Water Grill - San Diego

Name: Water Grill - San Diego
Address: 615 J Street, San Diego, CA, United States, 92101
Telephone: (619) 717-6992
Price range: $31 to $50
Rating: 4.6

4.6

3143 Reviews

$31 to $50

Seafood

Top tags:

Located steps away from Petco Park in the heart of Downtown San Diego, Water Grill is a true seafood destination. Family owned and operated, Water Grill focuses on first-of-the-season seafood and has delivered a superior dining experience for more than 30 years. Their devotion to quality seafood sourced in-house, is illustrated on their daily menus.

Sourcing from local fishermen, Water Grill’s seafood arrives from boat to table in a matter of hours. Water Grill Executive Chefs prepare the dishes with care, allowing the fresh seafood to shine, while using high-quality ingredients to elevate the recipe. From Spiny Lobsters in the fall to Wild Salmon in the spring, Water Grill’s focus is all about local, sustainable seafood and a one-of-a-kind experience.

Make a reservation

Party Size

2 people

DateTime

Sept 22, 2023

7:00 p.m.

Booked 52 times today

Order delivery or takeout

Private dining

Book your next event with us

View details

Dining areas

Additional information

Dining style
Casual Elegant
Cuisines
Seafood, American, Fine cuts
Hours of Operation
Mon–Thu, Sun 11:30 am–10:00 pm Fri, Sat 11:30 am–11:00 pm
Phone number
(619) 717-6992
Website
http://www.watergrill.com/
Payment Options
AMEX, Diners Club, Discover, Mastercard, Visa
Dress Code
Smart Casual
Executive Chef
Jason Gethin
Private party facilities
Whether celebrating a special occasion with family and friends or hosting a corporate outing, Water Grill - San Diego can accommodate all your special event needs.
Private party contact
Arian James : (619) 717-6992

Location
615 J Street, San Diego, CA 92101
Neighbourhood
Downtown / Gaslamp
Cross Street
6th Avenue and J Street
Parking Details
Street Parking
Additional
Banquet, Bar/Lounge, Beer, BYO Wine, Cocktails, Full Bar, Non-Smoking, Patio/Outdoor Dining, Patio/Outdoor Dining, Private Room, Takeout, Wheelchair Access, Wine

Featured in

100 San Diego Restaurants to Love This Valentine's Day

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What 3,143 people are saying

