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.
3 editor picks for Fried catfish in Nashville, ranked by editorial score. All Nashville signature dishes · Fried catfish across every city.
Arnold's Country Kitchen ★ 4.6
the-gulch · 605 8th Ave S, Nashville, TN 37203
The Arnold family's Gulch meat-and-three lunch counter in Nashville won the James Beard America's Classics Award in 2009. Located in The Gulch.
Monell's Dining and Catering ★ 4.4
germantown · 1235 6th Ave N, Nashville, TN 37208
Monell's family-style Southern dining in Germantown has run since 1995, seating strangers at communal tables in a Victorian house seven blocks north.
Loveless Cafe ★ 4.0
south-nashville · 8400 Hwy 100, Nashville, Tennessee 37221
The Loveless Cafe on Highway 100 in Nashville has served scratch biscuits, country ham and redeye gravy since 1951, anchoring the Natchez Trace's tourist.