Catfish Corner

How I heard of this place: My friend Tahirih first noted the delicious, southern-​fried comfort of the Catfish Corner, and having heard of its success through articles and in online reviews, not to mention the winner for Best Entrée at the 2010 29^th Annual Bite of Seattle, it was high time I paid this establishment a visit.
Type of cuisine: «Established in 1985, Catfish Corner is fast gaining the recognition as being the best place to experience the wonderful taste of catfish. Catfish Corner has a unique place in the fast food industry. First of all, the food is truly unique, of excellent quality and taste, is extremely inexpensive, and best of all; it’s actually good for you.» Their website goes on to share: «At Corner the fish is prepared with special Creole seasonings, dusted lightly with corn meal and deep fried in 100% vegetable oil to a golden brown color. It comes out crisp on the outside and sweet and moist on the inside. ItÂ’s light fluffy, not heavy and oily like typical prepared fish. The restaurant also features its own Cajun style catfish, with Cajun seasonings, robed in butter and baked to perfection.» Southern comfort meets fast food at the Catfish Corner where patrons enjoy everything from chicken wings and burgers to hush puppies, candied yams, catfish and cornbread. Not to mention sweet tea, peach, and pecan pies!
Ambiance: Casual to the tenth degree, the corner joint has a patio door welcoming customers into the spacious, yet small interior. A walk-​up order counter with a friendly face welcomes patrons, as diners are seated at one of the six tables found along the outer perimeter of the establishment. Seating for two or four can be found at the plastic-​topped tables, complete with ketchup, Louisiana hot sauce, salt and pepper. Prior to being served our meals, the girl-​with-​a-​smile escapes from behind the counter to bring us our über-​sweet plastic cup of sweet tea ($ 1.75) on the rocks with quartered lemon chunks floating to about the half-​way point. As we awaited the arrival of our fresh-​fried and prepared catfish orders, we enjoyed an impromptu, makeshift game of table football with the wrapper from our straw. Our filet bits & chips ($ 6.50) and the catfish fillet dinner ($ 11.25), served with beans & rice, a small cornbread muffin and potato salad arrived after the two packages of Smartar Tartar. The generous portions of Southern farm-​raised catfish, corn-​meal breaded and fried. The peach pie ($ 3.99), which customers and friends have raved about for over a year was also on the docket… and freshly delivered and heated to end our meal.
What I loved: Of the entire spread, the peach pie wow-​ed me the most. My dining companion thoroughly enjoyed the fresh and plentiful selection of catfish. I also greatly appreciated the warm and not-​too-​sweet cornbread. We both agreed that outside of our mothers’ potato salads, the Catfish Corner served a pretty darn good side!
Why I loved it: It’s a great place to enjoy fried food while watching the football game on television (on which customers can request specific channels), despite the length of the wait. Keep yourself entertained over conversation, a game of table football or by people-​watching as more and more enter the space and take food to go.
Cost: Average to high ($ 6.50 — $ 11.25 per lunch entrée)

I’ll rate this a five for the food and staff i will miss. I wanted to add on to what other reviews stated, that the restaurant is now closed. I’ve been going there since 1984, so you can image my shock when I read the small thank you letter taped in the window, that read, ‘Thank you for 30 years, but we are now closed’.
I’ll miss the original owners and their staff, the peach cobbler, the tarter, catfish fillet dinners (with hush puppies and potato salad, please!), the double burger with fries… This place was a landmark and I will truly miss it. Not sure where I can get this sort of food selection now, especially in the CD.: -(

Unfortunately– its closed now. Sad times :(

I love catfish corner but I am sad to say they are officially closed. I am a little upset that their was no prior notice to the neighborhood.

So we came up here to do a few jobs and we came across this place looked good and it totally was southern food at its best

Good prices, great atmosphere, delicious food. Buy some extra tartar sauce (35 cents) cause you’ll be dipping like crazy in it.
Catfish and chips was scrumptious and moist. The beans and rice were a great side.
Will be going back when I crave some great home cooked food.

Just what I was looking for. REAL southern style catfish, yummy sides, great tartar sauce and fried okra to boot. Wish it was a little bit cheaper but hey, I’m willing to pay it for delicious southern style catfish 3,000 miles away from home

