Caught up

Flying Fish

The minute you walk into Flying Fish, you know owner Shannon Wynne has spent a lifetime of weekends at the lake. The inside of this busy seafood joint carries the vibes of his favorite catfish shack and a well-loved lakeside cabin, as the walls are covered with bass and other fish trophies. There’s even a marina element, with a big vintage Evinrude sign dominating one wall.

Wynne — who grew up fishing at the lake on his family farm but now has his own place on Caddo Lake — found plenty of Cowtown pals who share his fixation on relaxing waterside escapes: At eye level alongside the booths are photos of Fort Worth folk with their own fishing tales attached.

Apparently, everyone in town has caught the fish fever, too, judging from the crowds that spill out on the porch every day at noon and for the dinner hour. The only way my gang has been able to eat there in under an hour is to go either before the lunch rush or after the supper crush.

But the wait in the line that approaches the order counter gives you time to peruse the lengthy menu — there’s far more than fried shrimp and oysters on the half shell here. That said, one of the impressive platters is called — appropriately — the Hog Wallow Fry ($13.99), as it combines some dandy fried morsels. Two meaty, crispy, cornmeal-crusted catfish filets team up with four lightly breaded shrimp and six plump, crispy oysters over a bed of hot french fries and fresh hushpuppies.

Relatively less offensive to the arteries was the fried crawfish po-boy ($6.99), with a pile of crunchy jewels contained within a crusty French roll. We subbed savory red beans and rice for the fries. The perfect addition on top of the crawfish was a little bowl of pickled green tomatoes ($1.99), worthy of the best East Texas fish joints.

Wynne makes sure we have plenty of ways to remain virtuous, fortunately. My favorite of the grilled plates is the red snapper filet ($9.99), which we ordered with the Veracruz treatment, incorporating tomatoes and onion. Alongside, grilled squash and carrots were crisp and buttery.

Fish tacos featured fresh pieces of grilled tilapia ($8.99) inside three freshly and lightly fried corn tortillas, which we stuffed with zippy pico de gallo and a few shreds of coleslaw. Although the tacos aren’t huge, the meal is more than filling.

If you don’t eat fish, there are a couple of concessions, including a grilled chicken or fried chicken salad ($7.99 each) and burgers with fries. Kid meals ($3.99) include burger, catfish filet, shrimp or chicken strips with fries and drink.

Really, it’s the next best thing to going to the lake.

Cuisine: Seafood, burgers

Essentials: Major credit cards; beer, wine, margaritas; smoke-free; wheelchair-accessible

Entree cost: About $6-$14

Signature dish: Hog Wallow Fry, a big fried platter

Good to know: No quick visits at high noon or prime dinner time; plenty of good, non-fried stuff

This review originally appeared in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram on Friday, Aug. 31, 2007.