Updated 04/20/25 Food is always great and hot. Tried the chicken strips today they were actually really tasty. Plenty of food for a meal with some leftover. Really can't beat Catfish King for the price! read more

Fantastic deal. Catfish (4 pieces), beans, fries, hush puppies and salad bar for $10.49. Everything was fresh and hot, and the everyone on the staff were incredibly friendly. I'll definitely come back next time I'm in town. read more

A++! Catfish King Restaurant is the real deal! My wife ordered the regular catfish meal and I ordered the Catfish and Shrimp. It was wonderfully delicious! Breading was light and crispy. They each came with 1) 1 trip to the salad bar (the salad bar was impressive--the potato salad and macaroni salad was so good!), 2) Side of homemade pinto beans, 3) 3 hush puppies, and 4) side of fries; and we had to order a side of the best onion rings I've ever had! The staff was friendly, service was prompt, and environment was open and accommodating--building could use a renovation. But truth be told. renovation or not, I'm coming back 100%! Bravo CKR, you made my week! read more

Catfish King Restaurant - Hone made onion rings - Seafood Near Me - Lufkin, Texas

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Great fish at reasonable prices. This place desperately needs a deep-cleaning, though.

Catfish is pretty okay, although I think they've reduced the size of filets. Pretty good salad bar (when you buy the combo). My only complaint is if you want to take your order to-go, the combo will NOT include the salad, but does include the drink (go figure). So, 4 stars read more

We had a craving for local fried fish so went to the Catfish King. I wish I'd tried it years ago. The food is tasty, very filling and the service very friendly. I chose the lunch special for $7.99 3 catfish strips, 2 hush puppies, coleslaw, home style French fries and a drink. Was more than I could eat and that rarely happens! Also, I found they have a 50% veteran discount, one per veteran. Since I and my sister are veterans we both got the discount. I would eat there regularly without a discount after trying it but with the discount will become an extreme regular! I noticed they also serve shrimp, oysters, and chicken fried steak so will have to report back after another visit! read more

Catfish King Restaurant - 1/2 the menu for you to consider. - Seafood Near Me - Lufkin, Texas

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Great catfish fried well. Great prices. French fries were good not soggy or old. Maybe a bit too many. Hush puppies were a bit strange, taste like the rest of the fried items. This restaurant as well as most others everywhere still serve ketshup with high fructose corn syrup. Come on take the leap to start changing our food for the better! Service is order at the counter. We ordered close to rush time and the food came out fast. Tables not too close to each other. No loud music or noise read more

Catfish King Restaurant - Lunch special - Seafood Near Me - Lufkin, Texas

Very good fish. The hush puppies are delicious too. I had the lunch special. A good deal.

This is a classic place to enjoy fried catfish and chicken. I've been eating here for 20 years. Their consistent quality is rare these days. Also they've added fried oysters and shrimp to the menu. While these late arrivals to the menu are very good, the namesake catfish is still "king" (pun intended). By they have a nice, fresh salad bar and delicious hush puppies with every meal. Prices are below average as an added bonus. If you're passing through Lufkin using the loop 287 bypass, give them a try. read more

Catfish King Restaurant - a plate of fried fish sticks and dipping sauce - Seafood Near Me - Lufkin, Texas

The food here is good but I think it's crazy that they charge $1.75 to put Cajun seasoning on your fish instead of regular seasoning.

Dear god look at your name! This is anything but the king. Frozen fish and bad. The green tomatoes are just about the only thing that tasted good. read more

This place always has good food at good prices and their onion rings are especially good.

Catfish is delish! Always on point. I recommend bringing the entire Family. I've tried everything and I've yet to be disappointed.

The fish is OK slightly overdone for me. I ate a lot of fried fish as a kiddo. Their shrimp is good the tartar sauce could be a little better and The fries are good. The onion rings are fantastic and I love to put the hush puppies in my beans and let it soak up the bean juice that's really good :-). They have a good salad bar also. Looking for I do eat here fairly often. The biggest complaint I have though is that it says they close at nine and it seems as though we're being rushed out around eight. I cannot stand for Cleaning to be going on around me while I'm trying to eat and smelling Fabuloso. I understand sweeping and wiping tables off, but I'm talking about the kind of cleaning they do before it's time to go home. read more

I have to give a shout out to Rachel, at the Catfish King in Lufkin. The last time I went to this location, I had spent over $30 on a meal for my family and unfortunately my order was mistaken. When I got home, I was bummed, (this had not been the first time I was disappointed with the over the phone order service) and called up the manager and she offered me a free meal the next time I came in. Fast forward a month or so to today, I had forgotten all about this and ordered again(the food is dang good, I'll admit that). Rachel, recognized my name and order and reminded me they had a free baked fish plate waiting for me. I was really thankful and surprised she remembered the issue and took care of me. This place always has new hires that need a little extra patience, but the food is always on point! Outstanding work Rachel..your memory is impeccable and attention to detail is much appreciated!! read more

