Nico's Fish Market: Pacific Beach's Boat-to-Plate Seafood Counter, Half a Block From the Sand

Nico's Fish Market: Pacific Beach's Boat-to-Plate Seafood Counter, Half a Block From the Sand

A fisherman-owned market and casual restaurant in Pacific Beach serving what it catches — ahi tuna tacos, poke off the boat, and a fish case you can shop straight from.

Nico's Fish Market sits on Emerald Street in Pacific Beach, half a block from the water — and unlike almost anywhere else you'll eat seafood in San Diego, the person who caught your fish might be standing behind the counter. It's a fish market and a casual restaurant in one small space: a retail case of just-caught fillets up front, and a menu of tacos, burritos, poke, and plates built from the same catch.

The whole thing runs on one idea, and it's printed right on the wall: straight off the boat, straight to your plate. No shortcuts. In a beach town full of seafood spots trucking in frozen fish, that's a genuinely different proposition — and you can taste it.

Key Takeaways

Nico's is one of the few truly boat-to-plate seafood spots in San Diego, run by a local fisherman who serves what he catches.

• Fisherman-owned — founder Nico Gibbons fishes the catch himself on his boat, the FV Winnebago, working waters from San Diego to Baja
• Both a market and a restaurant — shop the fresh fish case to cook at home, or eat in off the menu
• What to get — the ahi tuna tacos, the ahi poke bowl, ceviche, and whatever's freshest that day
• Where — 745 Emerald St, Pacific Beach, half a block from the sand
• Hours — open daily, 11:30 a.m.–8 p.m.

If you care where your seafood comes from — or you just want the freshest fish taco in PB — this is the one.

What Makes Nico's Stand Out

The difference here is traceability, and it's not marketing. Nico's catches its own fish on the FV Winnebago, supplemented by a network of local fishermen, pulling from local San Diego waters, Baja, and up toward San Clemente. The retail counter displays photos of the fishermen who supply the market — including Gibbons himself — right beside the case of fillets. Ask where something came from and they'll tell you the water, the boat, and how it was caught.

That obsession comes by way of a real apprenticeship. Gibbons has wanted to do this since he was a teenager: he started at 18 as a busboy at El Pescador Fish Market, worked there through college, and became a fishmonger. He spent months in Mexico City training in the kitchen with a celebrated chef while cutting fish at night in the city's main seafood market, then came back to San Diego and learned the wholesale side grading tuna for poke buyers. Nico's began as a farmers-market and brewery pop-up before Gibbons took over the lease of a neighborhood taco shop he used to frequent and turned it into the brick-and-mortar it is today.

All of that shows up on the plate. The ahi is graded by someone who did it professionally, so it lands in the taco the way good tuna should — clean, meaty, a light sear, not buried in sauce. It's a fish market first and a taco counter second, which is exactly why the fish outclasses the price.

What to Order

The menu is built around the day's catch, so it shifts — but a few things are the reason to come:

• Ahi tuna tacos — the headliner, and the move on a first visit. Fresh, well-graded tuna, clean and simple
• Ahi poke bowl — the item locals rave about; high-grade ahi, generously portioned (around $19) [CONFIRM current price]
• Ceviche + chips or poke + chips — bright, citrusy, and made for a warm PB afternoon
• The Nico tacos — a house favorite; orders come as two good-sized tacos [CONFIRM current fillings/format]
• Fresh catch plates, burritos, sandwiches, and salads — rotating local fish like bluefin, yellowtail, mahi mahi, halibut, swordfish, and black cod, prepared grilled, blackened, or your way
• Oysters — freshly harvested, when available
• From the case — grab fillets to cook at home; they'll wrap your fish and tell you exactly where it came from

The move: get the ahi tuna tacos, add a scoop of poke or a ceviche, and eat it on the sand a block away.

Visiting Nico's Fish Market: What You Need to Know

Address: 745 Emerald St, San Diego, CA 92109 (Pacific Beach)

Phone: (858) 352-6432

Hours: Open daily, 11:30 a.m.–8:00 p.m. [CONFIRM holiday hours]

Order style: Counter service — order at the register, casual beach-vibe seating

Website: nicosfishmarket.com

Parking: Street parking in the PB neighborhood; it's a walkable block from the beach [CONFIRM: any dedicated lot]

Good to know: It can get a line at peak times, especially for poke — it tends to move quickly, and it's worth the wait. Fish is priced by the catch, so what's freshest (and its price) changes day to day.

Because it's a market as much as a restaurant, you can make it two trips in one: eat lunch, then buy dinner from the case on your way out.

Conclusion

Nico's Fish Market is what happens when the person cooking your fish also caught it. That's rare anywhere, and rarer still half a block from the sand in Pacific Beach. Come for the ahi tuna tacos, stay for the poke, and take home whatever looks best in the case. It's about as fresh — and as San Diego — as seafood gets.

Hungry for more? See where Nico's fits in our guide to what food San Diego is known for, explore more Local Picks, or dig into the Pacific Beach neighborhood guide.

FAQs

Q1. What is Nico's Fish Market?

Nico's is a fisherman-owned fish market and casual restaurant in Pacific Beach. It sells fresh, locally caught fish from a retail case and serves that same catch as tacos, burritos, poke bowls, plates, and more.

Q2. What should I order at Nico's Fish Market?

Start with the ahi tuna tacos and the ahi poke bowl — the two things Nico's is best known for. The ceviche and the rotating fresh-catch plates (bluefin, yellowtail, halibut, swordfish) are also standouts.

Q3. Where is Nico's Fish Market and what are the hours?

It's at 745 Emerald St, San Diego, CA 92109, in Pacific Beach, half a block from the beach, open daily 11:30 a.m.–8:00 p.m.

Q4. Is the fish really local?

Yes. Founder Nico Gibbons catches on his own boat, the FV Winnebago, along with a network of local fishermen, sourcing from San Diego, Baja, and up to San Clemente. They'll tell you where any fish was caught and how.

Q5. Can you buy fish to cook at home?

Yes — Nico's is a retail fish market too. Shop the case for just-caught fillets, and the team will wrap your fish and tell you exactly where it came from.