Catfish & Chicken: Nice Addition For Joliet Area

CREST HILL, IL — Last week, I was sitting on a stone bench outside the Will County Courthouse when one of the sheriff's deputies came up to me. Just great, I thought. What did I write now to get these guys angry at me?

Turns out, what this deputy had to say was a pleasant and unexpected response.

He appreciated my coverage with Joliet Patch, he told me. He was especially fond of my restaurant reviews, he said.

We chatted about 15 minutes, mostly talking about area restaurants, and I thanked him for his feedback. I told him that he needed to check out Catfish & Chicken, it's a fairly new fast-food restaurant at 2400 Caton Farm Road.

It's at the Caton Crest Commons in Crest Hill, which is near Plainfield Road.

I did not exactly stumble upon Catfish & Chicken by accident. Over the past several weeks, I noticed several area residents talking about the quality of food at Catfish & Chicken on social media.

Since I tend to trust the pulse of the community, I figured this place must be pretty good if so many people are recommending it.

Catfish & Chicken is a takeout restaurant. There's not a drive-thru window. You have to go inside to order, or you can call ahead.

I ordered the two-piece catfish special for $10.99. It's one of the most popular menu selections. Now, $10.99 is a little more than I try to spend when I'm grabbing lunch, but this was quite a full meal. Judging by the size of my two pieces of catfish, as you can see in my main photo, I think I got more than my money's worth.

The catfish special comes with fries and a can of soda of your choice. The dipping sauce that came with my order has a barbecue flavor.

For those of you familiar with my restaurant columns, you know that I don't review a lot of fast-food restaurants. But Catfish & Chicken is not your run-of-the-mill fast-food joint.

Besides, Catfish & Chicken is not a huge chain, either. The Crest Hill restaurant that opened this year is only the third Catfish & Chicken in Illinois. The two other locations are in Elgin and Willowbrook.

My catfish was cooked from scratch and it was fresh. There are 10 different combo meals, ranging in price from $5.99 to $10.99. The other combo meals include: Philly steak, Philly chicken, gyro sandwich, Italian beef, two hot dogs, two pizza puffs, cheeseburgers and chicken sandwiches.

My catfish from Catfish & Chicken was terrific. My portions were huge. At first, I was not sure I would be able to eat it all, but I did. I had to.

There was no way on earth I was going to let any of my catfish go to waste.

As far as the menu goes, I recommend you go with the catfish if this will be your first trip to the newer Joliet area restaurant. Catfish & Chicken is open seven days a week from 10 a.m to 10 p.m. The business phone is 815-782-7682.

To check out the entire menu, go here.