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California's best fish tacos? Readers vote Rubio's Coastal Grill

Sandbar Sports Grill takes second place

The fish taco, a deceptively simple dish, has its origins in Baja, Mexico, though several fishing villages – San Felipe and Ensenada among them – take credit for the street food now wildly popular up and down the California coast. The Baja-style fish taco consists of a mild white fish deep-fried and placed in one or two warm corn tortillas, topped with shredded cabbage, a sour cream or mayonnaise-based sauce and a squeeze of lime juice. Other variations include grilled fish, shrimp, tuna poke, calamari or a host of other seafood fillings. So who's the modern day king of fish tacos in California?

  • Rubio's Coastal Grill
    Multiple Locations

    The fish taco recipe at Rubio’s Coastal Grill has remained the same since the restaurant first opened in 1983. Tacos begin with wild-caught Alaska pollock, beer-battered by hand and cooked to crispy perfection. Each taco comes topped with fresh cabbage, mild salsa and white sauce on warm stone-ground corn tortillas. There’s also a grilled or blackened mahi mahi option.
    Photo courtesy of Rubio's Coastal Grill

  • Sandbar Sports Grill
    San Diego

    Sandbar Sports Grill, a popular Mission Beach haunt just steps from the sea, serves their fish taco with local white fish, chipotle aioli, beer-brined escabeche slaw, lime crema, spicy guacamole, crispy onion strings and fried cilantro on a Cotija-crusted flour tortilla.
    Photo courtesy of Sandbar Sports Grill

  • Spencer Makenzie's Fish Company
    Ventura

    The World Famous Fish Taco from Spencer Makenzie's Fish Company in Ventura comes grilled or tempura fried, with cabbage, cilantro, bell peppers and Spencer Sauce on a flour tortilla. Ahi tuna, shrimp and calamari are also options.
    Photo courtesy of Spencer Makenzie's Fish Company

  • Cholita Linda
    Oakland

    The fish tacos from Cholita Linda in Oakland are served Baja-style, with golden fried fish, red salsa, cabbage slaw and a cooling Baja crema.
    Photo courtesy of Cholita Linda

  • Tocaya Organica
    Multiple Locations

    Tocaya Organica uses wild-caught, chipotle-rubbed seared sea bass in their fish tacos, which come with a choice of cheese and taco style. The Cali Green features sliced onion, avocado and vinaigrette, while the Baja Chipotle comes with the more traditional combo of shaved cabbage, cilantro, vegan chipotle crema and a sweet chipotle sauce.
    Photo courtesy of AVABLU.com

  • Blue Water Seafood Market and Grill
    San Diego

    All fish tacos at Blue Water Seafood Market and Grill in San Diego are handmade to order. Diners start by choosing their type of fish from a display case. The fish is hand cut, marinated in chipotle butter, grilled and served on warm tortillas made right next door. Tacos come topped with cabbage, red and green onions, diced tomatoes, cheese, avocado and house-made Baja sauce.
    Photo courtesy of Blue Water Seafood Market and Grill

  • The Codmother Fish & Chips
    San Francisco

    The Codmother in San Francisco fries up more than just delicious fish and chips. The fish tacos are well worth ordering, with two warm corn tortillas filled with crispy fish, cabbage, cilantro and a house-made Baja sauce seasoned with a blend of Mexican spices.
    Photo courtesy of The Codmother Fish & Chips

  • Mariscos German Beyer
    San Diego

    Fish tacos and food trucks are a match made in heaven, especially when you're eating at San Diego's Mariscos German Beyer. Seafood taco options are plentiful, including the popular marlin taco made with melted cheese, celery and bell peppers.
    Photo courtesy of y6y6y6 / Flickr

  • Don Pisto's
    San Francisco

    Don Pisto’s fish tacos are made with wild caught local petrale sole, served on a handmade flour tortilla with hand-cut cabbage, onion, cilantro, white sauce and borracha salsa. There’s also a shrimp version with garlic and avocado salsa.
    Photo courtesy of Don Pisto's

