Catalyst Seafood Restaurant & Lounge

The food at Catalyst Seafood Restaurant & Lounge is excellent — fresh, flavorful, and well-prepared. You can really taste the quality in their seafood dishes. Service was just okay — not bad, but could be more attentive, especially considering the higher prices. The atmosphere is comfortable and upscale, making it a nice spot for a special night out. It is a bit expensive, but if you’re looking for great seafood and don’t mind paying a little extra, it’s definitely worth a visit.

The food and service were excellent. Hands down my favorite chowder of the road trip. For the fish and chips - the fish was crispy and tender tender, the fries were crispy on the outside while still tender on the inside. The ciabatta bun on the sandwich was soft and fluffier than we've experienced at other places. Sit outside if the interior vibes aren't for you. Definitely a must try when in the area!

YUM!! Fresh Dungeness crab tacos with mango salsa? Taste bud heaven. The seafood here is so fresh and delicious! I wish I lived in the area so I could come back more often. Their special gin and tonic is delicious too! What an awesome place

Absolutely love the service. Our waitress Taylor (who was also a wonderful bartender and DJ) is a sweetheart. The music selection was perfect, and one of my favorite songs actually started to play just after we sat down. Her and Emma are super awesome, hope to connect again! We ordered the bread bowl, cripsy oysters, and fish & chips. It was tasty and extremely filling. They also have very reasonable prices and a cozy atmosphere. Drinks were definitely on par. Honestly though, I'd come back just for the service.

Such a great surprise! We weren’t sure what to expect — tacos and fish & chips can really be hit or miss — but Catalyst completely impressed us. I ordered the tacos and my husband got the fish & chips with a cup of chowder to start. Everything was delicious! The fish in the fish & chips was probably one of the best I’ve ever had — crispy, fresh, and flavorful. The place was clean, the atmosphere was relaxed, and the staff was super friendly. Really good experience overall — we’ll definitely be coming back. Thank you! 😊🐟🌮

What a lovely little gem! If I could give more stars I would. The seafood was perfect. The land lubbers were satisfied! The onion rings are worth it. The service is excellent! Go. Enjoy!

Not impressed with the food or the service. For some reason we had to flag down the waitstaff and request everything from our drinks to silverware after the food was brought to the check itself. The sourdough was terrible and overly “soured” with citric acid making the toasted bread for the shrimp melt taste like it was cooked in rancid oil, adding insult to injury since the sandwich had a single layer of mini bay small shrimp. Limp fries and really bad tartar sauce rounded out the meal. The fried lingcod and calamari were good but extremely oily. I really wanted to like this place but I unfortunately can’t recommend it!

Probably the best Seafood place in Brookings. Absolutely amazing Clam Chowder. Fresh caught fish. If you’re in Brookings for seafood, this place is an absolute must try place. They are busy, but the staff is friendly and fast. Can’t beat it.

One of the best oysters I've ever tried, so good to the point where I want to buy the whole restaurant

We had a fantastic experience dining at Catalyst. The service was amazing. We sat in the bar area and enjoyed the nautical decor. The seasonal drinks were delicious, they had great food. We had the calamari for an appetizer. I will be dreaming of this for days to come. The mango salsa shrimp tacos were fresh and the fish sandwich was fire. They had oyster shooters which made for a fun group activity. We missed crab season by a few weeks, but it's always fun to have something to look forward to next time we find ourselves on the Oregon coast. Great job chef!

Fish and chips: Great chips, but the fried fish was soft and oily. Fryer oil too cold? Grilled rockfish sandwich, clam strips, clam chowder, fish tacos: All of these were excellent!

This place was busy on a Thursday night but we only waited a few minutes to be seated. It's tight quarters inside but cute and not at all loud. Our server was quick to take a drink order and brought our beer. I asked her about the fish and chips fish and she advised it was rock fish. I asked if it was more like cod or halibut as those are the ones we have seen around here. She looked irritated and said she couldn't say. The fish was good but very greasy. I had to pull the coating off to eat it. But the fries were seasoned with something akin to crack. I couldn't stop eating them. The calamari was a good portion but didn't thrill either of us. For the price the food was decent and it is fun to be at the harbor.

