Ezell's Catfish — Restaurant in Columbus

Not sure how Ezell's got placed in the top 15 best food places in Columbus, maybe it got that rating a while back because my first experience this evening was a total failure in the food department, but their fried pickles and sweet tea is pretty good and service was above Avg. also so a 1.5 star is fitting.

First dish was Their "famous fried catfish"... This is what the place is mostly know for other than their "Famous slaw and hush puppies"... Slaw had chunks of Raw Onion about the size of a large thumb nail, gave the slaw a strong bitter taste so not a fan of bitter onion salad... Also came with hush puppies, looked good on the outside but they have little chucks of jalapenos in a Simi sweet hush puppy Batter,I'm not a fan so I asked if they could make some that did not have the bits of pepper in them and the server told me that they don't offer that... Batter on the fish WAY over cooked, was like trying to eat the inside of a bike tire with a strong burnt bitter flavor, batter also seemed to have a unique corn meal texture so not only did I get a burnt flavor I also had little burnt grits of corn meal all in my mouth a similar texture to sand. So no big deal not everyone likes the same food, some like a burnt sand fish I guess, it happens sometimes, sent it back for a different dish... Next choice was grilled salmon, simple enough but I love salmon, server came back very quickly with the next dish like within a minute after placing the order, the salmon looked beautiful on the plate took a good bite and spit it right back out, salmon was RAW on the inside and I mean smoochy stone cold total raw. By that time I was done with trying dish's and was ok full on fried pickles and sweet tea, my wife got the stuffed crab in butterfly shrimp and it was ok, the manager took off my meal, only charged us for the butterfly ship, two drinks and the fried pickles camp up as $29 and some... Manager said to just give him $20 and would wish us to give them another chance... If all you want is fried pickles and sweet tea then you will...

Not the same as it was and not in a good way. It had been 20 years since I was at Ft. Benning and remember fond memories of the fried fish, hush puppies and food from Ezell's. So, passing through I wanted to take my family there to enjoy like I had before. IMPORTANT: you can not eat here with a shellfish allergy. Everything is fried in the same oil and on the same grill locations. No exceptions.

First impressions was we all felt awkward and unwelcome from the moment we walked in. The guests and employees alike stared at our family of 5 children. Not once, or momentarily but, continuously our family was watched; even when putting food in our mouths! Direct eye contact even and by multiple people at the same time! Yeah, awkward. I wondered, had no one there ever seen a family with 7 people? It was like the music stopped when we walked in.

Moreover, the food was not the quality as it once was. It is very over priced for the quality and small portions that was served. Minus the young children's corn dogs, all of us who ate an entree agreed that the food was pretty much flavorless and just tasted like oil. I described it as just eating deep fried breads over and over; just different consistencies. If what I had was truly shrimp, I couldn't tell. Three of us felt sick to our stomachs after leaving.

Furthermore, the attention from the waitress was not very attentive. Considering that she stood and just stared many times, I thought she would have noticed empty glasses of water and refilled them. However, I would have to flag her down multiple times.

Finally, they over charged us. The waitress had changed one of our orders because they didn't have the ingredients. She agreed to remind the order from the bill. However, she did not and I didn't catch it until after we had paid and left; we were try to hurry and leave the uninviting and unwelcoming environment.

I'm terribly sorry Ezell's that we weren't able to enjoy our experience with you like I had in the past. I hope that you take this criticism and use it for a...

My husband and I went for lunch recently. We got the fried pickles for an appetizer and he ordered fried catfish while mine was grilled. Both of us really enjoyed the pickles, though there was a lot for just the two of us. The hushpuppies are AMAZINGLY delicious. I could eat those with the coleslaw by themselves. His catfish was a little over-fried, a problem of too much batter, not enough fish. Mine was perfectly done, just a little on the bland side. Easily fixed with some hot sauce though.

The table was on the sticky side, but this kind of thing happens and not really a point of contention for me. I know how to use a napkin and some water. Our real issue with the experience was our host.

When we walked in, he was busy with a customer who was paying. That's fine. However, the problem starts when you don't greet us and the first words are "Be with you in a minute" like we're an inconvenience. When he went to sit us down, he put the stuff on the table and walked away. Not so much as a word of "Your server will be with you a moment" or even asking if it was an okay spot. He was very stand offish and almost curt. No smile, no greeting, no small talk.

I might have let all of this blow over and forgotten it, if I hadn't found out that he was the manager / co-owner. We'd like to go back, but I'm not sure if I ever want to deal with that kind of person again. Our server was very attentive, on the ball, and knew what was what. I'd go back for that kind of service, but not if getting through the door means going through Mr. Attitude.

I should point out that my comments reflect Ezell's of Phenix City, but the owners for the two are apparently the same or...