Smitty’s Famous Fish & Chicken

My husband and I went here for our third time because we thought the fish was good and it’s hard to find a place that serves fried catfish on the west side. My husband ordered the fish and wings combo. I noticed he kept smelling his chicken (and he has a horrible sense of smell). I told him to let me smell it. It had the most rank, sour smell that was so bad, I nearly lost my lunch. When I took the piece to the counter and asked the woman to smell it, she said something to her husband in her native language. He took the piece of chicken to the back (I thought to throw it away) and returned to our table a few minutes later with the same piece of chicken with the same rank smell. He had put it back in the deep fryer and cooked it a little longer. We were totally disgusted. They clearly have no integrity here. We will never go back.

Where do I begin? They should change the name to «Shitty’s» because that’s exactly what the food and service is! I will NEVER eat here again! I ordered two 3pc fish & shrimp meals and one 2pc fish & shrimp meal. The shrimp was chewy, I thought I was chewing a piece of gum. Fish, not fresh nor fully cook, and last but not least… the bread!!! The bread had MOLD! Half the bread was green & brown! I returned the food and the cook attempted to show me all the bread & assure me the bread is fresh. His wife stood there shaking her head at me after I continued to state I want ALL of my money back. Then he wanted to replace the bread! REALLY! My coworker is at work vomiting and you want to replace the bread!!! I then explained good customer service steps she should adapt because not once did I receive an apology! I suggest if you want fresh good fish you eat elsewhere! This place SUCKS!

Last night marked the first time I had eaten at Smitty’s in over five years. It still tasted the way I recalled. My mom chose the catfish lunch with strawberry Fanta. I went with the red snapper lunch with pink lemonade. They remembered us. Whenever we would come, we would engage in conversation with the owners. Plenty of fond memories of conversations. I am glad it hasn’t changed for the worse.

The man wouldn’t let my 5 year old use the restroom until we ordered something. But she had to go really bad and here was a line to wait to eat. Not cool. We had to just leave.

Dirty and run down and deserted. We got Combination C, which was supposedly 2 chicken pieces, 2 fish pieces, fries and a drink. We instead got 3 small pieces of the first two items. which is okay, I guess. still misleading.
For the fish we chose cod fish (They also have whiting filet and tilapia to choose from), and it was so delicious! The chicken, however, was very dry and I could have made it better at home. It was very greasy and salty. The fries weren’t bad.
I felt bad how empty this restaurant is. It’s in a really ghetto location too, so don’t let the Unilocal pictures fool you and don’t go by yourself either! The fish is awesome and fresh but everything else about the experience was so gross; the greasy fries, the sticky ketchup bottles, the styrofoam soda cups, the loud hum of the fan in the deserted restaurant, the creepy looking restroom that makes me think there’s bodies or roaches/​rats or that no one has cleaned it in a while, and the sound of other restaurants rolling their trash bins near the back door of the restaurant, etc. I would probably come back just to try the shrimp and oyster because I heard those were good. To go, please!

I am from England, so I know good fish and chips. The fish was too spicy and too salty, the worse I ever tasted, I don’t know how they stay in business. My dining companion also agreed, the worst ever. We will NEVER go there again unless they change the recipe.
The place is a major dump.

Sorry for the Late Update, but if I could take away the 1 I would! I ended having the ‘s after eating here. WARNING***** unless your looking to loose 3 lbs.

Yummo, went there on Wednesday, what a treat 7 bucks for two whole wings and two pcs of fish and fries with a drink, the fish choice I got was cod, so tender and delish, I will def go back for some more. Cheap, delish and filling. MMM

I was hungry and I love fish and chips. I’ve driven by the place so many times and decided to drop by. I ordered the snapper it was good and that hot sauce is off the chain ! Fries were good too. I ordered a side of potatoe salad but she gave me Mac salad instead which I didn’t really enjoy. Over all, I did like it and will be going back to try some of the other fish on the menu.

Some may call it a guilty pleasure. I’m not ashamed to own it. It’s greasy. It’s dingy. It’s «unhealthy». But I loooooovvvveeee it.
The adorable Asian couple running this gloriously soul-​food filled establishment is killing the fry game, son. Slinging chicken, fish and shrimp all day.
The menu utilizes a well-​seasoned DRY batter. Portions are good and prices reasonable. They’re the only place in a ~4 mi radius to satisfy your fried fish needs in a jiffy.
My picks:
–jumbo shrimp
–cod fish (you get to choose your fish)
–cole slaw
–fries
And please, bring me ALL of the hot sauce.

WTF. It’s 8:43 & the owner said they were closed & shooed us away like we were flies seriously.

I love there food, service is always great and staff is always nice. The gumbo is amazing.

