5 Generations of Otani's Proudly serving Downtown Oxnard since 1908!

The Otani family has been proudly serving Oxnard since our first business opened on the boulevard in 1908. Five (5) generations and over 110 years later, we are continuing the tradition of a casual, no-fuss dining experience with quick friendly service.

Otani’s Seafood

Otani’s Seafood was started by Izuto “Izzy” Otani in 1952. Izzy loved 3 things; his family, his community and spending his free time fishing off the Ventura County Coast. There are many stories about seeing him early in the morning, walking down 5th street towards the beach, with his fishing pole in hand.

With his wife Helen by his side, Izzy left the other family businesses to turn his passion for fishing into a business of his very own. “Izzy Otani Fish Market” opened for business at 608 S. "A" Street in Oxnard CA (in the same location it stands today).

The seafood that was sold in the market was a mix of fish Izzy caught himself during his morning escapes, the fresh catch of the local fishermen, and only the best from the San Pedro markets. Following in his hard-working father’s footsteps, Izzy was constantly looking for ways to grow and expand. And he did! The business grew to include Japanese groceries and even a fish bait & tackle shop. As the business grew, Izzy made sure the building also expanded to accommodate all his changes (Izzy tore down his home that was on the back of the property to build a large walk-in freezer and cooler).

With hard work and dedication, Izzy created a reputation of selling the freshest fish, and would often treat his employees and customers to fish he prepared from his own unique recipes. After years of encouragement to start a restaurant, Izzy and Helen closed the fish bait & tackle shop to free up space for a kitchen and a few restaurant booths.

There is a newspaper article from the Star Free Press, dated Sunday, December 5, 1971, where Izzy talks about how his generation recovered from the war and the anticipation of the restaurant opening. He is quoted as saying “I expect that the whole downtown Oxnard will eat with me at least once a week. It all depends on friendliness. I love people. I want them to like me.” That same article quotes him as saying “My two sons work with me all the time. That in itself is worth more than money.”

In May of 1972, they opened a small “take home shrimp shop” nicknamed “Izzy Otani’s Shrimp To-Go.” The restaurant eventually expanded its menu, adapted the motto "Boneless Fillets are our Specialty," and would pull its menu items straight from the fish case. The restaurant was a hit and slowly expanded into the restaurant it is today.

Izzy passed the restaurant on to his son, Steve, and Steve has since passed it on to his children, Karen and Genji. Izzy may be gone, but his heart still beats through the current generation of Otani’s that are continuing the tradition of a casual, no-fuss dining experience with quick friendly service.

*Fun Fact* If you know where to look, you can actually see the levels of expansion. For example, one of the four windows on the front of our building is taller (and the width and height of a door). Over 60 years ago, that was the original entrance to Otani's when Izzy first started. Oh, and the old ceiling fan, that has been there since day one too. 

Previous Otani Businesses

The history of Otani’s Seafood isn’t complete without paying homage to all the Otani family businesses that came before it.

Izzy’s parents, Toraichi and Shina Otani, moved from Hiroshima, Japan to California in the late 1800's. In 1908, Toraichi started a grocery store on Oxnard Boulevard next to what is now the old Teatro Theater. 

Oxnard incorporated in 1903, just 5 years before Toraichi started his first business. Oxnard in the early 1900’s was full of change and growth and Toraichi was determined to grow along with it. Like most of the businesses in those days, the “T. Otani Grocery Store” was a 2-story building, with the business on the first floor and the family home on the second floor. The business evolved many times over the years and it also housed a barber shop (rumors are: Toraichi was one of the barbers and would use a bowl to give customers the perfect “bowl cut”).

In 1910, Toraichi Otani opened a pool hall with 4 tables at 520 Saviers Road. And in 1912, Toraichi was one of the 8 pool hall owners that successfully started and signed a petition to lower the age of men allowed to frequent the Oxnard pool rooms from 21 to 18.

