Catfish Parlour in Austin, TX

​Finally!
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Today, Don and I finally turned off of TX 71 and pulled in the lot, of Catfish Parlor!
We've driven by this awesome sign for nearly 20 years, on our drives from Houston to Austin. I've always been curious about this roadside eatin' place. 

Neither of us are huge catfish fans, but we heard the place was family owned, since the 1970's. We also heard the catfish was Texas raised and never frozen.  

Mostly though, I was lured by the sign!​

Early on Sunday

There was only one car when we pulled in at 11:10 am. The church crowd was still at church, but we headed in.

​Love a Parlour
​

I kind of love any place that calls itself a parlour. It brings me back to my childhood visits to Silver Dollar City in Branson, where everything was a saloon or parlour. 

Orange and Green Booths

Only one table was taken, so we had quite a choice for seating. There were some slick cushioned booths in retro green, down the center. The Howard Johnson's orange booths were along the sides.  

Oyster Shucking Bar
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We also could have sat at the rounded bar, where a friendly fellow soon arrived, in a black apron and plastic gloves. He said the place would be busy with a church crowd by 1.

Hushpuppies
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We chose an orange booth and our young server arrived promptly, with a bowl of complimentary hushpuppies. The jalapeno sauce was yummy. We asked Fernanda about the age of the restaurant. She thought it had been here 30 years... which meant the Parlour is a lot older than her. 

Catfish Plate
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Don got the "light" catfish plate with 3 sides. The creamy cole slaw, mashed potatoes and green beans (with bacon) were all good. The catfish was surprisingly good. We did not sample any sturgeon... but we liked the sign behind Don.

Salmon Salad with Strawberry Vinaigrette  
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I went healthy, because we were on day one of a 3+ week road trip. The salmon was fresh off the grill and the greens were a nice crispy mix. Don made sure to capture those fine checkered floors, along with my food.

This was a quick dining adventure, but a nice one. The  staff was friendly and the food and decor was down-home-cozy-good. 

Yay! I finally checked this place off my list, after all these years!