4 stars for the first visit! Food was probably worth 3 stars. My Fiance and I both ordered the 5 piece catfish meal. The fish was good but just tasted like it was missing something. It just needs a little bit of spice. It was very close to being very good but just missing a little but of something. I give it 4 stars because the portion size was good and I like the fact that it has a drive through. It made it very east to pick up some quick but not sketchy seafood on my way home from work without the wait. We want to go back and actually sit in the place the next time as I just did the drive-through the first time. All of that being said it will most likely end up being a favorite place of ours if we want seafood on a budget... read more

The only two things I enjoyed were the baked potato and peach cobbler. The rest was flavorless fish, chewy shrimp and inedible hush puppies. The chicken was worse. But the service was great. Too bad the food didn't match. read more

Always great food and great service. Hands down the best fish I have ever had from a restaurant.

Very typical East Texas catfish dinner. The food and the service were excellent. Both the cashier and the waitress were extremely friendly.

We tried this gem on a recommendation from a coworker and lifelong resident of Lufkin. I am so happy we did! The place is nothing special, quaint, wood details throughout. Handicapped accessible. Reminds you of an old school little home-town restaurant. The customer service is probably the most humble and warm I've encountered here. The staff warmly welcomed us on our first visit, explained the menu and the salad bar. They interacted with clients young and old. Serving up older couples with their dipping sauces so they didn't have to walk to the salad bar to get them. High-fiving the smallest guests for a meal well eaten. Staff was quick to clear tables and clean up any messes. The salad bar was nothing special for me. Pretty basic bagged salad, cheese, tomatoes, cucumbers, pasta salad, coleslaw and potato salad. The salad was kinda of wilty, but still had crunch. The tartar sauce was very heavy on the mayo and thick. I prefer mine thinner, but that's personal preference. The cocktail sauce was great. I would love to see a bottle of horseradish for those of us who like to spice it up with the sauce. Hot sauce was available, but not the kick I wanted. My husband got the Cajun flavored catfish and I got the regular. Pro-trip... get the Cajun. It's an amazing kick of flavor without being "spicy." The fish was very lightly and well fried. The fish was still flaky and moist. Many places don't clean their catfish well, so it has a dirty taste to it, but not here. I was impressed! The hush puppies were delicious and the fries were flavorful. Everything came out warm and quick. The fries tasted like they just came out of the fryer though. The beans were well cooked and salted to perfection. Plenty of folks were coming in to pick up to-go orders, but inside was still a steady flow of folks for a Saturday early lunch. They have lunch specials every day for about $6-$7 and it'll come out quick enough to make this your lunch break go-to. Now all I need is a place to nap with a full belly. read more

fish not as good as usual. the place needs a cleanup and update badly. ladies bathroom needs makeover and paper towels holders have not worked for almost 2 years. shame they don't keep building any better read more

Every single time I've been here, the food has been great! Restaurant is clean and employees are all very polite and attentive.

Stop today and the food was horrible. The catfish was dry and tasted old. The French fries was old and cold. The beans taste like they was cooked in dirty water, the juice on the beans even looked like dirty water. It came with a drink I ask for Sierra Mist and received carbonated water. This was a waste of my hard earned money. read more

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Super nice staff. Called from freeway while traveling and went through a dead zone, but they had the order ready for me when I arrived. It's drive thru too! read more

I just have to send some love out to the Catfish King in Lufkin, Texas & an extra special shout out to my 2 new friend, Mae Mae & Bryan. Everytime I go to Jasper, Texas to visit with my Daddy my husband & I always try to treat ourselves to the best catfish on the planet in my opinion. My parents use to take us there when I was a little girl & that is one of my favorite memorie. Mae Mae & Bryan really needs some recognition for their OUTSTANDING CUSTOMER SERVICE. I'd also like to add how clean their restaurant always is. God Bless! read more

Thank you so much! We stopped here tonight in hopes of purchasing a Catfish King T shirt as a gift for a special friend who LOVES catfish. The manager informed us there were no shirts for sale, but provided us a Catfish King employee shirt for FREE. She absolutely insisted we not pay. Thanks so much for your kindness!! read more

The catfish has good flavor, is crunchy but moist. I prefer the Cajun spiced catfish I enjoy the hush puppies, they have a good corn flavor. The fries are crunchy and well seasoned. Last time I went their card machine was down so I wasn't able to get any and had to go somewhere else read more

