The 9 Hattiesburg, Mississippi Catfish Houses Where A Full Plate Still Runs Under $16
Fried catfish is the unofficial handshake of south Mississippi, and this town does it better than almost anywhere. Cornmeal crust, hot grease, hush puppies on the side, and a price that still respects your wallet.
Sixteen dollars covers a full plate at all of these places, which feels almost suspicious in a year when nothing else has held its price.
None of them have figured out a reason to change that, and the dining rooms stay full enough to suggest the math still works for everybody involved.
Grab a napkin stack. The next fish fix is closer and cheaper than most people assume.
1. Newt’s Catfish Seafood & Steaks – Elks Lake Road
Named like a character from a fishing story, Newt’s cooks like a place with something to prove. Spoiler: it proves it.
A two-piece catfish fillet plate goes for $14, and a one-piece whole catfish plate matches that number exactly. Both arrive with two sides and hush puppies, so nobody leaves hungry.
Hungrier folks should aim higher. The Adult Filet brings five catfish fillets for $15.99, and the Adult Whole stacks three whole catfish at the same price, each served with fries, coleslaw, and hush puppies.
Five fillets for under sixteen dollars is arithmetic worth celebrating. Your calculator and your stomach will agree.
The kitchen sits at 503 Elks Lake Rd Ste 30 in Hattiesburg, MS 39401, at the Dixie exit, the first one off I-59 onto Highway 98. They run Wednesday through Saturday only, with Saturday opening at three, and close Sunday through Tuesday.
Whole catfish fans, this is your church. The bone-in version carries more flavor and a slightly firmer bite that fillet purists often miss.
Coleslaw here plays a real role rather than a decorative one. Cold, crunchy, faintly sweet, it resets your palate between bites of hot fish.
Steaks share the menu, which means picky dinner companions have an escape hatch. Still, ordering beef at a place with catfish in the name feels a bit like skipping the main event. All-you-can-eat catfish is on offer, which changes the math again.
Hush puppies are made in house, the fries come seasoned, and an older gentleman with an acoustic guitar plays some evenings.
2. Southern Seafood – East Hardy Street
Value hunters, sharpen your pencils. Southern Seafood might have the most flexible price ladder in the entire Hub City.
A one-piece catfish fillet plate costs $12.35, while the one-piece whole catfish plate rings up at $14.29. Both come with two side orders and your pick of bread.
Prefer volume? Two fillets land at $12.49, and three fillets stretch to $15.49, still comfortably under the sixteen dollar ceiling this list respects.
Freshness gets talked about often here, and the fish backs up the chatter. The fillets taste clean rather than muddy, which is the whole ballgame with catfish.
You will find the place at 1005 E Hardy St in Hattiesburg, MS 39401, an easy detour for anyone crossing town. The stretch of Hardy Street stays busy, so patience helps at lunch.
Sides are where the real strategy happens. Doubling up on fries feels tempting, though the vegetable options give the plate some balance and a little Mississippi color.
Cornbread or hush puppies? Take the hush puppies if you like a crisp shell and a fluffy middle.
Portion sizes hit that sweet spot between satisfying and sensible. You can finish a plate without needing a nap, which matters when the workday is only half over. It doubles as a fresh seafood market, so you can buy raw shrimp on the way out.
Gumbo gets named nearly as often as the fried fish, and the shrimp po-boy comes overloaded on bread people call perfect.
3. Triangle Seafood & Po Boy – Hardy Street
Daily specials are the secret language of a good fish shop. Triangle Seafood speaks it fluently, and the vocabulary is delicious.
Tuesday belongs to the Crispy Catfish Strip Plate, priced at $13.99. The tray shows up loaded with fries, hush puppies, coleslaw, garlic bread, and a drink.
Yes, a drink. Included. That detail alone puts this plate near the top of the bargain leaderboard.
Saturday flips the script with the Whole Catfish Plate, also $13.99, carrying fried catfish, fries, coleslaw, garlic bread, hush puppies, and a beverage.
The address is 420 Hardy St in Hattiesburg, MS 39401, close enough to campus that students have made it part of their weekly rotation. Expect a line when classes let out.
Strips versus whole fish is a genuine debate here. Strips deliver more crunchy surface area, while the whole fish rewards anyone willing to work around a few bones.
Garlic bread on a catfish plate sounds like a plot twist. It works, soaking up any stray hot sauce that escapes your fish.
Po boys share top billing, so a shrimp sandwich makes a fine backup plan. That said, catfish is why you came, and Triangle knows it. The market side is the part nobody mentions.
They sell live crawfish by the pound and will ice down a cooler for travel, which is how one family got thirty-five pounds home to West Virginia. Crawfish pie is worth ordering. Boil plates arrive with shrimp, sausage, crab, potatoes and corn.
4. Rayner’s Seafood House – US Highway 49
Highway seafood joints carry a certain mystique, and Rayner’s earns every bit of it. The kind of spot you spot from the road and remember for years.
Fried seafood dinners anchor the menu, with daily specials, po boys, and combo meals starting around $12.99. Catfish shows up among the fried fish choices, and the pricing stays friendly.
The address is 7343 US 49 in Hattiesburg, MS 39401, sitting right along the busy corridor heading north. Turn signals are your friend here.
Combo plates make the strongest case for your money. Pairing fish with shrimp gives you two textures on one tray, and the fryer treats both with respect.
