J Hot Fish

Finally was able to get to J’s Hot Fish and had the catfish nuggets (nice and hot) and mac-​n-​cheese which my daughter loved. Also had the jalapeño hush puppies, they were flavorful but a little small for the price 3 for $ 1.00. I will try again.

Exelent food and great service. I’ll be back for seconds and more. Very good flavor and a great price. Wish they had more locations but I don’t mind driving across town to get some good food.

Very welcoming place the owner came and greet us and showed me the red snapper before he cook it, looked very fresh, I am happy that I went there

J Hot fish is definitely a hole in the wall place (not in a bad way). The owner of the restaurant is the nicest! My friend and I told him that it was our first time so he let us try the shrimp (it’s delicious). He also gave my friend a complimentary piece of THAT CAKE… if fish isn’t your thing then you should definitely at least go for the cake (yes it’s that good). Fish is fresh and the portion size is generous.
Customer Service: A+
Perch: B
Shrimp: B
Catfish Nuggets: C+
THAT CAKE: A+ (small for $ 2.50 though)
Mac & Cheese: B+
Cabbage: B+ (and I don’t eat everyone’s cabbage)

The owner is super friendly, and greeted me right when I walked up. They had perch the day I went, and that’s what I went with. I also got a side of shrimp. It was all very good, and fried perfectly. I have no idea what they put on the shrimp to get that bright red color, but it’s tasty!
Do NOT skip out on the cake. Holy… It is absolutely delicious. It’s some sort of pound cake with pecans on top. It is truly fantastic!

So I’ve been hearing about this place and thought I’d give it a try. Oh… my…gosh! It is sooooo good. I can be pretty indecisive so I was unsure of which fish to get. The owner was very friendly and patient with me, and he explained the differences between the fish that was available to order. I decided to try the tilapia and the white bass. The white bass was so good that I ate the whole piece in the car while driving home. It’s definitely a place that I will visit again.

wasn’t too bad the fish was pretty good, That cake was pretty good, the shrimp were average. i saw a review video and facebook and decided to try and it was not bad, not where i would run to eat there again. i didnt like that the worker was expecting a tip for taking my order and then they forgot my shrimp, but they gave me more just because they forgot the order and i had to come all the way back

Yes! I do a little dance each and every time I eat this stuff! This fish is amazing. The fries leave a little something to be desired, not bad, but not fab. And THAT CAKE. O my Lord that cake! Seriously, one of the best things I’ve ever put in my mouth. No words can describe. I do feel like they are trying to fill some ginormous shoes. I don’t eat chicken, and didn’t live in Columbus when Hot Chicken Takeover was the bee’s knees. (I guess they’ve since relocated to North Market?) So much of a restaurant’s success is branding and social media. I actually think it’s probably 75% branding and the rest is how good the actual product is. Americans bought rocks during the last Black Friday sale… people will buy anything that’s marketed the right way, but I digress. Rambling, but what I’m trying to say is that I hope they get the following they deserve and can brand and market a little better. The line for that fish and THAT CAKE should always be out the door. It doesn’t matter how fabulous the product (in this case fried fish!) is if no one knows its there.

Tasty fish! Tasty sides! TASTY TASTY Cajun shrimp!
The owner/​staff were so welcoming. Came out and introduced themselves and shook my hand. Made sure we had ketchup, tartar, hot sauce, malt vinegar.
Food is delicious and different, staff is friendly, and I will definitely be back!

Love fish, love this place!
As a sucker for fried fish, I was pretty excited for J Hot Fish to open. I finally made it over this weekend, and they did not disappoint. This fish (tilapia) was good, hot from the frying pan and with just a little heat from their special marinade.
The sides were good classics. I enjoyed the natural french fries (not usually a fry girl), and the cole slaw received the seal-​of-​approval from my southern-​Ohio family. They said that the slaw was based on the original KFC recipe. Alas, we came at the tail end of the day and that cake was all gone!
And if you’re not a fish freak, don’t worry! We ordered a shrimp plate to share, and the hot fish marinade went realllllllly well with it. That might become my regular thing.
To top it off, the service was outstanding. It’s a family run joint and everyone was doing their part to make sure that customers felt welcome. We were particularly interested, so they took us around and told us a little about the history of the building.
And then they brought my dad an extra plate of fish, free of charge! He really, really likes fish… I guess they could tell!

