Everyone knows that L.A. has amazing tacos, pizza and breakfast burritos. But when we’re craving something fresh and zippy, we turn to the city’s many mariscos where we can tuck into raw shrimp in spicy aguachile sauce, Baja clams swimming in broth, and of course, crispy seafood tostadas doused in lime. Although we take mariscos to generally mean seafood from Mexico and elsewhere in Latin America, the word actually refers to shellfish. Of course, most mariscos restaurants and trucks also tend to serve fish dishes, so you can find fish tacos and ceviches alongside scallop aguachile, seafood stews and more. The L.A. area has a wealth of great mariscos spots, from food trucks serving up a quick lunch to beautiful, sit-down restaurants. And so, these are the 15 best mariscos around Los Angeles.
15 Best Mariscos Spots Around Los Angeles
1. Holbox
- Location: Downtown
- Available for delivery/takeout: yes
This counter seating stall inside Mercado La Paloma serves some of the best seafood in the city that rivals chi-chi fine dining restaurants. You can’t go wrong with any of the Yucatan-style seafood here, from the shrimp aguachile to the clams from Baja California to the octopus tacos served with squid ink sofrito. Holbox is more than a food hall stall, but they also offer an outstanding eight-course tasting menu. The tasting menu is offered on Thursdays and Fridays for $115 per person.
2. Del Mar Ostioneria
- Location: Mid City
- Available for delivery/takeout: yes
This seafood truck in Mid City quickly became one of the hottest food trucks in Los Angeles. Parked in a strip mall on La Brea, Del Mar serves up shrimp tamarindo habanero aguachile, and lobsters are wrapped in cheese for tacos made using handmade blue corn tortilla. The aguachile negro is another popular choice that’s become one of their signature items.
3. Mariscos Jalisco
- Location: multiple locations
- Available for delivery/takeout: takeout only
Mariscos Jalisco is always on the list of the best food trucks in Los Angeles, and it is well deserved. The truck is famous for their shrimp tacos, served in a crispy fried tortilla and topped with guacamole and a flavorful tomato salsa. For those who dare, the Poseidon tostada is piled high with octopus and shrimp and topped with a very spicy red aguachile. They have four restaurants around the Los Angeles area now, making it easy to grab a freash seafood taco wherever you are.
4. Coni’ Seafood
- Location: Inglewood
- Available for delivery/takeout: yes
Coni’ Seafood comes from Los Angeles mariscos royalty: The family ran Mariscos Chente, which became one of L.A.’s most popular mariscos restaurants. Today, their daughter Connie Cossio has taken over operations and reopened as Coni’ Seafood, serving the same great Nayarit seafood dishes using her father’s recipes that made Mariscos Chente great. Try out marlin tacos or the camarones borrachos, cooked with tequila.
5. 106 Seafood Underground
- Location: Inglewood
- Available for delivery/takeout: takeout and dine-in, no delivery
Sergio Peñuelas worked at Mariscos Chente where he became known for his fish grilling skill (his pescado zarandeado, a whole snook that is butterflied and grilled, earned him the nickname “snook whisperer”). These days, you can get his pescado zarandeado and other mariscos dishes in his backyard in Inglewood. The backyard atmosphere is on point, but they do get packed on the weekends and the wait times can be long, so plan accordingly. No website available.
6. Mariscos El Faro
- Location: Highland Park
- Available for delivery/takeout: yes
Mariscos El Faro is a long-time Highland Park food truck serving Sinaloan-style seafood and it was one of the early seafood trucks to use high quality seafood, like the one in their shrimp aguachile or the salt-cured sea bass tostada. Masa empanadas are filled with shrimp and cheese and served with a smoky dipping sauce.
7. Simón Food Truck
- Location: Silver Lake
- Available for delivery/takeout: yes
Simón food truck in Silver Lake serves unique seafood dishes packed with flavor. The truck is run by two cousins who came from a well-known fine dining restaurant in Oaxaca. Here, fish tacos get the al pastor treatment with a smoky flavor paired with charred pineapples and fried soft shell crab served on top of freshly made tortillas. Their specialty shrimp ceviche is served with a complex aguachile negro.
