By The Record
October 25, 2012 12:00 AM
We were in the mood for some lip-smackin' soul food. We'd seen a flier for Catfish N Ribs a long time ago but didn't know where it was. Driving along West Lane south toward March on a recent Friday night, we saw the restaurant's sign and felt our taste buds dance.
We exited our car and were instantly greeted with a smell of fresh barbecue on the grill in the parking lot.
The restaurant is tucked in a strip mall. It's a little small, but welcoming, with ample seating and photos of jazz and blues greats on the walls. Jazz played softly.
Catfish N Ribs
****
Where: 1101 E. March Lane, Stockton
Information: (209) 951-3474; catfishnribs.com
Type of food: Southern/American
Parking: lot
Price: moderate
The menu, above the ordering counter, is pretty vast for the size of the place, with main courses such as tri-tip, catfish, brisket, chicken, frog legs and ribs, both pork and beef.
Adventurous as we are, we skipped the frog legs this time. One of us decided to judge this place by the barbecue and went with the beef ribs meal ($11), which comes with two sides. With items such as mean greens, yams, onion rings, macaroni and cheese, and even spaghetti, it was hard to choose two. We went with baked beans and a garden salad with Italian dressing, and we added a side of sweet potato fries. Other a la carte items include hush puppies, fried pickles, wings and raviolis.
Seafood dinners were just as abundant in variety: snapper, tilapia, shrimp, oysters and more. We ordered the fried catfish ($9), which comes with French fries and coleslaw. Nearly all orders come with sliced bread. For dessert, we opted to share a wedge of their homemade pudding pound cake.
While seated and waiting for our food, we could hear the cooks in the small kitchen and could see the grill master at work outside. This place cooks pretty much everything fresh to order.
When the food came, it was a full spread. The portions were plentiful.
The thick cuts of catfish, about five chunks, had a cornmeal batter that was golden, not too thick or overly spiced in a way that would overpower the flavor of the moist fish. The fries were crinkle cut, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Now, we are picky about our coleslaw and hate it when it's thick and smothered in mayonnaise, but Catfish N Ribs' was light and refreshing. It was a great palate cleanser, but not necessarily something to stand on its own.
We were pleasantly surprised by the thickness, amount and size of the beef ribs. This place did not skimp for the price. The smoked taste of the meat mixed with the sweet and spicy barbecue sauce was mouth watering and made self control and pacing hard. The baked beans had a hint of pumpkin, which felt perfect for this time of year and a nice touch. The sweet potato fries were cooked perfectly and tasted great. The salad was a typical garden salad with crisp iceberg lettuce, shredded carrots and cabbage, and the Italian dressing on the side was tangy and flavorful.
We had gone back to order a side of mean greens and didn't get them. But we had so much food, we completely forgot we had ordered it.
It was a busy night for takeout, but there was only one other table of guests. The friendly staff are mostly family, and the owner, who was grilling, made sure to stop by our table and share his story of making his family restaurant dream come true.
There was so much food leftover that we had to box it up. At home later, we tried the homemade pound cake, which had a light icing drizzled over it. There was a slight burnt taste on the outer crust, which was nice. The cake was thick and moist, and paired well with the milk we washed it down with.
A day later, we heated the food in the microwave and the ribs still tasted as good as the first bite in the restaurant.
We are definitely going back, whether it be dine-in or takeout.
Questions? Comments? Contact LENS Editor Robin Nichols at (209) 546-8274 or rnichols@recordnet.com.