My dear Brookings friend wanted to treat me to a special birthday lunch. Thank goodness she chose Catalyst for the occasion. The main dining room was a little dark, the patio had no shade, but a table in the bar was just right. Our server, Taylor, was cheerful, friendly, helpful, professional. She made solid suggestions and we're so glad we followed her suggestions. I began with a perfect mojito, properly muddled. Popcorn shrimp followed. An entire basket of crispy, not oily, popcorn shrimp. Then we both had the fish and chips... rock cod was the fresh fish. Again, fried to perfection! None better. Thank you!

We went here for a friend birthday celebration. She had the fish and chips which she liked but looked pretty pre-fab. No salad or Cole slaw and no bells or whistles! I had the loaded chowder bowl and it was OFF the HOOK!! Good!! My new favorite! Hubby had the steamer clams which had wonderful flavor but needed more broth. Give that loaded chowder bread bowl a try!! Fried clams on top give a nice crunchy contrast to the delicious clam chowder which included some tasty bay shrimp too!! Yummy

The food was wonderful ! We ordered clam chowed, fish and chips, and the steamed clams. Everything was really good.

They were all out of oysters today *bummer* I went with the fried clam strip entree that comes with salad or fries for $16. The clam strips have a lot of breading. I'd stick with the whole oysters deep fried instead. Not bad, I just prefer the whole fried oysters *less breading* A great spot for seafood. TO GO orders are super efficient *thumbs up*

We went twice while in Brookings. The service was so friendly and fun. We returned for the shooters. Sweet, salty, creamy, briny. So delicious. Highly recommend!

Just had the best bowl of clam chowder ever Service was friendly and pretty prompt though short on staff. Interesting decore based on the local fishing.

Came here on a Friday night during early spring, the place was packed and the wait time was longer than 45 minutes for a party of two. We were seated on the patio, outdoor heaters were blasting so we didn't really feel cold but it was kinda dark as you can tell from the photos. The food was ok, the batter they use is pretty salty, a little on the pricey side for a dockside restaurant without a scenic view but the portions are shareable. Service... at one point, I think the server was overwhelmed and forgot about the diners outside. Took a while to get drinks, food and drink refills, an entree that we didn't get, which was just forgotten completely and so they just took it off the tab since we didn't really receive our food. Again, I think the server was just very overwhelmed. They're open until 9pm I think which is nice, given most of the restaurants around the docks close at 7pm. We were in town again just recently and tried to get a table here for a Saturday dinner, but since our group was large and we didn't call ahead, the wait time is significantly long so we opted for another restaurant. Overall, it's a good restaurant to try out if you're in the area.

My husband and I stopped in for dinner at Catalyst on a Wednesday evening at 7:30. It was pretty packed but luckily we found 2 seats at the bar. The bartender was nice but the kitchen was pretty backed up; it took about an hour for our food to come out. I got onion rings and a blackened chicken Caesar salad. The onion rings were pretty good but a little over fried. The blackened chicken was veryyy good with great flavor. My partner got fried rockfish and said it was good; I tasted it and as someone who doesn't like seafood, I thought it was pretty good as well.

Great food, great service. The popcorn shrimp was a good starter, but highly recommend the clam chowder and blackened fish and chips.

We were out of town visiting and counted on Yelp to help us find a dinner spot. We're happy we chose this place. The portions are very generous, the service was friendly and prompt and the environment is welcoming. It was a busy night but we walked in and got a table for 4 with no wait. It was a tad noisy when we got there, it was clear an early bird crowd was there before us. It was surprisingly not super loud considering hard floors, walls and chairs. It was never hard to hear each other. Everyone was friendly and prompt. Very helpful with our requests and filling waters. We didn't have to wait any time at all to place our order once we were ready and I got a good tip on what to order from our server. Truthfully my only negative about the service is that I hate to be asked if I want dessert in the middle of my entree. Especially twice. Maybe it is just me since it happens a lot of places, but please consider not asking me until we are at least done with our main course. The food was very good. Generous in size and in the key ingredient, crab. We all felt like we had enough food to enjoy our own meals, share bites with each other, and some came home in a to go box. It is crab season, which thrilled us all since we all love crab and wanted to make sure we enjoyed it in some way with our meals. I had the crab tacos with jalapeño slaw, lemon zest aioli and a $2 up charge of mango salsa. I like things pretty spicy and these were not spicy But for folks who don't like spice so much, these would be perfect. There were plenty of hot sauce choices on the table. The flavors mixed so well together! In each taco there was plenty of huge chunks of crab meat and a nice mix of sweet cool mango and crunchy kicky slaw. They came on taco sized corn tortillas. My wife had the fettuccine Alfredo with crab and a side salad. Again, the crab was very generous. As Alfredos go it was pretty standard, but it was cooked perfectly and piping hot with plenty of parmesan dusted on top. The bread on the side was soft and toasty at the same time. Our friends had the rockfish and crab cakes. The rockfish was cooked perfectly, so it was buttery but not tough, with three good sized pieces. She had a side salad and a side of crab for a $6 up charge. The crab cakes at first seemed lacking but when we tasted them we realized that they were all crab. Not a bunch of filler, just crab. They were very tasty. She had a side salad too, and a side of fries. Good thing it was generous, they looked so good we all dug in! They were the kind that are battered and crispy, not burnt or mushy. Really nice seasoning too. In all none of us were disappointed with our meals and we are already talking about going back for lunch tomorrow to eat crab in different ways. Whether this trip or another, crab season or not, we will be back.

