Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Roger's Catfish House
All you can eat catfish and crab legs at Roger's Catfish House
The name on the sign may just say ‘Roger’s Catfish House’, but don’t think for a second that their menu is only filled with the whiskered faced fish.
When Sam and Marilyn Hawkins opened up Roger’s Catfish House in January of 2016, they only offered the all-you-can eat catfish. But, over time the couple realized that expanding the menu to other options is the best way to keep customers coming in the door.
“We started out with just all you can eat catfish. Then, we added the two- and three-piece meals to the menu in order to please the customers. You know, people aren’t going to have fish three times a week. So, we started adding seafood and other items,” Sam Hawkins, co-owner of Roger’s Catfish House said.
Over time the menu at Roger’s Catfish House continues to grow with more seafood and non-seafood items finding their way on their customer’s plates.
“We appeal to a lot of people because there is a broad menu, we do burgers, we do Reubens, we do sandwiches, we do great salads, and we do catfish salads. We have items on our menu like frog legs that are great, that restaurants don’t carry,” Marcy Tripp, general manager said.
Items such as their frog legs along with alligator, which are both hand breaded with their own seasonings having people coming to Roger’s Catfish House because there are few, if any, restaurants in the Northwest Arkansas area that serve them.
Non-seafood items on the menu include multiple burgers and sandwiches, one of which is the ‘Cheddar Bomb’. This is a 1/3 lb juicy beef patty, smothered in cheddar cheese on a toasted bun with fix-ins on top for just $9.69.
The salads are also popular non-seafood items. These can come with chicken, grilled or fried, along with catfish. They are filled with mixed greens, so not using the typical iceberg lettuce that is used so often.
Deep down, Roger’s Catfish house specializes in its namesake and other friends of the sea.
“Our fish tacos have been a favorite, and seafood platters are some of our big ones,” Marilyn said.
The seafood platter can either come in servings for one person or two. The platter consists of crab legs, catfish fillets, crawfish, shrimp, sausage and shrimp. A serious meal for seafood lovers of any kind.
Specials that go on throughout the week involve Tuesdays which is two dollars off of the all-you-can eat Catfish, which every other day of the week is $15.99. Saturday’s are the only day that you can have all you can eat Crab Legs for $45.99. Wednesday only you can have a Shrimp Boil after 5 p.m. Along with Thursday-Sunday there is a Crawfish boil. Boils include red potatoes, smoked sausage and corn.
Everyday Roger’s Catfish House has Lunch Specials from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. These are Catfish Poboy meal, 2-piece catfish and two sides, shrimp Po-boy and fries, and one of their chicken salads; all of which are $7.99. Also, everything on the kid’s menu is $4.99 which includes Catfish.
Roger’s Catfish House also has something on their menu that is rare to find in a lot of local seafood restaurants in Northwest Arkansas; alcohol.
“We wanted to have the fish and the crab legs with the choice of having a beer or wine. Because some of the catfish places around here do not serve beer and wine with their menu… we wanted to
add something else to it that no one else had,” Marilyn said.
With their location in Rogers at 2102 1/2 South St., getting new customers to walk in the door is tough, so the Hawkins rely a lot on their regular customers to help spread the word.
“It is hard to get customers to come to this side of town, everything is over by the mall. So, it is difficult to get them, but once they come, they become a regular customer and we see them come in all the time,” Sam said.
Tripp added, “we rely a lot on ‘word of mouth’, our customers are great of spreading the word, telling their friends, sharing our posts on Facebook; ‘word of mouth’ is really doing great for us.”
Before opening up Roger’s Catfish House, the Hawkins owned Sam’s Old Tyme Hamburgers in Rogers, which all-in-all is similar because it is still the restaurant business, but there is one thing that both of the Hawkins agreed is a big change.
“Cost of the product is huge, the fish and everything we do here is so much more expensive than burgers. It’s more upscale, everyone can cook a hamburger, not everyone can cook a catfish properly,” Sam said.
Before Roger’s Catfish House, many different restaurants called 2102 1/2 South St. home, but all of them struggled for different reasons. One of the reasons was the interior design of the building, so when the Hawkins bought the place, they knew there was some remodeling to be done. Now a gorgeous dining room with hardwood flooring and large round tables with wood chairs.
“We also have a conference room for our customers that can seat up to 40 people,” Marilyn said. Though her husband was quick to correct her, laughing that, “as long as they order food off the menu, they can use the conference room.”
When talking with the owners and managers, all four of them brought up one consistent word; family.
“We are like a family, we have the owners (Sam and Marilyn), I’m the night manager, my husband is the head chef, and Marcy is the day manager and her son is the assistant chef so it is more based on family and we want people to feel like home when they come in,” Tina DeBlieux said.
With a family comes a home and it is very well known where home is.
“Rogers is home,” Tripp said. For more information, call (479) 935-9211, or go to their Facebook page. They also have a website at RogersCatfishHouse.com.