros

The service at this place was absolutely terrible. We waiting over an hour for our table, and were seated at an undesirable location after they gave our table away to another guest. The food was nothing fantastic either. Definitely do not recommend this place to others.

Ok, I’ll admit it. I hate fish. But this is still one of my favorite places to eat. They have an outstanding view of Ventura Harbor from the patio. We always sit out there even if there is a wait.
I’ve tried all of the non fish selections (there aren’t many, this place definitely specializes in fish). I’ve settled now on the salad with blackened chicken breast and get the sesame vinaigrette instead of the house dressing it comes with. It is a really good salad.
My wife does like fish and thinks they have very good fish and chips. Last time she wanted to be healthier so got their salad with salmon and liked that.
Their sourdough bread is good too.

Food was really, really, really good, but the service was really bad. Our server’s name was Tyler (if you get him ask for a different server). To my family and I, it felt like he was ignoring us. He would serve the other tables around us but not ours. At one point, we had to get out of the table and ask a separate server for refills. I wouldn’t go back based on the service.

Outstanding seafood, nice view, good prices.
As with the Santa Barbara location, Brophy Brother’s Seafood in Ventura gets the little things right. Came here for a retirement dinner a while back, and decided to stop by for lunch; we were not disappointed. Me — Cioppino seafood soup, my guest — Fish & Chips. Comment… Even the tartar sauce was excellent. Service was first rate!

Brophy Bros is located on the 2^nd floor in the Ventura Harbor Village on Spinnaker Dr. It is right above Milanos & right across the way of Andria’s Seafood. Theres plenty of parking. Parking says a time limit of 3 hours or so, but who actually checks, lol.
If you love seafood you’ll like it here. I recommend the Clam chowder. The cup is a regular size cup. But if you’re starving for Clam Chowder, the bowl is a couple $‘s more, & trust me, its more than enough lol. They have a soup & salad combo which is great for about $ 10. The Fish & Chips are great! Although I don’t care for their french fries (takes 1 star away). The entrees come w/​coleslaw & your choice of clam chowder or salad… The seafood pasta is yummylicious. Try it. I had the ahi tuna platter. It was good, but the lady warned me about it being raw, I didn’t mind it. I liked it, but I prolly won’t make it one of my favs.
Out of all the days I decide to take the family out for lunch happened to be on a Sunday, right after church, on Mothers Day. (Smh lol’s, as I’m Unilocaling this). Man what was I thinking, haha. It was packed! The young ladies had said it was a 1 ½ to 2 hour wait. (2 hr wait for outdoor seating) Man! They took my name & # down & said they’d text me when our table is almost ready. I thought ok cool, we can walk around the Harbor to kill some time. The live jazz band the harbor had at the time was good entertainment for the older folks as well.
I will be back to try more! :)
FYI:
*You have to climb up the stairs to get to Brophy Bros (there is an elevator nearby)
*If its busy they’ll give you a buzzer, or give them your cell # so they can text you. (That way you can walk around if you choose)
*Sit outside & enjoy the wonderful view
*They have TV’s
*They have a bar & happy hour
*again, Clam Chowder!

Love Sunday mornings here when they first open.
Sitting outside on the patio, overlooking the harbor, all year around.
I never ate clam chowder until I tried a spoonful of my wife’s here years ago, now I start every visit there with a cup. I try chowder at other places but they just don’t compare to BB’s.
Chowder is usually followed by a fresh fish entrée by me and an order of steamed clams by my wife.
Basket of fresh bread and a Bloody Mary.
Life is good.

No wait at the bar on Mother’s Day! Wooohooo! We got so lucky!
My husband and I ordered the Cold Platter with salad AND Chipeno! The BEST in town!!! Seafood is always fresh at this place. My daughter’s Seafood pasta looked and smelled so good too. She even got the clam chowder as part of the order for free.
The Chef at the bar is really good and the Bartenders are the friendliest. I really, really love this place. Thank you Brophy Bros :) We had a great time!!!

Went here with my mom for the first time for a pre mothers day lunch. Ask to be sat outside. It’s a beautiful view of the harbor.
My mom ordered the seafood spaghetti which comes with a choice of salad or chowder and rice pilaf or fries.
She ordered the clam chowder. Honestly one of the best clam chowders I’ve ever had! It had so much flavor and very chunky! I love it when there’s a lot of clam and veggies in my clam chowder and not too «soupy».
The fries were fries, they were alright-​nothing to brag about. Although this being a «side» included with the entrée, it was a lot. They literally give you a separate plate for fries, and it’s the same sized plate as the spaghetti entrée!
The seafood spaghetti was delicious! Lots of flavor. Very garlicky which I like. It was honestly a lot of food that came with this $ 19.99 entrée so if you’re hungry, the entrée plates are perfect.
I ordered the fish and chips. The fish was good! And their tarter sauce was good too. Fries again were meh, but again these portions were a pretty good size.
Not to mention, they also bring you sourdough bread before the actual food. Kinda disappointed that it was so hard and cold and chewy but whatevs it suffices for waiting for our meals.
Service was mediocre, not sure who was our actual server because there was a different person who asked for our drinks, and two different people that asked if we were ready to order. I wish the server would have introduced herself but figured out her name when I paid for the bill. Her name was cool tho, reminded me of the chocolate tootsie roll.

