Caplinger's Fresh Catch Has a New Southside Location-- YAY!

For its size, Indianapolis seems to have a dearth of seafood restaurants: a few fine-dining places like The Majestic, Oceanaire, and McCormick & Schmick's, none of which impressed me very much, especially given their price; a few more cheap chains and local joints, but not that many.  I'm a little spoiled having come from Louisville, which is full of them (I've previously reviewed two of Louvul's best on here, the iconic Mike Linnig's and a hidden gem, Passtime Fish House.)  I don't know if it's because the Derby City is part of the South,  is on the Ohio River with greater access to shipping and local freshwater fish, or what. Lucky for Indy, however, Caplinger's Fresh Catch has been slowly but steadily expanding their number of locations, although up to now they were up North or Northeast in Whitestown, 75th & Shadeland, and Pendleton Pike near (I think) Post Road.  Now, finally, FINALLY they have opened a location I don't have to drive all day to get to-- 7620 S. Meridian Street.

Caplinger's is primarily a seafood SHOP, selling fresh fare flown in daily (so they claim) for you to take home and cook your own danged self, but they also have a simple kitchen and dining room (except for the one on Pendleton Pike which is carryout only, being housed in an office trailer in the middle of a parking lot) which serves up dishes in to-go containers.  All the stuff I've had at several of the other locations, both fried and grilled, seems very fresh and perfectly cooked.   The new location is in a former Pizza Hut that has been nicely renovated, with a cute 12-15 table dining room that is closed now due to (moan it with me) The Pandemic, so everything is sold to-go. 

I had a combo platter with grilled Basa fish and blackened shrimp that came with hushpuppies and 2 sides; The Little Woman had a Lobsta Roll Sandwich dinner with puppies and one side.  Our sides were Collard Greens, Chipotle Coleslaw, and Red Beans & Rice.   To me everything was EXCELLENT, but TLW's lobster had a dressing that has some sweetness that she disliked.  The Collard Greens were not as good as hers but were better'n any I've ever had from a restaurant, the Chipotle dressing did spice up the coleslaw, but the RB&R was just a little bland. The bun for the Lobsta Roll was INCREDIBLE, a sort of light pretzel outside with a soft and sweet inside-- Cap's says they buy them from a local bakery. Finally, service was fast and friendly and the prices, though a little high for this $$ fella, were not outrageous.  Mangeons!  

YATS spelled backwards is STAY, but I saw no reason to do so, even if you could.

YATS, the southside location of which is on US 31 across from Greenwood Park Mall is, like almost everything else, in a strip mall. It has a fairly simple dining room which is closed presently due to the pandemic, but you have to enter the store and go to the counter in the back to order your stuff to-go (although you may be able to get curb service, I dunno. I didn't see or try to find out-- this is a blog not a research paper, 'kay?) If you didn't know, YATS is ostensibly Cajun cuisine, though it was hard for me to tell except for the framed photos of New Orleans locations on the walls. Pretty much everything on the menu is a type of stew or soup: The Little Woman had some sort of Spicy Etouffee and I had White Chicken Chili, both of which seemed to us to lack any seasoning or flavor, although the few and far between bits of crawfish in the etouffee were nice.  Perhaps I was mistaken when I assumed that Cajun food was supposed to be rather nicely seasoned like it was at Zydeco's when I went some time ago.  Not so at YATS. The only positive thing I can say (and you know that's unusual for me) is that the prices were fairly reasonable for the quantity of food you receive, bland though it be. And that's all I have to say about that....