By VPJ Staff

It’s the season of Lent in the Catholic Church, which means the majority of South Louisiana residents are eating fish on Fridays. And it’s not just Catholics. Everyone likes a good fish fry.

While being raised Catholic 60 or so years ago, fried fish was a luxury in our house. We ate a lot of canned salmon patties and fish sticks. When we came to Louisiana in the late ‘60’s, we were practicing Catholics—not practicing Cajuns. We’d never heard of crawfish; thought shrimp were in a cocktail; and frog legs? Really? Now I embrace seafood and fish in most every form, including sushi. But that deep-fried catfish is pretty darn hard to beat!

Local folks will remember the old Catfish Junction on Billy Goat Hill. That place was packed on Fridays. My late friend John Coburn, who ran the cable television office in Leesville for a couple of decades, rued the day he was approached by owners of the place looking for investors and turned them down. The place became a legend in West Central Louisiana.

Today, choices locally are plentiful that satisfy that Friday seafood appetite. The Catfish Hut near Rosepine is a sit-down experience with fresh hot catfish, shrimp, and other delicacies. J & J Seafood & Wings in New Llano has fried and boiled seafood six days a week. Wagonmaster Steak House does great with bacon-wrapped grilled shrimp and fried fish. Battered Men’s BBQ might surprise you with their excellent take on fried fish. Hickory Smoke House is righteous on shrimp and catfish. Gilbert’s Pizza on Entrance Road makes a wowser Cajun shrimp pizza. Buzz has it that Curtis Grocery on Highway 392 is selling a ton of fried catfish and shrimp every week. Don’t sleep on the fried and grilled choices at Jack’s All Ya’ Need. And I’m just guessing Slagle Mall has good fried fish and shrimp ‘cause they have good everything else.
How old school are you? McDonald’s still has that venerable Filet o’ Fish on the menu. You can even get a double filet. If you do, get extra tarter. Remember the old Burger King Whaler? Now it’s the Big Fish—probably not as big as a Whaler. Popeye’s has a great fish sandwich with a filet of flounder. Hard to beat that fresh flounder taste. And Arby’s is in the game, too, with a nice big fish sammy. And remember, Captain D’s is nothing but fish and seafood.

You’ve got plenty of choices, folks. Just wait ‘til the crawfish are running good! Maybe you’re just old fashioned—the kind of person who just likes to catch ‘em, clean ‘em, and fry ‘em yourself.

So, let me ask: How long has it been since you’ve had a BIG plate of fried fish? Too long, right?