Sissy’s Southern Kitchen and Bar serves very good fried chicken, which is why we went there Friday night, for a belated birthday dinner.Turned out the fried catfish is what rocked our world.
My date forgot to make a reservation, so we sat at the bar, which offered full service.
I ordered the two-piece chicken dinner, which comes with the most buttery, delicious mashed potatoes and gravy I can imagine. The roll-your-eyes kind. You can order coleslaw instead of mashed potatoes, and nothing against cabbage, but I must urge you to order the potatoes.
My date ordered the catfish dinner, and even though I was there for birthday fried chicken, I had plate envy. This fish rivals a friend’s homemade catfish, which he says is the best in the world. And I have to admit it is all that. Better than the fish I fry at home. The fish tastes clean and is firm and moist under perfectly crisped and seasoned batter.
Owner Lisa Garza happened to be sitting next to us at the bar. She turned to us and said, “Sorry to interrupt your meal, but I have to ask, how is the fish?”
Garza told us she and her former executive chef, longtime friend Jeffery Hobbs, always disagreed about the catfish. She only wants to serve dishes that would really be served in someone’s rural southern home: “That’s why we’ll never have salmon,” she says.
Garza says the catfish that’s on the menu now reminds her of the fish her dad used to clean, batter and fry straight out of the river.
“Nobody’s daddy is gonna make tempura batter,” she says.
We also had a wonderful buttermilk pecan pie with fresh whipped cream, and our bartender was friendly and attentive.