Hush puppies arrive golden and generous, which is basically the local standard. Nobody in Mississippi gets away with sad hush puppies for long.
Service moves at a comfortable clip. Orders come out fast enough for a lunch break, though nobody rushes you toward the door.
Takeout is popular, and the packaging holds up better than most. Fried fish loses crispness quickly, so drive straight home rather than running errands.
They open Thursday, Friday and Saturday only, and that is the whole week, so this is a plan-ahead stop rather than a lucky detour. The pickled green tomatoes get mentioned almost as often as the fish.
The coleslaw gets more unsolicited praise than anything else on the menu, and the pickled green tomatoes run a close second.
The batter is a fine cornmeal, light rather than heavy, which suits catfish. Several customers describe making special trips from the coast specifically to eat here.
5. Movie Star Restaurant & Catering – Old Highway 11
Buffet lovers, gather round. Movie Star Restaurant runs a lunch spread that treats fried catfish like a regular cast member rather than a guest star.
The buffet leans hard into Southern staples. Fried chicken, catfish, vegetables cooked with patience, and desserts that make you slow down and reconsider your afternoon plans.
Pricing stays under sixteen dollars per person, and one recent figure landed near $10.65. Unlimited catfish at that number sounds like a typo, but it holds up.
You can find the dining room at 5209 Old Hwy 11 in Hattiesburg, MS 39402, out where the road feels a little calmer. Service runs eleven to two most days with a Friday dinner seating from five to eight, and Saturdays are dark entirely.
Buffet strategy matters. Take a small first plate, scout the offerings, then commit fully on round two with catfish as the centerpiece.
The fish stays crisp because turnover keeps the trays moving. Slow buffets ruin fried food, and this one avoids that trap during peak hours.
Catering is part of the operation, which explains the volume and the consistency. Feeding crowds sharpens a kitchen in ways a small menu never can.
Show up hungry and leave happy. Few things in Mississippi beat a lunch line where the catfish keeps coming and the sweet tea never runs dry.
The room is packed with antiques, vintage signs and old posters, which one visitor compared to a family-owned Cracker Barrel.
6. The Crab House Restaurant – Hardy Street
Crab may headline the name, but catfish quietly steals scenes at this Hardy Street favorite. The prices help it stand out too.
Lunch brings the L3 Catfish special at $8.99, which is close to unbelievable for a sit-down plate in 2024 money. Midday deals rarely get better than that.
Dinner opens up more options. Catfish paired with six fried shrimp costs $13.99, and the two whole fillet catfish platter tops out at $15.99.
The building sits at 3801 Hardy St in Hattiesburg, MS 39402, on the western side where the restaurant traffic thickens. Parking is straightforward, thankfully.
Combination plates give the fryer a chance to show range. Shrimp cook faster and taste sweeter, while the catfish brings that earthy, mellow richness.
Seasoning here has a gentle pepper hum rather than a burn. Hot sauce sits on the table for anyone who wants to raise the temperature.
Portions arrive fuller than expected, so ordering appetizers requires real self control. Save the room for fish.
Families do well here, since the seafood variety keeps everyone content. One person orders crab, another orders catfish, and the table stays peaceful throughout the meal.
7. Berts And Cynts – West Fourth Street
Seasoning separates good catfish from great catfish, and Berts And Cynts clearly knows the difference. Their cornmeal coating carries actual personality.
The catfish plate shows up on Fridays and Saturdays for $14.99. Weekend fish has a way of tasting better, and this one earns the ritual.
During the week, plate lunch specials run $11.99 and rotate through Southern classics. Regulars learn the schedule and plan their week accordingly.
The diner operates at 4437 W 4th St in Hattiesburg, MS 39402, in a stretch of town where word of mouth does all the advertising. No flashy sign required.
Portions come out homestyle rather than restaurant-precise. Somebody in the kitchen still cooks like they are feeding relatives.
Sides deserve attention here. Greens, beans, and mac and cheese show up with the confidence of dishes made from memory rather than a printed recipe.
The dining room stays casual and warm. Conversations drift between tables and nobody minds one bit.
Arrive early on weekend evenings, because the catfish crowd knows exactly when the fryers fire up. Late arrivals sometimes get the last plate, which is thrilling but risky.
Mississippi comfort food rarely gets more honest than this. Two names on the sign, one very good plate of fish.
8. Mack’s On the River – River Road
A fifty year old breading recipe is not a marketing line, it is a responsibility. Mack’s On the River carries that weight with ease.
The Whole Catfish Platter and the Catfish Filet Platter both cost $10.75. Reading that price twice is a normal reaction.
Fish comes exclusively from Mississippi farms, bought direct from America’s Catch in Itta Bena, and gets hand-breaded in house. Consistency like that does not happen by accident.
Look for the restaurant at 855 River Rd in Hattiesburg, MS, out where the setting feels a touch more relaxed than the highway spots. The drive doubles as a mood reset.
Hand-breading matters more than most diners realize. The coating clings tighter, browns more evenly, and never slides off in one sad sheet.
Whole catfish here has that classic farm-raised sweetness. Fillet fans get the same crust with fewer bones to negotiate.
Ten dollars and change for a full platter leaves plenty of budget for dessert or a second round of hush puppies. Both choices are defensible.
They open Thursday through Saturday evenings plus Sunday midday, and that is it, so build the trip around those windows. Old recipes, fair prices, and fish that tastes like the river road it sits on.