IRONSIDE FISH & OYSTER

If you wanna be my lover, you gotta shuck with my friends!

With 70 miles of coastline, San Diego is home to some of the best beaches on the West Coast and has no shortage of great seafood. We're talking about flaky fish tacos and plump briny oysters.

Did I do any research whatsoever on where to get oysters for my San Diego trip? Nope! But walking through Little Italy and seeing the small line forming in front of this place, waiting for them to open, had us changing lunch locations, and I'm glad we did. Thrillist ranked this place as one of the best oyster bars in San Diego! Here's what I bit:

Half a dozen oysters [$21 - Ironside Selects (WA), Phantom Creek (Canada), Little Saints (VA), Laguna (Baja Mexico), Sapphire (WA), Pacific Plump (WA)]: Ah, a tray of oysters. Now, this was great. I love it when places have a multitude of options for oysters as it gives you more insight of east coast vs. west coast flavors.

SD Live Uni [$28]: I mean, it's all in the name. Live sea urchin in San Diego? You gotta! And wow, was it amazing. I gotta admit that I prefer uni over oysters, so I would have been elated just making a meal out of uni.

Bowl of Clam Chowder [$12]: Maybe it's the vacation tastebuds, but why did this seem like the best bowl of clam chowder ever? I have said that while in San Francisco, though, so maybe California just makes the best clam chowder.

Lobster Roll [$33]: Good! It was flavorful and tasty with big chunks of lobster meat. They also give you a side of fries, which is nice since I'm now used to most sit-down restaurants charging fries as a side nowadays.

Five-star review for a five-star place! Come here. You will not be disappointed.

Talk about a beautiful restaurant! We got to sit and the cold bar, which is always fun. The design is (imo) industrial meets fish market swank! We started off with HH oysters and a cocktail, Gin & Sin, then moved onto a glass of Rosé and shrimp tacos and the octopus.
The service was great, attentive and gave great recommendation.

Food and service really good. Has a chic modern feel in shipyard vibe if that makes any sense. We got a dozen oysters, tasty cocktails, the octopus, Agua chile, and lobster roll - all stellar. We’ll be back!

This place has great oysters. I liked the ones from Baja, Nautilus was my favorite. We ate at the bar and we had good service. Drinks were even better! Loved the presentation.

We came here on vacation in late March and it did not disappoint. My girlfriend found the place on google maps and we decided to take a chance. The one thing that lives rent free in my head was just how fresh the food was. We rode an Uber here from Balboa Park, and even the driver told us they had the best seafood in the city. He had the thickest Scottish accent and he wasn’t lying! The lobster roll on the loaf of bread was really interesting and unexpected!