“Oh my word!” exclaimed one woman when her colossal plate of fried calamari arrived. Another group oohed and ahhed over the ocean views. 

(Top right) Melodie Madsen and her daughter Angela Howard hold a photo of Barbara Walsh, the founder of Barbara’s Fishtrap. (Lance Yamamoto/SFGATE).
(Top right) Melodie Madsen and her daughter Angela Howard hold a photo of Barbara Walsh, the founder of Barbara’s Fishtrap. (Lance Yamamoto/SFGATE).

Bay Area day-trippers and out-of-state tourists alike flock to Barbara’s Fishtrap every weekend for fresh seafood, sometimes waiting over an hour for a table. But on a sunny day, ordering from the to-go window and enjoying your food at an outdoor picnic table or on the beach is an equally appealing option.

Barbara Walsh, a former dental assistant, first opened Barbara’s Fishtrap in 1978. Before she had her own restaurant, she got her start selling homemade ravioli in Pacifica. She eventually launched her own catering business, serving large groups like the Half Moon Bay Farm Bureau and the Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society, a jazz club.

When Walsh caught wind that Hazel’s Seafood, a popular spot in the 1950s once frequented by Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio, was closing, she jumped at the chance to buy it.

Hazel’s first opened in 1942, a combination seafood restaurant, bait shop and fish market. At the end of the adjoining pier, commercial fishers used to unload their daily catch, from salmon to halibut and rock cod. It was run by a man named John Teixeira and two women who were both named Hazel Teixeira — John’s wife and sister. 

In 1946, a tidal wave smashed into Princeton-by-the-Sea, destroying the oceanside wall of Hazel’s and flooding the town. The restaurant recovered but eventually closed in 1977 when the building’s landlord decided to tear most of it down, extend the pier to the north and build a “gaudier restaurant,” read a San Mateo Times story at the time.

When Walsh took over, getting her new restaurant open was an uphill climb. She needed to add a parking lot, and the decades-old building was in desperate need of repair. 

“There were a lot of problems with rats, and she had to clean it up,” said Melodie Madsen, Walsh’s daughter. “She had to tear down the fish market and then rebuild that, and then put in the bathrooms.”

Today, Barbara’s Fishtrap doesn’t look at all “gaudy,” as the San Mateo Times predicted, but it’s most likely a lot spiffier than Hazel’s was back in the day. 

“It featured a lone houseplant, a cigarette machine and any odds and ends which Hazel could throw together,” read a 1977 story on Hazel’s. “Ambience was always an afterthought.”

Barbara’s Fishtrap is a popular destination for weekend day-trippers. (Lance Yamamoto/SFGATE).
Barbara’s Fishtrap is a popular destination for weekend day-trippers. (Lance Yamamoto/SFGATE).

Walsh kept her new restaurant’s menu similarly seafood-focused but added her own recipes. Barbara’s Fishtrap’s famous clam chowder is Walsh’s recipe, a thicker, more clam-filled version compared with the usual New England style.

“We sell gallons and gallons of it per week,” a manager at the restaurant told the Oakland Tribune in 2003. “Some people even take it home, freeze it, and take it back to the East Coast.”

Back in the day, Walsh could buy fresh seafood right off the pier next to her restaurant. 

“She would take a 5-gallon bucket, she would walk down to the pier, and she would buy the squid off the boats, and then she would bring it back, and then the guys would clean it,” Madsen said. “She paid 5 cents a pound. Now we’re paying $3.95 a pound for calamari.” 

Much of the menu, which head chef Raul Castillo helped develop, hasn’t changed since 1978. The restaurant’s fried dishes remain its most popular, particularly the Mini Fishtrap Tempura: a heaping plate of fried scallops, prawns, fish, calamari and zucchini with a side of either fries or coleslaw. However, the recent addition of fish tacos has been a hit. 

“One of the waitresses said the other night that she was in the middle of the restaurant, and she looked around, and all she saw was fish tacos at every single table,” said Madsen. (Fish tacos are available only Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.)

There’s also a handwritten list of daily specials displayed on a whiteboard in the restaurant, from sauteed prawns to a creamy seafood pasta and a $2.50 beer of the day. All of the seafood is sourced from local suppliers. 

Walsh died in 2017, but Madsen has been keeping Barbara’s Fishtrap just the way her mother left it. 

“She’s my hero,” Madsen said. “… Every single battle she went for, she won.”

Barbara’s Fishtrap doesn’t take reservations, so if you visit on a weekend, be prepared to wait. But this doesn’t have to be a bad thing — if you approach it with a beach-town mindset.

“Go to the beach, go across the street and have a drink, go enjoy the coast side, and then come back,” said Madsen. 

For a drink, Half Moon Bay Brewing Company is right across the street. For drinking in the ocean views, you can walk down the pier and watch fishers casting lines into Pillar Point Harbor. Listen for sea lions barking in the distance, and if you’re lucky, you might even spot a gangly great blue heron in the marsh. 

(Left) A photo of Barbara Walsh, who opened Barbara’s Fishtrap in 1978. (Lance Yamamoto/SFGATE).
(Left) A photo of Barbara Walsh, who opened Barbara’s Fishtrap in 1978. (Lance Yamamoto/SFGATE).

Barbara’s Fishtrap is too old-school to text you when your table is ready, but if you miss your name being called, Madsen said they’ll put you at the top of the list as soon as you make it back. 

When I asked her why she thinks Barbara’s Fishtrap has been able to survive for so many years, she said it’s because it’s a family restaurant.

“It’s the grandma and grandpa that used to come here all the time; now they brought the kids, and now the kids are bringing their kids,” she said. “We’ve been there for so many years, we have created a family.”

Barbara’s Fishtrap, 281 Capistrano Road, Half Moon Bay. Open Sunday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., with a daily closure from 3 to 3:45 p.m. for an oil change.