Herb and Sea

Excellent service and ambience. Cocktails were brilliant, the Espresso Martini on Nitro is exceptional

My oh my! We had such an amazing meal and fun time at the bar with the best two ladies working the bar! They were so kind welcoming and knowledgeable about everything on the menu. Every dish we tried was delicious, but the hoecake with caviar was iconic 🤤 excellent job all around for this spot!

The food and service was exceptional. The best food I've had in North County! The apps are delicious and the the Sea Bass was sublime. The service was attentive, professional and made you feel like a regular. I highly recommend the muscles and Sea Bass!

Deb Mignucci

What a find!!! We absolutely loved everything! Very cool LA vibe which was a tad loud but we were still able to converse at the table. Service was friendly and helpful. There is also a nice outdoor space for private parties for intimate or larger gatherings (up to 100-ish). Started with a Pale Ale from the Pure Project, two delicious and beautifully presented cocktails (Amaretto sour & It’s About Time) and mocktail (Luke, I did it again). The 4 of us shared a chorizo pizza and roasted carrots and off-the-menu Parker House Rolls followed by the seared sea bass, shrimp linguine and blistered peas. Be sure to save room for the Budino and especially the chocolate mousse pie! Can’t wait to go back - we’d get everything again!

Ankita Aparajita

Went for birthday dinner and was thoroughly impressed with the flavorful plates,ambience & amazing service! The drinks were top notch and every plate we ordered was special & delicious, much recommended!

Mark Catone

My husband and I went to Herb and Sea last Saturday night. We didn't know what to expect but all the reviews we read were excellent. We've been disappointed before with highly rated restaurants, including those with Micheline stars and bibs. This restaurant beats them all. First, our server spent time walking us through the entire menu including the drinks and wines. At that point, we wanted to order everything on the menu! We ended up starting with the Trout Dip. I cannot even describe how delicious this dip was. I honestly wanted to lick the bowl clean. My husband ordered the Tuscan Ragu which was not only a large portion, but incredibly flavorful. One of the best pasta dishes he's eaten. I orderd the crudo trio which consisted of hamachi, salmon, and trout. This dish is an appetizer, but was a perfect size for me. Very well seasoned and so fresh. We also ordered the blistered peas and, OMG sooo amazingly good. The dish could have been a meal. We ended with a shared butterscotch budino and I cannot describe the creamy deliciousness of this dessert. The drinks were very good and had the appropriate amount of alcohol. Some restaurants water down their specialty drinks with lots of ice - not true at Herb and Sea. We keep thinking about our dinner there and wanting to go back very soon. The staff and chef are amazing. It's a busy place, but they manage to put high quality food out. This restaurant deserves a look from the Micheline experts.

Maroun Charbel

Absolutely recommend!! The food was amazing, everything was fresh & delicious. Wife & I are visiting for the week and decided to try Herb & Sea, top 5 decisions of the trip! The staff is friendly and very knowledgeable, Nick (I believe that was our servers name, he’s originally from the east coast) explained every detail of every dish and he recommended the Mussel Toast appetizer which was amazing! We had the peri peri chicken, the seared sea bass & the corn & potatoes sides. 10/10! Added to our favorites for our next visit to the San Diego area.

Marcus Lopez

My wife’s company Xmas Party. The staff were very friendly and professional. The decor was gorgeous with lots of Christmas decor everywhere. Food was very good and fantastic staff.

Connor McMorrow

Herb & Sea was the perfect spot to celebrate our anniversary. The ambiance was romantic and inviting, and the service made us feel truly taken care of. We started with the fresh catch caviar, pickles and pita, and the Caesar - each one packed with flavor and beautifully presented. The babaganoush in the pickles and pita dish was delicious and surprisingly stole the show among the starters. For mains, we shared the whole golden spotted bass and the shrimp linguini - both were absolutely outstanding. Everything about the evening was memorable - can’t wait to come back!

omar fagerberg

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Herb & Sea is an absolute gem! From the moment we walked in, the atmosphere was inviting, stylish, and coastal-chic. The service was top-notch—attentive, friendly, and knowledgeable about the menu. Now, the food—WOW! Every dish was beautifully plated and bursting with flavor. The seafood was incredibly fresh, and the wood-fired preparations added the perfect touch of smokiness. The scallop aguachile was bright, refreshing, and perfectly balanced, while the barramundi and yellowtailwas cooked to perfection. We also couldn't get enough of the house-made pasta and seasonal vegetables. Another huge plus—it’s also a fantastic spot for families! The staff was incredibly welcoming and attentive to our kids, making sure they were comfortable and happy throughout the meal. It’s rare to find a restaurant that balances sophistication with a family-friendly atmosphere, but Herb & Sea nails it. Cocktails were another highlight—creative, well-balanced, and refreshing. The wine list had fantastic pairings, making the experience even better. Herb & Sea is the perfect spot for a romantic date night, a celebration, or just a memorable meal with friends and family. Brian Malarkey has truly created something special here. We’ll be back again and again!

Reed Brown

Great experience, especially during the holidays - the decorations were a great touch. We love going for the happy hour Happy Meal. Suggest getting there at 4:45 before they open if you want happy hour seating.

