Friday, July 30, 2010

Flying Fish

For too many years, Flying Fish has sat collecting dust in the "Is it a hole" department.  Something about it seemed chainy.  It fit so well into its environment that it confused the department's editors.  After a recent visit, I pulled it out of the department.  It is in fact a small chain with about five or six other locations.  However, because of the character of the Fort Worth location, the cool flying fish logo, my continued support, and my need to write more reviews I think it qualifies under this blog's charter.

If you haven't been, Flying Fish is a casual cajun/southeast Texas/bayou type joint.  You order off a big menu board and the items range from salads with grilled fish, to po-boys, catfish, gumbo, crawfish, and shrimp dishes.  They've also got big schooners of your adult beverage of choice.  Most of the fish is fried and most of the sides are on the fried side, but they also serve grilled fish dishes with grilled veggie sides for those of you looking to  live longer than the rest of us.

Because I've h ad a lot of different items, I let you in on my favorites.  I get the fried grouper po-boy in the summer and when its cold, I'll get the gumbo.

The gumbo is chock full of fresh and tasty ingredients and is flavorful.  You can actually feel bites of the vegetables and meats as opposed to just tasting them.  Plus, with the free crackers, you can make a meal pretty easily.  In the winter, there isn't a better dish than a warm stew/gumbo/soup and the Flying Fish gumbo works for me.  The deliciousness has been verified by a gumbo expert. 

My summer favorite dish is the fried grouper po-boy and I get it snappy.  Ordering something snappy gets it spicy but its fun because you can say it with sass.  Each time the grouper po-boy comes out, the fish is twice the size of the bread.  I like that although it makes it cumbersome to eat.  Nobody cares since you're at such a casual place, but I judge people that eat sloppily and assume they're judging me. 

By the way, a few years ago I took a trip down to Biloxi for three or four days and tried a different po-boy every day.  The po-boy at Flying Fish would be about above average for what I had in the Mississippi coastal area.

If you haven't been to Flying Fish try it out on a Saturday afternoon or Sunday after church.  Grab a beer and a basket of food and sit on the patio.  You'll enjoy the vibe and the food. 

Let me know if you've been and if you've got other opinions.

Flying Fish is located at 2913 Montgomery Street across from the Railhead.

Flying Fish on Urbanspoon

11 comments:

Tina said...

THE BEST friggin' fish tacos in town! YUM! My husband is a catfish man, so our family went a couple of months back and though he didn't say it was the best catfish (yet), he did say his was the best we'd eaten around town thus far! But those tacos, Y-to-the-UM!

I also wanted to set off all the fish on the walls! LOL!

Parking was a b%^&$, though!

Glen said...

My wife and I and our 5 year old son love this place.

Holly said...

One of our favorites! In fact, my kids were just watching over my shoulder as I pulled up this blog and are now begging to go there for dinner. My husband and I always get the catfish and shrimp basket (snappy!) and the hula poppers (a wonderful concoction of shrimp and cheese, stuffed in a jalapeno, wrapped in bacon and fried) and we just share the whole mess. Not a healthy meal, but we love it.

pdiddy said...

and they play the best blues music around.

FortWorthHoleInTheWall said...

Great stuff. Tina, you're right on parking. I'm sure we all do the same thing - just park int he Railhead lot because we know they're not really going to tow us.

Holly, I knew this needed to be a kid-friendly blog for a reason.

Thanks for reading and commenting.

Riley said...

Always a great time at Flying Fish. Their fried catfish is the best, along with the grilled fish and the huge salads with your choice of fish and the fish tacos. Everything they serve is a treat. Grab your food and eat on the patio.....feels like a night on the coast. You have to go for the laugh of the day....a sign on the wall that reads "all unattended children will be given a puppy"....priceless. Great family place for a great night out.

R said...

On second thought, now that I told you what the sign says, you don't have to go for that.....go for the food instead.

Lwalker said...

Wow, I am shocked and sorely disappointed in this one. The food at Flying Fish is mediocre at best and very fried. The grilled entrees are bland and the salads are just as boring. The best things about Flying Fish are: the extremely cold beer, the oysters, and the crawfish (when in season). If you want great fish tacos, Fuzzy's and Yucatan get my vote. And as for the gumbo, pretty sad (go to Mac's, they have the best in town by far). This place definitely gets a chain rating in my book.

FortWorthHoleInTheWall said...

We agree on so many points Lwalker: 1) fried food is generally very fried; 2) the cold beer is fantastic, and 3) the tacos at Fuzzy's and Yucatan are great.

Generally, I try to review restaurants on their own merits. Just because another place has something better, doesn't mean this restaurant can't do it well.

Melissa said...

On three separate occasions, my husband and I have tried to eat at Flying Fish, however we've never been able to find a place to park. Is there a good time to go? I've really wanted to try this place.

FortWorthHoleInTheWall said...

I'm pretty sure you can park in the vacant parking lot to the north of the building so long as its after hours. I've never been towed from there, but then, I stare down danger like that all the time.

I think if you go at three p.m. on a tuesday, you'll be safe.