Fred's Fish House — Restaurant in Arkansas

We are visiting the area and drove by a few days ago and I said to my husband, "I bet that place is good, let's go there before we leave." After looking at the pictures and reviewing the menu online I had pretty high expectations of fine dining in a small town. Walking in the door I was taken back with the decor. It was bright, divided into dining room, outdoor eating, and a bar. Bland taupe paint, over lit dining area, and overall a cold disappointment of atmosphere. The windows and outdoor eating area had beautiful views of trees and overlooking Norfolk Lake. The staff were professional but seemed to have difficulty multitasking. I had ordered sweet tea, no lemon and my husband ordered unsweetened tea with lemon. I received the unsweetened tea no lemon, and my husband received the sweet tea with lemon. 😒 once the order was corrected, the tea was not sweet enough for me, so I asked for sugar. I was brought 3 packs. (From Texas, so I like my tea very sweet. Don't hate 😉) I asked again for more sugar, a lot. I was brought 5 packets this time. Since it seemed that they were rationing their sugar, I opted to swap out to a soda instead. We inquired how much the crab legs were running (menu stated "market price"). I had checked online what the market rate was before going, and the average market was $7.50 a pound. Our waiter told us $45. For 3, 8oz clusters, that's just over a pound. This was ridiculously overpriced. Now, I understand this is a "fish" restaurant, but I don't eat fish, but my husband loves seafood. We ordered, I had the Country Fried Steak, and my husband had the Butterfly Shrimp. We also ordered some hush puppies while we were waiting. (btw I didn't get my soda until after we finished with the hush puppies) The hush puppies were large and very good (sweet, no real spices tho. Oh, and I asked for butter for my hush puppies, I was brought about a 1/2 a cup of butter.. no rationing there lol) The food was hot, but nothing was seasoned, basically bland. Nothing special or exciting to entice a return visit. If you're wondering what "JoJo's" are, they're potato wedges.

They really missed the mark on what a fantastic place this could be. Maybe in the evening throw some table clothes on, lower the lighting, some candles on the tables (and sweetners lol) make it feel like a place to take a date, experience some romance... it just felt cold. If I'm going to spend 60 bucks on a meal, that is bland, at least give...

I don’t normally leave reviews, but was excited to try Fred’s after the re-build, and I was sadly disappointed. I’ve eaten there a couple of times with my sister, where we’ve ordered fried mushrooms. The first time we ate their, the mushrooms were cold, the food wasn’t too bad, this was prior to the fire and re-build. Yesterday, sister and I went there, thought we give the mushrooms another try, and this time they were more on the burnt side. Being that my sister and I aren’t complainers, we ate what we could of them, on top of that, they didn’t even put enough mushrooms, to at least cover the bottom of the basket. Sister and I split a seafood platter, and I would say everything on the plate, was below average, and tasted like it could’ve been fried in older grease. The fried scallops was very fishy tasting, more so than it should’ve been. I gave the food a 2 star rating, only because the fish, potatoes, and hush puppies, was fairly decent. I’ve eaten better fish off of buffets. When we got the bill, it shows one total, and when they bring your card back, it shows a higher total. This is the first restaurant I’ve been to, where they add a credit card fee, after they give you your card back. They have a small placard, in small lettering, that says they charge a small percentage, on all in-store products, but I’m sure most people don’t read it, or can’t. I told the manager, that they really need to incorporate the fee, on the first bill they give you, as I’m sure that I’m not the only one, to inquire about it. The new building is nice, and of course the view is very nice, but the quality has definitely gone down hill, especially for what it costs. You better step it up, or your going to continue to get bad reviews, from people like me, that are pretty tolerant, and don’t normally complain. It was bad enough, to where I won’t be back, and that’s...

This review is hard for me to write because I have been a huge fan of Fred's in Mt. Home for many, many years. I was ecstatic to hear that they rebuilt after the fire. I happened to be in the area visiting family when my mother brought up the idea of getting some fish from Fred's on our way home.

How could I pass up a good catfish dinner?

It was later in the evening, about 45 minutes before closing time, so we decided to call ahead and get it to go. Come to find out, they don't have takeout since the rebuild. OK, fine, we were going to be passing by there anyway on the way home, so we decided to sit down and eat.

The new building is nice, but the decor in the main dining area was lacking. I know they are still rebuilding, so hopefully, they will get some decorations up like the old restaurant had.

I know it was later in the evening, so that might have something to do with how our meal went.

First of all, the fish was flat-out bland. I ordered the Big'un catfish dinner half regular and half cajun. The cajun pieces were a darker color than the regular pieces. I ended up eating one of each flavor, and unfortunately, they tasted identical.

Also, it seemed like the grease that the fish was cooked in was way too hot. The fish was crispy on the outside and undercooked sliminess on the inside. Unfortunately, my wife and mother's fish were the same as mine.

The service, however, was top-notch. Our waitress was very attentive and positive. I think she could tell we weren't pleased with our meal.

All in all, I am disappointed in my latest Fred's experience, and it may have something to do with being so late in the evening.

I have had several great meals at Fred's, so I am not ready to give up on them just yet. I am going to give them another chance when I get back to town, but the next time, I will make sure to go a...