Overall ratings and reviews

Reviews can only be made by diners who have eaten at this restaurant

4.6

4.6 based on recent ratings

4.6Food
4.7Service
4.7Ambience
4.2Value

Noise • Moderate

Loved For

San Diego
Seafood

3,143 Reviews

C
Canuckdaddy
Toronto
69 reviews
vip
5.0
69 reviews
Dined 1 day ago
overall5food5service5ambience5
I enjoyed the perfectly dressed Caesar salad with crisp lettuce and anchovy forward dressing that did not overpower the greens. Service was courteous and attentive in a very busy establishment. The Icelandic cod was not overcooked, with thick cut fries presented in a cornet. Good wine list was appreciated.
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JD
JonDeaux
Mississippi
41 reviews
5.0
41 reviews
Dined 1 day ago
overall5food4service5ambience5
First time visit to the Water Grill, a restaurant that is definitely about seafood. Great selection of seafood. Interesting that one of the specialty entrees is fresh soft shell West Coast, but were told that it is flown in daily. We ordered calamari for an appetizer, the soft shell crab and the halibut, the house specialty, and broccolini with Chinese sausage and garlic. Calamari was excellent. Soft shell crab was a little on the salty side. Halibut is a very mild and meaty fish, which the house specialty was rather bland, but meaty. We were served fresh baked rolls with a soft butter spread, which was very good. The dish we enjoyed the most was the calamari appetizer and the rolls. Service was excellent. Our waiter and the wait staff made sure our glasses of water were never empty and were attentive to all of the customers eating in our area.
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RC
ReneeC
San Antonio
10 reviews
vip
3.0
10 reviews
Dined 2 days ago
overall3food3service3ambience2
Very loud; some dishes good; sea bass overcooked and dry; oysters very good; service ok, not great; comfortable booths. First time, won't be a second.
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OT
OpenTable Diner
San Diego
4 reviews
5.0
4 reviews
Dined 2 days ago
overall5food5service5ambience5
Great food in a great location with excellent service. I will be back.
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MS
MarcS
San Diego
12 reviews
vip
5.0
12 reviews
Dined 4 days ago
overall5food5service5ambience5
Kayla and Lexie provided amazing customer service
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PM
PaulM
Tucson
8 reviews
4.0
8 reviews
Dined 5 days ago
overall4food5service3ambience5
As usual the food was delicious, the service was not up to par for the restaurant. Our appetizer came out quickly but our bread and butter was sent out after our appetizer. When I asked for a soft drink to replace the iced tea I started with the waiter seemed upset that I said that the iced tea tasted old and bitter. After that encounter we waited and waited for our entrees. I didn’t time the time it took for us to be served our dinner but it seemed like quite a while, even the waiter made a joke about how long it took to get our food. The windows were open and it was a nice evening, the only problem was the subjects who give people rides around the area on their three wheel bikes, blaring their music full blast. I know that isn’t the restaurant’s fault but I felt like I had to include it.
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KL
KimL
1 review
4.0
1 review
Dined 5 days ago
overall4food3service3ambience2
Website conveyed a fine dining restaurant...Water Grill is not that. There is football on televisions and very loud pop music playing. It is in the very touristy Gaslamp district and there are lots of tourists. This is not a problem, but most were dressed very casual as well. Cocktails were tasty and wine list is decent. Food was hit and miss. Our calamari was chewy and the sauces were not very good. Filet was cooked well and had a good flavor. Scallop entree was delicious. Roasted Brussel sprouts were awful and bread pudding was just ok. I would not go back.
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MB
MaribelB
Sacramento
2 reviews
5.0
2 reviews
Dined 6 days ago
overall5food5service5ambience5
We enjoyed the ambience and food so much that we had to dine here twice during our short stay. The food was exceptional!
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SB
SuzanneB
Los Angeles
6 reviews
5.0
6 reviews
Dined 6 days ago
overall5food5service5ambience5
Food was great and service was excellent! Can’t ask for anything better! Also it was my birthday and they gave me a card and dessert, who does that?!? So cool!!
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JM
JoMarie
San Diego
73 reviews
vip
5.0
73 reviews
Dined 7 days ago
overall5food5service5ambience4
A fabulous birthday lunch for my husband. The service by Caroline was flawless, friendly, and outstanding in service and advice. The oyster sampler, oysters Rockefeller, and Maine lobster were prepared superbly and tasted divine. The wine paired nicely. Couldn’t have asked for a better meal and service.
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L
Lisa
New York Area
2 reviews
5.0
2 reviews
Dined 7 days ago
overall5food5service5ambience5
Picked this place months ago for our short visit to San Diego and it did not disappoint. Service and food were excellent. Parking was tough, street parking or paid lots a few blocks away. Had a toddler with us, would recommend not bringing young kiddos, better place for a date night.
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OT
OpenTable Diner
San Diego
4 reviews
vip
5.0
4 reviews
Dined on September 13, 2023
overall5food5service5ambience5
The food and service are always amazing. Got to take my grandson to see the live shrimp lobster and crabs in the tanks.
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HC