OK… I need to correct some things. I went back tonight and got take out. I learned that A) the tartar sauce is not always prepackaged and B) the Sweet Tea is not a mix. Let me explain–
They evidently have a top secret recipe for tartar sauce. It’s so special that they have either licensed it or they are having it mass-​produced now and therefore they have it in jars and also in little containers with the peel-​back foil tops that I was served on my first visit. They’re not making it by hand in the kitchen, but they also aren’t buying it from a Sysco truck (at least I hope not). It is their «brand» and so I wanted to get the record straight on that. BTW, I was served the tartar tonight in little plastic cups with lids and not the foil container, but I suspect that they are filling those little cups out of a larger container in the back because I also bought a jar of it that is obviously made in a factory and the sauces looked exactly the same. More power to them if they are selling this stuff all over the country and making a fortune.
ALSO– the sweet tea is made on site and is a closely kept secret family recipe. I saw them pouring a bag of cane sugar into a batch of it and so I took the liberty of asking them about it. I even made it clear that I had tasted it and it was very lemony and I though it was from a mix. They assured me that it is made there but that they do brew the tea with lots of lemons. Hey, I don’t have to like it, but I’m just relieved that it isn’t some toxic powdered mix being passed off as sweet tea. I’m going to give them the benefit of the doubt here and say that it’s just not to my taste.
I’m going to keep the 4 star rating cause I think it appropriate. There were some not-​quite-​5-​star elements of my experience tonight that I don’t need to go into, cause it’s not important. The bottom line is that I got EXCELLENT catfish again tonight, as well as some AWESOME cornbread muffins. Really… four stars is not bad at all for a little catfish joint on the corner, right?
Go there and try it! Recommended!

For many months I’d been saving this spot for a visit from my sister. We grew up in the South and both get downright giddy at the thought of catfish and okra.
We stopped in Sunday night, and the lady working the register was super sweet, but the space is pretty bare-​bones and the TV is loud. Anyway, we got a pound of filets, okra, hushpuppies, and slaw to go, and pretty much skipped the entire way home.
I thought the okra was great and the slaw was okay; my sister though the slaw was great and the okra only okay. But we both agreed the catfish and hushpuppies tasted just like home.

Since I couldn’t be home in St. Louis to enjoy my Mama’s freshly caught fried catfish I did what any Unilocaler would do… searched for the best catfish I could find!
The venue is right on the corner hence the name so you’re sure not to miss it. Parking is scarce and since I was alone didn’t want to park in back, I circled the block until a spot opened right out front YEAH!
Kinda small but very warm and cozy. The tables and chairs are nice and very clean with newspapers and community business cards tucked in the corner, just what I’d expect from a true soul food place!
The staff was friendly and very helpful suggesting various menu selections. No fast good here, all the good is cooked to order do you know it’s fresh!
As each order was called out I became increasingly excited to bite into a piece if the pound of catfish I ordered, my face was likeLOL!!! The cashier called my order, yaaaaaaaaas I received my sack immediately opened it and bit into the hot flaky fish emerging with the biggest smile on my face as if I’d won an award! I began thanking the young man all the way out the door with a promise that I shall return!

I live near Catfish Corner, so I’m always hankering for some deep fried catfish. When I do manage to break down and come here, I always come with my boyfriend so I feel less guilty. We each split a one pound order of catfish, two rolls and an order of two sides– the rice and beans and potato salad. Both are an excellent value and are more cost efficient than getting two separate catfish dinners, which come with less than half a pound of catfish each!
The catfish in itself is delicious. Nice, tender and breaded to a perfection, while being as ungreasy as deep fried food can get. The tartar sauce that comes with the catfish is also amazing! Get the potato salad as a side. It’s simple and goes down great with the fish. The corn bread is also fairly decent, but it is always warm and comes with your catfish. The rice and refried beans side is very filling and so savory. Lastly, finish your meal off with some sweet tea!

I visited Catfish Corner for the first time with two friends and three small kids. We arrived around 4:30 and being that it wasn’t really dinnertime, it wasn’t busy. The lady at the counter was having a personal conversation on the phone and didn’t seem interested in ending her conversation to help me. As a result she gave off a bad vibe that made me feel like a bother for being there.
They didn’t have the filet meal I had wanted as they had to cut the fish — she said that only the whole fish was available. We ordered 2 meals and a few sides. 10 minutes later she said that if I wanted the filet meal it would be ready in 5 minutes. We ordered 3 and cancelled our original at 4:45. We didnt get our food until 5:40. Nobody had come by to say «hey sorry about the wait «or anything. Until we approached the counter about the amount of time we had wasted, nobody had acknowledged that the food was really late.
In regards to food; the hush puppies were really good and so was the potato salad and tartar sauce. The fish was OK. Not the best nor the worst I have had. The rice and beans were bland and tasteless as was the cole slaw. The cornbread would have been ok but was served without butter or honey so ended up tasting dry. We paid $ 50 for 3 meals 2 sweet teas and a side of hush puppies. At that price I would expect more.

While I would love to review the food here, they don’t seem to want me to.
Having moved here from the South a few weeks ago, my boyfriend and I were understandably beginning to crave fried catfish and sweet tea. We decided to check this place out, and made the trek from Westlake. After waiting at the counter for 15 minutes, largely ignored by the cashier, we were asked to leave with no explanation other than «we’re closing the kitchen.» Three hours before closing. Yeah, right.
We really wanted fried catfish, and this place reportedly has good food, but I doubt we’ll make another attempt. That ain’t Southern hospitality.

