Fried Catfish appears as a signature dish in 2 United States cities. See each city's local variant and where to eat it.
Fried catfish · Birmingham
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.
Where to eat in Birmingham:
- Niki's West
- Eagle's Restaurant
- Demetri's BBQ
Fried catfish · Nashville
Cornmeal-dredged catfish fillets, deep-fried until the coating shatters. Plated with hush puppies and cole slaw, dipped in tartar or hot sauce.
Catfish is the South's working-river fish. Farms in west Tennessee and the Mississippi Delta supplied Nashville fish fries through the 20th century. The dish became a Friday-night fixture in Black-owned restaurants and meat-and-three counters. Today catfish lives on at Swett's, the Loveless and most meat-and-three menus around Nashville, always with cornmeal coating and never with batter.
Where to eat in Nashville:
- Loveless Cafe
- Arnold's Country Kitchen
- Monell's Dining and Catering