Isaac Barroso Jimenez

The food and service was exceptional. The best food I've had in North County! The apps are delicious and the the Sea Bass was sublime. The service was attentive, professional and made you feel like a regular. I highly recommend the muscles and Sea Bass!

Wandering in Paradise

Incredible dinner at Herb & Sea! Love the decor, everything looks beautiful with purpose. The staff is excellent, friendly and accommodating, and orders come out quick. We had some tasty cocktails, the H&S old fashioned, tropic thunder, and Sonoran sunset. Our appetizers were amazing, bluefin tuna tartare, mussel toast, and ceviche. The entrees kept the momentum, we had grilled bluefin tuna and shrimp linguini with sides of baby carrots and fire roasted corn. Great location to walk around and go to the beach. Definitely recommend!

Angela Wong

Delicious foods and atmosphere! Fast service too. The food was amazing. Quite a bit of fusion of flavors and variety. Oysters and ceviche (slight curry flavor) were fresh and delicious. The oysters + bone marrow (very fatty, maybe French) is a show stopper. Duck confit pizza also wowed! If you’re good with more than healthy amounts of butter and fat, this place is fantastic.

anwesh reddy

Excellent service and ambience. Cocktails were brilliant, the Espresso Martini on Nitro is exceptional

C F

My oh my! We had such an amazing meal and fun time at the bar with the best two ladies working the bar! They were so kind welcoming and knowledgeable about everything on the menu. Every dish we tried was delicious, but the hoecake with caviar was iconic 🤤 excellent job all around for this spot!

Bay

Everything is great, the food is so delicious and fresh. Customer service is excellent. The atmosphere is of the restaurant is modern and cozy.

Beautiful set up for Christmas!!! Props to the team who put up all the decor because it looks like it was so much work but as a patron, thank you!!! It made for an incredibly lovely and festive evening! Loved the Christmas music in the background too! Service was great! I only gave the food 4 stars because my friend ordered the snapper and it was a little bland but everything else we ordered was 5 stars. I gave the atmosphere 4 stars only because we were seated at the table right in front of the entry doors which were opening all night as patrons came and went and it was quite chilly.

Came here for my birthday. Wife and I enjoyed the red snapper and Tuscan Ragu. Jam packed with flavor. I by no means consider myself a hard-core foodie. I have had very nice cuisine when I lived in New York City and in Europe. On occasion we’ll visit some Michelin star restaurants. Objectively – the food is very good! Delicious, good presentation. Not overly theatrical. Ambience is nice. I’m looking at these reviews and I think the restaurant is deserving of a higher rating.

Wow. Nikki was our server. I read Setting the Table and Unreasonable Hospitality. She hit every mark effortlessly what an asset. Manager Luke came up and said hi and is very charming and easy to talk to. Host Grace had the biggest smile and super friendly and warm. Making casual conversation (not robotic) even as shr walked me to the table. I can tell the team gets along and works together very well. Destiny was the food runner and detailed every dish with her own spin and even made a laugh a few times times in conversation. Cocktails were balanced and so good. I had the pork washed direct cocktail. Excellent but I forgot the name because I had too many. Woops. All the food is excellent, please try the MUSSEL TOAST!!!. I have been here many times and every time i have the same experience. Quality, consistency, and warmth. Brian Malarkey is so lucky to have this team.

The food here is phenomenal — every dish was so thoughtfully prepared and absolutely delicious. The raw bar items were incredibly fresh, and the mussel toast (which came highly recommended) did not disappoint at all. It was one of the highlights of the meal. The service was just as impressive. Our servers were warm, attentive, and made the entire meal even more enjoyable. Overall, everything exceeded our expectations. I would definitely recommend coming here if you’re looking for great food and a memorable dining experience!

A Sun

Wow. Nikki was our server. I read Setting the Table and Unreasonable Hospitality. She hit every mark effortlessly what an asset. Manager Luke came up and said hi and is very charming and easy to talk to. Host Grace had the biggest smile and super friendly and warm. Making casual conversation (not robotic) even as shr walked me to the table. I can tell the team gets along and works together very well. Destiny was the food runner and detailed every dish with her own spin and even made a laugh a few times times in conversation. Cocktails were balanced and so good. I had the pork washed direct cocktail. Excellent but I forgot the name because I had too many. Woops. All the food is excellent, please try the MUSSEL TOAST!!!. I have been here many times and every time i have the same experience. Quality, consistency, and warmth. Brian Malarkey is so lucky to have this team.

allan is here

While it’s unreasonable to expect any restaurant to be able to fire on all cylinders every night, occasionally things happen. But sometimes, it’s all in the recovery. On this night, in this restaurant, the food becomes a footnote to the service. Despite being in the middle of my meal as I write this review, I felt compelled to single out for praise, the staff, who so ably salvaged my wife’s birthday out. So even if the food component fell off a cliff from here, the staff of Herb & Sea would still emerge meritorious. Good news is though, that the food is fantastic-effin-tastic. You can taste the love in every bite! Bottom line is, that our server Bailey and her Manager, Amy, put on a master class in redeeming the customer experience and I feel strongly, that that type of spirit demands reinforcing. I just hope that ownership knows how lucky they are to have people like these on their team ! Bravo Herb & Sea !