Have been there many, many times in the last 5 years — no exaggeration, probably north of 200 times. The location is nice, right on the marina. Service is average. The inside tables are so loud you can’t hear yourself think. If you must go, sit on the patio.
I noticed the quality of some dishes was slowly declining. Showed up one day to find that they must have changed bread suppliers. The bread they USED to have was amazing, the stuff they have now sucks. I asked the server and she gave me an airheady, «Yeah, I don’t know…» When I asked the manager I was told that they elected to go with another baker. I take sourdough bread seriously and I was pissed. Through a series of coincidences, I found that Brophy Bros. stopped buying bread from Etxea Bakery (they’re the same guys that had the old Pioneer Bakery that was in Venice).
We now go to Lure Fish House which isn’t far. The food is amazing and they actually serve Etxea sourdough bread.

Husband and I had dinner here about a week ago and it was enjoyable. We sat outside because the interior dining area was loud enough to split ones head open. The view of the bay was very nice with all the ships docked.
The table bread was quite tasty and our food and drinks came out relatively quickly. I was glad I’d ordered the cole slaw with my fried clams as that much fried food quickly turned into a brick in my stomach. The clams were cooked nicely — not tough and not tasting like the ocean. A good flavor and firm, but not hard texture. The clams were not huge, but decent sized and the portion sizes here overall were significant. My husband got some kind of fish and it looked and tasted good.
Pacing towards the end of our meal slowed and I doodled on my phone while we waited for our bill, and for our payment to be processed. I would not mind coming here again. Staff was friendly and professional during our visit. Bathrooms are located outside the restaurant and are sort of… elementary school quality but oh well.

Had lunch at the Ventura Harbor location while on vacation. Friendly staff and some of the best steamed clams I’ve had in years. Please open one in San Antonio.

— Short Synopsis —
Brophy Bros has decent food and this location has a fantastic view of the marina.
— Detailed Summary —
The view is excellent and is what I would come here for. You can see the marina from both inside and outside dining areas. It gives you a view of the dozens of boats out in the marina. There are also some nice mountains in the distance that provide a nice background and contrast well with the sky and clouds. It feels like a painting almost.
The sea bass entrée was interesting. The Cajun seasoning coated the fish and it looked like too much from looking at it; however, the seasoning was not overpowering and provided some flavor to the fish. The fish was nice and flaky, but borderline between dry and moist. Luckily, there was melted butter and coleslaw to help with the slightly dry fish. The rice pilaf and coleslaw were good.
The clam chowder was good and tasted like many other good clam chowders I’ve had. I liked how they put the cup size into an actual cup. The clam chowder paired well with the complimentary sourdough bread. In fact, I feel like the bread is for you to get chowder as sourdough is usually the bread for chowder bread bowls.
All in all, I had decent food here with a nice view of the marina.

I really wish there was a three and a half star option, because that is where this place sits. It was super busy, and I can see why with it’s awesome location. The wait was around 30 minutes, which seemed longer with the limited space to wait.
The view is amazing of the harbor. The elevated location offers a great view and if for nothing more this place should be tried for that fact.
The food was alright. The Tuna Salad was decent and fresh, but the Tuna melt was a winner. The Tuna Melt offered a great opened face comfort food staple with a lot of taste. I was really impressed with this selection. The hot combo appetizer was the lowest part of the meal. The mussels were served in a bland sauce that added no flavor. A little spice would have gone a long way with these mussels.
The drinks were also just OK. The Perfect Margarita, was not so perfect. It just tasted like lime juice with a sprinkle of Tequila.
While I was not blown away by the food, the location is worthy of at least a try, but don’t wast the time on the hot combo app.

I’ve had this place recommended to me at least 4 times this past month and felt obligated to see what all the hype was about. I hear that they are famous for their bloody marys (award winning) and what better way to spend Easter Sunday after church.
The restaurant is situated within the ventura harbor and on the second floor so you get a great view of the marina. It has that fisherman’s wife kind of feel like where a fisherman’s wife wound go and drink and eat with really awesome people while her husband caught the fish. It might not be a popular comparison or analogy now, but you will see it will take off ;)
Anyways our server was really friendly and honest about what the restaurant’s top dishes are, and help sway our decision to go with the breaded scallops with French fries and Cole slaw. For drinks I obviously went for the famous bloody mary while my boyfriend went with an ice cold beer.
The bloody mary was spicy and had old bay seasoning around the edge of the glass and garnished with a lemon and celery. It was pretty good, but I was disappointed that for $ 10 it came in such a small glass. In fact all of their prices were high, but they probably have to in order to pay rent in such a prime location.
Our food arrived promptly and was absolutely amazing! Every single scallop was breaded and cooked to perfection. Served with cocktail, tartar, fries and Cole slaw. Initially we were talking about how high the prices were, but when it came to my food it was worth every penny.
If and when you make it in to BB’S you must try the breaded scallops. All in all great dining experience and have already recommended it to friends.

