Its personality has made this seafood place a winner

Snellgrove Seafood has been a favorite in Centerville for years and it doesn’t show signs of slowing down. Only open three nights a week, the place is packed from the time it opens Thursday evening to the last minute on Saturday night. To make sure you get the most out of your dinner there, you need to know a few things.

It’s nothing fancy. The restaurant was built off of a regular ranch-style house (which the owners still occupy) and is just a low-ceiling set of large rooms full of tables and chairs. The plates are plain, the decor is nondescript and there is nothing to look at but the other diners, so bring a good-looking date.

The catfish is small. The locals say the smaller the catfish, the tastier; you’ll probably hear customers specifying small catfish, though they offer larger ones for the uninitiated. Every night, you can get the catfish fillet dinner for $12.50 or get all-you-can-eat catfish for 45 cents more. Both offers come with sweet homemade slaw, perfect hush puppies and French fries or a baked potato.

The all-you-can-eat dinners are your best deals. Similar to the catfish deals, you can get a boiled shrimp dinner on Friday or Saturday night for $12.95 and get 16 shrimp or you can come on Thursday and get all the boiled shrimp you can eat for two dollars more. Popcorn shrimp is all-you-can-eat for $10.95 on Thursdays and Saturdays only.

Other things to know: Sodas come in cans and there’s no dessert. The fried dill pickles for $3.95 were a hit with our group but the mixed pickles for $2.75 were just dill spears and bread and butter slices. The seafood platter is a bit skimpy for $14.95 but the deviled crab on it was very tasty. If you know what to order, you’ll love this place like a local.

This story was originally published October 24, 2017 at 4:55 PM with the headline "Its personality has made this seafood place a winner."