Catfish Charlie’s

Outdoor seating is nice and my dad said they have a good tenderloin but my jambalaya was made with fake crab. Fake! So very wrong.

Wasn’t sure what to expect but I went for the river view, since this was a first visit to dubuque. There’s a tiki theme mixed with Louisiana home cooking. The view was great, but i couldnt quite get into the mish mash theme and would have opted for a more local feel. Everyone was friendly, and the fried catfish was crunchy and delicious, so I would go back.

The mashed potatoes looked like boobies – so it deserves at least two and a half stars. And in a world where medium means the steak has no pink then it deserves three stars more. I’m not sure how you can make shrimp chewy or French Onion soup without cheese or bread-​but they succeeded – so a couple more stars for that. At least the wait time for waitress was appropriate for a restaurant that assigns one waiter for 230 tables. Kudos and extra stars for that.

Atmosphere was a little off, but you could tell they were gearing up for the busy season. Tried the Alligator bites and fried oysters apps. The oysters were the best I’ve had away from the coast. Alligator bites were overbreaded mystery meat. We had the Catfish, bucket of steamers, gumbo and kids fish. Everything was very good. Their clam chowder was very good. Not enough clam and too much potato, though. I will definitely come back next time I am in town.

My wife and I were looking forward to a seafood meal, so ordered blackened grouper and grilled walleye. We should have stopped at the salad course! (Quite good… both the regular dinner salad and the Caesar.) Unfortunately, both fish entrees were terrible. Both were swimming in watery liquid, as if they’d been tossed frozen into the microwave. Both were absolutely tasteless… not even the «blackened» seasoning made a dent in the grouper’s blandness. I soldiered on to eat about ¹⁄₃ of my fish, but my wife had only 2 or 3 bites of her fish and sustained herself with the heap of mashed potatoes smothered in a thick cheese sauce. One happy note was that our waitress was friendly and competent. We learned an $ 80 lesson, and will not be booking a return visit.

I don’t know why this place gets a bad rap. I love coming here and the food has always been good! Make sure you order alligator nuggets and crawfish :). Plus, they have amazing Bloody Mary’s.

Food great server terrible. I have been going to this establishment usually twice or more a month. Tonight was really bad. I told server several times not in a hurry please slow down. Ordered an appetizer and twice before even arrived she asked twice for or order. When ahead gave her order hoping to eat appetizer and did get half of it eaten and here came my salad and food. Needless to say appetizer came home, salad was never touched took longer to pay bill the the whole meal took. This was suppose to be a special night out ruined by a server to does not listen. This is not normal for Catfish Charlie’s. If we go back rest assured this waitress will not serve us.

Nice building. We second the review that gave it worst meal ever Ever. Limp salad probably tossed for lunch hours before, salad dressing looked the same. The special sirloin tips were tough, the sauce heavy and the wild rice stewed into paste

I’m visiting Dubuque Iowa this weekend on tour, I decided to check out this place based on a referral. I’m really glad I did. I tried a cup of their clam chowder plus the fish and chips dish on my lunch break. Very cheap prices, although the menu does offer some nicer pricey dishes of you in a classy mood. The fish was perfect, fresh, it came out hot and it was perfectly battered, light and crispy, without being too greasy or battery. The fish was fresh and clean tasting while keeping moist without distorting the batter outside. I replaced my chips with green beans because I’m not a chip/​French fry person. The green beans were also completely perfect. I’m not too sure how they seasoned them but I’ve never had better green beans outside of my own kitchen. Not over or under cooked.
I also ordered a Long Island ice tea as it is a $ 5 special this Sunday. I got the watermelon Long Island. Holy crap. It’s huge for one thing, like those big mugs you get in German beer pubs. But it is also fantastic. Very good price for a drink that takes you a long way.
I recommend sitting on the deck if possible. The inside is gorgeous too, like a fancy Virginia boathouse. It’s starting to rain right now and I’m still completely content with sitting under my deck table umbrella while drinking my Long Island. I’m completely full and I’m still stuffing my face.
The server was a very nice, time efficient young man who came at all the right times without being buzzy. (Without lingering too much)
I don’t typically eat a lot but I can. I’ve eaton more than I planned due to the awesome cooking. But I can tell you that my boyfriend is a human garbage disposal and this is enough food to satisfy him till the last bite without needing any more food later. And he wouldn’t be needing the hassle of a carry out box either. I’m finally done and, although I’m so full I could die, my box is completely stuffed (yes, have your laugh dirty minded people.) and I’m ready to go back to my hotel with a full stomach and pass out for about three hours before I go tear down stage gear.
Seriously, eat here. Do it. It’s beautiful.

