Here are the best fish and seafood tacos in Los Angeles right now.
Because we see you out there, struggling to stay asada-free on the last days of Lent. Or, looking to a newly emerging sun to recreate the pleasures of your trip to Baja; a lime wedge-crested Pacifico and piping hot, battered fish or shrimp taco in your clutches.
But you don't need an excuse.
These are the greatest 18 seafood-stuffed tacos you need to try in L.A. right now. And that's all the motivation required to get out there and map your own journey through the briny bliss of a fantastic taco filled with smoked marlin, mahi mahi, fried shrimp, or another one of Ariel's adorable, appetizing little friends.
Enjoy.
Taco Nazo
Fish and Shrimp Taco
This family-owned OG was the first to introduce crispy fish tacos to the masses in L.A. in 1978. The family has since moved on to open four locations around deep eastern and southeastern L.A., but the Bellflower address holds a special place for southeast L.A. locals.
Taco Nazo specializes in Baja-style fish and shrimp tacos with fried fish filets, cabbage, pico de gallo, and crema. If you love southern California's tradition of having chile-dusted chiles güeros next to your fish tacos, this spot also innovated that. If you’re looking for something more substantial, they also have burritos filled with fried shrimp and fish, too.
Multiple locations
CeFishé
Tacos Gobernador
This coastal Mexican mariscos pop-up, from high school sweethearts Darrel and Patty Baker, serves these classic, Mazatlán-born tacos gobernador during their weekend appearances in El Monte, sticking two ends of a smoky, shrimp-and-bell-pepper-stuffed corn tortilla together with a gooey glue trap of cheese, the excess of which gets a sear from the griddle, resulting in extra crispy bits clinging to their edges.
197 E. 2nd St. Pomona, CA 91766
Coni'Seafood
Smoked Marlin Tacos
Smoked marlin mingling with melted cheese, tomato, onion, and a crescent wedge of avocado in lightly toasted tortillas makes up one of Coni'Seafood's best-selling menu items. This simple, comforting trio of tacos is transcendent by the restaurant's sharp, tangy, habanero-based salsa verde. Be it for lunch or dinner. This is the spot to recommend for anyone who wants to squeeze in some last-minute tacos on their way to LAX or hit the first thing when they land.
3544 West Imperial Hwy. Inglewood, CA 90303. Closest Metro line and stop: Bus Line 120 - “Imperial Highway/Yukon.”
4532 S. Centinela Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90066. Closest Metro line and stop: Bus Line 108 - “Short/Centinela.”
El Coraloense
Taco Revolcado
The city of Atlantis may be lost, but Bell Gardens endures, and El Coraloense may be the seventh wonder for seafood lovers. One of many highlights in this menu of ratcheted-up ceviches, battered fish and shrimp diabla tacos, and fiery aguachiles are its tacos revolcados. Slightly puffy corn tortillas strain to hem in large chunks of mahi-mahi, stained red with pastor seasoning over a bed of cabbage and beneath squiggles of crema and a dark jade salsa verde. It's messy and 100% worth the extra napkin.
6600 Florence Ave. Bell Gardens, CA 90201. Closest Metro line and stop: Bus Line 111 - “Florence/Emil.”
Mariscos Jalisco
Taco de Camarón
Mariscos Jalisco's taco dorado de camarón is L.A.'s most iconic taco, certainly by daylight. It is everything you want in a taco: filling with balanced heat, refreshingly cool, custardy, and buttery, thanks to a thoughtful arrangement of avocado slices. Speaking from the euphoria-to-bite ratio, no other taco is as purely delicious to inhale as these: crispy, creamy, refreshing, and spicy all the same time. This taco is timeless; this taco is perfect.
3040 E. Olympic Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90023. Closest Metro lines and stop: Bus Line 62 - “Olympic/Dacotah” or Bus Line 605 - "Grande Vista/Olympic."
E. 10th St and Towne Ave. Downtown Los Angeles, CA 90021. Closest Metro line and stop: Bus Line 51 - “San Pedro/11th.”
753 E Holt Ave. Pomona, CA 91767. Closest transit lines and stop: Foothill Transit Lines 195 and 292 or Omnitrans Line 61 - “Holt/San Antonio.”
1830 S. La Cienega Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90035. Closest Metro line and stop: Bus Line 105 - “La Cienega/18th.”
Holbox
Scallop Taco
It’s hard to choose the best taco at Holbox, the pioneering Mexican marisquería that was the first to win a Michelin Star award in the U.S. But there’s no other taco like their scallop taco, which seems like it was plucked from a tale of divinity. Meaty, seared scallops anchor a bed of caramelized onions, pickled fennel, and beautifully spicy salsa in a corn tortilla. It always feels like a treat and a wonderful way to experience exceptional seafood tacos.