HappyCamper
Toledo
125 reviews
vip
5.0
125 reviews
Dined on September 13, 2023
overall5food5service5ambience5
Our favorite restaurant in the Gaslamp! Great food, fantastic service & wonderful cocktails! We love the whole team at Water Grill.
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S
Sdrunnergrl
San Diego
44 reviews
vip
5.0
44 reviews
Dined on September 12, 2023
overall5food5service5ambience5
Great food - was here for my friend's birthday lunch - our server was fantastic. We were served their signature house baked bread which came piping hot out of the oven with a side of butter. HEAVEN! We started with the tuna poke appetizer - so fresh and deelish! I ordered the beet and arugula salad with grilled shrimp and my friend ordered the wild jumbo shrimp louie salad. Our server brought out an amazing key lime dessert on the house for my friend's birthday. The bill before tip was $102 so a bit pricey but the food quality and ambiance, service was amazing! We will be back!
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LM
LiaM
Washington DC
7 reviews
vip
5.0
7 reviews
Dined on September 10, 2023
overall5food5service5ambience5
Water grill is delicious and never fails to disappoint. Very fresh seafood and beautiful inside. Our waiter was very nice and friendly.
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B
Bree
San Diego
9 reviews
vip
5.0
9 reviews
Dined on September 10, 2023
overall5food5service5ambience5
Great drinks, delicious food and attentive service.
Water Grill - San DiegoResponded on September 12, 2023
Thank you for the review. We appreciate you taking the time to give us the feedback! Darren Shanks - Restaurant Manager
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RK
RobertK
San Francisco
2 reviews
vip
4.0
2 reviews
Dined on September 9, 2023
overall4food4service4ambience4
Very good food. Good service. Beautiful interior, highly recommend
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OT
OpenTable Diner
1 review
5.0
1 review
Dined on September 9, 2023
overall5food5service5ambience5
Love this place. Going back again.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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L
Local
San Diego
6 reviews
5.0
6 reviews
Dined on September 8, 2023
overall5food5service5ambience5
Excellent halibut and service. Beautifully decorated. Don’t miss the upstairs space.
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JS
JanS
Central Coast
5 reviews
5.0
5 reviews
Dined on September 7, 2023
overall5food5service5ambience5
The sourdough rolls I will never get over how amazing! I highly recommend and the clam chowder!
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BP
BarbaraP
San Diego
3 reviews
4.0
3 reviews
Dined on September 7, 2023
overall4food4service5ambience4
Halibut was a special. It was at 1 and 1/2 inches thick. The difficulty was that it was dried out o the outside in order to cook the inside. Also the bed of corn treatment was very spicy which overwhelmed the delicate flavor of the fish. Lobster bisque was wonderful as was the Alaskan black cod and key lime pie. Buckwheat noodles were very salty.
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RR
RobertR
Chicago
3 reviews
5.0
3 reviews
Dined on September 6, 2023
overall5food4service5ambience5
Fantastic atmosphere. Good Food. Excellent Service. I would only recommend that the establishment incorporate Valet parking.
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JH
JanH
Phoenix
2 reviews
3.0
2 reviews
Dined on September 5, 2023
overall3food4service3ambience4
I understand that it was the end of a holiday weekend but…the restaurant was out of food. No bread? No lettuce for the mixed green salad? Only 2 of the 5 shellfish items on the menu. Plus the service was disjointed and slow. We ordered cocktails but they didn’t arrive until after we had our salads were delivered (and we asked about them). At least the food that arrived was good. We asked the waitstaff about the shortages and slow bar and were told that the management directs them to obfuscate the issues instead of being forthright. The manager attempted to placate us with dessert which we didn’t want. They ended up comping the drinks. Wish they had just told us the situation when we sat down to set expectations.
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SM
SolomonM
Los Angeles
23 reviews
vip
4.0
23 reviews
Dined on September 4, 2023
overall4food5service5ambience5
My wife and I eat here every time we visit SD. Our reservation was for 6:30pm. We arrived at 6:25pm and checked in with the hostess. She informed me that they have other reservations to seat before us. While waiting, we noticed other parties walking in being seated. At 6:50pm, I re-approached the hostess inquiring about our table. She responded as if it was her first time greeting me. I stated we’ve been waiting 20+ minutes to be seated. She grabbed 2 menus’ with an attitude as if I was bothering her. Besides our interaction with her, we had a grand time!!
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BP
BonnieP
1 review
5.0
1 review
Dined on September 4, 2023
overall5food5service5ambience5
The best food I’ve had in San Diego! My top 3 favorites were the Dungeness crab, the Chilean Sea-bass, and the Kaipara Oyster. I would also recommend getting the Chocolate Espresso Cake to end the meal. It super moist almost like fudge topped with salt flakes and a delicious scoop of ice cream on the side. I would like to compliment our server Marilia! She was so attentive and super knowledgeable. She really gave us the best service and I’d recommend to request her whenever you go in. 10/10 meal!!
1 person found this helpful
JH
JHoppy
San Francisco
5 reviews
5.0
5 reviews
Dined on September 4, 2023