I made a choice tonight to have a fresh seafood dinner that I can't get at home that I truly miss from my 18 years in the San Juan Islands. Their website has a whole page of Crab items plus they listed daily specials of crab. So I sit down and ask where is the crab menu and the bartender states we haven't served crab in a long time. I stated my disappointment and suggested the manager update their website to avoid this situation. She stated she was the manager and then went on to totally ignore me. 35 minutes my fried calamari dinner finally arrived. Fries were very good, fresh and crispy. The calamari was soggy. She never checked back with regarding how my food was. Ambiance wise, it sites in a gravel parking lot , right on a main road. No view. Will not be back and I hope you take this to heart if you're looking for a fresh crab meal.

We enjoyed an excellent lunch here. I had the Blackened Rockfish, my husband the Grilled Rockfish & Salad. Despite the names, the two meals are nearly identical, with the noticeable differences (besides the $2) being my grilled fish was blackened, and my salad included Bell Peppers. Some places do a terrible job (IMO) of blackening fish. This is not one of them. For me, this was the perfect blackened fish: Soft, succulent, with a blackened flavor that complemented the taste without overwhelming or destroying it. Yum! My husband also enjoyed his Grilled Rockfish. Without the blackening, he was able to more easily appreciate the taste of Rockfish, which is not "fishy" (whatever that is), but is definitely tasty, unlike many bland whitefishes. Again, perfectly cooked so that it was well done, but still flakey, soft, and moist. The salad was decent but unremarkable, other than the cherry tomatoes which were so tasty, and the garlic vinaigrette dressing, which was delicious and a nice departure from the more common vinaigrettes. Service was very friendly and prompt. Our only negative is we felt the portion sizes were a bit on the small side, which probably goes hand-in-hand with the reasonable prices. Bigger portions would mean more expensive entrees, but we both would have appreciated a bit more fish (about 25% more?). Update: Went back on 6/11 and had another excellent experience: Great service and food (both my husband and I ordered Blackened Rockfish and Salad).

Phoebe was our server, she was triple sat as soon as we arrived and handled with grace and efficiency. The location is just off the side of the road off of the bay and had a dinner feel to it. The food- amazing. Had the seasonal halibut tacos and the shrimp Melt. Would order Both again. The combinations in the tacos were different and I wouldn't have thought to use the ingredients but they all complimented each other. I added tomato to my shrimp melt and it made it perfect. Leaving the review to come back again!

Would love to tell you how this place is, but alas we asked for a table for two, was told it would be just a minute then watched 4 tables not get cleaned for 25 minutes then left when the hostess was curious who we were.

Another stop along the Oregon Coast for our road trip up north, we stopped by this place for lunch. We got to choose indoor or outdoor seating, and you can't really go wrong with either, so we opted for indoor seating to cool down a bit from the outside. We shared a fish and chips (deep fried), a bowl of clam chowder, and the special of the day - pow pow clam strip taco. The fish and chips were fairly solid, though the amount of fish filet is on the smaller end. They gave a generous amount of fries so that technically, we would have been full by just sharing one fish and chips. The clam chowder is pretty good, a bit thicker in consistency in comparison. However, the clam strip taco was a bit of a miss. I barely taste the clams as the sweet and spicy sauce completely overpowered the taco. I'd recommend just sticking with the usuals like fish and chips and clam chowder if you were to go here, but otherwise, this is a good spot to stop at if you are craving some seafood. They do have some crab dishes, but we were not in the mood to splurge for this meal.

