Giovanni's Fresh Fish Market and Galley at Morro Bay, California

Morro Bay, California, is one of my favorite coastal towns to visit. As you stroll along the waterfront, on Embarcadero Street, you naturally get hungry for fish and chips. That's when you'll want to pay a visit to Giovanni's Fresh Fish Market and Galley.

Giovanni's does fish and chips and they do it right. However, there is so much more! If you're hungry for fresh fish, and I mean fresh, go inside and take your pick from their counter. The fish is fresh, really fresh, as it is unloaded directly from fishing boats to the dock located behind the store. In addition to fresh fish, they have an extensive section wine, from local wineries in the Paso Robles area, about 30 miles to the east. Not to mention soft drinks, beer, snacks, souvenirs and the obligatory bait. Not to mention in the front of the store is the live crab tank, and the big pot where they steam the crabs.

Photost: Giovanni's Fresh Fish Market and Galley, located at 1001 Front Street, in Morro Bay, California. The domed-shaped rock in the background is famous Morro Rock.

Giovanni's specializes in fish and chips, however their menu offers a lot more. Dining is casual and uncomplicated and is done outdoors in the pleasant covered area adjacent to the store with a view of Morro Rock and Morro Bay. As you wait for your food, you can't help but to savor the intoxicating cocktail of tantalizing smells: salt water, salt air and the smell of cooking fish.

You go up to the window and order your food, they give you a number, you sit down, and just a few minutes later, you pick up your food. Sharlene and I both ordered fish and chips for $7.25 each. For that amount you get four big pieces of fish, and a mountain of chips. Really, we could have split an order between the two of us, which will probably our plan for the next time we visit.

Left: Like a small taqueria in Mexico, Giovanni's has their menu posted just to the left of their order window. Right: I told you the fish is fresh! Yachts and fishing boats at the piers adjacent to Giovanni's, which is the building with the red roof near the center of the photo.

When you dine at Giovanni's, you'll never dine alone, as there are many "uninvited guests" in the form of pigeons and seagulls. There are signs advising you not to feed the birds for good reason; the birds tend to invite their friends and relatives if they suspect food is present, and that will lead to a feeding-frenzy. Actually, the birds are rather entertaining, as they will do anything and perform any kind of trick necessary to be given a crumb of food. When a handout is rendered, a swarm of them will gather, and they will fight to the bitter end for any morsel. As an aside, we had more chips than we could eat, so I took them to a vacant lot behind the restaurant, and amused myself by throwing individual fries into the air, and watching the antics that the food-frenzy seagulls resorted to gather a morsel of food. Yes, I know that I don't have a life...

Photo: Two orders of fish and chips, which is enough to feed a squad of hungry soldiers. As it was, we had enough chips left over to feed some of the hungry seagulls. Boy, these fish and chips are good!

The fish and chips are fresh, portions are huge, and the food is great! When you're hungry for fresh fish, or the best fish and chips in Morro Bay, check out Giovanni's.

Left: Sharlene enjoys our outdoor dining, with Morro Rock in the background. The time is 1145 on a July morning in 2004, yet the morning coastal fog still lingers. Right: Inside the market, the guy at the fish counter grins for me as I snap his photo. Notice the wine for sale, to the extreme right of the photo.

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