With Catfish this good, I am definitely a fan! They are busy, in a no-​so good part of town and definitely worth the trek. Not hard to find, since they are smack on a busy corner.
The lady at the counter was busy but efficient. I really expected her to get frustrated with me for asking so many questions and taking too long to order, but she was super nice. If I annoyed her (which I am sure I did) she had the class not to show it.
There were a few patrons enjoying plates and watching the football game on the big screen mounted on the wall, but the phone was ringing off the hook! I don’t know how she kept up with it. Cook was churning out catfish orders like a well-​oiled machine.
I ordered a catfish sandwich, side of pups, side of hot sauce. Took 10 minutes and cost about $ 12 but oh Sweet GEEZUS! it was good! Two thick slices of white bread, perfectly fried fingers of catfish, a little lettuce and pickle slices. I added the tarter sauce and hot sauce sides and it was heaven.
I have never cared for pups but these were good. Flavorful, crisp outsides, and the perfect two-​bite size.
I wish we had something like this place in the Ann Arbor area.

Came in last night to grab some food to feed my soul… it’s been a long month… Went with a catfish dinner plate (w/​potato salad), pups, and greens– holy moley was it amazing!
Just what I needed for the night. I also appreciate that nothing was overly salty (which can sometimes be an issue with Southern cookin)
Totally happy and totally sweet people– I’ll be back in

Pros:
— The catfish here is EXCELLENT! Always fried to perfection.
— The hushpuppies are some of the best on the planet! My friend and I always order extra when we go, they are just too dang delicious.
— Their tarter sauce is also amazing!
— The people behind the counter are always down to earth, friendly, and super helpful.
— The sweet tea is awesome.
Cons:
— A little on the pricey side… especially since the portions are not all that big. You order a catfish and pups meal, plus extra pups, and you are out over 10 bucks and you probably won’t get full.
— I personally have never felt «unsafe» in this area of town, but it does happen to be in one of the more not-​so-​great parts of Seattle. If you are a sheltered kid from the eastside who spends most of his time at the Bellevue Shopping Center, you will probably be pretty out of your comfort zone. For anyone else, don’t let the CD’s rep scare you, this place is legit.
I am more than happy to shell out a few bucks and wander into the hood a bit for this place, because the catfish and hush puppies are more than worth it. Easily one of my top 5 places in the Seattle area!

One of the better places in Seattle for sure. Of course we had the catfish and were certainly glad that we did. It was worth the drive! The flavor was good and I really enjoyed the house made tarter sauce! You can take it home by the jar if you so desire!
I had the coleslaw and standard beans and rice with mine. The coleslaw was good and I could see the potential, but seemed like it was a bit old or the bottom of the barrel! Perhaps I am not sure what to expect out of the red beans and rice, but they seemed kind of bland and adding some salt helped perk them up.
I had also ordered a side of greens because I love me some good greens. These were an interesting take on a staple of the south, while I enjoy mine a bit sweeter these had a good bite to them and a bit on the sour side. Not complaining, just mentioning!
If you are in the mood or the area and want some good southern staple food, go here!

I’ve read some good reviews so decided to drop by one afternoon… It’s an older restaurant with a very old feel inside. The menu is simple and self explanatory — they really only served fried catfish, shrimp, and snapper (i think.) The one gripe I have, which happens to be the deal breaker, is that there are no prices! Nothing on the menu has a price… It’s like a surprise after you order to find out about how much you’ll be paying… I’m not a fan of that at all.
I had the cat fish filets and fries which were okay… The fish was fried well and surprisngly light. They had a texture similar to baked fish and chips. The fries were average but the tarter sauce was good. We also ordered a cornbread muffin and some hushpuppies — both of which were tasty as well. They’re gumbo looked good but they only offer it on Wednesdays… whats the deal with that?!
My wife and I walked out «not hungry anymore» but I can’t say we were satisfied… If you’re lookin for fish and chips, there are much better elsewhere around Seattle.

Okay… deep fried food is good almost anywhere. But here it’s beyond good, it’s excellent!
Having tried catfish only a few times, I was stoked to come here after hearing such great things. The menu, much like the menu at In N Out, is really simple and easy to read. With just a handful of options, you know the food is good because they focus only on what they’re good at.
A friend and I shared a half pound of friend catfish. Cooked fresh and piping hot, I loved that the corn meal fried fish wasn’t greasy or too flaky. It was just perfect! Can’t wait to come back for more.

Catfish Corner is another one of those restaurants that I haven’t had the opportunity to check out in the neighborhood. Came here on a Friday since it is currently lent season (meaning no meat on Fridays) to see what the fuss was about this place. I ordered the catfish bites and fries. Personally I’m not a big fan of catfish but I really enjoyed the bites since they were not overly breaded or greasy. The tartar sauce is a MUST with the catfish because it added more flavor to it. The fries here were nothing spectacular but average. That’s ok since that is easily fixed with some ketchup.
My only regret here was not ordering any of their sides. I think that would have made my meal a lot more better. So for now, 3.5 stars until further notice.