Fish City Grill has just the right bait to hook ya
Special to the Star-Telegram
THE CUISINE: Fish, with a Cajun twist
THE CONCEPT: Tarrant County's second Fish City Grill hooked a sweet spot in the new Arlington Highlands' restaurant row. The small chain's genealogy, explained on their Web site, is so complicated it will make your head hurt. Michelle's Coffee Bar and Café at Snider Plaza in Dallas spawned Shell's Oyster Bar, which spawned Half Shell's Oyster Bar & Grill, which spawned ... oh, I can't go on. Suffice to say, if you notice some similarity to Rockfish Seafood Grill, it's no coincidence. The owners parted ways a few years back with one taking Fish City Grill to upscale "neighborhood" locations.
THE FOOD: Despite its Metroplex origins, Fish City Grill is bursting with Louisiana influence, with items like po' boys, Tabasco shrimp pasta, andouille sausage and red beans and rice on the menu. The ORIGINAL!!! cream of roasted jalapeño soup, as the menu presented it, a thick chowder-type base with a smoky, hot pepper flavor, lived up to its exclamation points. Oyster nachos proved to be corn chips topped by a dollop of remoulade sauce, a fat fried oyster and fresh but not spicy salsa, a yummy combination enhanced by the flavor of good will (the restaurant offers a free sample to all new customers). Serafin's Fish Tacos, ($8.99) a pretty presentation of four generous-sized wraps (you'll need a to-go box) filled with fried catfish, tangy cabbage slaw, pico de gallo and cheese, comes with remoulade sauce for dipping and one side; go for the sweet slaw, which has an apple cider dressing rather than the usual mayo sauce. Crab cakes ($11.99), again, were generously sized, and tasted like they were all, or at least mostly, crabmeat, with little in the way of filler. They arrived at the table with waffle fries (boring) and some of that yummy slaw, rather than the menu-advertised rice pilaf and veggies, but our server promptly brought servings of both to the table with an apology. Our dining companion who ordered an oyster po' boy ($6.99) offered a criticism that was actually a compliment: "There's too much bread in between me and my oysters."
THE ATMOSPHERE: Smallish, bustling dining room with an upscale-casual ambience. A small bar to one side offers a comfortable place to wait to be seated. Eager-to-please servers wear T-shirts with sayings like "If you're drinking to forget, please pay in advance."
YOU SHOULD KNOW: There's a no-reservations and no-call-ahead policy, and you can expect to experience a wait before being seated on weekend evenings. When you order, be sure to designate the sides you want or you might end up with a surprise on your plate. The company has a First Tuesday program in all their restaurants: On the first Tuesday of each month, 15 percent of the day's proceeds goes to a local charity, the charity changing each month.
DETAILS: Open 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday; 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday-Thursday; 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday-Saturday. Major credit cards accepted. Full bar. No smoking. Wheelchair-accessible.
Fish City Grill
3900 Arlington Highlands Blvd.
Arlington
817-465-0001
