The Ark in Riverside Serves a Big Southern Seafood Spread

A plate of crisp fried catfish, a basket of hush puppies, a side of onion rings and a cold drink can still make a fine reason to pull off the road. At The Ark in Riverside, that straightforward Southern meal is the point, served in a relaxed dining room where seafood platters, burgers, steaks and fried favorites all have a place on the menu.

The restaurant has the easygoing character of a dependable local stop rather than a polished special-occasion dining room. You come in, settle down indoors, look over a menu that offers more choices than a catfish house strictly needs, and order the dish that sounds right that day.

It works well for lunch, dinner or a break in a longer drive. Travelers moving between Georgia, Mississippi, Florida, New Orleans, Birmingham, Savannah and points farther out have made The Ark part of the route, and it is also a dining option for people visiting the Talladega Superspeedway area.

Fried catfish is one of the regular orders here, available as fillets, nuggets and on larger seafood plates. The fish is cooked to order, with the sort of crisp exterior that fried food ought to have without leaving the plate heavy or greasy.

A two-piece catfish fillet plate can be generous enough for two people to split, depending on appetites and the number of sides on the table. That is useful to know when the meal begins with appetizers or when dessert is already under consideration.

For diners who do not want to choose between two fried-seafood favorites, the catfish-and-oyster combination plate puts both on one order. It is a particularly good fit for a table where somebody wants oysters but still wants a dependable piece of catfish in the mix.

Shrimp comes in several forms: popcorn shrimp for easy snacking, large jumbo shrimp, seafood platters and lunch-oriented choices. A serving of jumbo shrimp has included five notably large pieces, giving the plate a little more presence than a scattering of small fried shrimp.

Fried oysters round out the seafood side of the menu, while the combination plates make sampling easier. The house remoulade is the condiment to look for with seafood, adding a different note from the usual tartar-sauce routine.

Then there are the menu items that make a roadside seafood stop more interesting. Frog legs and alligator bites are available for anyone who likes to order beyond the standard fish-and-shrimp lineup. Crispy chicken livers offer another old-school Southern option, one that is becoming harder to find on many restaurant menus.

The Ark’s hush puppies are not an afterthought dropped onto the edge of a plate. They have a distinctive shape and arrive with the restaurant’s family ketchup recipe, a small house detail that gives the basket a little personality.

Onion rings and French fries are frequently paired with catfish and shrimp meals. The rings bring the extra crunch that fried-food loyalists want, while the fries are crisp enough to hold their own beside a seafood platter.

For vegetables and other Southern side dishes, there is fried okra, green beans, coleslaw, beans and corn nuggets. The corn nuggets make a nice change from the usual potato-based choices: small, sweet-leaning bites that are easy to keep reaching for while the rest of the meal is on the table.

The coleslaw is homemade and creamy, made from an updated house recipe. It provides the cool, tangy counterpoint that a plate of catfish, shrimp or oysters needs.

The broad menu matters when a group has mixed tastes. Someone can go all in on a seafood platter while another person chooses a steak, hamburger steak or a burger without making the table feel as though it has landed in the wrong restaurant.

The burger is made with fresh beef formed into hand-patted patties, then grilled and seasoned to order. It is a welcome option for the person who appreciates a good fish dinner but simply wants a burger that day.

Steak has a place here, too. A filet has been noted for arriving tender, well seasoned and properly cooked, another reminder that The Ark is not narrowly limited to its fried-seafood identity.

Homemade banana pudding is the dessert to keep in mind before ordering a particularly ambitious platter. It has the familiar, comforting role a banana pudding should have at a Southern meal: sweet, simple and hard to resist once it reaches the table.

Homemade cheesecake is another option when you want to finish with something a little richer. A seasonal eggnog cocktail has also appeared during the holidays, though the more reliable year-round pleasures here are the seafood plates, sides and desserts.

The setting is deliberately no-frills. That does not mean impersonal; the dining room has a welcoming, conversational feel, and it is generally easy to sit over a meal without competing with a loud room.

Service has a friendly, attentive rhythm. Drinks are kept filled, staff members make conversation, and the hospitality holds together even when the restaurant is busy. One small practical quirk: bottled soda may come with a cup of ice instead of being poured from a fountain dispenser.

Returning diners have noticed updates to the interior, but the appeal remains reassuringly uncomplicated. This is a place where a basket of hush puppies, a seafood plate and a good side order are more important than ceremony.

The Ark has a free parking lot with ample space, which helps when it is serving as a meal break during a drive. Indoor seating accommodates both smaller tables and larger family groups; a party of eight, including a baby, has been arranged after calling ahead.

The restaurant can get busy, and larger parties or crowded periods may mean a wait. The atmosphere stays casual, so it is better thought of as an unhurried sit-down meal than a fancy dining reservation.

Takeout is also an option for catfish, shrimp and gumbo. That makes it easy to carry a Riverside seafood supper onward when the road is still calling.