Met Rick in Ojai and was blown away by his infectious good attitude, kindness, and generosity. Having met the guy, we had high expectations for his smoked salmon--expectations that were in every way met. Living in Seattle I've had a lot of good smoked salmon in my life and Rick's was as good as it gets. Ideal is authentic in the extreme, owned by good people, and has phenomenal food. read more

Great smoked salmon and seaweed salad. We appreciate them being local. You can call to see if what you want is available.

Excellent fresh from the ocean and very reasonably priced. Sushi grade and family owned. I love driving through and getting the best smoked salmon this side of Tofino! Hope this business is around for years to come! A local treasure. read more

Little booth off the main road that sells the freshest seafood! My hands down favorite place to buy fish in the area. Love the salmon, black cod and shrimp especially. Will continue to buy more! Only disappointment was with posted hours of operation. I entered the drive through at 5:30pm on a Wednesday and no one was there. The hours are even taped to the window indicating they close at 6pm. So not sure what that was about. Seems like someone dropped the ball because I should have had 30 minutes to buy what I needed. Hope they rectify that and will call next time I plan to go. read more

We live nearby and have given this place a few chances. We cook seafood often and would love to be able to come here for sushi grade fish and other random items. Today we tried to get calamari steaks which are always on the menu, they didn't say they were out but the woman behind the counter let us know they were out of stock. She also had the customer service skills of a rock and was particularly unhelpful. Multiple things listed as available were actually out of stock and we ended up leaving with one pound of overpriced salmon. In general I would say the prices are not reasonable, $28 for farm raised salmon is wild. Today was the last time we'll try this spot. read more

My uncle and I had a very nice meal here while staying in Ojai. The octopus salad was a delight. My uncle had the seaweed salad which he said was light and delicious. I had a cod that was cooked to perfection and super great. They said it's a local fish, which explains the freshness! Casual, nice place. read more

Best fish market. I live at the beach by the dam harbor, you would think we would have something like this here, but noooooo. So I go to Ojai to get fish. Best Lox!!! Keep up the good work! read more

First time going and what a treat! I mentioned I was making sushi and he brought out a huge king salmon! Replaced my tail piece with a primo piece. Sushi was excellent. Will be back on the regular! Thank you so much read more

Ideal Seafood - King salmon--made excellent sushi - Seafood Markets Near Me - Ojai, California

I'm sure the fresh fish I got will be amazing and their smoked salmon is literally the best I've ever had. But I was a little sad that I got what I thought was going to be halibut ceviche and what I got was imitation crab with not much else going on seafood wise. Also imitation crab just doesn't quite sit well with me. Kind of a bummer! Maybe I got given the wrong ceviche? Still will go back, just maybe won't get the ceviche again. read more

You absolutely can't miss this place if you visit Ojai! We stopped by for some smoked salmon and ahi tuna. Rick and Alicia hooked it up! Next time we will be stopping by to grab more smoked salmon before camping. Quality place. Quality service. Quality seafood. 100% recommend. read more

Ideal Seafood - Rick with an amazingly delicious salmon filet! - Seafood Markets Near Me - Ojai, California

Great fish! Owner is very nice and offered suggestions. Freshest fish, great smoked salmon

FIRST VISIT HERE, AND WE WILL BE BACK! Bought Calamari steaks. DELICIOUS!! But THE VERY BEST GOLDEN BASS WE HAVE EVER HAD!! It is Absolutely worth the drive from Ventura, for the Golden Sea Bass, alone! I'm betting that ALL of the fish is as fresh and delicious as the calamari and the bass!! read more

Not going to get fresher fish unless you fish it yourself. Reasonable prices and lots of knowledge about what they sell and where it comes from. read more

One reason I enjoy coming to Ojai is for the smoked salmon. But I am very disappointed from my last visit. Coming up to the window, I asked if they had run out of salmon (they do sometimes). I was glad to hear some just came of the smoker. I anticipated warm freshly smoked salmon as in the past. But no, when I got back and opened it up for lunch, I got two refrigerated tail pieces. I called to express my disappointment. I got back that the fish off the grill is too hot. And partial understanding with no thought of wrongdoing. They are within their rights to serve two refrigerated tails, but how much lack in care for the customer is clear. If you buy, ask for fresh, not refrigerated, and no tail pieces, and if that costs extra? read more

What can I say, this is such a treasure. We had hot smoked salmon to bring home for lunch which was ridiculously tasty. We were so impressed we bought Ahi steaks to cook for dinner... amazing mega steaks. read more

Diamond in the rough. This blue shack is the real deal. Next time I'm in the area I'll be stopping by again. The owner was extremely nice and passionate about what he does. read more

The smoked salmon is absolutely delicious. Don't overlook this roadside gem if you're looking for high quality fresh seafood in Ojai.

Great food, small fresh fish market, heaters for cool days and nights, outdoor seating (a bit too close to the road for my comfort, decent indoor seating. read more

We bought the chunks of smoked salmon. It was incredibly delicious. We ate it as we would lox, but more robust, smoky, and flavorful.

