A small-town Alabama restaurant that’s been a family-owned business since the 1950s was recently recognized as one of the South’s legendary catfish cabins.
Ezell’s Fish Camp in Lavaca has garnered a reputation throughout the South for serving its fresh fried catfish filets and crispy hush puppies for decades. It’s also remained a family business, with each new generation stepping in, since the beginning.
Taking that into consideration, it’s easy to understand why Southern Living will feature it in a recent article about family-owned catfish houses throughout the South.
The beloved restaurant, opened by commercial fisherman C.A. Ezell, may have got its official start in the 1950s, but before that it was a hunting and fishing club known for having fish fries in the yard. His daughter, Mary Ann Ezell Hall, took over the business some 45 years ago, and it remains family-owned and operated today.
Mary Ann Ezell Hall runs the beloved catfish restaurant her father founded in Lavaca, Ala. (Michelle Matthews/AL.com)
Over the years, its menu, which features po’ boys, hamburger steak, stuffed crab and more in addition to its iconic catfish filets, has made dining at Ezell’s a generational tradition for many.
“Grandfathers come in [who came] here as children,” Mary Ann Ezell Hall told Southern Living of the original location. ”They brought their children, [who are now] bringing their children. They don’t want you to change anything,” she explains. “They want the same deer head in the same spot. That’s been the charm of it.”
Other restaurants to make the list include Hagy’s Catfish Hotel in Shiloh, Tenn., and Middendorf’s Seafood Restaurant in Manchac, La.
“These family-run businesses started as a way to feed people well—and affordably—with golden fried fillets,” the article states. “Good cooking with even better hospitality drew crowds.”
Ezell’s Fish Camp, located at 776 Ezell Road in Lavaca, is open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and 1 p.m. until 8 p.m. on Sundays.
Read more on Southern Living’s website.
Dining and Cooking