Second on the list, but still popular, is the pulpo en su tinta, a braised, fried, and tender octopus served with a squid ink reduction sofrito on a perfectly nixtamalized heirloom Mexican corn tortilla, sourced from the molino right next door. It's a deep dive into seafood umami-land and the kind of taco you will go crazy for if you're the type of person with an insatiable craving for ceviches and aguachiles. Yes, there's a line to order, but this taco is worth the wait alone.
At Mercado Paloma, 3655 S .Grand Ave. Stall #C9 Los Angeles, CA 90007. Closest Metro lines and stop: Metro J Line (910/950) or Bus Line 460 - “37th Street/USC Station.”
Ensenada Surf N' Turf Grill
Fish Taco
This South Bay taquería specializes in Baja-style fish tacos. They beer-batter white fish filets and fry them to a golden orange. Make sure to grab a few blistered chiles güeros for an ideal experience: take a bite of the fish taco and another bite of the chiles. Repeat.
Multiple locations
Lupita’s Tacos
Calamari Tacos
Just like the legendary burgers that Mario Curiel makes at Hinano in Venice, the tacos at his stand bear the same approach: simple, fresh, and correct. No reductions, emulsifications, rare ingredients, or gourmet shit is happening, except for a conscious choice to use wild rockfish instead of farmed tilapia. Just quality ingredients, the right portions, and flavors, made fresh to order, and perfectly satisfying.
Lupita’s Tacos pop up every Friday and Saturday evening at Palms and Lincoln Boulevard in Venice. Closest Metro line and stop: Bus Line 33 - “Venice/Lincoln.”
Ditroit
Fish Machaca Fish Flauta
Ditroit’s crispy fish machaca flauta, fried in rice bran oil and topped with avocado salsa and a creme fraiche-queso fresco mixture, is the loftiest expression of a taco dorado in Los Angeles. The highly-pedigreed Arts District taquería, opened by the Enrique Olvera Mexican restaurant empire, came out swinging with this taco. Their suadero taco won "best in show" at L.A. TACO's TACO MADNESS last year. It is virtually greaseless, and the fish is extra meaty. You are not alone if you find yourself spending a small fortune on three of these. They're worth it and the stuff they use, whether the sustainably caught tuna or swordfish and Oaxacan-grown heirloom corn tortillas they nixtamalize and make in house, is the best taco that money can buy.
2117 Violet St. Los Angeles, CA 90021. Closest Metro line and stop: Bus Line 60 - “Santa Fe/Violet.”
Anajak Thai
Striped Bass Tacos
Anajak's dry-aged taco is one of the few recurring menu items featured at the 44-year-old Thai restaurant's weekly "Taco Tuesday" event. The striped bass is hung and aged for a little over a week, fried at a low temperature, and then seared to develop smokiness. The taco is then topped with Boon sauce, a chile oil made by L.A. chef Max Boonthanakit, and a house mayo for a touch of Ensenada realness.
The dry aging of the bass adds a fruitful flavor that effortlessly combines with the sauce’s heat and the mayo's umami. The tortillas are sourced from La Princesita. In addition to the tacos, Anajak's Thai Taco Tuesday is also appealing because of the vibe and natural wine. It's a truly "only-in-L.A." phenomenon that we hope stays around for another 42 years, at least.
14704 Ventura Blvd. Sherman Oaks, CA 91403. Closest Metro lines and stop: Bus Lines 155 or 240 - “Ventura/Cedros.”
Simón
Pescadillas
Simon L.A. is unlike any other mariscos truck in L.A., stoked by the sure hand and innovative ideas of a progressive Oaxacan fine-dining chef who knows the coastal cuisine of Mexico’s Pacific Coast as well as he does the back of his ocean blue lonchera.
In between owner Francisco Aguilar’s classic taco gobernador and unique shrimp, bacon, and bean taco, is their “Pescadillas” taco. They offer crispy taquitos with a savory filling of seasoned, minced wild fish served over a tasty puddle of umami-intensive pasta de frijol (black bean paste). They are a hard-to-find type of crispy fish taco that you’ll see in Guerrero’s Costa Chica and a handful of beaches in Oaxaca, and now also at Simón L.A.
We also recommend their softshell crab taco, which is delicately poised on a corn tortilla, the entire body of a formerly feisty crustacean sitting immobile, tempura-fried and paired with pickled red onion, pineapple pico, and a creamy yellow sauce made from chintextle (the Oaxacan paste of pasilla chiles) plus avocado leaves and shrimp shells. Crunch into this lightly battered beauty, and you’ll be hooked.
3667 W. Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90026. Closest Metro lines and stop: Bus Lines 2 or 4 - “Sunset/Maltman.”
