The Historic Arlington Restaurant Tour: Part 1 - Catfish Sam's

A few weeks ago, I decided that Jessica and I, along with some of our friends, should experience historic Arlington eateries. After presenting the idea to our friends, the date was set. So Saturday evening, eight of us made our first stop on the "Division Street Restaurant Tour" at Catfish Sam's.

In my 31 years of life, 29 of which have been in Arlington, I have eaten at many Arlington locations. However, this was only my second visit to Catfish Sam's. The logo of a red, smiling catfish both on the wall of the restaurant and on the sign draws attention to this old building in west Arlington. Its location obviously leaves something to be desired. (For many years, I have said that if mayor, my first action would be to rent a bulldozer and drive it down both sides of a large portion of Division Street.) The building has no windows, so once inside, you have no clue what the weather or lighting is like outside; however, it was not too dark and the atmosphere was pleasant.

I drove by Catfish Sam's about 6:30pm on Saturday and the parking lot was packed; however, by the time we met there for dinner, it was 8:00pm and the main older crowd had already come and gone. Even so, the presence of the 8 of us around the age of 30, lowered the average age of the clients considerably while we were there. Also, the volume of laughter coming from our table raised the decibel level quite considerably. As we were finishing our meal, the place was ready to close, but the staff never rushed us, which was very nice.

Food wise, Catfish Sam's is pretty good. There is nothing like the hush puppies, I must have eaten close to a basket full. (They remind me of Bill Martin's Catfish place that used to be on the way home from Waco.) The little circular appetizer dish served confused me a little. A little dish of slaw, beans, pickles, okra, and onions is served at each table. (If you only order this, you are charged $4+ for this strange arrangement.) I ordered catfish and fries, which were pretty good. The fries were better than average; however, my catfish was just average. It was a little tough on the outside, but good on the inside. But really, we are not going to these restaurants for just the food. The ability of a place like this to have survived and thrived for over 50 years is what is most impressive to me. When a recent poll was conducted, Arlington residents listed On the Border as their favorite restaurant. One of the main criticisms of Arlington's food is its lack of original, local spots to eat. There is nothing fancy about Catfish Sam's, and yet, you can see why it has stayed in business, even without the most ideal of locations. It has never changed, the food is consistently good, and the prices are relatively reasonable. On a scale of 1 to 10, I would give Catfish Sam's an 8.

We had a great time on stop #1. Next time, we are going to head east on Division to one of my childhood favorites: Arlington Steak House.