This might be my favorite clam chowder bowl. The bread bowl was DELICIOUS. This was the first clam chowder bowl I've had where there was effort to make the bread good. This bread came out toasted and buttery and it will forever change how I see clam chowder bread bowls. The clam chowder itself was also sooooo good. I will miss it so much. The calamari pieces were pretty big and nice and crispy and the sauces were also good. I was surprised that the fries in the fish & chips were so tasty, since again usually places don't put as much effort into fries. All the food was so good. I'm beyond glad I made this as a stop in my visit to Oregon. The service was perfectly fine, don't pay attention to the reviews about the service. I almost didn't come here cuz of that, (and would have been sad not to try the food) but we were seated pretty fast & food came out at a reasonable time.

Came here for lunch while on a trip to the beach. The staff were very attentive and showed us to some great outdoor seating as requested. They have indoor seating too, but wanted to enjoy the sun today. The tables were clean. My mother and I both ordered a bowl of clam chowder. And it was thick with clam and potatoes. We enjoyed it so much we went back and had another cup each. We didn't have to eat dinner after that! I also saw other people's food cone out. The salad looked fresh and the fish and chips looked fresh and crispy.

Right on the Brookings Harbor, this restaurant was delicious and unassuming. The service was quick and food/drinks perfect temp. We enjoyed the fried clam strips and oyster shooters. The oysters were gigantic! This was followed by an oyster po-boy and a bowl of clam chowder. The chowder was delicious! Some of the best I had on the coast. Would definitely recommend checking out.

Alexander was our waiter for our 30th anniversary. We had grilled shrimp and chips with salad, and fried shrimp and chips with salad. And we ordered an appetizer. The food was spectacular. But the best part was having such nice conversation with a young man who is just starting out. He was very attentive and really, made our visit special. Thank you, Catalyst for having such a nice young man. We will be back.

Had loaded clam chowder in bread bowl ! Have been waiting for some great seafood and this was not disappointing at all!!!

Very nice harbor restaurant with the harbor vibe. Super yummy chowder and quick service. Will definitely be coming back!

The food was delicious, the bartender named Lily was excellent. However, the hostess didn't have a clue about what was going on the entire evening. She seated guests out of order, talked on her cell phone, and didn't seat guests when tables were available. Many times she disappeared into the kitchen for several minutes at a time. Rude to everyone!

I really like this place. The servers are friendly and attentive. It's in the small town of Brookings and I would guess a lot of locals eat here. I came in with my daughter, son in law and their 2 small kids. I had a "loaded" clam chowder bowl. It had calamari and shrimp in it and when they cut off the top of the bun to make a bowl, the top piece was seasoned and grilled and placed along side the bowl. The popcorn shrimp and fried calamari appetizer was a great start to the meal. They also sell locally canned tuna. I picked up a few cans of regular albacore and a few cans of smoked albacore to take home. I added photos of what is available and the prices. This is my kind of place. Casual, simple and a friendly vibe to it. Highly recommend. 5 stars for you! I will be back!

Had Ceasar Salad which was nice and fresh but not much dressing, and no croutons. I had to ask the waitress three times for a little extra and it never came. Not much taste without dressing! Needless to say, the salad was dry and unexciting. Friend had salad with grilled fish and said it was just okay. We both felt prices way too high for what you get. They do have seating outside by the harbor which makes it desirable for lots of patrons.

