Dot’s Place Credit: Photo By John Anderson

Dot’s Place

13805 Orchid, 255-7288 Monday-Friday, 11am-2pm; Friday, 6-8:30pm
We’ve always been big fans of the divinely crispy whole fried catfish on the bountiful lunchtime menu at this far North Austin down-home cafeteria, but we’re sometimes distracted by other items. That’s not a problem on Friday nights, however. On Fridays, Dot’s opens for an all-you-can-eat catfish feast, complete with perfectly fried catfish, hush puppies, fries, and all the trimmings, plus an assortment of her marvelous pies and cobblers.

Hoover’s Cooking

2002 Manor Rd., 479-5006 Monday-Friday, 11am-10pm; Saturday-Sunday, 9am-10pm
One of our favorite meals at this friendly home of true Southern cooking has always been the catfish plate with fries and a side of the perfectly spiced jalapeño creamed spinach. Discover the delights of the catfish po’boy, piping hot fried catfish fillets on a baguette dressed with mayonnaise, lettuce, and tangy pickles. Just delicious.

Mr. Catfish

1075 Springdale, 927-6666 Monday-Thursday, 11am-9pm; Friday, 11am-11pm; Saturday, 11am-10pm 850 E. Rundberg, 997-7878 Monday-Thursday, 11am-9pm; Friday, 11am-11pm; Saturday, 11am-10pm
The mouthwatering lunch specials attract a crowd to this casual restaurant every weekday, and we can see why. Everything is made from scratch, and nothing hits the spot like home cooking. Catfish and seafood dinners with side dishes come in different sizes depending on your appetite. We stopped in one day for lunch and found the place packed with hungry neighborhood business folks, all chowing down on catfish dinners with the traditional trimmings of fries, hush puppies, and coleslaw.

Pappadeaux

6319 N. I-35, 452-9363 Sunday-Thursday, 11am-10pm; Friday-Saturday, 11am-11pm
This loud, boisterous Austin outlet of the wildly popular Houston seafood chain seems to do a booming business at all times. Catfish items here include po’boys, dinner plates, and combos with shrimp, oysters, and crab. It’s also possible to order the fish fried, blackened, or charbroiled with a variety of side dishes, a la carte.

Threadgill’s

6416 N. Lamar, 451-5440 Monday-Saturday, 11am-10pm; Sunday, 11am-9pm 301 W. Riverside, 472-9304 Monday-Thursday, 11am-10pm; Friday-Saturday, 11am-10:30pm; Sunday, 10am-9pm
Fried-catfish dinners at Threadgill’s have been a popular menu item as long as the restaurants have been open in Austin. Several years back, a Cajun/Creole influence found its way into some of the dishes here, and since that time, we’ve also developed a fondness for the bronzed catfish. This dish features tender, sweet catfish fillets coated with a Cajun spice mixture and sautéed in butter in a very hot skillet. We like it squirted with some lime juice and a little homemade tartar sauce on the side for dipping.

Quality Seafood

5621 Airport Blvd., 454-5827 Monday-Saturday, 8am-7pm
The small cafe in this retail seafood emporium could be one of the best-kept secrets in town. Where could the fish possibly be any fresher, except maybe the coast? The turtle soup, gumbo, and oyster po’boys are just divine, and the fried-fish dinners, catfish included, are wonderful, too. Food prepared to eat in or take out.

This article appears in April 30 • 2004.

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