The Catfish Cafe

"I ate here for lunch on Valentine’s Day with my Grandma and cousin. We all liked the food. It looked clean inside. It’s smaller, but it’s in Buffalo, MO. Lots of menu options. They had a kids menu for my 2 year old daughter. I definitely will go back when I go through Buffalo again."

"Came in not expecting much found a great selection of food and went with a classic country fried steak. Boy was I NOT disappointed this place is great, the food was hot and served fast and delicious the waiter was kind and refilled my drink before I had to ask. Will be back again."

"We were out for a Saturday afternoon country drive and Buffalo called us to a late lunch. I checked the reviews and we settled on The Catfish Cafe, as both of us appreciate good catfish. Unfortunately, we were to be disappointed. I should have gone with my first instinct and found another place when I pulled up and saw this Cafe was attached to a gas station. My experiences show about 90% below average quality of food and preparation in these establishments with about an even chance of good service. We rolled the dice anyway and went in. Another couple went in just ahead of us and said the food was good - so we were encouraged. The four of us stood just inside the entrance for a few minutes waiting to be seated. The place was fairly busy at about 3/4 capacity. It struck me that the vast majority of the patrons were elderly, as were the couple who had provided us the good food recommendation. I don't have anything against the elderly - I'm elderly. But occasionally, good is a matter of perspective over a cheese sandwich alone at home. The other glaring reality was just how plain this Cafe is. Zero personality. About usual for a gas station add on that shares restrooms. We waited a few more minutes after the couple ahead of us were seated for a waitress to collect us and get us seated. She had menus, silverware, and took our drink orders immediately. She was back with our sweet tea within two minutes, ready to take our orders, but we needed more time. The menu was impressive. A wide range of appetizers, salads, burgers, steaks, fish, and chicken dishes with many sides. I was tempted to get a ribeye with a loaded baked potato, but I had to try the catfish. It's "The Catfish Cafe" after all. The waitress was back a few minutes later and we ordered. She had the four piece chicken strip dinner with fries and slaw. The "farm raised" sidenote in the menu discouraged her catfish selection. I had the 5 piece catfish dinner with the same sides. The food was out to us inside eight minutes. It looked good. Unfortunately, it was all downhill from there. Her chicken was rubbery. It looked like the strips had been lightly battered and deep fried, then placed under cover on a steam table for some time - making the crust soggy and ruining the flavor. She had one bite and that was all. My first piece of catfish was OK but not memorable. The next three filets were muddy tasting. Not good. I saw enough brown flesh on the last piece to leave it alone. The slaw and fries were OK. She didn't care for the tea and didn't drink past the first taste. I was thirsty, so drank about half of mine and needed to wash away the muddy flavor of the fish. For what we ordered, a Long John Silver's would have been an improvement over this Cafe. The initial wait to be seated plus another wait of more than 10 minutes for the check after we were finished killed the service rating. There were several empty, clean tables when we arrived. The waitress was pleasant but curt. She did come by once during the meal to check on us. I could tell her heart just wasn't into her job. I tipped 20% anyway. The food quality wasn't her fault."

"This was the first time that we have eaten here. We'll start off by saying that the staff are super nice. The dining room seems very clean. There is a significant problem with flies though. While my son and I were trying to eat, we were constantly having to shoo flies away from our food. The tomato relish was really good! I think it is basically like a sweet-pickled green tomato. Very tasty! The coleslaw was really good. The fries were very good. We got an appetizer of fried dill pickles and they also were very good. The catfish? I can say I've definitely had better, as well as worse. For a farm-raised catfish, it really has a fishy, muddy taste to it. Not all pieces were that way, but enough to make it undesirable. The coating was really good, seasoned well. Not very spicy though. They have a really nice looking menu. That being said, I will go back and try other things on the menu, just not the catfish again. Price was fair."

"What a treasure hidden in Buffalo, MO. Worth taking the road less traveled to enjoy this local cuisine. Food was heavenly, reasonably priced. Waitress was exceptionally friendly, and cooks and kitchen staff served food quickly even though it was busy. Even the local folks we're friendly. We felt so welcome. Highly recommend this place and hope to visit again."