Tacos Baja
Fish and Shrimp Tacos
Up there in OGness is Tacos Baja on East L.A.'s Whittier Boulevard. The taco is perfect every time you order it: a battered piece of catfish that is still crispy on the edges, with cabbage and a chipotle crema with a little bit of mayonnaise mixed in for extra richness. If you're tight on a budget, you can go on Wednesday when each fish taco is only $1.50, but plan accordingly because the line can get up to 30 minutes long.
You won't even remember that when you take that first bite. Though we think this taquería's popularity also has something to do with their all-you-can-eat chile güero bar. Note: Some are blindingly spicy, and some are like bell peppers. Good luck!
16032 Whittier Blvd. Whittier, CA 90603. Closest Metro line and stop: Bus Line 120 - “Whittier/Santa Getrudes.”
Villas Tacos #3
\Victor Villa, the only three-time TACO MADNESS champion behind Villa's Tacos, was proudly born and raised in northeast Los Angeles. Like out of a movie, he saved enough money after the success of his homegrown taquería to buy the building that used to house the longstanding Tacos La Estrella on the corner of Avenue 61 and Figueroa, where he also grew up eating. His filling seven-layer tacos made him famous, and he is now taking on the mariscos game with his new concept, which features fish, shrimp, octopus tacos, and even a special "Mar y Tierra" taco with A5 Wagyu.
The secret to the new seafood menu is all in the oregano-intensive batter he uses for his mahi-mahi and shrimp tacos. He also fries in rice bran oil, which is renowned for its health benefits (compared to soybean or canola oil) and virtually greaseless, allergen-free crunch.
6100 N. Figueroa St. Los Angeles, CA 90042. Closest Metro lines and stop: Bus Lines 81 - “Figueroa/Avenue 60.”
Razo's Fish Tacos
Russian-raised Armenian chef Razo Bakhtamian's seafood is deep-fried to order, using the sunflower oil that remains central to the cooking of so many former Soviet states, resulting in a sweeter, lighter, bright orange hull. The chef sears mahi-mahi on a grill using a sandwich press to ensure every bite of his tacos stays consistently packed with protein. His lobster tacos are among the best tortilla-wrapped seafood we’ve eaten in town. They are snappy and juicy, with lobster flavor popping beneath waves of butter and garlic.
11513 Burbank Blvd. North Hollywood, CA 91601. Closest Metro lines and stop: Bus Lines 154 - “Lankershim/Burbank.”
MXO
Guerrilla Tacos and Angry Egret Dinette are sadly no more. But Wes Avila's excellent Baja-style fish tacos endure at his West Hollywood steakhouse, MXO. Black cod is battered and fried to a gorgeous, golden tan, then placed on corn tortillas sourced from a local mom-and-pop, and dressed with salsa roja, chipotle aioli, and cabbage. They remain an upscale standard-bearer of the Baja style, no matter where you have the chance to eat them.
826 N. La Cienega Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90069. Closest Metro lines and stop: Bus Lines 105 - “La Cienega/Waring.”
Three Flames Mongolian BBQ
Fans of Gil’s unbeatable (and gluten-free) fish tacos and fish sauce-spiked cocteles de camaron will be relieved to hear that his one-of-a-kind modern mariscos is back from the dead, thanks to Frank and Vanessa Casares, who run Surfas. The tacos come in unique handmade corn tortillas sourced next door at Maria’s Tortillas and enhanced with mochiko rice flour and olive oil. It's chaffed up just enough to make it stand out from the rest in the pack but still affordable. It's also really close to LAX.
5608 W. Manchester Avenue. Los Angeles, California 90045. Closest Metro lines and stop: Bus Lines 115 - “Manchester/Harbor Transitway.”
Paz Cantina
Pez Cantina is like your secret, sun-shading, life-affirming palapa stuck right in the thick of Bunker Hill’s steel and glass jungle. After a long day of buying low and selling high, or simply wandering around Jeff Koons' sculptures, wondering, ‘What in the hell?’ Pez Cantina offers an oasis of coastal Mexican seafood, cold cocktails, and semi-tropical good vibes, all at a superior level. Or skip the oysters and cocteles completely for their crispy, crunchy, creamy tacos de pescado.
401 S. Grand Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90071. Closest Metro lines and stop: Bus Lines 76 - “Grand/ 3rd.”
Mariscos Corona
Since Joel joined his father in the kitchen, Mariscos Corona has seen its operation shift into overdrive, with a vibrant menu upgrade propelling it to social media stardom. While the hype mostly surrounds its unique take on mariscos, its tacos are worth the trip alone. The fried fish taco is a flaky sea bass with pickled onions and salsa. But every taco here gets a dank treatment.
14901 Sherman Way. Van Nuys, CA. Closest Metro lines and stop: Bus Lines 162- “Sherman Way/ Kester.”
