Fry Daddy’s boasts big taste in a surprising Benton location.

Uninviting exterior belies eatery’s excellent food, great service

318 Forum’s always-hungry reporter often has lunch at a local restaurant and tells you about the experience.

August.

The perfect time to stay inside, set the air conditioner on 68 and binge-watch a Netflix series of which you’ve never heard.

So, of course, I chose to clean out the garage and put boxes in the attic.

Thankfully, I had a friend helping me. After five minutes, we were soaked in sweat. After an hour, we smelled like that long-expired milk when you open the carton. After four hours, we were hungry, but knew our choices were limited. I was too tired to cook something. We could get cleaned up and go somewhere to eat, but we knew we wouldn’t want to come back, continue our work, and get all hot and sweaty again.

Or, we could run up to a new place close to where we were — a place which on the outside looked like it would accept our sweaty, smelly, hungry selves, no questions asked.

With still a lot of work to be done, my friend and I decided to hop in the car and make our first visit to Fry Daddy’s (6350 Benton Road, Benton), which had only been open a couple of months.

Fry Daddy’s is in the former Sam’s Southern Eatery building. The outside appearance left a lot to be desired. The building’s color scheme was something of an eyesore. Inside, the restaurant looked old and neglected. But sometimes — I was hoping this time — it’s places like that where you find the best food.

Fry Daddy’s is an order-at-the-counter eatery. A multi-panel digital menu was displayed behind the counter, offering a wide range of choices, from burgers and sandwiches to seafood and wings. As the name implies, most of Fry Daddy’s food is fried. However, my friend and I asked and were told that fish and shrimp can also be served grilled.

Answering our questions was Jodie, a very friendly lady who could sell ice to an Eskimo. In delicious detail, Jodie described several of Fry Daddy’s offerings, including one that was not on the digital menu but was showcased in a sign at the register.

But what was Bashka chicken? Jodie told us it was grilled chicken with pepperjack cheese, Fry Daddy’s sauce (a mix of ketchup and seasoning) and a drizzle of barbecue sauce, pressed between panini bread. You can get just the sandwich or make it a meal with fries, coleslaw and a drink. The picture looked good, and Jodie made it sound great. So, my friend ordered the Bashka chicken meal ($10.99) and substituted fried mushrooms for fries.

I love fried food, but my cholesterol level doesn’t. So, I try to stay away from anything cooked in hot grease. But, my goodness, going to a place called Fry Daddy’s and not eating something fried seemed akin to going to a Mexican restaurant and ordering a hamburger. So, I convinced myself to have something that would give me a taste of a few different things. I went with the three-item Daddy’s Combo ($16.99). I could choose three of the following options: two catfish steaks, one catfish fillet, three wings, liver, 10 medium shrimp, three jumbo shrimp or gizzards, or two-piece chicken tenders. For an extra $1.50, my meal would come with my choice of two sides. I also had a Coke to drink ($1.99).

I ordered one catfish filet, two catfish steaks and 10 shrimp. In hindsight, I should have chosen wings instead of the steaks. It was obvious from looking at the menu that wings are a big part of what Fry Daddy’s offers, so I should have given them a try. I apologize to you, the reader. I know you would like to know how the wings tasted.

For most of our time at Fry Daddy’s, we were the only customers inside. However, a steady stream of people ordered at the drive-thru and took their food to go. The restaurant’s dining room was serviceable but left a lot to be desired. If you’re more interested in atmosphere than food, this isn’t the place for you.

Speaking of food, Jodie first brought out my basket. I appreciated that she didn’t wait until my friend’s food was ready. There’s nothing worse than eating cold food that is supposed to be hot. With my friend’s approval, I slowly began trying my fish, shrimp and two sides (fries and coleslaw). As you can tell from the picture below, it all certainly looked the part. And, I am happy to say, it all tasted the part. The fish — both the filet and the steaks — were hot, juicy and fried just right. The shrimp were larger than I expected and perfectly battered. What made the fish and shrimp taste even better was the Fry Daddy’s sauce, which was served for dipping. The fries? They were thick and crispy. It’s unusual to get fried food without any grease, but I didn’t see a drop.

The slaw was creamy. It wasn’t anything special, but there wasn’t anything bad about it, either.

Now, to my friend’s Bashka chicken sandwich. Seldom does food in person look as good as it does in a picture, but her food did. The sandwich came as Jodie said it would. My friend thought the chicken was very flavorful. She said it was spicy, but not too spicy, and that the pepper jack cheese gave the sandwich a little extra kick. She loved the Fry Daddy’s sauce and the sweet barbecue, which were drizzled over the chicken. My friend said the panini bread tasted fresh.

“To be honest, the sandwich kind of melted in my mouth.”

As for her fried mushrooms, my friend said they were good and juicy. I tried one, and they were well-battered and without grease. I didn’t detect much of a mushroom taste, but my friend said she did.

Fry Daddy’s offers five desserts. However, we had so much food that we took some home. There was no room in our stomachs for anything else.

The cost of our meal before tax was $33.88.

There is a slight upcharge for paying with plastic, which I did. Still, my friend and I both thought that was a very fair price for the quality and amount of food we received.

As we were about to leave, my friend asked me how many forks I was going to give to Fry Daddy’s. My thought is the same now as it was then. Had it not been for the restaurant’s surroundings, I would have given it a rare Four Forks. However, these reviews primarily focus on the dining experience, and there’s more to an experience than just the food. So, I give Fry Daddy’s a strong Three Forks. I have absolutely no complaints about the food, which was excellent. Hopefully, the restaurant will do enough business to allow the owner to make aesthetic improvements to the inside and outside.

Then again, I might have to get cleaned up to eat there.