Passing by on a trip from Shreveport to Houston. I'm SHOCKED this place only has 3.5 stars. I would give anything to have a place like this near my house. Pulling into the parking lot, it was packed! My boyfriend and I went through the drive thru which was empty. We pull up and immediately we were greeted. She made friendly suggestions when we asked her what's the most popular and ended up ordering the fried oyster, butterfly shrimp, fish plate. It came with a side of coleslaw, Cajun beans and rice, and French fries. We pulled up to the window and were greeted again and she noticed we had our dog with us and asked if he would like a dog treat! I'm impressed. I love any place that loves pets. Once she gave us the treat and our change, our food came out! This was wayyy faster than most fast food chains I've been to! We decided to park the car and dig in because it smelled so good! Y'all. I kid you not. This food was some of the best I've had in a long, long time. The food was piping hot, fresh out the grease. Cooked to order. The fries were good and lightly salted. The coleslaw wasn't too saucy or heavy; it was a light coleslaw. The Cajun beans and rice seems like red beans and rice to me but slightly different. Very similar though! The fried fish was delicious. Very moist and flaky, but doesn't break too easily when bitten into! Butterfly shrimp were large and not rubbery. The fried oysters were my absolute favorite. Probably the best I've ever had, arguably. All of it was fried to perfection and not OVERLY fried. Everything was well seasoned. Not over or under! Overall, I'm sad I didn't order dessert. And I would definitely recommend this place. read more

Okay the food is great. Be AWARE of the ketchup packets. I opened up a couple of packets and squeezed into a pile. I the grabbed a napkin to wipe my hands and my smelled. I had to get up and wash hands before I could finish eating. I notified the young lady I witnessed her remove the entire box. Thank You! read more

if you want a really good chicken fried steak, get the two piece chicken fried steak dinner. i don't think it's on the menu. also, the little catch is on the drive through menu, but isn't listed inside. read more

This is a good food decent price place ! Glad I live close to it . Nothing extraordinary just simply old fish and seafood with sides .

It was just okay. Catfish was good but filets were too thin. Coleslaw was horrible. Almost like shredded cabbage with no dressing. Beans, salad bar and fries were all good. "Hush puppies" were just cornbread sticks without enough cornmeal. Senior meal was $5.99 with Drink Have to amend my review. Went there today and they were doing curbside or drive in only, which is fine but I wanted to go in somewhere so we decided to go somewhere else. The thing is, there were two police cars in the parking lot with no one in them. Stopped to talk to a gentleman in his truck eating. It seems it's okay for police officers to go in but not the general public. What!!?? That's not right. It's just not. If you aren't open to the public you shouldn't be open to anyone. read more

First time here. The catfish was good. Light breading and perfectly fried. The butterfly shrimp was just ok. Not outstanding but not terrible. The hush puppies were weird shaped, highly processed and under cooked. The fries were barely warm and mushy liked they had been sitting under a warming lamp. The salad bar was a wreck and out of the few items available. Restaurant itself could use a good cleaning. Not sure I'd return here or not. read more

Ate there last night after several years of not going because of a bad experience. They don't serve American catfish, they serve Vietnamese Swai which isn't technically catfish at all. It was absolutely awful. It was tasteless, the fries were soggy and we waited for our food a long time. I swear I'm never going back. read more

I love the crispy fish and salad bar. I love that older people flock here daily and the people that work there know their name and what they normally order. The food is pretty much the same EVERY time. It's outdated and dark but the food and service is good. read more

Catfish king is a house staple in my family. My father (the pickiest man on the planet) gives his seal of approval on the catfish. It is cleaned and battered the right way. No fishy taste at all. This place is a must pit stop every time we are in Lufkin. 100% recommend this place to people who love catfish. read more

Not bad, but itz Geezer Headquarters, the excesssive level of 'ramp work', AND the bland nature of their catfish can probably be attributed to the hordes of bluehairs that fill this place. Prices are reasonable, and th service and food prep are above average. Catfish was of a high quality, uniform in size and texture (no grey flesh). Had to deduct a star for the weird, strange, and doughy 'extruded' hush puppies. (On second thought, the "hush-extrusions" {I simply CANNOT call these abominations a "hush-puppy} were soft, with little of the usual cornmeal texture evident. Just the thing for the denture-crowd!) read more

I love the Senior plate of spicy catfish. The service thru the drive thru window is great and the servers are so friendly.

1 star, really good service 2 star, clean resraunt 3, stars, great salad bar 5, stars good quality food (The batter could use a little more flavor). This place is great! read more

The fish was not seasoned, the pinto beans were to salty. The salad bar is gone I guess because of COVID. The coleslaw was dry. The shrimp tasted just plain old bland. read more