Catfish Sam's — Restaurant in Arlington

I have been coming to this establishment for over 20 years since high school. I called on 6/25 a month in advance to book their private room for a surprise dinner for my husband’s birthday on 7/27. I was told that the date was reserved and I needed to come put a $75 deposit. Given we live in Dallas, I had my dad pay the deposit and called the day before to confirm our reservation which was confirmed by the lady that answered the phone. My husband’s entire family arrives and they have a completely different party in the room and lost the reservation. The manager Mason was not apologetic only said that he refunded the money. It wasn’t about the money. It was about having 25 people show up and we all have to sit at different tables. Mason, please be more courteous and respectful. I will never eat here again after the way we were treated.

*Edit: in response to the owner’s comments:

I attempted the call the number you left which is not a working number but appreciate you following up. I just wanted to clarify that there was no confusion on the reservation. It was made on 6/25 with Juan who supposedly wrote it down as 7/27. As to the party size, Juan asked how many in my party. I told him at least 20 but maybe closer to 30 as I was still awaiting confirmation from out of town guests. Juan stated that the room only accommodates 40 and that we would be fine as long as our party was smaller than that. As for Mason’s apology, my father arrived early. I didn’t arrive until a little after 5pm. When I arrived and asked him what happened, he was not apologetic and rude to me. The reservation was under my name. I had my father come pay the deposit since I live 45 minutes away in Dallas and Juan said it couldn’t be paid over the phone. But I paid the deposit and my contact info was attached to the reservation. When we arrived, we all sat at different tables for almost an hour while Melissa did give us drinks and rolls. As the person who made the reservation and called the establishment the day before to make sure that everything was set for my husband’s birthday dinner, I would have liked a genuine apology. As I mentioned to Mason, it wasn’t about the deposit which is why I gave Melissa the refunded money/deposit for the reservation as her additional tip on top of the 20% for the food. Thanks again for following up. Wish you all the best in your...

I’m 66 years old and have been coming here since it opened. I even came here before it was catfish sam’s. The food here is great and I’ve come so much some of the servers know me by name. One of them remembers us bringing our grandson in when he was still in an infant seat and now he comes in and he’s 18. I just wasn’t feeling well tonight so for only the 2nd time ever, I called an order in for my son and I. Before hanging up I told the Hispanic young lady who always works the cash register that I wanted 5 extra tarter sauces. She told me they were 40 cents each!!!! You know, as long as I’ve been coming there I usually have catfish leftover to take home and I get that squirt bottle of tarter sauce on the tables and just squirt a bunch of it in my to go box. I’ve even asked for a couple of lemon wedges for my take home fish and not once has my server ever told me she was going to have to charge me extra for the lemon or that tarter sauce she just saw me put in my to go box. Most servers throw in some extra hush puppies with my leftovers without me even asking. No, I’m not one of those old people who wants everything they can take for free, like loading up on the packets of sweetener on the table. Yes, once I saw a whole table of seniors empty the sweetner holders!! I was embarrassed as a senior myself. I’m certainly not like that and maybe that’s why I was appalled at the 40 cents extra for the tarter sauce. I just love their tarter sauce and there was two of us. We also both got baked potatoes and got one pat of butter each. I really can’t believe you are losing money on these little extras. The service is completely different when I come in for dinner. The next time I’m not feeling well I’ll certainly choose another place to call where they don’t charge 40 cents for some tarter sauce. I’m not a penny pincher senior, in fact I tip my servers very very well because they provide such good service. It’s sad that the management has now become the penny pincher!! Very sad for such a long standing operation with a reputation of good food and good service. Just remember, “it takes years to gain a customer and only seconds...

I’ve been going here for years and just had my first unpleasant experience. The server was unorganized and acted as if she did not want to be there. When I asked about a charge on my ticket she just looked at me like “please shut the “F” up and leave me alone.” When I paid for the meal at the front desk, the girl asked “how was your meal” so I told her “not good; maybe it will be better next time.” Again with the look. Neither one of them offered to make it right. Unbelievable and Unprofessional. Management/owner, if you are reading this review please correct this situation so other diners will have a better visit than the one experienced by me. This is how restaurants start going downhill. It sneaks up on you and then it’s too late - you are out of business.

Thanks for your quick reply.

This happened on 5/17/19 at 7:21 pm. Check number 918483. You are correct that I should have asked for a manager/owner. However, it appears I made the correct decision not to ask because your reply, as an owner, is very unprofessional and I now know why your staff acted the way they did.

You know you are not hurting for business so why treat me in an unprofessional and tacky manner in your reply? As a long-standing customer I have left previous positive reviews and, more importantly, word of mouth which is more important than any “written” review.

Using words such as “Complain, little respect, heads up and blasted” is certainly not the best way to express your feelings. If you are open to learning something new, may I suggest the following phrase when sending a reply in the future?

“Thanks so much for taking the time to leave this feedback. We apologize if your experience at Catfish Sam’s was not up to your expectation. If you'd like to talk about this more, I hope you'll reach out to me at (817) XXX-XXXX so we can make it right. Looking forward to hearing from you, Mr./Ms. XXXXX, Owner.”

Now, doesn’t that sound more...