The Catch

Went here the other night for crawfish and boiled shrimp. Though late in the season crawfish were a little small, everything was excellent! Beer was cold, and my fiancé loved her margarita. Word of caution… The hot seasoning is no joke. Im definitely looking forward to going back soon.

FANTASTIC! The Seafood was fresh and better than some places we eat at down on the coast! Service was friendly and the place was clean. But seriously… THE FOOD! We will definitely be back!

Order and find a seat. We sat outside. Fans running not too hot even on a 90 plus day. I had shrimp salad he had the fish tacos. Food came out in a timely fashion. Tasty and well prepared. We will be back.

Firstimer here. They were pretty steady with guests at 14:30. The food was great. The food was perfectly cooked and hot, it had not been under a heat lamp. You order and they deliver it to your table. We were checked on several times during the meal. We ordered the shrimp catfish combo and would order it again. Can’t wait to try some grilled shrimp next time.

The catch gives you a lot of fish. I love how the fish tastes fresh. I love how they have a cover outside so when it rains you can still sit out and eat.

The Catch was one of the few places in Tyler to have a decent rating and not be a chain restaurant. The service was friendly and the food came out quickly ()!
I ended up getting the fried shrimp basket (which included fries and hush puppies). And while the batter on the shrimp was tasty, the fries were overly, and I mean overly seasoned.
Overall, I’d say it was good but not something to remember.

The medium heat crawfish is good enough to be the hot crawfish. I’d definitely go back for the crawfish.

I was impressed with how quickly our food came out, and it came out fresh and hot! Cheese grits were good, not great, but the seafood gumbo was excellent and had more real seafood in it than an entire red lobster. The hush puppies are solid, not fancy but cooked just right and with good flavor. Owner came around and spoke with us which I like.
Wife ordered the shrimp po boy and although they went a tad bit heavy on the sauce, the taste was on point. Prices seemed very reasonable, 2 kids menu items, 2 regular items, an extra order of puppies, 2 drinks and 2 waters = very full and $ 38 out the door. Anytime we can eat for under $ 10 per person avg I’m happy… and tonight I was grinning from ear to ear!
The Catch certainly earned my repeat business and we will be back — no doubt!

I went to get crawfish that i was craving SO bad and unfortunately I was disappointed:(there was not much spice, they were pretty over cooked, and tiny. However, the staff was very helpful and nice. I will defiantly go back to try their other food the crawfish just wasn’t for me. The drink prices are very good and they have an assortment of margaritas!

The fries are probably the unhealthiest fries to have ever existed but they’re good cause they’re salty and sweet. I wish they had sizes for the po boys because the sandwich on top of the fries and hush puppies is too much food for me. And I would have saved half for later but its messy food and would be unappetizing as left overs. The boiled crawfish is good. The corn was soggy and gross. Some of the fishes were soggy/​overcooked too. The mild could be more mild but it wasn’t overbearing. The potatoes are huge. The current price is $ 5/​lb, which is good. The people who work there are nice. Also they DO NOT deliver even though it says that they do in the info.

Scott every new restaurant in Tyler is steady and busy we will see if your alive in a year. Rowdys or rustys didn’t make it.

All I can say is wow and wow! If you like fried seafood this is a great place for you to visit. As you can see from the photos and this is the platter the portions are huge! And being a fat man myself I’m struggling to finish this. I was very impressed with the staff, they really greet you with a smile when they are taking your order and made recommendations as usual, but the speed at which they got the food to me was within minutes. I like the location because it is on the corner of a major intersection and the business signs really light it up. They have a small bar but it’s very attitude for the size of this bar and the type of clientele that they serve. And it’s rather inexpensive. So if you like a lot of fried seafood and a down-​home atmosphere, I would definitely recommend a visit to this place. Please take a chance you will not be disappointed…

My husband and I tried The Catch for the first time and before we ordered we kept wondering if it was going to be better Happy’s fish house which is our favorite place to eat seafood/​cajun. We took one bite and agreed that they are at equal level with Happy’s. Happys is just more Cajun and has variety and The Catch does great for just seafood!
We loved The Catch and tasted like home cooking; and we would return. I took away one star because it took forever for someone to come and clean even after they knew it was dirty. The cashier was even trying to find someone and would have cleaned it himself if he wasn’t swamped with orders.

Stopped in here this evening after hearing positive buzz and we were certainly not disappointed. Family of four this trip. The Catch is what Tyler has been needing for too many years to count — a fantastic, no frills restaurant serving quality food at a fair price. The atmosphere was clean and very casual. There were several TVs hanging from the ceiling if you wanted to keep up with sports.
When we arrived there was a solid line to order which normally tests my patience, but it moved very quickly and we were able to find a table just as fast. The owner greeted us immediately and helped me with the menu. Indoor or covered patio outdoor seating — we opted for indoor this trip. We ordered what amounted to 5 meals (I basically had 2 meals for my order — I tend to want to try way too much when eating at a new restaurant) and 2 draft beers. The tab was $ 44 — amazing!
Our food was delivered in 6 – 7 minutes, hot and fresh. Meal #1 for me was the gumbo and cheesy grits, both of which were superb. The gumbo had a lot of flavor but wasn’t too spicy (wife could even eat it which she liked), a couple of generous dashes of tabasco after her bites and it was ready for me. Meal #2 for me was the fried fish and shrimp basket which was excellent also. The fries were tasty to me — had good seasoning and a nice flavor — though they were not very crispy as some folks prefer (didn’t bother me and my taste buds).
Not being just a total pig, I did not finish all of my food and have some of the gumbo and grits in the fridge for a good lunch tomorrow.
Wife had the fish tacos which came with a generous amount of fresh avocado on a toasted flour tortilla and was thrilled with her meal. Kids had popcorn shrimp and white fish kids baskets and both ate their meals up without a fight!
The friendly staff impressed me to no end and we were checked on often to see if we needed anything else. We were thanked at least 3 – 4 times for coming in to eat with The Catch.
We will be returning to this gem in Tyler again very soon. Give it a try — you will be very glad you did!

