The Bay Area-based Pacific Catch seafood chain has opened its newest restaurant in Santa Clara — with a light, airy coastal design indoors and a patio with fire pit and heat lamps for outdoor dining.
The location at Santa Clara Square, a mixed-used development fronting Highway 101, is the 11th in the group. The expansion was announced in early 2020, just weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic limited operations at restaurants in California and across the nation.
Pacific Catch, which bills itself as a “West Coast fish house,” specializes in fresh, sustainable fish and seafood dishes inspired by Asia, Latin America and Polynesia — Hawaiian poke bowls, fish tacos, pan-Asian rice bowls and daily fish specials — and offers a full bar with specialty cocktails, California wines and microbrews.
Regional chef Rowena Rillo, who came on board in 2018, is currently working on the spring menu, which she said will bring some new small bites — musubi, salmon corndogs and jicama ceviche tacos — to the lineup of sustainable seafood offerings.
“I’ve always taken pride in our responsible sourcing, especially with our sustainable seafood program,” which follows the Monterey Bay Aquarium guidelines, she said.
Staying on the menu will be the popular Viet Hot Fish, a crispy Alaskan cod fillet sandwich inspired by CEO Keith Cox, and other customer favorites.
“We were looking into the Hot/Spicy fish burger trend and realized we had an awesome sambal vinaigrette we used in our crab cake salad that pairs well on our fried cod, and that’s how this dish was created,” she said. “Plus some sriracha aioli and fresh serrano pepper can’t hurt.”
Rillo pivoted to the culinary arts after serving in the Air Force. Her varied Bay Area résumé includes Michael Mina’s Bourbon Steak, the Tacolicious group and chef de cuisine at Stone’s Throw in San Francisco.
The still-expanding Pacific Catch was founded in 2003 on San Francisco’s Chestnut Street by entrepreneurs Aaron Noveshen and Cox, with locations now throughout the Bay Area. The Walnut Creek, Cupertino and Palo Alto eateries became the eight, ninth and 10th locations, respectively, in the chain.
Next up? San Diego.
Details: Open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily at 3315 Coronado Place, Santa Clara; https://pacificcatch.com.
