Issue date: 4/18/08 Section: ARTS & LIFE

Media Credit: Chase Martinez Catfish King Family Restaurant is located on 2220 W. University Dr.

We expected the food at Catfish King to have a special homegrown taste, but this particular chicken and seafood establishment turned out not to be such a great catch.

The Southern-style restaurant at 2220 W. University Dr. appears to have seen a lot of things in its many years in Denton, which deceived us into thinking we might be stumbling into a secret magical place.

Not quite.

The old-timey wooden walls and decor were cute at first, but it scared us to think how it wouldn't take much for the whole place to burst into flames.

It also seemed like there was an inch-thick residue of frying grease covering every surface of the walls - just what we wanted to see before dinnertime.

We made our way to the front to place our orders, and the basic menu made decision-making an easy process.

Brooke decided to see what made the signature dish worthy of a crown. The hand-battered fried catfish was tender on the inside and perfectly crispy on the outside, just like what she ate growing up.

Despite the tasty entree, the sides of hush puppies and seasoned fries weren't impressive and tasted like something she could've purchased in the frozen foods section.

Several of the menu options include a trip to the salad bar. Even though we weren't sure how long the lettuce had been sitting out in the open, and there were limited dressing options, we appreciated the nice deviation from the cornucopia of fried foods on the menu.

Another disappointment arrived in the cheese sticks, which, despite what it says on the menu, were not served with marinara sauce. We're usually not the type to leave food on our plates, but the soggy fried cheese lacked adequate breading and didn't make us want to eat the rest.

Shaina's fried shrimp plate came out of the kitchen looking like a lot of food, when in fact the 1/4 pound of shrimp is really not much at all. After consuming practically the whole basket within 10 minutes, this became apparent.

The shrimp in the basket that sat on top of the mediocre fries was only a step above Long John Silvers, but probably twice the price.

While the prices on the menu sounded reasonable enough, the portion sizes turned out to be less than satisfying all around, and that's not good for college students like us.

The service wasn't anything to brag about either, but that might be because there was minimal interaction between customer and employee.

A restaurant should make you feel welcome and wanted, and unfortunately at this place, we were the ones they threw back.

At the end of the night, this restaurant didn't impress us, but if Catfish King is reeling you in, it is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday.

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