overall5food5service5ambience5
Holiday weekend very crowded, food excellent, Drink excellent and had a good time.
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MI
MashellI
San Diego
5 reviews
5.0
5 reviews
Dined on September 3, 2023
overall5food5service5ambience5
I love the atmosphere here. The food is always delicious and they always have great choices for cocktails. Say by the window and enjoyed our poke and fish tacos.
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OT
OpenTable Diner
1 review
5.0
1 review
Dined on September 3, 2023
overall5food5service5ambience5
Appetizers were phenomenal, mac & cheese wasn’t too good.
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B
Balko
San Diego
12 reviews
5.0
12 reviews
Dined on September 2, 2023
overall5food5service5ambience5
This place is always great. They have really bounced back since COVID hit. It wasn’t quite the same a couple of times during COVID, still was good, but this last time was awesome. I highly recommend for a special occasion or date. 5 stars all around!
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M
Maryd
Los Angeles
6 reviews
5.0
6 reviews
Dined on September 2, 2023
overall5food5service5ambience5
Oysters Rockefeller are delicious!!!! The bread / tools are amazing!!! I had fish and chips and they were beyond good!!! Great food service and ambiance!! Highly recommend
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OT
OpenTable Diner
Jacksonville
8 reviews
vip
5.0
8 reviews
Dined on September 2, 2023
overall5food5service5ambience5
Great for a day date. I love when they opened the windows so we could enjoy the sun.
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RH
RyanH
San Diego
11 reviews
vip
5.0
11 reviews
Dined on September 2, 2023
overall5food5service5ambience4
Great food and great service. The ambience could be better.
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DB
DannB
San Francisco
11 reviews
5.0
11 reviews
Dined on September 2, 2023
overall5food4service5ambience4
Excellent service. Halibut was a little dry but good. Soft shell crabs were excellent as was the seafood tower. Very noisy.
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PG
PapaG
San Diego
59 reviews
vip
3.0
59 reviews
Dined on September 2, 2023
overall3food3service5ambience4
I was really looking forward to my visit to Watergrill, and sorry to say we were disappointed. A friend and I were staying at a downtown hotel and chose the restaurant for it's location and menu. The layout of the restaurant had a cool urban vibe and the location in the lower gaslamp was excellent. The menu was extensive with many offering and an large Raw Bar, but was significantly overpriced. We both ordered seared ahi, which was around $48. The piece of fish was high quality sashimi grade and large, but if it was seared at all I found no evidence. With Fish of this quality, that's not a major issue, but the rub was so excessively over-spiced it masked the flavor or the fish. The Ahi came with a single large grilled mushroom which was OK but not up the the standards of the price. I had a bowl of clam chowder which was good but overpriced at $15. Service was attentive and competent (including a warning about the spice). I may have caught them on a bad night, but the experience was not worth the cost.
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TT
TarinaThornock
Seattle
1 review
5.0
1 review
Dined on August 28, 2023
overall5food5service5ambience5
Jenna (our waitress) was an absolute dream and the food was magnificent.
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SA
SACJ
San Diego
59 reviews
vip
4.0
59 reviews
Dined on August 28, 2023
overall4food4service3ambience4
Water Grill is one of our favorites. They are remodeling on the main floor to bring their oyster bar up front by the bar, so part of the restaurant is cordoned off. We sat in a booth by the opened windows, and it was delightful. Our server was knowledgeable and very engaging, and we enjoyed her service. What we did notice, though, was the overall service was not as attentive as usual. Small things really such as refilling water glasses, asking for a second plate of their delicious bread that never came, pouring our own champagne, having to ask for the hot cloth and lemon to wipe off our hands after consuming the always delicious iced shellfish platter. The margarita verde is our go-to cocktail, and it did not disappoint. We brought our own champagne. Salads were tasty but not outstanding. These are nit-picky items - it's just we are accustomed to a higher level of service at Water Grill.
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CB
CherylB
San Diego
4 reviews
vip
5.0
4 reviews
Dined on August 27, 2023
overall5food5service5ambience5
Our waiter was fantastic, we had amazing service and the sable fish is the best preparation of cod I’ve ever had.
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DH
DaleH
New Orleans
9 reviews
vip
3.0
9 reviews
Dined on August 26, 2023
overall3food3service3ambience2
Menu too extensive and very confusing.. Service fair. Some entrees good, some terrible. Will not go back.
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HK
HamidijaK
1 review
5.0
1 review
Dined on August 25, 2023
overall5food5service5ambience5
Server was great food and everything. It’s price but great. I try one here in San Diego and one in Vegas But San Diego one needs to bring little price down. Everything was great. Thanks to my server was amazing. Don’t know his name but stuff from WG our great.
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KF
KenF
Las Vegas
2 reviews
5.0
2 reviews
Dined on August 22, 2023
overall5food5service5ambience5
This place is always amazing!! Great in each location I’ve been
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FAQs