This place is not bad at all!
The décor is not good, which is what kept me away from this place for so long. The outside just looks unattractive.
I was craving some fried shrimp and fish one day and I decided to give this place a shot since I live right next to it.
Seriously, NOT BAD! Quite good actually! The prices are extremely fair, and the fried cod and shrimp was delicious! I think it was only like 7 $ for 10 medium shrimps with fries. I added 2 pieces of fish for 1.59 $ each. Total ended up being 11 something. They have me 5 pieces of fish! I kid you not! Don’t know if it was an accident, or if they were just hooking it up. Anyways, the fries were delicious! They put a Cajun seasoning on it. Fish and shrimp are delicious and the tarter sauce and hot sauce it comes with is sooo good. Will be returning.

I should’ve known not the trust Koreans with making gumbo (no shade). The gumbo was NOT good and I’m not a difficult critic. The gumbo had hot dog meat… yuck and super deformed looking shrimp. Wtf? I would def not recommend the gumbo however I may come back for something else.

I found myself on the expo line exiting at Robertson heading to the Culver Hotel for drinks and wander into this place in a rather worn strip mall advertising famous fish and chicken. i order a four piece chicken dinner which came with two sides and a drink for 9.50.The side of greens were adequate but the red beans and rice lacklustee. the chicken was dry and over cooked. maybe the fish here is great as the reviews indicate. but skip the chicken for sure

Based on some of the other reviews and upon being familiar with the somewhat run-​down area and strip mall I had set my expectations low for this place.
I was surprised! I will be back!!!
It was SO GOOD. The fried cod was excellent. I don’t normally love fish but wanted to try it out and it was the highlight of the meal, I will definitely be going with more fish in the future. We also had chicken which was good, too. I liked both the tartar sauce (which is slightly sweeter and less pungent and sour than others I’ve tasted) and the spicy sauce which was good on both the fish and chicken.
The mac n cheese LOOKED really good but was only okay. It was on the salty side.
Next time I want to try the gumbo, shrimp and hush puppies!
Oh, and for people complaining that there are no healthy options or that the place isn’t fancy enough. This is SOUL FOOD. Don’t you know that greasy holes-​in-​the-​wall make the best of this stuff? If you want a 5 star vegan restaurant you certainly aren’t going to find collard greens and fried chicken. If you don’t like soul food, don’t eat here. If you do, this is a great spot! Great prices, too!!! Can’t wait to try more, thanks Smitty’s. :)

Where do I begin?
Parking: Getting in & out of this this parking lot is a nightmare. It’s on Venice in between Culver & Robertson. With all the construction going on, it’s a complete clusterf@%k.
The food: I ordered take-​out the 2 piece fish, 2 piece chicken meal. Comes with 2 sides. You get to choose what kind of fish you want so I chose snapper. With taxes it was $ 8.00.
Snapper — Delicious. Fried very lightly which is perfect in my book. A little underseasoned but overall I really liked the fish.
Chicken — BLAND. Disappointingly bland. Not seasoned at all. The breading was very thick; it wasn’t burned but very dark. The chicken was overcooked & tough. They gave me 3 pieces instead of 2. I ate 1 piece and threw the others away. The 1 piece I did eat, I could only get down after smothering it in hot sauce.
Greens — Not edible! The only reason I took more than 1 bite is because I thought to myself that there was no way greens could taste so bad. They did. Again, bland. I didn’t taste like there were any seasonings used. The greens were also extremely rubbery and under-​cooked.
Mac & Cheese — I spit it out! Box mac & cheese taste better. Dare I say this was worse than the greens?
I don’t have too high expectations for fried food but aside from the fish, this food was flat out terrible. I ate the fish and threw away the rest of the food. The ONLY reason I’m giving this place 2 stars and not 1 is because of the fish. The fish I will go back for.

Smittys is a Five Star Operation. I’ve been coming here for close to a decade and although I’ve tried other fish joints, nothing compared. Their Snapper is finger licking good. As are the shrimp, the greens that have no pork, and the peach cobbler when they have it.
Its a Mom and Pop run restaurant, with quality service. They will help you make a combo out of what ever you want. This fish Isn’t just sitting around under heat lamps either. They fry it when you order.
I think I’ve made myself hungry. I’ll be stopping by there again soon.

They do what they do extremely well.
— If you want a romantic dinner by candlelight, don’t come here.
— If you want to be served by someone showing more skin than their parents would condone, don’t come here.
— If you want water from a bottle with a hard-​to-​pronounce name, don’t come here.
But…
BUT…
…If you want some outstanding fried chicken, this is your place.

Whoa this place is cool. I’ve always passed this place on the way to the train station, and I’m so glad I stopped by this time.
Everything is fried right then and there. My boyfriend has some fear of eating in an empty restaurant, so we took it to go. DO NOT DO THAT! The freshness of the fry-​job should be experienced ASAP before it sogs up. I highly recommend the fish. any fish. Yes, you get to choose the fish for no extra charge! The fish itself comes out SO soft and tender. The tartar sauce is amazing with it. The fries are good as well. And the prices are so cheap. We got 3 chickens, 2 sides, 1 fries, 3 fish for about $ 12. And the pieces are HUGE!
It’s also a cute mom and pop shop owned by an Asian couple. I’ll be back to check out the gumbo! :)