Mother's Fish Opens in Downtown Clayton

Fried catfish, jack salmon, tilapia, a combo plate, a trawler’s worth of fried shrimp…

Potato salad, coleslaw, French fries, hush puppies, spaghetti…

Throw in a little batter-fried cod, and you’d have a parish fish fry.

Instead, it’s the third location of Mother’s Fish, which opened last week in the former Clayton Diner space at 6 S. Central in downtown Clayton. And if six full fryer baskets and a ticket bar’s worth of orders at 11:30 a.m. on a Monday are any indication, nobody's missing the cod, because most folks are ordering 10-piece orders of fried shrimp, whole chicken wings, and tripe sandwiches, all priced at $5 as part of Marvelous Mondays. (Each is offered as an individual special throughout the rest of the week.)

Owner Sean Morris reports better-than-expected sales so far. Asked how tripe sales were going, Morris points to three boxes that he personally was delivering: "Way better than we thought."

Besides the above items, Mother’s Fish offers burgers, turkey burgers, polish sausage, and a pork-chop sandwich, priced from $5 to $7. The shotgun space is small—24 seats—so Morris expects carry-out and catering sales to be brisk.

Mother’s two other locations are in North City (at 2738 N. Grand, at St. Louis Avenue) and North County (at 9995 W. Florissant, at Chambers Road). A fourth location is slated to open this spring on Natural Bridge Avenue in the city.

Mother’s Fish began in 1982 as Mother’s Lounge, located at the corner of Spring and Olive. Over the years, there have been several iterations, lending credence to the phrase “A St. Louis Tradition” on the logo. One reason for the restaurant’s longevity is the quality and consistency of the seasoned breading, using Andy’s Seasoning as a base, says Morris.

When we ordered the fried shrimp special, Morris joked,  “It’s Mother’s Fish, man! Next time ya gotta go with the fish.”