After being thoroughly disappointed by the horrible treatment at Zoya's, we promptly headed over Catalyst Seafood. We were saving it for our last night in Brookings, but all happens for a reason, right? Location: Easy to find with plenty of parking in front and on the side. Service: I called to see what the wait time would be. The first time they said about an hour. Then when I called an hour later, they said there was no wait, so we headed on over quickly! We were seated as soon as we arrived (at a 4 top table) which was great. True to her word, there was no wait. They took our order pretty quickly, despite having a pretty full house. We were grateful because by this time we were ravenous. Food: Appetizers - again, we were starving at this point, so ordered the onion rings and the calamari. They were ok. Even hungry, couldn't help but notice that they were over cooked, almost burnt, but maybe just extra crispy. But that didn't stop us from inhaling them! Surf and turf: was ok, meat was ok, potatoes a little dry, but shrimp was good. Fish & Chips: fresh fish and large portions of both, along with fries. Shrimp Po'Boy: Yummy, jalapeño and cabbage mixed in with shrimp. Generous portions. Crab Melt: BEST EVER! No joke. It was on the most delicious ciabatta bread, too! Ciabatta bread was perfectly complimented by the big, thick chunks of yummy crab! Lots of crab - along with perfectly melted cheese. Pure deliciousness. Do not miss out on this!!! Overall: RUN, don't walk, to try this crab melt! You won't be sorry!

There's not much around here but it's way better than the other things that are close. The bartender must be new, because all mixed drinks were awful. Don't get the sweet potato fries. If you get the crab melt, don't get the brioche rolls ‍

This place was recommended by a hotel staff, never will i go here again. The food was decent, the service was not great. Our server took forever to bring us drinks and did not check in with our family at all but we do apologize and give it a 1 star because she is pregnant but honestly you shouldn't be working if you can't handle it. Our food wasn't amazing as we had hoped since we really depend on Yelp with our visit.

Don't walk but run best calamari in town!! Little slow at first and then boom business was booming at this place. People can't help but getting here as soon as they can!!!

This restaurant was highly recommended but we were very disappointed. The menu was very limited. The service was very poor. And the food was mediocre at best. Our server wanted to talk to other patrons and never came around to even fill our water glasses.

In town for work, and staying at the beachfront inn, since we are in a beach town I wanted fresh seafood. Saw this place as I was running an errand and decided to give it a try. Sign out front said fresh crab. I grew up on the west coast and had fresh crab every Christmas, I have missed it. Because I was a party of one I got seated right away. While I was waiting for my waitress, lots of people came in, they had to start a wait list that was about 30mins to be seated. This restaurant is right at the docks and seats I would guess no more than 30-45 people. It is rather small but locally owned and operated, the best kind. I always try to eat local when I am in small towns. They have 2 menus, one that is standard the other is a rotating menu with the season of what is legal to be caught. All seafood is caught from their fishing vessel, F/V Catalyst. I went with the seasonal seafood, Dungeness crab. I had the crab tacos (3 of them) with mango salad upgrade (+ $2) in the side. Really did not need the mango salas, it was good but too sweet for the taco. I had the salas on only one taco. They each had a good amount of crab meat in them. They did. It skimp on the crab. My waitress did check on my a few time but she seemed a bit frazzled with so many people in for dinner. She was sweet and got me everything I needed. I do not sit and stay in restaurants very long by myself, I like to eat and go. If I drink (not my thing) but if I did, today was Thirsty Thursday. They had $4 margaritas and $4 Rockfish Tacos. I would come back here. Next time I want to try the fish and chips, the people next to me had them and they looked fabulous.

We have been here 5 times in the last couple of years, and the young wait staff and hosts are always surly, short tempered, rolling their eyes, sighing, etc. And it's been every time we go there! It's gotten to the point where it makes us uncomfortable and we feel like leaving early, which we have done, and while the food is always great, we'll be taking a break until management can straighten out their foul tempered staff.

2nd time we've come here on coast visits and it's consistent and delicious! The fish tacos (we had the summer halibut ones) were big & delicious, but the rockfish sandwich was also great- with the best herbed ciabatta bread!!! The clam bites were good and we bought some of their fresh canned tuna last time and loved it- so bought more this time. We had so much food- my teenagers were too full to eat more- and that's saying something! Their patio is also dog friendly and our waitress even offered our dog water. They were super busy and so she even brought a cup of chowder to apologize for the wait. Good local place with amazing food and great service- bonus they are dog friendly!!

Greeted without a smile and confusion. I'm definitely didn't feel welcomed. Along with many others trying to get a table. Got sat down after about 30 to 40 minutes and then a couple and their son got sat next to us and the son had some serious BO. Every time the wind shifted that's all you could smell. There was no way I could eat like that. So I kindly asked if we can move tables I told them which table was empty and they said it was OK to move. I thanked them moved to the table and then the girls came and said that they couldn't because it was for bigger parties to move tables again. At which point we were just kind of over it. We ordered our food to go. Our waitress was actually super awesome. It was the hostesses that were rough. Food: the portions were semi-small for the price. The clam chowder was small pieces and watery. We actually went two days later to another place called the hungry clam and that place was so much better and their clam chowder was a lot better too. We won't ever be going back to Catalyst again. We were just passing through for a few days to look at property. Put a smile on those girls faces and beef up the food and I think it would be better. For first timers and being sent there by a local, I was really disappointed.

