Fried catfish is cornmeal-dredged Alabama farm-raised catfish, deep-fried golden and served with hush puppies, slaw and tartar sauce, the canonical Friday plate.
Farm-raised catfish from west Alabama and the Mississippi Delta became the canonical Alabama Friday-lunch fish through the 1960s and 1970s. Niki's West has run Friday catfish on the cafeteria line since 1957 and Eagle's Restaurant in Smithfield runs catfish Friday as a soul-food anchor. The hushpuppy, slaw and tartar sauce side combo became canonical by the 1970s and remains the Birmingham plate served at meat-and-three counters citywide.
3 editor picks for Fried catfish in Birmingham, ranked by editorial score. All Birmingham signature dishes · Fried catfish across every city.
Niki's West ★ 4.6
acipco-finley · 233 Finley Avenue West, Birmingham, AL 35204
Niki's West on Finley Avenue West in Birmingham has run the canonical meat-and-three since 1957, with a cafeteria steam table by the Alabama Farmers Market.
Eagle's Restaurant ★ 4.6
smithfield · 2610 16th Street North, Birmingham, AL 35204
Eagle's Restaurant in Smithfield Birmingham is the Black-owned soul-food anchor since 1951, with Friday catfish and weekday meat-and-three plates.
Demetri's BBQ ★ 4.3
homewood · 1901 28th Avenue South, Birmingham, AL 35209
Demetri's BBQ on 28th Avenue South in Homewood Birmingham has run a Greek-American meat-and-three since 1973, continuing the 1961 El Rancho BBQ tradition.