Went for brunch, I guess if you want to call it that. There was a fair amount of people there because it was Father’s Day.
To start there was hardly any food on the buffet. So after the first time up getting hardly any food. We get to sit down to find the food was cold. We had a party of 7 and everyone had cold food! We kept going up hoping for more food to be refilled only to be disappointed over and over.
Our waitress wasn’t very good, we constantly were out of drinks. To top it all off their ice machine was broken, so we couldn’t even get ice water.
Over all definitely not worth it all around. Way over priced, no food on the buffet, cold food, and over all an unappealing place.

Absolutely excellent. Our food was presented well, tasted great, and the waitress and bartender were top notch. Definitely will go back and recommend highly.

We are from out of town and were looking for someplace to eat that was on the water (severely lacking in this area). After reading so-​so reviews, we didn’t have high hopes. But, we turned out to have a great time with decent food. No wait for a table on a beautiful Saturday night. I had the bourbon salmon with mashed potatoes, my partner had the catfish platter, and our friend had the shrimp platter. All enjoyed the food. The fried cheese curds were a yummy appetizer and the drinks were great.

If you like ordering the Clam Chowder, then sending it back twice because it was barely luke warm, then having the dinner salad served with the «meal» coming 2 minutes later, also barely warm, this is the place for you… never again.

One of the worst meals I’ve ever had in my life. The shrimp was covered in cheese whiz, and was outrageously expensive. Disgusting.

Horrible service. Great drinks and food but they are understaffed. The staff that they have do not pay attention at all. Waited 10 minutes at the hostess stand before we were even greeted then 10 more minutes for a waiter when we were sat. Asked for water three times before it was brought to us.
Completely ridiculous. Will not be coming back.

My wife and I have eaten here numerous times and never had a meal we didn’t like. It’s great in the summer evenings eating on the deck. The owner is great and the staff has always been pleasant. His chef comes up with different seafood dishes so the menu changes. A good reason to go back.

I’ve eaten here about three times in the past year. It’s great! The staff is friendly and attentive. I’ve had the walleye, scallops, calamari, soup, and haddock. It’s all very fresh and so are the vegetables. The cheese-​smashed potatoes are out of this world and it’s always hard to make the choice between the two.
The restaurant is clean, and plate presentation is pretty great. The views are spectacular and there are huge windows in the dining area that look over the mighty Mississippi. Wednesdays drinks on their specialty menu go to $ 3. It’s a steal for the numerous concoctions there are to choose from. Overall, this is a great place to bring a family or a date.

What is with all the flies!!! The menu is boring and bland.

We did not enjoy this place. The food was below average, although on the river the view is not a good one and we ate outside with lots of bugs bothering us the whole time. We had specifically asked if bugs would be an issue if we chose to eat outside and were told — no problem. We will not go back. (This is our first one start review)

In fairness, we went for brunch and it seems like more of a burger joint. Also, we went during the winter and their outdoor patio seems like it would be fun in nice weather.
That said, their brunch was nothing special. Lots of fried food and a very limited selection. What we had (fried chicken and catfish) was good, but not great. We asked if we could order off of a menu and were told we couldn’t, then after we dished up our plate and started eating, the waiter came and explained that they could make us an omelette if we wanted. That would’ve been nice to know before we dished up.