Aunt Catfish’s

This restaurant has the most awesome Sunday Brunch! Great selection of delicious food, and very friendly service, makes this a #1 choice when visiting Daytona Beach.

It’s hard not to love this place (with the exception of the long wait). The hot fixens and salad bar are so good. It really does not matter what you ‘order’ as your meal. We typically get the most affordable thing on the menu just to enjoy all the extra’s. And then take most of our meal home. The cinnamon rolls are to die for. They make a great cocktail– just hate drinking it out out a mason jar. Do call ahead seating to avoid even longer lines.

Sunday Brunch is the best in town! Bring an appetite and tell them Cousin Tim referred you.

Called ahead for seating. Waited about 20 min while others were told a 45 minutes wait by the hostess while we waited. Food was good but nothing spectacular. Best part is the salad bar, but while we were there the line to get to the small salad bar area was quite long. Granted it was Bike Week in Daytona so I understand it is a peak time for them so I wasn’t terribly upset. I would have been satisfied if I had only eaten the salad bar offerings. Service was friendly and attentive. Again, it was a busy time so out server had several parties he was tending to, but he was apologetic for a couple short delays we had.

I liked coming here for the all you can eat brunch! We lucked out and got a table with a view of the river.
If you’ve ever been on a cruise, this is basically what the brunch buffet is like. The omelet and pancake station is super fun. I enjoyed their cinnamon rolls and fried catfish immensely. I will definitely be taking my out of town relatives here for a treat.
The décor of the place is cute.
My primary complaint is the price, and how BUSY it is. Thus, do not go here if you’re ‘hangry’ — go for all the overall experience of a buffet and the ‘southern’ breakfast food.

When my father in law suggested we drive an hour and a half to just go have lunch, I really thought he was crazy. It took 2 hours! We got here just in time to have the Blue Jeans Sunday Brunch. The drive was well worth it. The food was hot and delicious. For $ 16.99, you get an all you can eat buffet that includes made to order omelets and pancakes, lots of breakfast meats including catfish, an amazing salad bar, several soups, a good selection of desserts and some of the most amazing cinnamon rolls I have ever had.

3 stars for the food 4 stars for staff, view and effort. Definitely beats the rest of burger joints in the area. I had the fish sandwich and my bf had the blackened snapper which was poorly seasoned and bland. Salad bar didn’t look appetizing. Best part of the meal was the chowder. Again, if you’re tired of the bar food, I suggest you see for yourself.

Aunt Catfish is a restaurant that exudes a laid back and beachy vibe.
They get quite busy especially for the Sunday Brunch. But, after you hit the salad bar you will understand why. The Salad bar is packed with every veggie, topping, dressing you can imagine. They even have baked beans, hush puppies and cinnamon rolls. Cinnamon rolls are everywhere at this place, and they are good too. If you want to order a dish, I recommend the fish sandwich. It’s so fresh, moist and ready to fall apart in your mouth.
The service is fast and friendly. Everyone is genuinely nice and helpful.
There’s also outdoor seating where you can enjoy the sweet breeze.

I was in the mood for terrible food (you know, fried seafood in Florida, mass-​produced bake potatoes, etc.) and I made the mistake of coming here. I have not been here in several years, so I must have forgotten what it was like.
Food was mediocre and delivered cold. Service was terrible. Manager delivered warmer food and didn’t apologize. I don’t know why everyone flocks here. Oh wait, I do know why. It’s because the Daytona Beach area only has like 4 good restaurants and you get bored and then try this place. Also the snow birds seem to love mediocre fried seafood.

Good service at a busy time. We all know how challenging it can be when a restaurant is busy. We came here on Daytona 500 week. The place was hopping and the food and service were very good. We had a great meal of Tilapia and Gator bites.

After a year of being told I must eat here I went. I’ve had better.
The salad bar is what everyone raves about. I didnt see the big deal (apart from the plethora of bacon, which was nice) I can get the exact same salad from Ruby Tuesdays, even the peas if I want.
The food was expensive. The lighting was lacking. The service was s.l.o.w but very kind to us. The taste of the food was ok, nothing to write home about. The price is really what did me in. Neither of us ordered fish since the price was literally out of our budget and we went in the hopes of having some fresh fish… we were let down. There’s a sides station with corn bread and beans … both were very over cooked.
We wont go back, not when there’s many options in the area to pick from.

OMG I can’t believe this place! Sooooo good! I live here and I didn’t even know that this GYM existed! Never going anywhere else after!

