The 10 Best Chain Restaurant Fried Fish Baskets You Need To Try

Fried fish baskets are a one-dish refutation of the idea that good plates need to be colorful. Golden-brown fish, golden-brown fries, dark brown hush puppies, white tartar sauce, white coleslaw — you're not exactly eating the rainbow, here. Yet a fried fish basket is one of the great American traditions. From the Atlantic to the Great Lakes to the Pacific and every river and lake in between, people in the United States love fried fish. We want to celebrate the magic that happens to fried fish baskets when you add another American specialty: the chain restaurant.

Yes, chain restaurants can do fried fish well. Not everyone has the luxury of living near a coast or river, scoping out where the local fishers eat after their early-morning expeditions. That's where chain restaurants come in — sometimes, you just need to hack the menu at Long John Silver's. Here are our favorite fried fish baskets that you could conceivably enjoy in lots of places.

Founded in Houston in 1967, Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen has since expanded to eight states. With a fried menu like this, it's not hard to see why. The fried fish here is catfish, and one Redditor said, "I went in Houston and had some of the best fish I've had in a while." Catfish is a meaty whitefish with its own delightful tang. It's fish that will neither overpower the flavor of the breading nor have its natural fish flavor subsumed by seasoning. In short, it's perfect frying fish. If you've never known the joys of fried catfish, see if you have Pappadeaux near you.

Absolutely crucial to the fried catfish experience is the kind of exterior you can hear — the crispy factor is there at Pappadeaux, as one diner on YouTube proved with a fork-scraping test on camera. Sides are important for a fried fish plate, too, and Pappadeaux loads fish plates up with flavorful french fries. It's a pretty unbeatable seafood meal.

It's hard to imagine going to Popeyes and ordering anything but chicken. The seafood at Popeyes is the real deal, though. The fried shrimp tackle box has a totally unique flavor, with the sweetness of the crustaceans begging to be dipped in some Mardi Gras Mustard. When Lent rolls around in the spring? The flounder sandwich has crispy breading and tasty seasoning blend, and is absolutely worth taking a break from your usual leg and thigh combo. It's one of the best fast food fish sandwiches around.

The thing about seafood at Popeyes is that it still has that signature Popeyes zest on the breading. Crispy, crunchy, and don't even get us started on the flavor — and instead of chicken in your bite, it's seafood. Now that's a treat. One key ingredient here is beef tallow. Many Popeyes give their fried foods a beef tallow bath, which lends extra umami flavor to each bite — there's almost nothing like biting into a perfectly spiced, crunchy piece of Popeyes fish?  

Someone tell the Southern United States to move over. The Midwest knows how to throw a fish fry, too. Ask a resident for the most quintessential Midwest dishes, and fried fish will be up there. Perhaps the most Midwestern of all fast food chains, Culver's has some of the tastier fried fish around. You can get a plate with fries, coleslaw, and a dinner roll. You can also get a sandwich with lettuce, shredded cheddar cheese, and tartar sauce on Culver's pillowy soft buns. Delicious. Even better? Culver's fish is North Atlantic cod, a marvelous whitefish that lends itself well to frying. Not many fast food joints use North Atlantic cod, but Culver's batters and fries the whitefish to perfection.

Cod might not be many chain restaurants' fish of choice, but it's a beautiful fish. Cod is traditional in British fish and chips, and has a meaty texture that's perfect for frying. One reassuring thing about Culver's fish is that the pieces aren't mysteriously geometric shapes. No uncanny square patties or too-uniform sticks here. The batter is a lot like beer batter. As one Redditor said, Culver's fish breading "... is very crispy and it's hand battered."

If your first association with Bonefish Grill is grilled items ... that's understandable. However, the fish and chips are good here, too. It's a big portion of flaky fish, the batter is crispy, and fries are crunchy. Dipping it all in tartar sauce, what more could you ask for? This is a restaurant that knows what to do with seafood, and the quality doesn't change just because the cooking medium is oil rather than a grill fire.

The fillets at Bonefish Grill are battered and fried, resulting in a tasty layer of crispiness before you get to the meat. YouTuber Lunchtime Review, audibly crunching through a bite, praised the slightly oily flavor of the fried fish. He also noted that the fish itself is not seasoned, and most of the flavor comes from the batter. Still, the fish is flaky and sweet, and sometimes that's exactly what you need from a whitefish. If you've never tried a fried item from Bonefish Grill, maybe it's time to switch things up.

Yes, Texas Roadhouse is home to some of the best cuts of steak a chain restaurant has to offer. We love our medium rare ribeyes, but not every night can be steak night. Luckily, Texas Roadhouse has an incredible fried catfish plate, served with farm-raised catfish in the United States. One enthusiastic reviewer on TikTok compared it to a grandmother's home-cooked plate, which is about as high of praise as a dish can get. Catholics, mark this one down for date nights during Lent.

