Lighthouse Oyster Bar & Grill

VIEWS VIEWS VIEWS!
My husband and I have been to Oceanside a number of times, but this trip we decided to visit the harbor and have lunch at Lighthouse Oyster Bar & Grill. It’s located near a lot of cute stores and other eateries, but we chose this spot for the upper decker balcony view. It’s so lovely and peaceful up here, and the canopies shade you from any direct sun.
+ Lobster Bisque — This was mediocre. Not my favorite but not the worst I’ve had.
+ Clam Chowder — I tried some of my husband’s chowder and it was really good. Lots of clams an potatoes — chunky and hearty.
+ Grilled Halibut with Grilled Veggies and Mashed Potatoes — Delicious! The fish was very delicate, fresh and cooked to perfection. The sauce wasn’t too memorable, the veggies were good, and they gave a GIANT serving of potatoes.
+ Fettucini Alfredo with Seafood — This was so good and creamy. They were very generous with the seafood — REAL crab meat, shrimp, and scallops. The scallops were big and tender, just divine. Really filling and heavy dish.
Service was lovely, just like the view. We enjoyed the meal with a bottle of wine and wrapped it up with an amazing Crème Brulee. Enjoyed every single bite of that bruleeeeeee!

Sorry but I came for happy hour… the place was not crowded, my waiter look like he just woke up… he treated me like I didn’t know the place & I’ve been several times, the bread comes out complimentary, but when my lobster bisque came out no bread… he said, coming right up… the bread came after the soup… not good, l loved the bisque! Then my tacos came out much much later & they were not crowded, this is happy hour! Some how I was charged 4 dollars for my tacos which were not good… the menu says they were 3 dollars! I did not feel like arguing or pointing this out so I left a dollar, wrote on the check & left!!! I tried of training folks or explaining how customers should be served… get another job, if you can’t fake it like the rest of us!!! Can’t relax their… plus the tacos sucked, that fish is very strange & baby shrimps are just nasty!!!

Great food, good service and a nice view of the harbor from their deck. I’ll be back

The oyster shooters are delicious and fresh as are the ahi poke tacos, ahi stack, and ceviche which are my favorite appetizers! They are phenomenal if you are looking for something on the lighter side. The fish or shrimp tacos are a definite go to and the Surf & Turf is great if you are looking for a fancier more expensive meal. My favorite pasta dish is the Luis special!
This place has a great daily happy hour and the best view on the Harbor in Oceanside! Highly recommend for lunch, casual or date /​sunset dinner!

Killer happy hour daily from 3 – 6. $ 5 craft beer pints and wines by the glass along with some yummy dishes. Awesome food, amazing view, service, and a great variety on the menu to fill your needs. From seafood and steaks to tacos, quesadillas, pastas and more! My recommendations are;
Beer: Boo Koo IPA, ballast point pale ale, and they have belching beaver peanut butter stout!
Cocktails: Cucumber martini is out of this world and their margaritas are pretty dang good too. Did I mention bloody Mary’s with bacon and shrimp?!
Appetizers: ahi poke tacos, coconut shrimp, ahi stack, crab stuffed artichoke, calamari, ceviche, shrub cocktail, super campechana. Steamed clams, steamed mussels, cheesy garlic bread. You can’t go wrong here!
Fish: go for the blackened swordfish or salmon, macadamia crusted Seabass and halibut, get their mahi mahi with mango salsa.
Steak: New York and filet are pretty good quality for the price. Surf and turf even better!
Others: Scallops, Cioppino, Siete Mars, Steamed combo, their quesadillas are amazing, blackened fish tacos, and all of their pastas especially the Luis Especial!
Desserts: all home made but the ones that stood out most are their #1 cheesecake (not too heavy and sweet like
most. They also sprinkle sugar on top and torch it over to give a nice sugar crust), Crème brûlée, carrot cake, and Tiramasu.
Best times to come here are during happy hour or during sunset to catch the best view in the harbor.

Food is good, view is beautiful, but the service was something left to be desired. The waiter was extremely polite, however I had to question if they forgot to put my friends order of a shrimp taco and a fish taco in. The have a great daily happy hour from 3 — 6pm.

Our fries were cold. The mussels were shriveled and too few in quantity for the price. Their clam chowder, the most reasonably priced item on the menu was our favorite and even then it is still a mediocre one. The poor hostess was frantically running all over the place because there seemed to be no bus staff. She sat us at our table after bussing a few others. Our waitress also forgot we ordered the shriveled mussels and gave it to a table next to us. Not great. The view is wonderful though.

We went to this restaurant on a windy Saturday evening, it took over 40 minutes to be seated inside, because the outdoor propane wasn’t working. At least 5 minutes for someone to come to the table to ask if we wanted to order drinks and give us silverware. We asked for the garlic bread that was supposed to be served with the silverware and it never arrived. We asked again for it to arrive when we were done with our meals.
We ordered seafood and one of us was sick all night…
To make a long story short… I would definitely not recommend this place.

Horrible service, cold food and overpriced! Don’t plan on going back there again! Sad considering the view not the harbor.

We had them cater a party for 16 at our home a couple of weeks ago. I was a bit nervous about all the fresh seafood (whether it would do well off-​site). Everything was delicious! We had delicious seared ahi, beautiful beet/​goat cheese/​grapefruit salad, green salad with tons of fun stuff in it, and some delicious grilled chicken mini tacos (for the guests who don’t eat seafood). The service and presentation were great.
We will definitely have them cater our next party!