What a JOY! I pulled up to Ideal Seafood on Sunday and Rick and his team MADE MY DAY! not only was he a ray of sunshine, but the fish.. THE FISH! omg, i am so excited to have such a great, easy and QUALITY seafood joint down the road. Can't wait to try everything! read more

My family and I have been going to ideal seafood for a couple of years now and we've never been disappointed. As a huge lover of seafood I'm so happy to have such a reliable source of fresh and delicious seafood so local. My all time favorite is their smoked salmon. SO GOOD!!!! Also highly recommend the crab cakes. Everything is so yummy! Side note: after reading the other reviews, I do agree that the girl that does the window service is definitely not very customer friendly. If they got someone who made the experience more enjoyable, it would improve a lot!! read more

Some folks have complained about the older women who works the drive thru, as grumpy, but she was sweet as pie with us, and even gave us some scraps for my dogs (which they loved). We enjoyed some great meals on our vacation in Ojai, but none was better than our home cooked meal that featured the super fresh salmon from Ideal. We'll be visiting Ideal, on our next visit to Ojai. read more

The absolute best seafood around. My husband and I come up from Ventura to get Salmon, shrimp, and sea bass. It is always fresh and delicious and great prices! Update: the lady that is always here, is so incredibly rude that we have considered going elsewhere after many years of going here weekly. She is extremely unfriendly, and has ruined the experience. Please hire someone who is nice and respectful to others. read more

Love you guys you kill it every time I come I'll be back for more!!! Thanks for the smoked salmon today love your friendly lady in black mini van read more

Fresh salmon, ate it two days after I got it. Delicious. Octopus salad was really good too. I found the smoked salmon to be a little dry and not very smoky. Excited to try something else from them next time. read more

Ideal Seafood - Fresh salmon, ate it two days after I got it. Delicious. - Seafood Markets Near Me - Ojai, California

Love this fresh fish! Ironically, drive from Ventura regularly to pick up their Salmon and etc...catches!!

I don't have enough good things to say about this place. In fact I'm going to go by and pick up dinner for tonight. I always love going through the drive-through. The owner and his daughter always take excellent care of us, providing us with the tastiest fresh seafood available anywhere. Highly recommended. read more

I've been looking for fresh seafood locally and found Ideal Seafood. My search is over. It's a drive thru so need jump through hoops to order or pickup given the current restrictions on EVERY thing "retail". The best Smoked Salmon on Earth and the Seaweed Salad is something I could eat daily! Its unbelievably simple and amazing tasty. What a combo. Ojai and Ideal Seafood. ADD: Thanks Rick for the sample of that Calamari salad. Amazing. You're right, I'm hooked! read more

Some of the worse frozen fish I've ever experienced. Vons seafood is a much better quality and value. On top of the bad food is a real 'take it or leave it attitude'. Go there at your own risk. YOU WILL BE SORRY! read more

So. This is the place to be if you wanna get served up some seafood and get your whole vibe raised right on up. read more

Ideal Seafood - Seafood Markets Near Me - Ojai, California

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Ideal seafood has great fresh fish! I have been purchasing fresh fish, shrimp, and side dishes (i.e seaweed salad) for years and I must say I have loved it all. Rick has great recommendations and is so friendly- he even sent a delicious octopus poke salad home as a gift for my sons birthday! If you love seafood, stop buying it at the grocery store and make a trip to Mira Monte to Ideal Seafood. You wont regret it! read more

Golden bass my ass.. and then the verbal. Local caught fish like rock cod. That was basa Swai. You paid 1.75 a pound for it...charged me 11 bucks a pound for it. The smoked salmon fresh off the grill was off the hook good...just don't falsify the other thing we ordered. After our purchase, we went to a farmers market, purchased produce, and salivaded our drive home for a dinner with said Golden Bass. Swai. You sold me Swai. We will be back. But I will not be fooled again. Trust me when I say I know 100 times more about seafood then you. read more

Wow. You've never had a seafood shopping experience like this. One it's a drive though, and two the passion from the owner is non paralleled The freshness and quality is beyond anything I've tasted. Please stop here if you want the best you can get. read more

Just moved to Ojai and was grateful that someone asked about Ideal on ND. Amazing quality, super nice owner. While packing up my fish, I was intrigued with his special board. Needless to say, I mentioned it and he says forget that! Just got some sea bass in an hour ago...I was sold! Found my new go to for fresh fish read more

Excellent fresh fish! We make it a point to stop by Ideal Seafood when in Ojai. The first time we stopped was on a whim, now we always bring an ice chest to bring back some tasty fish! If you decide go, you'll be satisfied. read more

Ideal Seafood is truly one of a kind. The owner Rick is the most kind hearted & passionate men ever. You can tell he truly loves what he does. I've been going to ideal seafood since they first opened. I was just a little girl when I got hooked on their smoked salmon & now I go as a weekly staple for my house. Everything there is wonderful. I've never had a single thing that wasn't absolutely to die for. The smoked salmon is my favorite thing ever with the halibut ceviche & seaweed salad not far behind. 20/10 from me! read more

Best seafood, always amazing. Whether you get the local catch and grill it yourself or the smoked salmon ... you are in for a treat.

Amazing selection of seafood in Ojai. It's worth the drive from Ventura! Try the smoked stuff. It's all delicious. It would not be possible for the service to be better. read more

This place is amazing! After wanting to go for years I finally was in Ojai and the right time of day and it was open. At the drive-up window I told the owner it was my first time there and he just kept handing me sample after sample of the best smoked seafood I've ever had. I can't wait to go back. Try the marinaded squid! read more

I just happened to see this place on the way to the Ojai Farmers Market, so we stopped by on the way back to Ventura. Right away the girl there was completely helpful, and extremely nice! We sampled the lox, smoked salmon, and smoked trout. They were all super delicious and tender, so we bought some smoked Salmon, fresh Bass and giant scallops. I highly recommend stopping in! read more

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