  • Oscar's Mexican Seafood
    San Diego

    Seafood lovers have a lot to like about the taco menu at Oscar's Mexican Seafood in San Diego. The always popular battered fish taco comes with cabbage, onion, tomato and cilantro. Other options include smoked fish with cabbage, avocado and cheese, or the Taco Especial filled with smoked fish, shrimp and scallops.
    Photo courtesy of Oscar's Mexican Seafood

The top 10 winners in the category Best Fish Tacos in California are as follows:

  1. Rubio's Coastal Grill - Multiple Locations
  2. Sandbar Sports Grill - San Diego
  3. Spencer Makenzie's Fish Company - Ventura
  4. Cholita Linda - Oakland
  5. Tocaya Organica - Multiple Locations
  6. Blue Water Seafood Market and Grill - San Diego
  7. The Codmother Fish & Chips - San Francisco
  8. Mariscos German Beyer - San Diego
  9. Don Pisto's - San Francisco
  10. Oscar's Mexican Seafood - San Diego

A panel of experts partnered with 10Best editors to picked the initial 20 nominees, and the top 10 winners were determined by popular vote. Experts Chelcey Adami (The Salinas Californian), Anne Chalfant (10Best), Joanne DiBona (10Best), Geneva Ives (10Best), Tom Molanphy (10Best) and Jenny Peters (10Best) were chosen based on their knowledge and experience of the state's food scene.

Congratulations to all these winning restaurants!

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AlertThe Experts

Chelcey Adami

Chelcey Adami is the editor of The Salinas Californian. A Texas native, Chelcey now calls the beautiful coast in Monterey County home.

Anne Chalfant

Anne Chalfant

“Your story made me want to go there” is the best award a travel journalist can hope for, says Anne Chalfant, who also scored a few shiny metal awards during her career as newspaper travel editor. A cruise and travel expert for 10Best, Anne has traveled throughout the U.S. and 60+ countries and produced a trail of tales in print and online media. Anne’s love of fish tacos was launched when one of her sons said, “Gotta try this,” at a Santa Cruz seaside eatery. A longtime California resident, Anne lives in the San Francisco Bay Area and is currently working on a novel in which travel sets the stage for a female protagonist fleeing Silicon Valley and the FBI.

Joanne DiBona

Joanne DiBona

Joanne is an award-winning travel writer/photographer based in San Diego, California. An avid globetrotter, she enjoys sampling--and photographing--the cuisine of each destination she visits. Her adventures have taken her far and wide, from swimming with whale sharks in Mexico and trekking through the mountains of Japan to small ship cruising in unique destinations. Her photos and articles have appeared in countless print and online publications over the decades. She is also a regular contributor to the pages of 10Best.com. And as a San Diegan, she does feel she knows a good fish taco when she sees it!

Geneva Ives

Geneva Ives

Geneva Ives moved to Santa Barbara in 2000 on a whim (ok, and to go to college) and never looked back. She loves Santa Barbara because it’s really one of America’s greatest small towns - it just happens to have glorious beaches and celebrity residents, too! Geneva spent a decade managing an adorable, locally owned boutique in downtown Santa Barbara and met her husband when he was working as a waiter at the Cajun restaurant right next door. Together they go on many adventures trying to find the best activities, drinks and dining experiences in the tri-county area. 

Tom Molanphy

Tom Molanphy

The only thing that Tom Molanphy loves more than the food, art, music, and culture of San Francisco is sharing it with others. San Francisco never gets old for Tom. Tom has lived in the San Francisco Bay area since 2000. His journalism has appeared in The San Francisco Chronicle, SF Weekly, and 7x7. He teaches writing, journalism and literature at the Academy of Art University in downtown San Francisco. His latest book, Loud Memories Of A Quiet Life, is available through Outpost19.

Jenny Peters

Jenny Peters

Jenny Peters – aka Jet Set Jen – is a Los Angeles-based freelance journalist, editor and party columnist specializing in travel, entertainment, film, food, wine, fashion and the other good things in life. She is a founding/voting member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association, who present the Critics’ Choice Movie Awards every January. Her favorite places to be are on the beach in Southern California playing volleyball, scuba diving with the sharks in warm tropical waters or strolling the streets and soaking in the atmosphere of one of the world's great cities (New Orleans and Florence are her favorites).