Ironside Fish & Oyster

Food waz amazing as always, but service was slow and it was far noisier than other times I have been there.

Alexander S is a great asset to the Ironside Team. He made our experience absolutely amazing. The food was delicious as always.

Tuesday Sept 24,2021
Saw the happy hour and decided to try the oysters on the half shell. My wife and i ordered 2 dozenThey were very tiny. Asked for horseradish and ketchup to make up our very simple cocktail sauce we love on fresh oysters. Waiter said the owner hates ketchup and won't allow it his restaurant. Glad I didn't order fries.... Unfortunately we ordered 2 dozen oysters. Not only did we not make simple cocktails sauce we like, but the oysters were the scrawniest oysters I have seen. Lot of the oysters had pieces of shell in them.
Ron B

Ironside is an all time favorite of mine. The food is always great, service is good, and the ambiance is so fun. Highly recommend for oysters and the chard octopus.

They did not have valet and parking was almost impossible.

Amazing everything.

Amazing food, great environment and service was great.

This was our second time here. Our first time, oysters were delicious and so were the entrees and service was spectacular. Unfortunately, this time, service was so terrible. We waited at least 25-30 minutes for everything we ordered. We ordered the Opah fish for the main entree and it was not our favorite at all. The fish was minimal and in a broth with a very fishy flavor. The zucchini salad was good but a bit bland. The highlight of the meal was the grilled Octopus. It was absolutely delicious and cooked to perfection with the chorizo giving it so much flavor. Unfortunately, that also took 30 minutes to come out.

I understand that places may be short staffed but that didn’t seem to be the case here since we saw other tables constantly getting food and drinks while we waited. Bummed us out, but probably won’t be returning to Ironside.

I should add that the raw bar looked yummy, and maybe it was just what we ordered this time, but to us it isn’t worth driving from OC to SD to eat there again.

Fresh fish and oyster bar in a great location. Busy and energetic. Great food and people watching

Service was wonderful in this relaxed environment. Food was tasty,.. only one issue, the chowder was delivered to our table lukewarm and without a spoon, but the issue was fixed. Don’t sit outside if you’re u don’t want people walking through with lit cigarettes and dogs.

Great experience, best food!

It was okay-good but definitely over rated.

Chose this place as a birthday lunch for my girl because she loves oysters. The place was perfect and the best part was the surprise that happy hour provided $1 oysters. Also her getting to eat a childhood favorite uni. We totally enjoyed the experience and will become regulars.

Anniversary happy hour.
Waitress was so great. She brought us Champaign when we told her it was our anniversary.

I have been here several times as a local and have to say that each time the hostesses have been unfriendly and curt, quite unlike the wait staff. This is the first impression of an establishment and needs addressing. That said, the food is great.

Great cocktails and food
Wish there were some non seafood potions aside from the veggie sides

We celebrated three birthdays and were treated like queens! There are extremely gracious with any food allergy/restrictions. Truly, BEST restaurant in San Diego!!

The hostess was surly and annoyed at seating us ( I guess having a reservation doesn't mean they really want you there). as for the service, after taking our drink and appetizer order, the waitress disappeared for nearly the rest of our meal. We probably would have had a second drink if the option had been offered! The food runners were not working together, as our cold appetizer ( a nice chilled lobster) arrived seconds before our entrees. My husband asked them to please allow us to eat our appetizer first, and specified that our food should be cooked fresh. Nope, the same entrees cam out ten minutes later. What a sad, soggy crab cake and chewy, breaded fish and chips. Not sure why the rave reviews in San diego magazine. Just a super disappointing weekend outing.

Hands down one of my favorite restaurant in San Diego. The food always delivers. On this occasion, we had the octopus which was expertly cooked - the chorizo and sherry vinaigrette were the perfect pop of flavor with the octopus. We also had the BIG seafood platter which was divine and we indulged in the chowder fries which were decadently delicious. We had all of this alongside a gorgeous bottle of Albarino. This is a MUST visit restaurant whether you are from out of town or live here.

Here is the best seafood restaurant in San Diego.

Food was really good and they had great cocktails with funny glasses. Service was really good too! All waiters were very good.

Amazing atmosphere. Our waitress Amber was a star. The food was superb. Clam chowder, burrata heirloom tomato salad, scallops and fish and chips were all great. The ironside bread loaf with whipped butter was the perfect starter with a hint of citrus that was a welcomed twist. Will be coming back!

Amazing 🤩

Amazing seafood!! The wait staff were knowledgeable and offered great recommendations! I would return on my next trip to San Diego!

It was incredible! Javert is super sweet and provided stellar service. The food was so tasty and the ambience was perfect. A must for visiting SD!

Very attentive waitstaff, yet we had 2waiters and several expiditers. The food was incredible. Music was a little loud making conversation difficult. We'll be back for sure!

came for anniversary very nice and the lobster roll was really good

Great evening. We had a table that bridged the restaurant and outdoor area, thus a lot to watch. Great food as always and service was excellent.

I love this place. Atmosphere, food, drinks and service are all amazing. Just a great place all around.

The food is so good. Servers are nice and friendly.

Sat outside, food was excellent, just could have used some lights for the tables right outside the restaurant. It was hard to read the menu at times. Other than that, great experience as usual.

Good Food.
Service spotty.
Very Noisy place. Small table.

As always, the food was fantastic and the service outstanding. But frankly, the ambiance on this visit was severely lacking. We were hosting out of town guests who wanted to try the Ironside lobster rolled that I have raved about for years. They were departing in early afternoon so we brought them for an early lunch. Finding parking was, of course, challenging as always in Little Italy. But after we were seated at an outside table, we were also alarmed by the noise level. There were many large, double-parked delivery trucks on India Street (adding to both sidewalk and traffic congestion), and all were very loudly off-loading provisions and beer kegs, etc. throughout our meal. When combined with the very loud music blaring through the restaurant's outdoor speaker system, we could barley carry on a conversation. Obviously, some of the factors that negatively affected our experience were out of the control of the restaurant, but I will think twice before returning to Ironside at that time of day.

Great happy hour oysters!

Fresh oysters and great drinks. Our service was amazing. Tatiana was wonderful and very friendly. Love this place. Will be back again. Two days in a row!

Cute atmosphere and food was excellent! Great for locals and visitors alike!

I love this restaurant and their food, but it’s was extremely hot inside and they don’t have any fans to move the air at all. I actually felt sick and had to get my food boxed to leave.

Service and food was beyond exceptional! Go for happy hour and book at 4:15 pm. The octopus and $1 oysters with horseradish is so good!

I highly recommend ordering an Ironside Platter. My husband and I ordered the Big and split a few other items. The platter had to be our favorite, followed by the octopus and crab cake. Our least favorite dish was the local catch. We ordered yellowtail with brown butter sauce and it was so underwhelming. The sauce was creamy, but bland. It tasted more like bland corn chowder. That aside, this place has a great vibe and our waiter was incredibly friendly.

Great food, great service. Would definitely return!