Alison Walsh

Amazing dinner tonight! We ordered the mussels toast (INCREDIBLE), ode to swan, and ceviche to start. I’d recommend their fish - got swordfish and shrimp linguini as our main dishes and both were so flavorful and filling. Our server AJ went above and beyond and we had such a memorable experience!

Mig Alink

The food here is phenomenal — every dish was so thoughtfully prepared and absolutely delicious. The raw bar items were incredibly fresh, and the mussel toast (which came highly recommended) did not disappoint at all. It was one of the highlights of the meal. The service was just as impressive. Our servers were warm, attentive, and made the entire meal even more enjoyable. Overall, everything exceeded our expectations. I would definitely recommend coming here if you’re looking for great food and a memorable dining experience!

Herb & Sea unfortunately is an above average restaurant masquerading as a high end restaurant. There are definitely some nice aspects, but overall, it was disappointing and only worth it due to having a gift card. To start, the restaurant was extremely loud and there due to it being an almost completely open space, there was no sound interference at all. The front of house took us to our table in a corner, which we were lucky to have because I can't imagine having been in the middle of the floor. The only upside of that was being able to listen in on several different conversations at other tables when it was too loud to have conversation without using an outside voice. The menu had several options, a nice raw bar, but vegetables are not included with the entrees ($15-20 each). Also, the dish costs not being $XX.00 or .50 was a bit off-putting. At that point, just put the price with tax and say tax included. I digress. We ordered the scallop aguachile ($25.69), mussel toast ($22.14), half baked snapper ($48.14), seared swordfish ($36.01), and date cake ($16.78) total came to $159.99 + 4% surcharge making it end up not being an even number. And this doesn't even come with a complimentary bread basket or anything similar. The scallop aguachile was tasty, but definitely could have been another level up for being only 5 scallops (4*). The mussel toast was a large piece of sourdough bread cut in 4 long strips that had 2 small mussels on each slice. The ratio of bread and sauce to mussels was off big time, the mussels couldn't compete with the wine sauce (2*). The half baked snapper was the star of the show, delicious, beautiful flavor composition and texture mix, worth it (5*). The seared swordfish had some juicy spots and some dry spots (3*). The date cake was moist and well done, but a bit unbalanced toward the sweet side (4*). The service was solid, plates were cleared with utensils after each course and we were tended to, but not rushed. Plates were well timed.

Trevor Lindner

Herb & Sea unfortunately is an above average restaurant masquerading as a high end restaurant. There are definitely some nice aspects, but overall, it was disappointing and only worth it due to having a gift card. To start, the restaurant was extremely loud and there due to it being an almost completely open space, there was no sound interference at all. The front of house took us to our table in a corner, which we were lucky to have because I can't imagine having been in the middle of the floor. The only upside of that was being able to listen in on several different conversations at other tables when it was too loud to have conversation without using an outside voice. The menu had several options, a nice raw bar, but vegetables are not included with the entrees ($15-20 each). Also, the dish costs not being $XX.00 or .50 was a bit off-putting. At that point, just put the price with tax and say tax included. I digress. We ordered the scallop aguachile ($25.69), mussel toast ($22.14), half baked snapper ($48.14), seared swordfish ($36.01), and date cake ($16.78) total came to $159.99 + 4% surcharge making it end up not being an even number. And this doesn't even come with a complimentary bread basket or anything similar. The scallop aguachile was tasty, but definitely could have been another level up for being only 5 scallops (4*). The mussel toast was a large piece of sourdough bread cut in 4 long strips that had 2 small mussels on each slice. The ratio of bread and sauce to mussels was off big time, the mussels couldn't compete with the wine sauce (2*). The half baked snapper was the star of the show, delicious, beautiful flavor composition and texture mix, worth it (5*). The seared swordfish had some juicy spots and some dry spots (3*). The date cake was moist and well done, but a bit unbalanced toward the sweet side (4*). The service was solid, plates were cleared with utensils after each course and we were tended to, but not rushed. Plates were well timed.

Tonight I had the displeasure of trying some kind of fancy rockfish. It was advertised as “de-boned” and let me tell ya. Calling this thing “deboned” is like calling Kate Hudson a good actress. I’ve been to cemeteries with less bones than this fish. I think they actually went around the kitchen to find other fish bones to put into my dish. Talk about a phishing scam am I right! 2 stars because the company was excellent and one of the chefs had one of those “cool guy” chef bandanas on. That guy looked sick.

Atmosphere great, service great, but unfortunately the food is awful. We got yellowtail, pasta, bone marrow, carrots, hummus and two wines. The food just does not taste good. I would not go to this restaurant again for food if it was free… save your money, it’s expensive too. Service and people were great, they just need to figure out the food.

Peter Lee

Atmosphere great, service great, but unfortunately the food is awful. We got yellowtail, pasta, bone marrow, carrots, hummus and two wines. The food just does not taste good. I would not go to this restaurant again for food if it was free… save your money, it’s expensive too. Service and people were great, they just need to figure out the food.