Ironside Fish & Oyster
Little Italy was built by the fishing industry. Ironside attempts to continue that narrative. It's our contemporary interpretation of the classic fish house and oyster bar. Located in a historic auction house on India St we did a full comprehensive restoration of the building, with three open-air culinary hubs featuring an expansive raw bar, chefs table, and bakery. We tried to be mindful of the past while looking towards the future.
Popular dishes
Lobster Roll
Brown Butter Mayo, Crispy Shallots, Chives
91 reviews
Grilled Oysters
Leeks, Bearnaise
115 reviews
Oysters Rockefeller
Spinach, Parmesan, Breadcrumbs
3 reviews
The food was really disappointing. Once it came, our waiter never came back to check on us until we flagged him down for more drinks.
Food was very good. The price is on the higher end of the spectrum. The service was well managed.
Amazing food and great ambience. Quality over quantity, super fresh dishes. Loved the drinks too. Was very satisfied.
Anniversary
Amazing seafood!! Tasty cocktails and excellent service!
We went there for my husbands birthday celebration, and everything from start to finish was stellar. The staff was friendly and attentive, the food phenomenal. This has become our go to restaurant when we visit SD.
Excellent overall
Great happy hour specials! Delicious cocktails. Great ambience. Get the banana pudding!
Excelent!!!
Forgettable and Disappointing:
We had been here a number times pre-covid and I was excited to bring my partner here for a belated Valentines. As we both had been in the service industry before, we thought it wise to make a booking for 6pm on Tuesday instead of a Sunday.
I requested inside if possible, somewhere warm if not. We were seated close to the road and after trying for a few minutes to get the gas heaters going, the waiter gave up. In fact a row of 6 heaters were not on and as a result, it was freezing.
Waiter (Ri.) seemed disinterested and often said nothing to any thank you's. After our first round of drinks, our empty glasses sat on our table until we left. Even the manager that came over to drop off food did not clear empty plates and glasses. We had to order another round from someone that brought us our food (the only highlight, it was delicious!). Overall the service and the cold affected our desire to stay, so we settled up and went elsewhere for a nightcap and dessert. Sloppy.
Had an amazing experience here overall. The patio was adorable and the food was so good, did not have one bad dish. Highly recommend going during happy hour for dollar oysters!
I highly recommend this place! Allie was my waitress and she was unbelievable with making my partner and I feel so welcomed on Valentine's Day. We loved every single dish (especially the big platter's shrimp and ceviche) and we can't wait to return!
Food was amazing! Service stellar! In all a magical night. As usual fine dining portions area bit on the smaller end for the cost, but besides that would come back.
Loved the food and the service was amazing!! A must go
Always great food and service here! They’ve done a good job modifying the outdoor space as well.
We arrived 1/2 early but were asked to wait in the street until 8:00 pm even though our assigned/reserved table was free from the start. Total lack of common sense and sensitivity. Let with a foul taste in my mouth as a result of this even though the food, atmosphere and service from Andrew was outstanding.
Yummy dollar oysters on the half shell and rockfish ceviche.
Best part: Service was excellent and Lobster Roll(Only downfall is bread larger portion than lobster)
Opportunity: Dessert; we have the Meringue; disgusting; hard and chewy, tasted burnt. Did not taste good at all.
It was great
We were seated in table in the main walkway. I ask for a table by the wall. They said could not do this as they needed the table for larger groups. We were a party of 3. Minutes later there were 2 people sitting at the table I wanted. Music from a speaker set next to our table. Ask them to move it as it was hard to talk. Finally they moved us to another table. Ordered Oyster Rockefeller. It was pretty bad. Ordered Lobster roll it was seriously small. Overall food was less than good and over priced.
Lovely set up outdoors these days. Shielded from passers by and the staff was just so lovely...
Amazing food as usual and good champagne!
Loved everything about this place! The drink was majority rum and wonderful
Happy hour is amazing! Waiter was terrible. He ignored us for at least 30+ minutes but they were quite busy during HH.
Amazing dining experience. The restaurant is only seating outside, but there are heaters to keep you warm, and the ambiance is still just as great. The food was perfectly prepared and timed out and the drinks were amazing. We got the Octopus, oysters, shrimp, the whole fish, and the halibut on a Parisian Gnocchi plate with vegetables and a brown sage butter. It was all incredible.
