Coastside Critters

This review if for the grooming services not the store. Be wary of taking your dog there for grooming people. The groomer Lisa has no idea what she is doing. I dropped my golden off for a full groom at 10:15. I told her when I made the appointment that he was matted and it was a big job. She said no problem. She calls me up at 10:45 and tells me she has to shave him. At least she called me! I told her to sit tight and I’d be over in a couple minutes. I get there and she shows me the mats, like i didnt know they were there. I tell her there is no need to shave him, you just take the mats out with a rake and thinning sheers. (It’s probably worth noting that my mom spent her career as a dog groomer in our home and I owned my own grooming shop in Milpitas for about 10 years, so I know more then the average person about how to groom dogs.) She tells me it can’t be done. I tell her no problem I will take him home and do it myself. Then she charges me $ 40! Really? I ask how she can justify charging me for a job that didn’t get done. She said two people worked on him for an hour. Do the math people. He was there for just over a half hour. It’s not adding up.
I pay the $ 40, take my dog home, get the mats out, wash him, do his nails and ears and blow dry him. Just like always it took me about 2 hours. By this time I’m pretty upset. I love spending time with my dog but I wanted to pay someone to groom him this time not do it myself. So I take him back to the shop, show Lisa that the mats came out without shaving and ask for my money back. She said no way. Really lisa? OK then, so be it.
So the bottom line is I would steer clear of her if I were you. She is unprofessional, doesn’t know how to do her job and I would say she sits on the shady side of business practice. I never imagined I’d get ripped off by a dog groomer! I suppose the old saying stands true here, if you want it done right do it yourself.

Great crew. Some fish and some reptiles. They board pets too. Not a big store but they are very friendly and have anything u would need for ur pets. Supply wise, food and feeders. Right next to the beach too.

We regularly pick up live, medium-​sized crickets here for our leopard gecko. Great, helpful service from all the staff and they are always ready to answer any questions I have.
They do have a small selection of birds, lizards, and other small pets. They carry lots of different supplies as well.
They also have pinkies if you know what those are.

Great pet store. Knowledgable staff and very helpful and patient with my kids. They were very nice and helped me set up our hermit crab house «Crabitat» for us. Very clean

I was so surprised to see the unfavorable reviews when I logged in to find the phone number. I’ve been boarding our bunny here for a few years, and we travel regularly so he stays w/​Gladys and the gang about 4 times a year. We’ve had him since a few months old and now he is over 10 years, so although healthy he is a bit fragile. I never worry about leaving him at Coastside. They take very good care of him and he always seems very calm, contented and clean when we come back to pick him up. They also keep our beta fish, since friends and neighbors always managed to overfeed him, and our fish is always happy and active when we pick him up. I’ve found the people who work here to be truly caring of both our animals and us.

I am very happy with my new cuddly pet i have got! The employees were very helpful, and even more helpful to my rat by handling her prior to the purchase. Cody and John (ithinkitsjohn) kindly let me buy her and then keep her there until i got a cage. :) they were so kind and helped me find my new best buddy Luna!

Never buy fish related stuff here. I just bought a huge fish tank and some gold fish at another store and came to Coastside Critters to buy some water conditioner. The lady owner recommended me Kordon Amquil Plus Ammonia remover as water conditioner. She said to put this liquid in the bucket of water and let it sit for a whole week before pouring the water into the fish tank. I did what she said. And when I pour the water with this conditioner into the tank, 90% of my fish died immediately,.
Then I went to Petsmart and spoke to a professional and he said that lady at Coastside Critters had no idea what she’s talking about. Why would a brand new fish tank need ammonia remover? Why let the water sit for a whole week before pouring into the tank? So the professional at Petsmart gave me API’s stress Coat water conditioner and I used it ever since and my fish were very happy with it.
Coastside Critter killed about 10 of my goldfish. I don’t know why they did this. Maybe they want my fish to die hoping I would buy fish from them next.

awful, awful, awful! First of all when i first walked in — not only was there no greeting from the 4 employees just standing around (and no other customers) but a few things i noticed right away:
1. their products are obviously not fresh. There was a package of dog treats with one of those little clear plastic window with visible mold on the inside. How long does it take for a package of treats to go bad like that?
2. As i was wandering around looking for dog shampoo (and again, no offer of assistance) i walked toward the back where there is a grooming section. A lady was YELLING at a dog — seriously? The owners were obviously not there and that’s how they treat animals?
I will never go to this place again and i recommend others don’t either.

$ 21.99 for a bag of 20 petite greenies!!! Seriously???
charges $ 12.99 per bag and most and brick-​and-​mortar stores charge about $ 17.00-$ 18.00 per bag. $ 21.99 is ridiculous.

I take my Patches to Liza once a month. I find Liza & staff to aways be up beat, friendly & professional. Patches has never had a bad experience. I recommend Liza to everyone who ask. Thank you Liza!

