Swamp John’s Catfish

Was down in Alabama visiting my family over winter break and ate here — got horrible food poisoning and it completely ruined my trip. I will not eat here again and if you value your bowels neither should you.

No «famous catfish» here.
This place was not nearly as good as I had hoped (and it was recommended by a local).
I got the catfish plate with mac-​n-​cheese
and hush puppies. I expected catfish filets but they were more like tiny «catfish fingers» and we’re *very* hard/​over deep fried. Obviously out of the bag and into the fryer. The mac had no flavor and looked like it had been scraped off of the bottom of the pan.
I was so excited about the «place to go for good catfish» but I didn’t find good catfish here.
I should have known by the fact that the place was totally empty in the middle of the lunch hour.

Perhaps living on the Gulf coast has made me a seafood snob. Swamp John’s oyster platter left a little to be desired.

Pretty good fried catfish fillets, two sides and two hush puppies for about $ 9. Service is fast food style: order, pay and pick up when your number is called. Pour your own drink. Throwaway table service. There are two dining areas and two outside tables. Not much atmosphere — lots of TV sets.

The catfish was good. The okra was over cooked & full of grease. I had to pay extra to have it as a side. It wasn’t worth it. The potato was good, nothing special. Everything was too overpriced for what it was. When I got my meal I asked the counter girl if they had honey. She nodded and gave me the «gimmie a minute» finger. I waited with my food on the tray as the cold air blew on it, waiting for her to help me. When she was done she asked if she cooks help me & I asked again for honey. She then acted confused and told me they didn’t have any honey. Later on a woman from the kitchen came out and gave me honey, apologized about the girl at the counter & said she’s not sure what she didn’t understand. I have no desire to go back.

Ok… Where I come from, places like this don’t exist. I love the food here. If you want good catfish, and a simple meal, this is the place to go. Whoever rated there hush puppies poorly I’m sad to say… You came in on an off day. The hushpuppies are not greasy and have good flavor. The reality of higher prices and smaller portions is part of owning a restaurant when the economy is iffy and regardless of that, I will still pay the money and not complain about it. I always enjoy swamp johns and I will be sad when I move and can no longer eat here anymore.

Pretty good for a fast food seafood place. We were in town for a few hours, happened upon this place at lunchtime, and decided to try it out.
I had the shrimp plate which consisted of 7 decent-​sized shrimp, fries, slaw, hushpuppies, and a pickle. The shrimp had been butterflied and smashed flat before being breaded and frozen. So although they had an odd appearance on the plate, the shrimp had a surprisingly good taste for frozen shrimp. The slaw is on the sweet side — not my favorite but lots of people like it that way — I dumped some hot sauce on it and was good to go. There’s nothing special about the hush puppies but they had a decent flavor, were hot, and not greasy. The fries were standard crinkle cut and, although a bit overcooked, they weren’t greasy.
My lunch date had the spicy wing plate –6 wings and fries. These are frozen wings and so were not as good as fresh. But, unlike most places, these «spicy» wings actually packed plenty of spice and no additional hot sauce was needed. They also had a decent taste.
We didn’t try the catfish but about half the customers who came in ordered the catfish, so it’s probably pretty good.

Crawfish was really good. Fried well on nice crunchy bread. The swap sauce was very unique and spicy. I will definitely stop next time Im thru town.

This was a hard one to rate. The catfish was EXCELLENT! Fries were good, coleslaw was okay and the hushpuppies were terrible — cold and greasy. The service was passable, not really friendly but not rude and the prices were higher than the Swamp John’s in Red Bay although the ambiance was nicer. If I was here and really wanted some great catfish this is where I would go… and I would ask for hot hushpuppies :)

Used to love this place. It went from great up until several months ago when the prices went up and the quality, portions went down. Do these guys really think that no one would notice the extremely tiny catfish fillets compared to a year ago. Disappointed that this establishment has chosen to follow the trend of increasing price and decreasing portions.

I really liked it. Wasn’t busy, I ordered the catfish plate and it was some of the best fish I’ve had. I actually owned a catfish farm at one time so I’d like to think I know good catfish. Fast food kinda feel. a bit nicer than some but the food was good. I’ll go back again.

Not quite a fast food joint, the ambiance is decent, and the food was surprisingly good. A quick and very good alternative to the local full service places.

Fast food fish at its finest.
I was coaxed here by a friend a few weeks back.
A fast food seafood shack?
I was skeptical, to say the least.
I ordered a catfish plate with fries.
«Onions?»
“Uh… no.“
Who puts onions on their catfish? Is that something I missed out on?
Who would’ve guessed? Some of the best catfish around.
Nice batter, fresh fish, and great fries.
I love the setup of the restaurant, too. The colors are fun. Every table has a bright lime green tablecloth on it.
The employees are friendly enough. The menu isn’t very diverse. These folks specialize in catfish.
They get four stars for a nice, quick, clean spot to grab some good catfish on the go.