With a group, I went to The Lighthouse. The view was gorgeous, the food was amazing, but they didn’t have enough heating outside.
We ordered some coffee and hot cocoa as we watched the sunset. The view from our seat was gorgeous.
The food was amazing. The San Felipe Blackened Fish Tacos had a great flavor and was one of the best tacos ever.
They had many heating lamps, but not enough propane to light them. It was a Saturday night and the restaurant was full. They should have known that people would be cold and need warmth.
In all, though they had a poor arrangement for heating, I would definitely return to this amazing lighthouse restaurant.

My husband and I are locals and walk from our house to the harbor at least twice a week. I came here 3 weeks ago with our friends and ordered the ahi won ton tacos. The ahi was fresh and beautiful. We also always buy the fresh ahi from their market downstairs and it’s wonderful!
However, I brought my husband here on ⁴⁄₂₃ for a mid afternoon meal and was horribly disappointed. We ordered the tacos again and when they arrived the ahi was a brown/​grey color. I asked our server why it was that color and he said he had no idea. I asked him to ask the chef as to why the fish was that awful color and he removed them.
While we were waiting our server brought the daily special — blackened salmon and scallops that we ordered but asked to be brought after our apps. He sat down the entrée and then told us the chef said the ahi was fresh and there was nothing wrong with it and he was taking it off of the bill. He then walked away and did not return until he brought our check. I WAS SHOCKED!
The fish special was greasy and over seasoned and the scallops weren’t cooked completely. We tried to get the attention of the female manager but could not. My husband put our credit card into the bill and we waited another 20 mins until the female manager came up and took it very quickly and walked away. We had NO TIME to comment. Our original waiter brought it back in the same haste and walked away. I have never been treated so badly in a restaurant in my life.

Been here a few times. Food is great, service needs to pickup outside. The dessert is AMAZING and hand made.

Great place. The swordfish was cooked very well and was moist. All desserts are made in house so that’s an awesome extra. Appetizer came out at the same time as the entrée so that is my only reason for the four star rating. I’ll definitely be coming back.

Chicken Marsala
Linguine and shrimp
Luis’s Especial
Fettuccini Alfredo and shrimp
Cesar salad
Clam chowder
Amazing. Matthew wAs a friendly waiter and very knowledgeable
Try it. You won’t be sorry
View is awesome
Mud pie to end a perfect meal!

I ordered the seafood linguine thought it looked pretty good until I pulled this hair out of my food

I LOVE this place! This is one of my top recommendations for a girl’s night out, date night or if you have out of town guests and you’re looking for an upscale spot that has a gorgeous view of the harbor and water, especially at sunset! Dinner outside under the heat lamps, sipping a glass of wine, while watching the sunset is my favorite! My out of town guests have loved coming here and we’ve never been disappointed.
The food… let’s just mention the lobster bisque… in a bread bowl!!! A M A Z I N G! It’s rich and tasty and has lots of lobster!
We’ve also had the artichokes, both steamed and CRAB stuffed… oh yes, you read that correctly! Yummmmm! Big chunks of crab, butter, and breadcrumbs stuffed into the artichoke and ohh so tasty!
Go for a drink during happy hour and stay for sunset and dinner!
#sandiegofoodgirls

Already this is a pretty good place I give it four stars one of the best I’ve ever had but for the view of the ocean mean you’re in Oceanside see the harbor is pretty cool. The food could be a little bit better for the price but I’m not complaining too much to give him four stars. The biggest thing I have to complain about is the bathrooms for a nice restaurant like this they should have a nice bathroom the bathroom has really bad and that is good. Tim

this is my second time here it was still good and the service was great
I had the Ahi stack it was stacked with crab, mango and avocados topped with seaweed salad and some cool sauces, including wasabe and soy sauce. it was very sushi-​esk.
good flavor and fresh.
my cohorts had a pulled pork sandwich with fries and a grilled halibut with Fettuccine Alfredo
both of then liked their dish choices.
add in a few beers and the night view of the deck and it was a great night.

I was asked to write a review for a restaurant near the harbor in Oceanside for a publication and decided to check out Lighthouse. I had never been to the harbor and was immediately charmed by the row of restaurants and shops along the docks. Lighthouse is located on the second level and is impossible to miss, thanks to the multi-​story red and white striped lighthouse in front of the restaurant.
Although the patio looked lovely, the 30-​minute wait for an outdoor seat led us to decide to dine inside. The interior of the restaurant is clean and modern with a fresh sea breeze blowing through the open doors.
We happened to arrive during happy hour, which is daily from 3 to 6 PM (except holidays). We ordered the clam chowder cup and caesar salad off the happy hour menu and also ordered the club sandwich and crab cakes.
I loved the clam chowder! I honestly can’t say enough good things about this bowl of creamy deliciousness! While I recognize that others may not appreciate this as much as I do, I was very happy that the soup contained just a few clams. It’s strange, I know, but the clams have always been my least favorite part about clam chowder. I hate the chewy texture but I love the flavor of chowder and this version was heavy on the cream and flavor but light on the clams.
The caesar salad was light and refreshing and the club sandwich, which had turkey, lettuce, tomato and mayo (and is supposed to have bacon but I don’t eat pig), was wonderful. The sandwich is quartered and by the time I ate my cup of chowder and a few bites of my boyfriend’s salad, I only managed to eat one quarter and a few fries before I was stuffed.
I didn’t try the crab cakes but my boyfriend said that they were good so I’ll take his word for it.
We rarely find ourselves up in Oceanside but this restaurant will shoot to the top of our list when we’re in the area.