Back to Brophy’s. This time for Easter dinner after a drive to Ojai and time spent soaking up the spring sunshine. When we got to the Harbor, it was on the foggy side, but cleared a bit as the evening progressed.
We were seated promptly outside in the «fishbowl» spot — two bar stools on the outside of the building, but sheltered by a glass wind shield and the roof overhang. It was surprisingly cozy, even without supplemental heat.
Service was snappy throughout, from being taken to our spot, to drink orders, to food selection and delivery. Our server was delightfully cheerful (despite working on Easter day).
The fish in the fish & chips dish was steaming hot and cooked to perfection. The fries weren’t quite as warm, but overlooking because the fish was so terrific. Their clam chowder is of a thickness that fills you up as it pleases the taste buds. Bravo!
We split an order of the chowder and house salad, plus an order of the fish & chips, and also shared the mud pie for dessert. Just the right amount of food.
Was lovely to see one large family party in the middle of the inside dining room with the kids dressed up for the meal in honor of the holiday.
I learned from our server that their blender is old and tired, so she steered me away from ordering a blender drink. Maybe next time.

Great spot in Ventura harbor for lunch, happy hour and dinner. The bar overlooks the harbor and their is patio seating as well for awesome views of the harbor and mountains.
I am a big fan of their chowder– I like to add some pepper, Tabasco and a little bit of their fresh sourdough bread.
They have a great happy hour menu and for lunch a great selection of salads and sandwiches and hot/​cold appetizers.
If you haven’t tried this place yet stop in soon!

Went to Brophy Bros. on a Saturday afternoon at around 1:00. The place was packed with an hour wait. Since the bar area is really do only place to hang out, we had to huddle with a bunch of people near the restrooms.
Our waitress was fantastic. Friendly, knowledgeable and attentive.
We ordered the hot platter which had baked clams and oysters Rockefeller, shrimp scampi, clam chowder and the sea bass. Everything was beyond good except the shrimp scampi. Nothing about that dish was good.
Cocktails were decent but nothing to blow your mind.
Atmosphere was casual and the views if you say outside are great.

At the often overlooked Ventura Harbor, Brophy Brothers is almost an institution. Great happy hour! The bar has an gorgeous view, rain or shine and there is always parking, but not always a seat at the bar. Go early if it’s a nice day.
The food is fabulous, Garlic baked clams are a standout; and the beers are cold. The taps rotate through some interesting selections; there is always something on draft I haven’t tried. The staff is super friendly and there seem to be a lot of them. We might have been here during shift change but we never wanted for anything They had fresh oyster that were delivered quickly. We have eaten here for dinner as well and loved it.
I can’t find too many negatives here except it can get loud, not enough to knock off stars.

Every time I visit friends in Carpenteria, Santa Barbara and Montecito, I have to make a trip to Brophy Bros for some amazing seafood. The wait at the location on the pier is usually too long for my taste (more than an hour in some instances), so my friends and I typically will drive to their Ventura location, which is a larger location. As a tip, ask to sit at the tables by the bar for a quicker seat time. The décor at both locales is what you’d call nautical, and the wait staff have always been super-​friendly and helpful when suggesting items on the menu I may not have tried before.
Typically, I’ll get a cup of their New England gumbo ($ 4.75) followed by the peel-​and-​eat shrimp ($ 8.95). The gumbo is always just right, with lots of seafood and okra, which is how it should be. The shrimp are chilled to perfection, and the accompanying cocktail sauce is tangy without being bitter.
During my last visit, my order differed a bit, with a shrimp shooter ($ 3.75) to start (it included a splash of vodka) followed by the delectable cold combo plate, which consisted of varying amounts of crab meat, ceviche, oysters, clams and peel & eat shrimp ($ 15.95). There was so much food, I couldn’t finish all of the shrimp, which was a first for me. Next time, per a recommendation from my friend Krista, I’ll try the seafood pasta, which is supposed to be amazing (Gulf shrimp and sea scallops sautéed with garlic, lemon, white wine, tomato and basil served over linguini and topped with Parmesan cheese ($ 18.95).

If you’re looking for seafood with a view in the port, this is a good place to go. The vibe is a bit divey and there is bar seating with the games on TV.
I ended up ordering the combo hot plate with a mix of shrimp, mussels, calms and a side of two baked clams and two oysters rockefeller. The baked clams and the oysters rockefeller were the best parts of the dish. We were looking for local seafood and it seems like most of their seafood is imported. Service was very friendly. Prices are a bit high, but such is the deal with seafood.