Neptune's Net Seafood Shack in Malibu: $16.95 Fish and Chips

Neptune's Net sits at 42505 Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, right where Los Angeles County meets Ventura County, and it does not take reservations. You walk in, pick a side, order at a counter and carry your own basket to a table. Fish and chips is $16.95, a pint of the New England clam chowder is $13.50, and the Pacific is close enough to hear from the patio.

The shack has been feeding surfers, bikers and road-trippers since 1956, which makes it one of the few seafood shacks on this coast that still looks like it did when the highway was quiet. The original building is still the restaurant side. Everything else was added around it, and the place wears that layering well.

According to the restaurant's own history page, Neptune's Net was opened in 1956 by Eastman Jacobs, a retired NASA aerodynamicist, on a stretch of Malibu beach beside the county line. That is a surprising founder for a fish shack, and it explains why the story gets told at the counter. Jacobs built the first room, and that room is still standing as the restaurant side today.

Over the decades the owners added the seafood side and the outdoor patio, but they kept the old building as it was. The result is a low, weathered compound with two kitchens and two pay stations instead of one tidy dining room. The restaurant also says it has appeared in Point Break, Fast and Furious and Iron Man 3, so you may find yourself eating under a lot of borrowed movie memories.

The first thing to understand is that Neptune's Net runs two separate operations. The restaurant side serves what the menu calls all American, grilled and fried seafood: baskets, tacos, burgers, salads and chowder. It has indoor seating, beer and wine, and it is the side to choose if you want fish and chips or a plate of grilled fish with rice and coleslaw.

The seafood side has its own menu, and much of it is priced by weight or by plate: Peel N' Eat large shrimp are $23.75 per pound, little neck clams are $15.00 per pound, and oysters are six for $16.50 or twelve for $31. Alaskan king crab is priced at $58.00 per pound. A Shrimp Plate with a half pound of large shrimp, veggies, half an ear of corn and sourdough bread is $25.95.

Each side has its own pay station, so pick a side first and pay at that station. If your group wants both, send one person to each line and meet at a table. Seats are first come, first served, and the restaurant says plainly that it does not take reservations.

Start with the New England clam chowder, which the shack calls world famous. A half pint is $8.00, a full pint is $13.50, and the sourdough bread bowl with a pint of chowder inside is $14.50. The bread bowl is the better deal if you are splitting a basket, because the chowder keeps the sourdough from drying out in the ocean wind.

The fried baskets come with French fries and a small cup of coleslaw. Fish and chips is two pieces of deep-fried, beer-battered, panko-crumbed Alaskan white fish for $16.95. The shrimp basket brings eight large breaded shrimp for $17.95, and the clam strip, calamari and crab cake baskets are also $17.95 each. The scallop basket, six pieces, is $18.75. Swapping the fries for sweet potato fries or onion rings costs $4.25 more.

If you want to try several things, the double combos serve one or two people. Fish and Shrimp, two pieces of fish and six shrimp, is $22.95. Clams and Shrimp is $23.50. The Seafood Sampler on the other side, with a half pound of large shrimp, six clams, four oysters, king crab and six ounces of ceviche, is $48.95 and feeds two comfortably.

Not everyone in the car eats fried food, and the menu has an answer for that. Grilled fish tacos come three to an order for $17.95 with pineapple slaw, pico de gallo, crema and avocado sauce. The Seared Ahi Tuna Plate, Grilled Salmon Plate and Grilled Mahi Mahi Plate are each $20.95 with rice and coleslaw. The kitchen fries in soybean oil and lists vegan and vegetarian options, including an Impossible burger and garden salads.

Neptune's Net publishes two schedules and says it is open every day of the year, with limited hours on Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. From March to October the hours are Monday to Thursday 10:30 am to 8:00 pm, Friday 10:30 am to 9:00 pm, and Saturday and Sunday 10:00 am to 8:30 pm.

From October to March the shack closes earlier. Monday to Thursday it runs 10:30 am to 7:00 pm, Friday 10:30 am to 8:00 pm, and Saturday and Sunday 10:00 am to 7:00 pm. Since the sun sets early in winter, those earlier closing times line up with the last good light over the water.

Weekend afternoons in summer are the busiest stretch, and the lot fills with motorcycles, exotic car clubs and surfers coming off the water. The restaurant side opens at 10:30 am on weekdays and 10:00 am on weekends, so arriving close to opening gets you a patio table before the queue builds. A Tuesday or Wednesday lunch is the easiest time to sit anywhere you like.

If the restaurant line is long, look at the seafood side, which has its own menu and its own line. Order the ceviche, which is $14.95 per half pound and mixes Alaskan white fish, scallops, calamari, shrimp, jalapeño, cucumber, avocado and red onion cooked in lemon. Eat it at a patio table while your partner waits for the baskets.

One honest judgment: skip the sandwich and burger list unless you are traveling with someone who refuses fish. The Knucklehead burger at $19.95 is a fine burger, but you did not drive the coast road for it. The chowder, the baskets and the shellfish counter are the reasons this place has lasted nearly seventy years.

Service animals are allowed in the building and on the patio. Other dogs are not allowed on the patio, though well-behaved pets are welcome in the parking lot seating area, and plenty of regulars tie their dogs to the entrance railings while they order.

The restrooms are port-o-potties because the property runs on a septic system under water limits. The management asks you to plan around that and to contact them for access to a handicap-accessible restroom. It is a small inconvenience for a place with this view, but families with young kids should know before they arrive.

The restaurant describes itself as sitting across from County Line Beach, so the sand is a short walk away. After a basket of clam strips there is nothing better than a slow stroll along the waterline, watching surfers wait for sets near the county line, and the restaurant asks everyone to keep the beach litter-free.

If you want more coastline after lunch, keep driving down Pacific Coast Highway toward central Malibu and Leo Carrillo State Beach, or head the other way toward Point Mugu in Ventura County. Both stretches are classic coastal drives, and the open road is half the reason people stop here in the first place.

Address: 42505 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu, California 90265. Phone: (310) 457-3095. Website: neptunesnet.com, where the shack also sells shirts and hats if you want a souvenir. The parking lot is part of the property, and the restaurant also rents it out for filming, so email info@neptunesnet.com for filming or private party requests. General reservation requests by email are not accepted.

Bring an extra layer for the ocean breeze and some patience on a summer Saturday. Plan on an hour for a relaxed meal, and longer if you add a beach stroll. Tell the Karpo APP that you want a casual Malibu seafood stop and it can help you map the drive from your hotel or your Los Angeles starting point.