Aunt Catfish’s looked like it had promise from the moment we drove by. A seafood place right on the causeway is almost always a good idea.
It was recommended by our hotel.
It was recommended by tons of Unilocalers.
There is a reason for this:
It is, for the price, one of the best values for beach seafood that we’ve ever enjoyed, with great food and wonderful service.
We won’t ever go back without asking for «cousin» Jeff.
With every meal, you get access to the «salad bar,» which is really more of a full meal bar that includes hot and cold items, including homemade cheese grits, cole slaw, cornbread and even homemade croutons. After eating this, you don’t even need the meal-​but you should eat it anyway. The blackened catfish is so flavorful!
And for a reason that I don’t understand, but can’t fault, every meal is served with a cinnamon roll. I can’t tell you how it tastes because I am too full to eat it, but it smells amazing and I can’t wait to have it for breakfast.
So, go here when visiting Daytona. Don’t forget, ask for Jeff. He made our Valentine’s Day dinner one that we’ll always remember.

One of the best places around! I have been here twice and all I can say the food is great. The restaurant itself overlooks the intercoastal south of Daytona in Port Orange. If you come here, you have to have their salad bar with whatever you order. It has a huge selection of not only salad but cornbread, grits, baked beans, etc. They also have all homemade dressings. In addition to the salad bar, you must try the salt and pepper catfish they are known for, they are delicious. If you don’t like fish, they have a wide variety of other options. I will definitely be back and recommend this restuarant to anyone that likes great food with a good view.

Never had a bad experience here! It’s standard Southern seafood — although my BF who doesn’t eat seafood has had good luck with their ribs. I usually get some combo platter, tonight I got sea scallops and coconut shrimp (4 each) with a side item, hush puppy, AND a cinnamon roll. You also get their salad bar which is delicious and has quite a lot of choices including some hot items like cinnamon apples and cheese grits. I enjoy their sangria and they serve their beers in mason jars for that Southern touch. We have had longish waits before so make sure you come prepared but if you’re here at sunset you can watch it set on the bay which is beautiful. Our server tonight was awesome and gave us cinnamon rolls to take home for free — I have a feeling this might be a standard thing for dining that ends 30 minutes or less before closing to get rid of extra but was still a nice touch!

We accidentally found this place looking for another restaurant on the water while we were visiting the Daytona area. What a great mistake! Now there are times where we will make the drive from Orlando to visit Aunt Catfish! It’s that delish!
This is a country seafood place with lots of charm and one of the BEST salad bars I’ve ever seen! They have a wide variety of seafood from your general shrimp, fish and lobster going all the way to shark and gator tail!
The salad bar has a wide variety of vegetables and salads. Most of the dressings are house made.
In addition to your sides that come with the meal, you get access to the hot bar. There they have unlimited cheese grits, baked cinnamon apples, 2 types of coleslaw and baked beans. There is also corn bread.
The seafood is offered from grilled, to fried and more. I always have the catfish served Carolina style. No worries for those who don’t care for seafood, they offer some «land» options too!
The servers call their selves cousins and everyone is super nice. One day, I hope to have room to try what looks to be amazing desserts but so far, no luck!

Went on a Thursday night around 7:30pm and the place was really busy! Sat at the bar, had a glass of wine (Riesling) and the lobster special (2 lobster tails, 2 sides, hush puppy and cinnamon roll for $ 13.99). The bartender was really attentive and suggested to add the salad bar. That alone was a meal in itself. It was great, lots of delicious options. I really liked the cucumber salad, grits, fresh greens and creamy balsamic dressing. I didn’t sample much as there were wayyy too many choices and I didn’t want to get too full as I was looking forward to my entrée.
The entrée was very good, the lobster was succulent and had a flavorful seasoning. The cinnamon roll and the hush puppy were awesome!
All in all I would definitely return. The price was very reasonable for the portions and the food was very good quality. The menu does have alot of fried items as others reviewers mentioned, but there are many good choices that are not fried

Oh what can I say about this lovely place! We were in a rush to get some good fried food and high tail it back to beachside Daytona for a wedding when my friend decided to come here. The parking situation was awful, seriously cramped spaces. Plus there was a line. I was not in the mood.
We sat at the bar since it was seat yourself. The bartender never greeted us, never even made eye contact. Offended, we got up and asked to be sat at a table since the bartender had nothing for us. In about 10 minutes, we were.
One of our cousins took our order, they say everyone is your cousin here. She was super friendly and I cannot recall her name. Our view from the table was gorgeous. Just water and sunlight. So peaceful. I wish we could have sat outside but it was full.
I opted for the catfish sandwich and I had water to drink. The cinnamon roll on the side was tasty but super weird. I’ve never seen that combination before. I asked for hot sauce and more tartar sauce but I had wolfed it down by the time my cousin brought more tartar sauce. The catfish was well seasoned and tender. Very good. The potato salad was OK, it tasted like store bought potato salad though. I loved the pickles on the side.
Very enjoyable experience. I’d love to come back and try some cocktails next time.

