Good Fried Fish Restaurant
 

My husband and I lived in Ohio where they had restaurants that served Friday fried fish dinners. Is there anyplace near The Villages that have a good fried fish dinner that you don't pay a fortune for? We would appreciate any recommendations.

We often visit Athens NY Restaurant in SS. They carry over a Rochester, NY tradition of Fried Haddock on Friday nights.

Skip

There's Sam St John's in the Spruce Creek shopping area off 441. I had two very good meals there, and the prices were good. Lots of fried fish items, and excellent cheese grits.

I agree with Skip. There is nothing like the fish fry from Athens. Being from Rochester we are very picky about our fish fry and eating at Athens is like eating at home (plus they have Zweigles Hots).

Lighthouse at Sumter Landing - their haddock is excellent and reasonably priced. And you can actually get in there now that snowbirds are gone.

Me too....can't beat a Rochester Fish Fry on Friday nights. And, Zweigle's Hot Dogs are the best (Athens will sell them to you buy the package)!!!

And beef on weck!

That's a Buffalo thing, not Rochester. LOL.

Our favorite for fish is Gator Joes! Their fish basket is their number one seller. About $10. Cracker Barrell also has a good fish fry on Friday. You choose cod or catfish. Around $10

Hacianda's on Fridays has great fresh fish and chips

You may have to try several to find one that meets your particular idea of good fried fish. I'm from Michigan originally, where we use a flour batter when deep-frying seafood. I've spent the last 16+ years on North Carolina, where the batter is based on corn meal (and is referred to as "Calabash style"). We had a local restaurant that served "New England Style", which uses bread crumbs. I've also had deep-fried fish that used Panko-style bread crumbs. And then you've got the issue of fresh-water vs. salt-water fish. In Michigan, we mostly did fresh-water fish, like perch or walleye. In the Carolinas, it's mostly salt-water, like cod, flounder, grouper and the like.

I have tried The Lighthouse and both the wife and I liked it (other than there being too much food per serving; we'll be splitting dinners in the future!). Since we've only bought a house there and not yet moved to TV, we haven't tried the others recommended. I am looking forward to trying them all, though!

You may not find anything exactly like you had "back home". But if you're like me, you'll probably find lots of new things to like. I don't know if I've found too many types of deep-fried seafood that I didn't like! Like I tell my friends when they ask if I like sushi, "You bet!, At least, if you batter-dip it and deep fry it!"

We have had great fish in all those places mentioned above. My favorite is SAMs St. John's Seafood on 441 across from Walmart. It's in a strip shopping center -easy to miss unless you know where to look! Everything there is wonderful and the cheese grits and cole slaw are both exceptional! We eat lots of wood-grilled fish, and their grilled Aladkan pollack ( wild-caught) is exceptional. Their fried fish is also heavenly, but diet steers me to the grilled for day in and day out.

We always enjoy the fish fry at Bonifay...any day of the week! Actually, you get so much that my husband and I have shared one dinner and just ordered an extra side of steamed veggies. Delicious!

Actually the fried whitefish sandwich at Cane garden is exceptional. It is a huge piece of fish on a roll. I never eat the roll as the piece of fish is so huge. It reminds me of what you get at the Lighthouse. Batter fried. No fishy flavor at all.

I agree with Cane Garden!
 

I agree with you jnieman. That Whitefish Sandwich at Cane Garden is absolutely AWESOME and HUGE! My wife and I share this meal and we are both full when done. We have ordered it 3 times now and it is consistently huge and tastes GREAT! Now you got me wanting one! Looks like a trip to Cane Garden is in order!