Fat Fish Blue–Downtown Hot Spot

What happens when you take a former car repair facility in a parking garage near Public Square and turn it into a restaurant and bar featuring New Orleans flavors, party decor and add a

calendar of different music?  Well in Cleveland’s case you get Fat Fish Blue which has been a mainstay of Downtown for a couple of decades.  I know Fat Fish pretty well, when I worked downtown I parked in the garage above it and still use this garage when heading to Gateway events; I also used to come down on Wednesday nights when Fat Fish would feature Blues Legend Robert Lockwood and his band, so when Fat Fish came up on Groupon (the link is here)I was only to happy to check out how Fat Fish has held up over the years.

Located at 21 Prospect Avenue East (corner of Ontario), Cleveland, OH 44115, Fat Fish is close to Public Square, Tower City, E. 4th Street and Gateway. Presenting large glass windows and blue shades to the street, Fat Fish announces it presence and invites you in.  Once inside you are presented with a crescent shaped room  with a bar against the inside wall and a stage by the corner windows.  The found space features very high ceilings, exposed ductwork,  a nice assortment of plants, streamers and decorations.  The overall effect is festive and busy, with the greenery and the large windows to the street soften the effect somewhat.  On a Saturday afternoon I arrived and was quickly seated at a window table behind the stage.   The tables are simply set, they still have the wrapped cutlery with a little toy surprise inside combined with the crayons and paper topping to the table you now this is a place that wants people to have fun. 
The menu (which you can see here) describes the food as American Bisto Fare with a New Orleans Flair, which seems about right.  I figured I would sample a couple of different things to get an overview so I ordered the Buffalo Tails, a Shrimp Po Boy and a side of the Mac & Cheese.

First out was the order of Buffalo Tails, crawfish deep fried, tossed with a “hot sauce from hell” and served up with a blue cheese dip.  The portion size was ok, but the crawfish themselves were very small which when deep fried meant that they had almost no real taste of their own, the buffalo sauce was ok, but not nearly as hot as describe and the blue cheese dip was creamy and rich but lacking a bit of the blue cheese flavor you would hope for.  What resulted was a dish that was just ok, but certainly not one that I would order again.

Up next was the Shrimp Po Boy with French fries and the side of Mac and Cheese.  The Sandwich was pretty good with the best part being the large fried shrimp.  Were the crawdads were a disappointment, the shrimp were succulent and tasty with a nice crunchy breading.  The bread, lettuce and tomato were what you would expect, while the Cajun Mayo was a bit lacking both in amount and flavor; when I order a Po Boy I expect a real punch from the remoulade.  The fries were nothing special, but were hot and crisp.

Probably the most satisfying thing I tried was the Mac & Cheese, which was rich and creamy with some bread crumbs for textural contrast.  Instead of elbow macaroni Fat Fish uses a spiral pasta that really holds the rich mix of cheeses with a nice hint of smokiness. 

I came away from Fat Fish very impressed with the décor, the atmosphere, service and the entertainment they offer; the food is a bit uneven, with some items a bit disappointing, others are good solid renditions.  I had nothing that I would describe as a home run, but Fat Fish has developed a formula that works , if you check it out you may not get a gourmet experience, but you will probably have a really good time.