This is a great store, they carry premium brands of pet food. We found ourselves in here after learning the food we were feeding our dogs had outsourced ingredients to foreign countries even WITH the MADE IN USA on the label. We went in looking for a specific brand our local HMB store didn’t carry and learned from a website this store carried the brand we wanted. Sales clerk was super friendly, knowledgeable and helpful. She said they’ll even order food they don’t carry if we ask.
So happy to have a place like this not too far from home!

Best pet store ever! This is where I get all my pets needs. Even if it’s something they don’t have in stock, they will take the time to find it and order it for you!

Best deal on crickets 20 for 1.50. Everything else is well priced comparable to petsmart, sometimes cheaper. Reptiles are a little more but better taken care of. Great place.

This is the sort of place that makes me go to
.
The place is dirty and the staff are rude and the prices are way too high. Being a small business owner I understand the challenges of competing with online retailers but this is ridiculous. It seems like they don’t even try.

Staff is very pleasant but this review is for the grooming service alone.
My appointment was on time and we went over the details of how my dog would be groomed. I felt confident leaving her there since everyone was very friendly and professional. Usually, I have to wait about 4 hours at other places, but to my surprise, I was called about two hours later to pick her up. Awesome! Haircut looked cute, I paid a decent, reasonable price and I went on with my very busy day ahead.
Before I continue, let me just first say, I am not picky at all when it comes to grooming, because apparently I’ve been very very lucky with the places I have taken her to before; however, this will now change! I was so super busy with my day that I hadn’t noticed my dog licking her privates, thigh and left paw like crazy. When I did finally notice, I saw that her vagina was very swollen and looking closer there is a very small cut or burn that caused the swelling (no she is not in heat). Inspecting her further, her paws are a little red and irritated, the back of her left ear has a huge clip burn and so does her inner thigh. For the life of me, I can’t understand why the groomer couldn’t just tell me these things when I picked her up! Communication makes a huge difference in ones attitude about things. The only thing I recall the groomer saying was that my dog was barking a lot; which I felt was very odd since I’m usually told she’s a sweetheart and does so good. Maybe she was in pain! :(
So, now I am here, giving an unfortunate bad review, because I really wanted to like this place and was hoping to have a regular local groomer. But even more unfortunate is my dog’s cuts/​clip burns, watching her in pain, and the extra work I have to gain her trust back every time I leave her with a groomer in the future. I understand that accidents do happen, and that she had some matting, but she has been matted far worse than this, and this many accidents on one tiny dog is careless. Good day!

I came in at the last minute after leaving Petsmart to get some canned dog food for my little girl. I needed some healthy dog food so I could give her medication in pill form.
I’m so glad CC is right by my house and I could come in and grab what I needed. I’ll say that the prices seem as expensive as Wholefoods, but worth it when your in a bind.
I asked the clerk where the canned food was a she pointed me to where they stocked it and was very thorough on explaining what different kinds there were. I was glad to find 1 can left of Blue Buffalo and 4 small cans at $ 1.59 each for natural grain free dog food.
My total came to just over $ 10 and that seemed fair to me. By the way if your wanting to purchase a very small amount on a credit or debit card the minimum purchase is $ 5, but it’s not posted anywhere.
Overall this little shop is great! Thanks Coastside Critters!

Love this place. Perfect place for specialized pet needs. I buy my dog treats by the pound here. We also pick up our tropical fish food here. Employees are always nice, asking us of we need assistance. My daughter loves the back fish area/​room. We could stay there «browsing» for a long time, and it doesn’t seem to bother anyone. I’m glad to see the Pacifica business still thriving after so many years

This is a pretty nice place to come and buy pet food and other various pet equipment. We’ve been using coastside critters now for some time.

I used to go to Coastside Critters for years when I lived in that part of the Bay Area. I had a very finicky chinchilla who wouldn’t eat any other hay other than what they used to buy by the bushel and bring into the store. Great people who own and run the place. Always felt like family when I walked in because right away they remember you and your pets.
Great assortment of bird toys also. My cockatiel was never bored, that’s for sure. Lots of regularly stocked items and a few ever changing new things to try out. Best of all, because the owners and workers are animal people themselves, they’ll give you an honest opinion of a product or item. And, if it’s in stock in the store, then it’s because these folks endorse it. They don’t carry anything that they wouldn’t give their own furballs and scaled/​feathered friends.
Yeah, it might run a tad more than your local chain retailer, but I love a small business that is in it for the sake of animals and the people who love them. I was never disappointed here. I recently had to go to a well known chain retailer and realized how much of a gem Coastside Critters is. I miss it terribly. So much so, that I may even make the drive all the way over there just for my creatures…

I called and asked specifically about Aqueon 2.5 minibow divider so that I can put 2 betta fish. They promised to call back because they wanted to search first and not only they did, they also placed an order for me regardless whether I wanted or not — of course I wanted! I called 6 other pet shops and none of them had, none of them offered to order for me! Gail called me the next day to let me know the divider arrived, yay! I
I picked up my divider the next day — perfect match for my tank! Thank you Coastside Critters!