8. Loreto
- Location: Frogtown
- Available for delivery/takeout: dine-in and takeout, no delivery
Loreto is one of Frogtown’s hottest dining destinations and also one of the hottest mariscos spots in town. The sleek restaurant comes from the L.A. Cha Cha Cha team but with a menu that sources seafood heavily from Mexico. The torre is a popular choice—a tower built with shrimp, bluefin tuna, Mayan octopus, scallops and uni. Torta ahogada gets the seafood treatment with lobster instead of the usual pork and even the street food favorite elote is gussied up with uni aioli and topped with a sliver of fresh uni.
9. Mariscos Za Za Zá
- Location: Frogtown
- Available for delivery/takeout: dine-in or takeout, no delivery
Mariscos Za Za Zá is the counter-service, lunch-time sibling of Loreto. The menu is more condensed and casual, but there are some fun dishes not to miss. Try the los tostilocos, a popular street food snack that here is made with Doritos, Colima-style fish ceviche and avocado. Una Costra Por Favor is a taco made with shrimp, black beans and pasilla chile all wrapped in a blanket of melted cheese. The dining area is all outdoors and the vibe is buzzing, surrounded by pink buildings and cacti that transport you to the Sonoran desert.
10. Playa Amor
- Location: Long Beach
- Available for delivery/takeout: yes
Chef Thomas Ortega’s Playa Amor has been serving refined Mexican food in Long Beach since 2016. Tender octopus is charred and served over cauliflower puree with aji verde and aji rojo sauces and fish tacos feature beer-battered fried cod. Don’t miss the Maine lobster served Puerto Nuevo-style when it appears on the menu.
11. Ceviche Stop
- Location: Culver City
- Available for takeout/delivery: yes
Although this one is actually a Peruvian spot, it deserves a place since one of the most popular Mexican seafood dishes, ceviche, has origins in Pre-Hispanic Peru. At Ceviche Stop, chef Walther Adrianzen is putting a twist on traditional dishes. There are blood clams and sea urchin ceviche, Peruvian scallops topped with parmesan and yuzu kosho. The Hangover ceviche is one of their most popular dishes, thanks to the presentation in a soda fountain glass and topped with a handful of fried calamari.
12. El Muelle 8
- Location: Downey
- Available for takeout/delivery: yes
This spot in Downey was opened by two music industry friends who lost their income during the pandemic and decided to open up a restaurant. The eatery is the first US franchise of El Muelle 8 in Culiacan and serves up tacos with a steak of ahi tuna with salsa bandera. The Molcajete Especial is a must for seafood lovers and large enough to share—scallops, shrimp, octopus, snail, fish and crab are all served in a stone molcajete. The menu is large but offers unique dishes that are worth exploring one by one.
13. Ka’Teen
- Location: Hollywood
- Available for delivery/takeout: takeout, no delivery
Wes Avila’s Ka’Teen is a piece of Tulum in Hollywood with its leafy outdoor seating and coastal Mexican cooking. While Ka’Teen is not strictly a mariscos restaurant, there’s plenty of it on the menu. Avila serves California spot prawns with green aguachile, and the campechana here is a mix of hamachi, scallops, tuna, and shrimp served inside a whole young coconut.
14. Mariscos Linda Truck
- Location: City Terrace
- Available for delivery/takeout: yes
Mariscos Linda Truck in City Terrace is a no-frills truck that locals head to for a quick, cheap lunch. The prices are right, the seafood is fresh and the portions are generous. The Ensenada-style fish taco comes with a piece of fried fish almost as large as the tortilla itself, and the tostada mixta also does not skimp on seafood. There’s an indoor dining area right where the truck is parked, so you can take your time and enjoy your meal there.
15. Palmilla Cocina y Tequila
- Location: Newport Beach
- Available for takeout/delivery: takeout and dine-in, no delivery
Palmilla is where you go for some seafood and margaritas in a stunning environment before or after a day on the beach. Designed by an award-winning architect, the design itself is worth checking out. They have a large menu and, being in Newport Beach, offer a lot of seafood dishes. There’s a menu of ceviches served with plantain chips, chile relleno stuffed with lobster and shrimp, and even their own version of surf-and-turf.