Catfish Jim’s Seafood Chicken and More

I read the reviews, got excited, packed my family up and headed to Catfish Jim’s. To my surprise the restaurant is closed and the building is for lease. Big disappointment!

Boooooo! The restaurant is closed. However, they are still offering incredible catering.
I need a moment.

FYI, this place is closed. I went there after reading these awesome reviews and there is a huge FOR RENT sign on the door with chains blocking off the parking lot.

Kennesaw holds some hidden gems, and this is one of them. This cant be considered a full review because I did not have the catfish. However, I can say, without hesitation that is is the best fried chicken I have ever had. Excellent biscuits too. But seriously, how does chicken get this good?
definitely check this place out if you’re in town.

As much as I love Unilocal.I cant tell you how many times my fellow reviewers have steered me in the direction of a restaurant experience that went drastically wrong. Case in point– Anticos Pizza.
However, there are times, when yall just get it got damn right.
I took my azz to Kennessaw not really knowing what to expect– «Catfish Jims?»
Sounded like some ol country azz buuuuuuuuullllsh — .
On the outside the place looks exactly how you would expect a place called Catfish Jim’s to look. A tad bit dilapidated, kinda like a cabin you would find in the back woods of GA.
As you walk in you are greeted by one or 2 young cashiers waiting to expose you to the «heaven» of fried «goodness» that is hidden in their kitchen.
The ordering process is fairly simple… order your food at the counter, pay for it, and wait about 15 minutes for some of the best fried chicken that you will ever taste.
I wanted to try it all, so I got the fried chicken and I got the catfish. The catfish was pretty good, but here, its all about the chicken.
It’s amazing. No, I dont think you really understand… this sh– is AMAZING. If I have had better fried chicken in my life, I cant remember it.
The breading on the chicken is superb, the meat they use is juicy and delicious. It’s literally PERFECTLY fried chicken.
And, its cheap. I love the sweet tea too… its a lil crackish– (ie you will continue to drink it no matter how hard you try to stop).
5 stars… well deserved.
Point blank period.

Real Good Fried Catfish! Menu is limited, but the fried Catfish makes up for it! lol! The Sweet Tea is good too!

Omg this place is a hidden gem. When this place first opened I laughed because who wants to eat at a closed Hardees?
I then noticed that there were more and more people eating there for lunch and dinner. I had to be wrong. I ordered the catfish and it was lightly seasoned and fried to perfection. The breading was cornmeal classic and with a hit of sweetness. The edges were crispy while the middle was moist and soft. Very good. Very delicious.

Hushpuppies, catfish, cheese grits… just like the Olé Rio Vista (or Royal Vista)… Great family owned and run establishment. CLOSED CLOSED

Catfish Jim’s is a small restaurant with a very simple premise: cooking a small number of items, but cooking those items excellently. Their menu is very simple — it consists (aside from their sides) of several fried entrees, with the main two being fried catfish and fried chicken. With any dinner, you get a choice of two sides. What brought us here was the fact that it is (literally) a few minutes down the road from us and the fact that they cook fried chicken. Since moving here, my wife and I have been on a quest to find good fried chicken. In pursuit of this, we have tried several places (Mary Mac’s, Busy Bee, Gladys Knight’s), but only one of them (Gladys Knight’s) cooked fried chicken that ranked as ‘good’. Even then, it wasn’t the typically seasoned southern-​style fried chicken that we were looking for.
At Catfish Jim’s, our quest for great fried chicken is finally over. We decided to split the Catfish and Chicken combo platter. As others have noted, they start by bringing you some Hush Puppies. Our hush puppies were freshly fried and were oh-​so-​good. They practically melted in your mouth. They were easily among the best I’ve ever had. Not too long thereafter, our dinner arrived. To start, everything looked really well prepared — piping hot, golden brown crust, everything freshly made to order. I was worried that the catfish might be dry, but it wasn’t in the least. It was tender and moist, and tasted as good as I’ve ever had fried catfish. On top of that, their tartar sauce was out-​of-​this-​world.
To me, the star of the show was their fried chicken. As I said, our quest for great fried chicken is over. The chicken was moist, juicy, and perfectly cooked. The crust was a nice golden brown and was seasoned exactly as good southern fried chicken should be. This easily put to shame any and all other fried chicken we’ve had in the area. Our sides were good (nothing memorable), but I thought that both were a bit under seasoned.
Catfish Jim’s doesn’t have a ton of variety on their menu — and it shouldn’t be any other way. Everything they cook is fried — and it shouldn’t be any other way. They keep their menu simple, but make sure that everything they do, they do well. Obviously, this is not the place to come if you’re on a diet. However, if you’re on the lookout for good, down-​home southern food (and how can you get more southern than fried catfish and fried chicken?), do yourself a favor and come to Catfish Jim’s.