Water Grill - San Diego offers takeout which you can order by calling the restaurant at (619) 717-6992.

Water Grill - San Diego is rated 4.6 stars by 3143 OpenTable diners.

Water Grill - San Diego does offer gift cards which you can purchase here.

Yes, you can generally book this restaurant by choosing the date, time and party size on OpenTable.

Make a reservation

Party Size

2 people

DateTime

Sept 22, 2023

7:00 p.m.

Booked 52 times today

Order delivery or takeout

615 J Street, San Diego, CA 92101

Dining areas

Additional information

Cross Street
6th Avenue and J Street
Neighbourhood
Downtown / Gaslamp
Hours of Operation
Mon–Thu, Sun 11:30 am–10:00 pm Fri, Sat 11:30 am–11:00 pm
Cuisines
Seafood, American, Fine cuts
Dining style
Casual Elegant
Dress Code
Smart Casual
Parking Details
Street Parking
Payment Options
AMEX, Diners Club, Discover, Mastercard, Visa
Executive Chef
Jason Gethin
Additional
Banquet, Bar/Lounge, Beer, BYO Wine, Cocktails, Full Bar, Non-Smoking, Patio/Outdoor Dining, Patio/Outdoor Dining, Private Room, Takeout, Wheelchair Access, Wine

Website
http://www.watergrill.com/
Phone number
(619) 717-6992
Private party facilities
Whether celebrating a special occasion with family and friends or hosting a corporate outing, Water Grill - San Diego can accommodate all your special event needs.
Private party contact
Arian James : (619) 717-6992

Featured in

100 San Diego Restaurants to Love This Valentine's Day

Gift card

Send gift cards instantly by email or print to present in person.

Send a gift card

Water Grill - San Diego

Make a reservation

Order delivery or takeout

Private dining

Dining areas

Additional information

Featured in

100 San Diego Restaurants to Love This Valentine's Day

Gift card

Menu

What 3,143 people are saying

Overall ratings and reviews

Loved For

FAQs

Does Water Grill - San Diego offer delivery through OpenTable or takeout?

How is Water Grill - San Diego restaurant rated?

Does Water Grill - San Diego offer gift cards?

Is Water Grill - San Diego currently accepting bookings?

Make a reservation

Order delivery or takeout

Dining areas

Additional information

Featured in

100 San Diego Restaurants to Love This Valentine's Day

Gift card