Catfish Deweys — Restaurant in Oakland Park

This is my first time ever writing a bad review, and it truly pains me to do so because Catfish Dewey’s has been a staple in my family’s life for many years. It’s been our bi-monthly meeting spot with my best friends, and on this particular night, I brought my daughter to join us for dinner.

Unfortunately, this visit was beyond disappointing. Our food took about 45 minutes to arrive thankfully, the company and hushpuppies kept us from being miserable and starving. When the food finally came, my friend and I each ordered a full portion of scallops and shrimp and decided to split both plates as we always do.

The first issue was that we were shorted two shrimp. Not a huge deal, but this has happened before. The server kindly brought over two shrimp in a cup to make up for it, which was fine but as I lifted one to offer to my daughter, I noticed a clear blond hair wrapped around the shrimp. I have long, dark brown hair that was tied up tightly, so it was definitely not I called the manager over simply to show him the issue, and his reaction shocked me. Instead of handling it professionally, he immediately became defensive and insisted it was “100% not from the staff,” claiming that all of his kitchen staff were bald. That was an odd comment, especially considering there were several servers including one with chin-length blonde hair that looked very similar to the one found in my food.

He then started questioning how many people shared our meal and implied that I was just trying to get a free dish which was insulting and completely uncalled for. His rude and aggressive tone ruined the atmosphere and embarrassed us in front of the entire restaurant, including my child. At that point, I just asked for the check so we could leave.

When the manager returned, he was once again condescending and dismissive. We paid our bill, tipped our sweet server (who was wonderful), and said a polite “Thank you and goodnight” as we left. To my absolute shock, my friend then noticed the manager secretly recording us as we were walking out.

I immediately went back to ask why he was recording especially with my minor daughter present and he denied it, trying to hide his phone. I asked to see the last video on his phone to confirm, and he refused. It was disturbing and unacceptable behavior. A blonde woman standing next to him also appeared to be part of the situation and refused to give me his name so I could contact the owner directly.

I chose not to call the police that night because I didn’t want to traumatize my daughter further, but the experience was deeply unsettling. To think that a long-time loyal customer could be treated this way and even possibly recorded without consent is beyond disappointing.

I’ve spent years bringing friends, family, and celebrations to Catfish Dewey’s and have spent plenty of money here over time. To be treated as if my concern over a hair in my food was dishonest or manipulative is simply unacceptable.

I truly hope the owner reads this and realizes that some staff, regardless of how long they’ve been employed, can do serious damage to a restaurant’s reputation. This experience has left us extremely upset, and unless there are major changes, I can’t see myself returning after so many...

Update after response: Hi Dewey, thanks for responding. I’m actually a Ma’am, and not a Sir. Perhaps you are thinking of someone else? I’m pretty disappointed by your response. When my table expressed their disappointment with the experience we had, your server just made dumb excuses. After reading your response, it seems your staff is following your example. At the end of the day, we wanted to have a nice time, and paid you hundreds of dollars for that reason, but left unhappy. Maybe you’re okay with that, but I would want to do better. We certainly won’t make the same mistake twice.

No one is our group is picky or pretentious. For goodness sake, we came to eat catfish in a restaurant we know hasn’t seen an update in 30 years. We had no expectation of Michelin stars. We expected the hospitality and service to be part of the charm. Unfortunately, excuses from you and your server only reinforce our decision not to return or recommend your establishment to anyone. I promise, we are the most disappointed in this situation. We hope you improve.

Original Review: I had been looking forward to trying this restaurant for a long time. It has been around since the 80s and has quite a history. I also love catfish and was eager to try their all-you-can-eat catfish meal.

For positives: I loved my catfish. Some people in my group of 6 weren’t totally impressed with other menu items but I had no complaints. The environment is classic 80s restaurant. This is what I expected and was hoping for, so I was pleased.

Unfortunately, the service was really poor. Our server, who introduced herself as Jessica, was notably not very nice. Moreover, after taking our food order, she didn’t return to our table until she brought the bill. In fact, she seemed to avoid coming back to our table.

Since two of us had ordered the all-you-can-eat catfish, it was a bummer to basically have the one-off entree for the all-you-can-eat price. I politely mentioned that it would have been nice if she had checked on us at least once during the meal so we could re-order if we wanted to, to which she replied “I have 3 tables…so sorry…we all work together.” I have waited tables before too, and three tables on a weeknight is kind of a joke of an excuse.

To conclude, I was really looking forward to this evening, and while the food was good, the service sort of ruined the experience. Service is a big part of wanting to go to a restaurant in my opinion.

I wouldn’t probably return or recommend. However, if you want good catfish, you could always...

We have been to this place three times now. Of the three visits, food was great but twice the service was absolutely awful. I don’t care how great the food is, if we are treated poorly, it’s not worth visiting anymore. One time the server continuously sat at the bar on a non busy evening due to the Super Bowl and abandoned us. We had to get up and seek him out for what we needed. Now tonight’s visit upon walking in, wasnt pleasant. The meal itself was great but our server wasn’t very attentive. Yes she was busy but she seemed more busy with other tables than checking with us. Which is ok, I used to serve years ago so I understand. Our bill came up and I left her a $40 tip for her service. Within seconds I see her flying back to our table almost hitting a chair on her way to us and yelled at us. She yelled at us that what was wrong with her service as the bill stated 20% was to be $90. No where on the bill did it state gratuity included or that there was a mandatory 20% minimum tip amount. She continued to yell and say that she has gotten that and more from other customers and threw a total fit in front of everyone. What an awful ending to such a great meal. It seems there is a recent trend in poor reviews with this establishment in the last month or so, perhaps management needs to take a look at this and no longer tolerate this king of behavior. Servers are there representing the business, a business which owners have spent their hard earned money and time to create and share with their customers. Servers are not there to behave how they want and treat customers how they want. When I was a server, if I wasn’t happy with a tip I never got irate with a customer. It does nothing, I was just thankful I had a few dollars more than I did before I got the tip. Honestly I should have asked for a refund and repaid and left her $5 after the show she put on. We are extremely disgusted with her behavior and treatment. We work very hard for our money, we decide how we are going to spend it. Bullying customers certainly isn’t going to get you more of...