I went to J Hot Fish today. I live in the neighborhood and loved Hot Chicken Takeover when it was at this location. Sadly nothing about J Hot Fish was similar to Hot Chicken Takeover.
My boyfriend and I each ordered the tilapia platter and three bottles of water (one for my thirsty dog). When we arrived there were two people waiting on a carry out order. After we ordered they placed an additional order, another couple came and placed an order, and some random person trying to sell sweet potato pies also placed an order. And you guessed it, everyone received food before us. We finally got our food and two of the waters. When I walked up to ask for our third water the owner said to me «You look pissed off.» And immediately tried to make excuses for the poor service we received.
Nothing about this place was impressive today. The food was okay and the service was horrible. Next time we will make a trip to the North Market to visit Hot Chicken Takeover.

my first visit to this restaurant and from the moment i walked in until the second i left Keith was such a pleasure, his customer service skills were the best i had experienced in a very long time. While i waited for my food another black woman came in and her attitude was terrible but keith kept such a positive demeanor that it made me love this place even more. The woman even complained about to price, i say that to say this, ive been over to hot chicken takeover many times and i have NEVER heard anyone complain about the prices, and they are a little high BUT they are, nice, clean, and GOOD so i dont mind. here at j hot fish the food was hot, fresh, and good, the restaurant was clean, the customer service was amazing and all of this from a black owned business is enough to make me pay $ 10 a meal if need be. we have got to do better at supporting one another.

The food was good fish was fresh cooked just right but the cole slaw tasted store bought Not Good to me. Fresh AN good French fries AN A REAL friendly Staff.

Good Stuff! I found out they were open last weekend, so my husband and I went in after our travels back to Columbus from Hocking Hills.
We walked in and they had a table set up for ordering. If you had been to Hot Chicken Take Over, you will notice this is obviously the same location, they are just located inside currently until the weather gets warmer. They will be working out of the window once that happens and have seating outside.
This fried fish is exactly how I like it! It’s not your battered fish, it’s a breading and much lighter! They have a meal, for I believe $ 8.50, which is what we both got, that comes with the fish, roll, coleslaw and fries.
All in all, I know we will definitely be back, especially once it warms up. If they ever asked for my feedback… I’d make the fish spicier or have an option for spicier and more of it. I think I only had 2 pieces in my meal. Everyone we spoke with was very nice and sincere and we enjoyed talking to them!
Thank you J Hot Fish for a great experience!

I love local. And Columbus is really great at supporting local businesses. Olde Town East is a community that really supports locals so I really enjoy the sense of community in these places.
J Hot Fish just opened up yesterday in the spot that housed Hot Chicken Takeover.
They have some big shoes to fill. My love affair with Hot Chicken Takeover is well documented.
First let’s get something out of the way. The hot in J Hot Fish is not referring to spiciness as you might assume being the old spot of HCT. It’s temperature. That kind of disappointed me as I had in my head this stuff would be spicy.
Now the good. You can tell this is a family run business and they seem awesome. They are eager to tell you their story of how J Hot Fish came to be. They also (like HCT) employ people that are motivated to work but have difficulty finding jobs because of their past. Kudos to that. A sense of community runs throughout the place.
The son is great. Super personable and a hard worker. You can tell he was raised right and he will emulate his parents.
I ordered the fish meal (two pieces of fish, fries, cole slaw and a bun for 8.50) and the 7 shrimp for 5 bucks. They mentioned the shrimp doesn’t come with anything else unless you order it but, for some reason mine did.
The aroma of the fish was great. Really had me excited to dive in. They have condiments (hot sauce and tarter sauce.)
The fish was nicely seasoned and flaky. I don’t know what kind of fish it was for certain or where they get it. Not certain if the tarter sauce is homemade or not. The fish was good. The shrimp also comes fried which I didn’t know. They were small shrimp for sure but the flavor was good. The fries in the pictures on Facebook look like frozen krinkle cut fries but the ones you actually get seem hand cut which is better. I wish they were less greasy and crispier though. They were a little soggy from the grease.
The cole slaw was creamy and good. The bun was pretty non descript and store bought.
All in all I give them an A plus for what they’re trying to bring to the community but foodwise I wouldn’t be drawn to it like Hot Chicken Takeover.