Marilyn W.
Yelp
Last night was our first time to dine at Catfish Hole since my husband and I moved from Texas to Springdale, AR. We don't know anyone here, but after reading reviews we thought we'd give the place a try.
We were certainly hungry for catfish, shrimp and hush puppies - like what we were used to eating when we lived in Southeast Texas.
We pulled into the parking lot around 5:45 p.m. and were surprised to see all of the cars in the parking lot and wondered how long of a wait we were in for.
The friendly hostess took our name- the restaurant was buzzing! He let us know it would be a 15 minute wait and if it was okay. Sure we said and thought - not bad. We expected him to say 45 minutes to an hour wait, when it was more like 7 minutes. We onto a good start we thought
We were barely seated when a friendly waitress came and placed on our table hush puppies, coleslaw, dill pickles and a green tomato lightly sweet & tangy relish. Another wow!! How generous we mused and wondered how they stay in business with giving away all that food,
My hubby and are snobs when it comes to hush puppies since we were raised on these babies. These were no disappointment at all!! Not sweet, thank God! We loathed sweet cornbread and had enough of that offered to us when we lived in Chesapeake, Virginia. Thankfully these were loaded with perfect amount of onions!! Still hot from the fryer and so AWESOME - we thought as we sunk our teeth into them and moaned with delight.
The coleslaw was more than an adequate amount for the both of us. My husband has never been much of a slaw person, however I always enjoy a good one, and to my surprise he tried a taste after my recommendation and then he actually had several helpings afterwards. It was a simple recipe, no apples or green onions in it, but it sure held its own in tastiness and freshness.
The pickles were surprisingly good and another WOW to the green tomato relish!! I want the recipe it was that good - again simple fare, yet it had a nice blend between tangy and mildly sweet.
The fried catfish pieces and fried shrimp were battered nicely in a cornmeal batter and were served hot and tasted fresh. I had wished the pieces would have been longer and thicker, but nevertheless we enjoyed it and did stuff ourselves with the generous portions!
Our baked potato, for the extra 99 cents, was a moderate medium sized russet and still piping hot - we were told it came with butter and sour cream only, which was somewhat okay. We are spoiled to having cheddar cheese, bacon bits, green onions, sour cream and real butter - but again, oh well we thought, next time we come we'll bring our own. This didn't stop from really enjoying all of our down home comfort food.
The service was amazing - everyone pitched in to making our meal a pure delight. Multiple times we were offered more hush puppies, slaw, pickles, and tomato relish by several different waitresses and our drinks were refilled before we could ask for more!! Bravo to the owner and his outstanding team!!!! Wow- Texas needs to learn a thing or two when it comes to friendly service and with smiles, really.
The restaurant itself is decorated nicely with a fun down home decor. The atmosphere was relaxing, and made us feel as though we were dining at home.
Not sure if they had desserts and we weren't offered any, but that was okay too because we had a very satisfying meal.
The cost of our meal was very generous to our pocketbook and we can't rave enough as to how much we enjoyed the food - it was wonderful!!
All I have left to say is - get out of your chair and go give them a try because you won't regret it!!
Oh, and when you do go, tell them Marilyn sent you.
P.S. Being a native Texan - we sure hope they will add to their menu some jalapeño onion hush puppies!! Now those will definitely make you want to smack your Moma*****