Catfish O’Harlies

Good food, good atmosphere, friendly staff — AMAZING salad bar (and I’m not a huge salad eater).

We stopped here after a day in Dallas on our way back to Wichita Falls. The catfish was very good, my only complaint was the breading needed some seasoning. The fish was cooked to perfection and the fries and hush puppies were good too. The salad bar items were very fresh. Our waitress was very friendly and attentive. Will definitely stop by again when on the road… little tip to people in Decatur: it isn’t nice to stare at people, whether or not they have tattoos.

I really, really wanted to like this place. Drove by for many years but never at lunch or dinner time. Today I finally got a chance to try it. I was so excited I even took a picture to text to my husband since he was not with me. My excitement ended as I waited for a seat. Waited, and waited. Finally a young man who seemed to want to be anywhere but working helped us to a table. Not very busy at lunchtime but to be expected on a weekday in the middle of nowhere. I was shocked at the prices. $ 7.95 for a kids meal? Really? I could have taken my kids to a super upscale place and kids meals are still under 6 bucks? I ordered and proceeded to the salad bar. This was a definite light in my visit. Everything look fresh. Salad was good and beans were also very good. The coleslaw however was abysmal. I had high hopes, but all I could taste was pickle relish. Ew. Never in all my life living in the south have I found a slaw I didn’t like. Until today. Waiting for my meals I saw a weird shadow in my tea glass and luckily I didn’t gag to bad as I saw a smashed bug inside my iced tea glass. Not a small bug. A medium-​large sized one. After I had already drank ¹⁄₃ of it. Yuck. That was it. I lost my appetite and waited for the server to come back so we could let her know we didn’t need our meals after all. My children were super hungry, so I relented and by the time the server came with our food I showed her the cup and she very apologetically took it away. Food was actually ok although a bit lukewarm. Once I was able to flag down the waitress for my check she told me everything was on the house. That was nice. I was shocked, Totally willing to pay for the meal. Manager never apologized but at least the waitress seemed sorry. I guess my high hopes were dashed. Such is life.

They are a bit pricy, but I’ve had nothing but good and delicious food here. It’s a stop on the highway and i usually stick around here when I’m actually leaving Wichita to get back to the DFW area.
The catfish is obviously the selling point, and I do love to crack open the peanuts. The only downside is they have no wifi, but I was pleasantly amused the first time I was there when my GPS could not seem to locate where on earth I was. So it does kind of give you that «middle of nowhere» «diamond in the rough» impression.
It’s your roadside stop, a place I’ve passed over many times throughout the years, and I am sure glad I decided to stop in, because every bite was worth it. Although, I don’t recommend the frog legs, but those are good as far as frog legs go…

Menu is small and simple, what they do they do well. It’s good catfish with a great salad bar. Grab a bucket of peanuts at the door and enjoy a casual relaxing meal. Large dining room, never over crowded.

Above decent fried catfish (big fan).
Honest to god real dairy butter and cream for the baked potato. Salad bar is lackluster and meals are a tad overpriced, but the atmosphere is where those extra two bucks go.

Food was good. Great salad bar. Our waitress was a little lost. We didn’t get our appetizer until after our catfish came out. The place isn’t fancy… just a country catfish joint. Plenty of parking if pulling a trailer.
I’d stop there again when traveling.

Not going to discount the fact that in Decatur this might be a grade-​A high end restaurant. But for us passerbys who live in bigger cities (Dallas, Ft. Worth, etc) this is a down home country restaurant with peanuts to shell and a good old fashioned salad bar.
Great. We have many restaurants like this in my old hometown (sub 3,000 residents) and it’s delicious. There’s no doubt it’s delicious. Good shrimp, good catfish, and on and on.
But when your price point is congruent with Del Frisco’s Grille, Houlihans, etc., its just way too expensive. I could spend this on a «date night» in a trendy part of town.
Lower those prices by about 20% and it’s a 5-​star Unilocal review.

If you don’t really enjoy eating catfish this may not be the restaurant for you as it is primarily a catfish place. This is a large restaurant located on US 287 a short distance out of Decatur, Texas. There is lots of free parking around the restaurant. A long porch with rockers makes you feel as though you are at a country location. You are offered a bucket of free peanuts as you are seated. The menu is not all that extensive as it is mostly catfish. I ordered the jumbo size plate which came with 7 good size pieces of catfish. The fish had been rolled in cornmeal and deep dried. I would have preferred some spices on the cornmeal batter however the fish was very good. Stick type hush puppies came with the order and all know these were not homemade. There were lots of French fries with the order. You al get the salad bar which has it usual lettuce, tomato, green peppers, etc. Plus at he end of the salad bar was to large ;pot of beans which you could top with diced fresh onions. This was excellent. There is all some pudding for desert however you might want opt for one of the fired pies which are hugh. The pies will be cooked on site after you order. The prices at this restaurant are excellent and if you are dining with someone that would like to split an order the folks here don’t mind that at all. They will add $ 3.50 to the order for the salad bar though. Still a very good price.

Excellent southern food and excellent service as well.

It’s pretty good except that the tartar sauce is made with sweet pickles. I would take my own sauce if we went again. The salad bar is great.

I drove by this place about 20 times before I finally stopped in here. I went there for an out of town Fathers Day lunch and was able to get right in. I figured with the name Catfish Charlies I should probably have the catfish. The spices they use for the batter were excellent. Also they had hush puppy fries that were amazing. Service was very good.