The catfish plate comes served with a choice of two sides, meaning you're able to get steakhouse sides with a fish dinner. Go ahead, grab a buttery baked potato and Texas red chili to fill out your fried fish plate. That fried catfish is bold and flavorful enough to stand up to any side item. One person on Reddit said, "Texas Roadhouse catfish is really good ... every single time I go to Texas Roadhouse I get the catfish." It speaks well of a dish if someone gives it a shoutout and says it's their regular order. Obviously, the beef here is delicious, but the fried fish might be underrated at Texas Roadhouse.

With a tasty fried batter covering Alaskan pollock, Long John Silver's makes it onto our list — this chain is ubiquitous for a reason. Besides conjuring up memories of Tim Curry in "Muppet Treasure Island," the fast food joint makes a good fish basket. The pollock is flaky and sweet, and the batter is nice and crispy. One person on Reddit recommended slathering your Long John Silver's in malt vinegar: "Love me some Long Johns fish with malt vinegar." We couldn't agree more. Malt vinegar is one of the best ways to upgrade your fish basket. 

Sidebar: It's not just tasty fish that merits Long John Silver's inclusion. The hush puppies are especially beloved, with one Redditor claiming that they "transcend time and space." We mention this here, because hush puppies are a total classic side to a fried fish basket. It's frankly astonishing that more fryer-forward fast food restaurants haven't started serving hush puppies. Maybe everyone just knows that competing with Long John Silver's is a fool's errand. 

This Chicago-based chain hangs its hat on two things: fried chicken and fish, and pickle soda. The latter might engender some skepticism, we understand, but some fried fish and a pickle soda is a truly unbeatable combination. The fish is mild whitefish with light, crispy batter, and when you add that tang from the pickle soda? Oh yeah, that's the stuff. Or "killer," as one person on Reddit called the combination: "It's amazing. It's like a less intense version of drinking pickle juice out of a jar, but it's carbonated. With that fish and tartar sauce, it's killer." There's also a full bar, if you want to try pickle soda cocktails. Just be forewarned that too many pickle soda cocktails frequently leads to more baskets of fish ordered. 

That's not all, though. The most quintessential side for fried fish, the hush puppy, gets an upgrade here with cream cheese, bits of ham hock, and diced scallions included in the cornmeal batter. A hush puppy doesn't require all of those flourishes, but the depth of flavor is more than welcome. A truly great fried fish meal has to come through with the hush puppies, too, and Parson's stands apart. 

This South Carolina chain specializes in country cooking. Those two attributes should be enough to signal that good fried fish awaits here. Lizard's Thicket has fried catfish seasoned with a propriety blend that's been passed down through generations of Lizard's Thicket owners. Any time a part of the cooking process has been handed down, you can bet you're in for a treat. Crunch into a piece of catfish here and you'll start to feel right at home.

There's just something about being in South Carolina that makes you crave a fried fish basket. It's a state known for its culinary achievements, and that means you have an opportunity to upgrade the sides on your fish basket. Standard sides like hushpuppies and fries are available at Lizard's Thicket, sure, but don't cheat yourself. If you're in the lowcountry, eat like you're in the lowcountry. Fried okra, rice and gravy, and fresh collards are just some of the side order options here. Every side goes great with catfish, too.

Another delightfully-named fast food chain specializing in fish, Captain D's is making a comeback in 2025. And it has a few choices when it comes to fish baskets — they're all good. You can get whitefish fillets dipped in batter and fried, and you can get breaded catfish. Or opt for Southern-style whitefish, which is breaded. The sky's the limit — or should we say the ocean's the limit? Either way, what's important is taste, and Captain D's has that down. Throw in a couple of extra malt vinegar packets, and you've got a tasty fish fry to go.

If you want a special treat for yourself — not that a fried fish basket isn't already a special treat — many people on Reddit recommend ordering extra cracklings. You might also call them "crispies" or "crunchies," but what you're asking for is leftover pieces of batter that have fallen in the fryer. Crunchy, salty, and delicious, these bites might have little to no fish meat on them, but they're still a perfect complement to a fish plate.

Red Lobster was name-checked by Beyonce for a reason. While splashier dishes like Cheddar Bay Biscuits or the multitude of new Crabfest menu items get a lot of attention, don't sleep on the fried fish. The fish and chips are beer-battered, with that deep golden-brown exterior that just looks like it will crunch beautifully. Underneath that initial crisp is sweet, flaky whitefish. Add tartar sauce and sprinkle lemon juice because, you know, you're at Red Lobster, and it's time to indulge.

Categorically, seafood behaves differently than all other meats. It's not surprising that Red Lobster has a great fried fish plate. The way the batter is somehow both airy and crunchy, seasoned to perfection? The way the cod is meaty and never overcooked? That takes skill and experience. Red Lobster has the institutional knowledge required for a great fried fish plate.