Big Eyed Fish — Restaurant in Fort Wayne

I believe I had an out-of-the-norm experience here, but I wanted to write about it anyways. I wanted to come here, after hearing wonderful things about the owners and the food. My experience was far less than stellar.

The restaurant is spacious, inviting, and clean. I came with my 10 year old son after church on Sunday. They were fairly busy, and I was ready for longer-than-usual wait times. The wait was actually shorter than I expected. I conversed with a few kind patrons, and the server was very attentive with coffee refills. That is the good.

The bad was my French toast. 1/2 of it was edible, and 1/2 was not. It clearly was prepared to hopefully be “good enough”. A good portion of it was never dipped and thrown on the skillet (so basically toast). Some of it was undercooked and essentially just soggy bread. My server saw me take a picture of my half eaten plate, and didn’t bother to ask why I didn’t finish. Instead, she asked, “did you save any room for dessert?” With a 1/2 unfinished plate, why ask that?

Another server was carrying far too many dishes from a completed table, and dropped a butter knife. She proceeded to kick it across the floor. Really? That’s just plain bizarre. Should I now expect that all of my silverware has been subject to a server’s shoe? All this while making eye contact with me, haha.

Anyways, I don’t want to appear rude. The owner’s here are great people, and the restaurant has an amazing reputation. This was atypical, I’m sure, but certainly not a good look. I see that they are hiring cooks, so I hope that this was just a case of an inexperienced cook working in a fast paced environment. I hope to try this place once more some day, maybe I’ll grab something off the lunch menu next...

Maybe this eatery moved but when I got there I was confused by some of the reviews. I was of the impression that it was a hole in the wall. Its not fancy. Its like an old fashioned local eatery ought to be. There was a parking lot out back for a dozen cars. There were 6 or 8 booths, about a dozen tables and a bar that could serve another 10 people. The problem, I'm afraid, was the big eyed fish but here's the good part. I ordered the special, which was flounder because I like flounder. It came with 2 big sides. I chose green beans and wild rice and they were good. But the fish was overcooked and over coated. And it wasn't terrible. It was very good for what i paid. I told the waitress and she sighed that when they get it, it's processed that way. Ok. Honest enough. So next time, I'll skip the special and order whatever is fresh and ask that it be broiled, like another reviewer suggested. Bottom line is that for real food, with a beer, with real silverware, a clean table, clean bathroom and an attentive waitress for under $20 including a decent tip, I'll pass on McWhatever and be back here next time I'm in town and try again to give it another star. Besides, I took half of it home and ate it for breakfast so that gave me two bangs...

If I could rate this place with more 5 stars, I would. I'm from England, so I'm pretty judgemental when it comes to fish and chips. I've been to a lot of places in the U.S., and I've only had good fish in perhaps three of them. Now bear in mind that this is Indiana, famed for hearty meals full of artery clogging fat and belly filling carbs, to find fish that actually takes good, is a bit of a rarity. Big Eyed Fish then, is about as perfect as it gets. Their fish is delicious, their curly fries surpass all others, and their staff are as friendly and hometowny as can be. It's like Fort Wayne's version of Cheers, only with fish, and no Cliffs. Going back to the fish though, I must stress just how good it is. The batter alone is like a crispy little piece of heaven. I could eat a bucket of that by itself. Last time I went for an all you can eat, which by the way, applies to everything, not just the fish. That's a frickin frackin bargain beyond words, but I digress. I must have eaten 11 or 12 pieces of fish, and I felt fantastic. I wasn't bloated, I wasn't about to blow chunks, and I didn't feel like I had just drank a gallon of grease either. Whatever they're doing in that kitchen is magic. So go there right now and eat all the...