I went here with my dad who was born and raised in the area. He explained that we should go early…read morebecause they can get really busy, really quickly. So we went at around 4:45 in the afternoon on a Friday. There was already a 20-30 minute wait for a table inside, but instant seating on the patio, which we took.
I'm breaking this into two scores--the food which is the most important, and the service (not just waitress, but overall).
Food 4.5 stars--not perfect, but very good. Service 3.0
After getting seated on the patio we were told the server would be out shortly. After about 15 minutes I went back in to ask for menus--coincidently the person that seated us was telling the server that they had people at our table, so I turned around and went back out.
Shortly thereafter we were given menus and we ordered drinks. Dad got 50/50 tea and I got water and a whisky rocks which confused the waitress. "So like, with Coke?" No, ma'am, just the whiskey poured over rocks, whatever your house whiskey is, I'm not that picky.
We already knew what we wanted and ordered the catfish filets with fries, and fried okra.
The food came quickly, but still no drinks. Eventually those came out. My whiskey was in a larger glass, not a whole lot but enough not to complain. The waitress then asked if I wanted a straw for it because she wasn't sure.
She might have been new to service, so I'm not upset, I was more amused. She is working at a bar/restaurant but perhaps the servers are kept seperate and she's not used to running for the bar.
The food was excellent. The catfish was freshly fried, the outside a good crunchy crust and the inside darn near dissolved it was so tender and moist, not even a hint of being over or under done. Excellent flavor, it didn't need the house made dips (a tartar and a cocktail sauce, both great), but they complimented it. Tartar was heavy on mayo flavor than traditional tartar, but you could still tell what it was. Cocktail sauce seemed fairly standard, I guess I can't promise that one was house made.
Two jalapeno hush puppies came with it. They were standard fair, a little bit of spice, enough to enjoy while letting non-spicy people still tolerate it. Crunch went deep, the center was cooked but a lot less of the ratio than the crunch outside.
Fries were also standard, but fried well, good crunch and fluffy inside.
Fish was the absolute star, it was "close your eyes and enjoy" good.
Fried okra was bland. It was crunch on the outside, soft but not gooey on the inside so they treated it well to reduce the slime, but it didn't stand out from any other fried okra I've had. Wouldn't get it again, but it was cheap.
Didn't get checked on very often, I think we were offered drink refills when we asked for the check.
Got the bill. Fish plates, $16. Okra side: 3.50. My one ounce of whiskey, TWELVE DOLLARS.
I don't know if she rang it in wrong, or if their prices are just ridiculous for that stuff. Lesson learned, don't order alcohol here.
But most certainly order the fish.
Service lacking, perhaps still learning, fish was absolutely wonderful.