The menu is simple. From the big board near the front counter, we each picked out a fried main, including catfish fillets, catfish in the whole, chicken etc., and two sides. Free hush puppies were given for snacking while we waited for our number to be called. Hot, crunchy, a little sweet, and almost greaseless, I had to try very hard not to ruin my appetite with these.
I prefer my food in the whole whenever possible. As anticipated, my whole catfishes were fried at such high temperature, the tails turned completely crunchy and chip-​like. Love that stuff! Even better than the hush puppies, I couldn’t detect any grease on the catfish even when patting them with my paper napkin. The cornmeal crust had a sandy texture and totally satisfied in its perfect contrast to the tender white flesh within. The mac and cheese and green beans were just okay. but seriously, who has the stomach space for that when there are two whole catfish to devour.
As a side note, Catfish Jim’s advertise that it sells only Mississippi farm raised catfish. In most cases, farm raised fish is less flavorful than wild. But for catfish, a natural bottom feeder that tends to pick up a muddy taste in the wild, the farm raised breed, which eats feed that only float on water to encourage the catfish to stay off the bottom, has a much more delicate and clean taste. As a matter of fact, Mississippi’s catfish farmers are already marketing some grade-​A fillets not as catfish, but as Delacata, to differentiate it from the humble catfish.

My husband and I ate here last week. We arrived early (5:30pm) on a Friday and glad we did. The place was standing room only after 6:15pm. You order at the bar then the server brings your food. First, they bring you a basket of hush puppies which are very tasty. We ordered the Fried Chicken. It was tender on the inside, crispy on the outside and not greasy at all. I had mac & cheese which was okay and green beans which were straight out of the can with no seasonings. My husband ordered fried okra which was really good and green beans also. He didn’t like the beans either. The sweet tea is very good and you help yourself to refills. The restaurant is quite small. I think it used to be a Captain D’s or some other fastfood place. I want to come back and try the catfish plus different sides.

The BEST Catfish, hushpuppies, and fried chicken I have had outside of Mississippi and Memphis. Jim is normally around and is a blast to talk to. I cant believe how perfectly breaded and fried everything is, and all without a greasy residue. Cooked right, every time! Love the little catfish house with free hushpuppies to start. Service is quick and friendly and consistent from visit to visit. If you are ever hankering from some of that down home, Southern flair… you MUST make Catfish Jim’s a priority!

For anyone reading this that is STILL in mourning over the closing of Uncle Bud’s Catfish in Smyrna, weep no more! Catfish Jim’s is Uncle Bud’s 2.0 — and the white beans, butterfly shrimp and hushpuppies are as awesome as ever! Surprisingly, the chicken is as scrumptious as the fish, and the biscuits and gravy give the hushpuppies a run for their money! If none of this makes any sense to you, no matter. .. just get thee quickly to Catfish Jim’s and enjoy some homemade tartar sauce with a couple of those amazing hushpuppies while you silently thank me for leading you to greatness.