The food was really good but the service was unfortunately mediocre. Veeery slow. We waited 20 min before the waitress came to us to take an order and then another 20 min or so to get the drinks. I wouldn’t write this unless the waitress at least apologized that the order was taking long. She just said it was on the way and gave me a look, like why are you even asking. She definitely had an attitude. We are coming back to this restaurant but hope will get different server next time. Hope this comment helps their management too.
Shrimp and chowder soup are both amazing. Lobster roll is one of the best in San Diego.
We had a reservation and were seated right away. Our server was attentive, friendly and helpful. The kitchen let her down - they either lost or somehow delayed our order. She kept having to go back and see why things weren’t being delivered as they were supposed to, the things the server doesn’t typically bring out, like our bread, for example. We enjoyed all the food we got when we got it, but all the tables around us had their food well before we did, and finished, and even left. Our server kept coming and telling us it would be right up and finally came over and said “I don’t know what’s happened to your food. I’m going to check with the kitchen again.” Our food came about 15 minutes later and the manager came over and comped our bread. We had ordered house specialty cocktails, oysters on the half shell and then waited over an hour for our bread to come and additional time until the entrees finally arrived. The food was delicious, the service good, the kitchen not so good. Prices were good for the quality of the food.
One of my favorite places for happy hour! They have fresh fish and oysters, and an extensive cocktail program.
Extremely COVID friendly with outdoor seating and the service is always amazing.
First time at Ironside but it definitely won’t be the last. Everything was absolutely perfect, the food, the service and the atmosphere. The grilled octopus was the best I have ever had, tender and cooked just right. The lobster roll was delicious both the bread and the lobster filling. As good as those were, the chowder fries are what knocked it out of the park! The combination of the crispy fries and the best clam chowder I’ve ever tasted was unbelievably delicious. I will definitely order the chowder fries every time I eat there. They were so good that I really wanted to lick the bottom of the bowl. This is now one of my favorite restaurants in San Diego.
Delicious, creative fish and seafood and good service. Wonderful experience!
Rachel was outstanding.. she was so gracious and generous. Made the meal memorable for meeting a friend even more so than the *incredible* lobster roll and oysters. Thank you Rachel!
Ironside has been my boyfriend and I's anniversary dinner spot for 3 years now! The food is fantastic, the atmosphere is cool, and the cocktails are great. Get the ironside select oysters and the octopus, they're amazing.
Excellent oysters!
First time dining here. It was highly recommended by friends who have dined there before. It was my husband’s birthday and he enjoys oysters, so I decided to try it. He was impressed with the oyster selections and the seafood tower. The dinner entrees were surprisingly very small. Place was pricy but comparable to other similar restaurants. Hard to comment on the ambiance when you’re table is in a sidewalk 🤷🏻♀️ our reservation for 3 was made about one month in advance.
Dan at the front door was great, very friendly and accommodating. Unfortunately the first woman server we had (maybe of Asian decent), was terrible. She never introduced herself, took 25 minutes with our drinks and gave us the wrong one. We requested a new server (a younger blonde girl) and she was sweet and made our experience enjoyable, if it wasn’t for her we wouldn’t have came back.
Nice variety of fresh oysters, the mussels in that lemongrass broth are amazing, and we don't normally get octopus but that octopus a la plancha is worth going back for!
$1 oysters during happy hour. Need I say more?!?!?
Happy hour is a must! Oysters were so good, but the mussels are amazing. 10/10 would recommend. Definitely visiting again on our next trip to San Diego!
I recently dined here with a friend. It was my first time dining here, but my friend is a regular. We enjoyed chowder fries, clam chowder and biscuits, and raw oysters. The atmosphere and setting are great and the service was excellent. I highly recommend Ironside Fish & Oyster.
FAQs
You can order delivery directly from Ironside Fish & Oyster using the Order Online button.
Ironside Fish & Oyster is rated 4.7 stars by 2761 OpenTable diners.
Yes, you can generally book this restaurant by choosing the date, time and party size on OpenTable. Due to local restrictions, this restaurant may not be accepting reservations at the moment.