Had lunch at The Catch today and it was great! Had the catfish and shrimp… fish was battered just right and the shrimp were huge! Also came with fries and hush puppies, large portions for the money. Super friendly and attentive staff. Can’t wait to go back!

Don’t care for the fast-​food counter– it’s not clear what to do when you walk in. Sit? Order?
Ordered the shrimp and Cajun tenders with house salad. The good– fried shrimp and tenders themselves were good with nice batter. The fair– salad was fine (except for warm dressing); nothing too good or too bad. The bad– ranch dressing was room temperature, fries and hush puppies were colder than room temperature– no excuse for that; half your menu is fried.
Overall I’ll go a mile down the road to Happy’s next time.
Update: I went back recently and had the cheese grits and gumbo only. They were solid so I’ve upped my review by one star.

Rating system:
5 stars — Must try. You’re really missing out if you don’t. I’m either a regular here, repeat patron, or would be if it wasn’t cost or distance prohibitive
4 stars — Highly recommended, but may have minor things that keep me from being a regular or from giving a higher rating
3 stars — Good most of the time but not great. Will only eat here if I have a particular craving, or am unable to eat at my 4 or 5 star choices
2 stars — Do not really like it but will only eat here if I have to (eating group overruled my veto)
1 star — Avoid. Save your money, time, and stomach
Came in here for lunch today after reading so many positive reviews here on Unilocal.It was packed!!! Today I ordered the regular order of fried jumbo shrimp basket and a cup of gumbo.
Gumbo — This was very tasty and one of the best gumbo’s I have had. I’m always scared to order gumbo because it is really easy to make bad gumbo. Was this homemade or premade? Sometimes it is hard to tell because there are so many restaurant suppliers now that sell decent premade soups. The shrimp and crawfish appeared to be previously frozen. However, the gumbo tasted like it had been cooked for a long time, or maybe it was made the night before, because of how the flavors melded together. The texture of the sausage also gave me the impression that it had been cooked for a long time. Time = flavor and that is the impression that I got from this gumbo. I would order again. If I could make a recommendation (again, I don’t know if this was homemade or premade) is to use fresh crawfish instead of frozen. It is definitely more labor intensive but the texture would improve tremendously. I’ll give the shrimp a pass on the frozen since I don’t think you can get baby shrimp fresh.
Fried jumbo shrimp — Oh my goodness. Perfect! One could say that anything fried would taste good. But good and great are two different things. The shrimp was great. The batter was perfectly seasoned and was crispy. The shrimp itself was plump and al dente. Don’t change a thing. Loved it and can’t wait to eat more! By the way, if anyone is curious, they have 3 sizes of shrimp baskets and I got the smallest one, which was 4 shrimp. It comes with 2 hushpuppies (perfectly fried as well) and french fries as well as tartar sauce and cocktail sauce.
French fries — Why a separate review for fries? Well because I have some criticisms. My fries, like another reviewer here also mentioned, were soggy. There was a lot of oil on them and I didn’t understand because the shrimp and hushpuppies were fried to perfection. Were the fries fried in a different fryer? Soggy, greasy fries typically means that the temperature in the oil wasn’t high enough. Or it could also mean the wrong potatoes were used (Idaho Russets fry up the best but I suspect that the problem has something to do with the cooking process rather than the potato). So I would recommend the owner look into this. I’m more than likely going to just order a different side item to try instead of fries.
Bottom line — Despite sad fries, I really liked the food here. I can’t wait to go back and get some more shrimp and gumbo. Will probably try the po boys and boiled crawfish and boiled shrimp next. And all the fish. Ok maybe I will just try everything on the menu… Highly recommend The Catch and I hope they stay in business for a long time!

Stopped in at lunch time to try this new place. Staff was great. Owner was on site, checking to make sure everyone was satisfied. Food was good and served promptly. I had the crawfish basket and clam chowder. It was very hot and fresh. Fries were on bottom and got a little soggy but overall a good experience. I learned that the «est. 1985» was when the dream begun in owners mind… not the establishment of the actual restaurant. I will return, particularly when crawfish are in season.

My family and I were impressed with our recent visit to The Catch. One at our table had the Admiral’s Platter which consists of a good sampling of catfish, oysters, shrimp, chicken, crawdads, and whitefish. I thought everything was very well cooked and very tasty. Not all has to be fried as he was able to have his shrimp grilled.
If there had been malt vinegar on the table this place would have received 5 stars. :) However, the owner did say he had it available and mentioned that they would soon have classic fish and chips on Fridays.
Bottom line, good place, good atmosphere. We will be back.
Update: Went back and the malt vinegar is now on the table… now 5 stars!

The Shrimp Poboy sandwich is delicious. The shrimp is large and get some with every bite. Plus, the fact that they have Slap Ya Mama seasoning on all the tables, will most definitely bring me back for more.