Everything changed in 1929 during the Great Depression, but Toraichi was determined stay in business. He reduced his grocery inventory to the bare necessities and gave hair cuts out at a discounted rate. Toraichi also moved his whole family and all their belongings into one room and rented out the rest of the space to families that lost everything in the stock market crash. The business doubled as a boarding house upstairs and continued to house tenants even after the Depression ended.

Toraichi and Shina had 5 kids; 3 boys and 2 girls, with Izzy being the oldest. The boys grew up working for their father and learned everything they could about business. After the Great Depression, they ventured out and started a produce stand down the street called Otani Bros. Produce. 

Both Toraichi and the Otani Brothers stayed in business until the Bombing of Pearl Harbor.  Izzy’s 2 brothers joined the US Military before the mandatory evacuation of all Japanese in WWII. On February 19, 1942, shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066. About 120,000 people of Japanese descent (over 60% of them American citizens) were forced to leave their homes and only take what they could carry. The Otani family piled all the treasures they could not carry in one corner of their room upstairs and were sent to live in the Gila River Internment Camp in Gila Arizona. Before they left, they opened space in their room to family and friends to also store their treasures.

Luckily, family friends moved into Toraichi's home upstairs and were able to save the house, but the businesses did not survive.  Many Japanese families lost everything, but the Otani's were very lucky. Businesses had to close and property was seized, but the Otani Brothers refused to give up. 

Shina passed away in camp, and Toraichi was exhausted from the whole experience, but the 3 Brothers were back together and even more determined to succeed. They returned home to Oxnard and tore down the old wood building, rebuilt and started the Otani Brothers Malt Shop (it was inside that Malt Shop that Izzy perfected his tempura shrimp and tartar sauce recipes).

We still have customers share their memories of time spent at the Malt Shop. Some of our favorites include stories of selecting their favorite song in the jukebox, enjoying their shakes on a date before they went next door to the theater, and the unique menu items like the avocado cheeseburger.

Izzy Otani Fish Market on A Street and The Malt shop on the Blvd. operated concurrently for a few years. The Malt Shop eventually closed in the mid 1950’, but the stories and memories last a lifetime. 

Below is a newspaper article in the Star Free Press, dated Sunday, December 5, 1971, where great-grandpa Izzy talks a little about the local Japanese community’s recovery after the war, family businesses and the expansion from the fish market to the take-home shrimp shop and seafood restaurant. Part of the blue section is quoted below:

"You may call our recovery miraculous," says Izuto Otani of Otani's Fish Market in Oxnard. "But we have earned it. Every penny of it. We started at the bottom of the ladder after the war, and we worked hard. We love to compete, we like to excel in whatever we are doing. And we don't shy away from work. If it takes 10, 11 hours a day to surpass something, well do it."

The Japanese-American businessman and grower loves to try new things, according to Otani. "We experiment, we are looking for the most efficient way of doing things, we modernize growing, packing. We work together. Our families are close."

The old-type five to ten-acre farms are going out. "Operations are bigger now. The big growers came in after the war."

He points out that among the biggest growers in the county one invariably finds close-knit families. "Look at the Tanaka brothers. Four brothers working together. Or the Hiji brothers, Kita brothers and Chikasawa brothers. My two young sons work with me all the time. That in itself is worth more than money."

He is planning an expansion into a take-home shrimp shop and eventually a seafood restaurant. "I have my two young sons and their wives and their wives sisters to help. I expect the whole downtown Oxnard will eat with me at least once a week. It all depends on friendliness. I love people. I want them to like me."

Otani has never been to Japan. "I would like to see it sometime," he says.

He has been active in the Japanese-American Citizens League. "But it is dormant now in this area," he says. "People who came back here after the war did real well. They are too busy."

"We are still a minority ethnic group. But we have grown not only to be accepted. We are respected."

The goal of the 5th generation is the same as grandpa Izzy’s: for Otani’s Seafood to be family orientated with quick, friendly service!