Oh wow! It’s cute and touristy without being too touristy. We went on a rainy Wednesday night, kind of early, so we caught the early bird crowd. I was a bit miffed that even though I called ahead 40 minutes ago when we left our house, we still had to wait 25 minutes (what’s the point of calling ahead I said?), but then I found out if we had just showed up it was an hour wait, so yes, CALL AHEAD SEATING. Do it, you’ll be glad you did.
Definitely a different experience from a regular restaurant, the wait staff are all «cousins» and super nice. Our waitress explained how everything worked and we ended up ordering the pirate 3-​item platters. I got coconut shrimp, grilled scallops, and our waitress recommended the salt and pepper catfish bites. Dad got a lobster tail, dijon scallops, and fried oysters. These both came with unlimited trips to the hot bar and the salad bar, well worth it.
The hot bar was ²⁄₃ hot and ¹⁄₃ coleslaw, so warm bar? Baked beans which were more to the vinegar than the sweet molasses side (not a bad thing), cheese grits (I still can’t figure out the hype), baked cinnamon apples (didn’t get to those), cornbread (crusty but moist and slightly sweet) traditional sweet creamy coleslaw and a dutch coleslaw that had poppy seeds and an interesting tangy vinegar not-​creamy sauce (really good, had seconds).
The salad bar has your standard green salad stuff with a bunch of cold sides. I fell in love with pickled watermelon rind, I went back for seconds. Also, REAL BACON BITS on the salad bar.
As for the actual menu food, I always like to test seafood places on their clam chowder and I’m sad to say that was really the low note for the night. It tasted like a cream of potato soup with old potatoes (when they get sweet) and only had 2 (although super large and tender) chunks of clam. Didn’t taste like it was made with clam broth at all, had very little flavor besides sweet. Waitress tried to convince me to get the «flam» chowder which was half of their clam chowder mixed with fish stew, so maybe that’s what it needs to get that good briny, salty, sea taste.
Each plate comes with a tasty little hushpuppy, a cinnamon roll (ended up being breakfast the next day for me) and a side. I got a baked potato which comes with all the fixings. Coconut shrimp were good, scallops were a bit over seasoned with salt but cooked perfectly, and then the catfish nuggets. I’ve had catfish a handful of times, never impressed. Apparently I never had GOOD catfish. Farm raised, lightly battered, and seasoned perfectly. Not muddy or fishy or slimy or oily at all. So amazing. They made me a catfish fan!
Dad inhaled all of his fried oysters, said they were super tender and perfectly cooked. The dijon scallops were little bites broiled in a pool of dijon sauce and were good but not worth getting again, lobster tail was cooked very well.
We inquired about the Sunday brunch and after we heard the food extravaganza that goes on those mornings, we know we’ll be back!

Hooray! We finally got to enjoy this place tonight! About a year ago, my husband and I tried to come here for dinner only to find out that it was over an hour wait (rookie mistake). So this time, we decided to call ahead (they do not take reservations) and put our name in to avoid the rush. That worked perfectly. We called at 7, showed up around 8, and were seated within about 5 minutes. They had already passed our name but were nice about it and seemed to have no issues. We got a table right by the water.
One of the things that stands out about Aunt Catfish’s, other than it’s obvious popularity, is how they pride themselves on all of their homemade goodies! From salad dressings to desserts to cinnamon rolls, it’s clear that that is something important to them and we really appreciated and reaped the benefits of that during our meal!
Our server, Melissa, was great and really attentive to us. She helped us with recommendations and any questions we had and kept our mason jars full of our drinks! I got the grouper (catch of the day) grilled with lemon pepper seasoning, island style (with peppers and garlic) and my husband had the fried catfish and fried clam strips (options on a pick 2 special). Both meals came with the salad bar and fish camp fixin’s bar. I have never seen a salad bar with such a line! Lots of fresh options to choose from, plus a ton of home made dressings. The fish camp bar features cornbread, cinnamon apples, cheese grits, etc if you’re into that.
Our meals also came with a cinnamon roll each, and they were THE BEST we have ever had. I even had to admit they were better than the ones I make from scratch. So unbelievably light and delicious, they practically melted in my mouth! I would take 12 home if I could (and maybe I could have… should have asked!). We spent more on this meal than we normally would going to dinner, but it was fresh fish and so delicious. You will NOT go home hungry or dissatisfied! Totally worth the trip!