Not real impressed with this place. Service was very good but basically just the average restaurant. Would try another place.

Very disappointed. As we were a party of 9, we called ahead to assure they could accommodate. We were told they didn't take reservations, and must come in person to be added to wait list. When arrived told there would be a35 to 40 minute wait, so added our name. Actually waited over an hour, but they split our party. I told waitress I was very disappointed on 3 separate occasions. I explained we were from 3 separate states meeting there, and it was important to us to be sat together. When a party of 10 left before we received our food, I asked if we could be moved to that table. The waitress went and talk to the hostess. We then watched the table be cleaned and separated to 2 separate tables. They sat a party of 4 and a separate party of 2. From this point on all staff were down right rude. Starting off this way, put a very bad frame of mind regarding the food. They were out of all crab as well as oysters. This was a good portion of the menu. Calamari was over cooked and oily. The loaded clam chowder was so so, but the but the bay shrimp not good and the fried clam strips were over cooked and oily. The shrimp tacos with mango salsa was pretty good. The shrimp with the surf n turf was good, the steak was not. The house Chardonnay and seasonal tap beer was very good. I also asked to speak to the manager and was told there wasn't one on duty. Seriously not happy. Not one person made any attempt to make this a better experience, despite the fact there were opportunities to at least try.

Funky place on the wharf. The food was good and fast service! Perfect place to grab a bite and cold beer. Great clam chowder.

Lauren did a great job as our server. She was attentive & patient as she explained the origin of the menu items (seafood is locally caught)) and answered our myriad of other questions. My husband ordered the rockfish and it did not disappoint. 1 of our kids ordered fish & chips, which was a delicious rockfish versus the cod we've had at other restaurants. The other kid had a cheeseburger and fries. The fries were crispy & the burger perfectly cooked. I had the baked oysters with a side salad and loved every savory bite. Our iced teas were regularly filled by Lauren. The only downside is the automatic gratuity that was added when we used the QR code to pay our bill. We were going to leave cash, which would've been more than the automatic 20% that we suspect this vendor programmed the app (Toast) to use as the default.

We are staying at the Beach front Inn, Brookings Oregon and we are near this amazing Restaurant recommended by the Inn. Best Seafood Ever ! Perfect walk from the Inn. I also want to recommend the Cocktails. I enjoyed The Mahi Margarita with the delicious Crab tacos, Truly Amazing !

The clam chowder was pitiful. It was liquid with a few slivers of clam. Not one potato and not one actual chunk of clam. The rockfish fish and chips was pretty good. Fries were a little soggy but decent. Bailey the bartender was amazing! She works hard and is very friendly. Should be like 3 stars but the $11 bowl of chowder that didn't have anything of substance in it keeps it at 2 stars

I go back and forth between the grilled rockfish sandwich and fish tacos. Good but not real consistent with the menu. They have a kids menu that they don't like to serve from. Seem to have a lot of staff turnover. My mom enjoys this place, so I have been several times for lunch. Food has never been horrible, just inconsistent.

My wife and I had the crab cakes and blackened fish tacos. They were both amazing. The mango salsa is a great compliment to the tacos. Everything was fresh and delicious. The server and hostess were both super nice and very friendly. Wonder fast friendly service. The restaurant was clean and had a good vibe. This was our best experience near the harbor. Highly recommend. Will return.

Wow what a cool spot... the food was great and was served hot. The server was cheerful and on it. The best food we have had on the coast from Coos Bay to Brookings.

Service was good. Ordered fried calamari which was too greasy. Had fresh fish which was good. Partner had grilled tuna. Tuna was moist but overcooked.

Whole crab was amazing and the fish sandwich was great. Service was good as well. Price seemed fair for a seat down restaurant.

We stopped here for dinner and had about a 45 minute wait. The wait was fine but they sat several tables ahead of us that were there after us. The food and service were both good.