13 Iowa Carryout Fish Fry Windows Beloved For Hot, Crispy Lake Perch
Every corner of Iowa hides a little window where Friday nights still mean something: hot oil crackling, paper trays stacking, and lake perch coming out so crisp you can hear it before you taste it. These aren’t flashy restaurants with neon signs and polished menus.
They’re the humble counters tucked behind gravel roads, inside truck stops, beside rivers, and in the heart of small towns – places where the fryers never really cool down and tradition is passed through baskets of golden fish.
Step up, place your order, and join the locals who know exactly which windows serve the best perch in the state. Once you try these carryout legends, you’ll understand why Iowa never outgrows fish-fry season.
1. Bluff Lake Catfish Farm – Maquoketa
Follow the gravel road long enough and Bluff Lake suddenly appears below the bluffs, lights glowing over the water and the smell of hot oil drifting across the deck.
This family-owned spot has been drawing people since the early ’70s, running on all-you-can-eat fried fish dinners that come out on sizzling platters.
Expect big portions of haddock or catfish, waffle fries, coleslaw, and tartar sauce, plus a view of ducks gliding across the lake while you wait. The restaurant runs seasonal hours but reopened for the 2025 season after a short winter break.
When the line looks intimidating, locals put in to-go orders and eat their fish in the car by the lake.
2. Iowa 80 Kitchen – Walcott
At the world’s largest truck stop, Iowa 80 Kitchen feels like a small town of its own. The Peel family has operated this 24-hour restaurant for generations, keeping the motto “Nothing fancy. Just good food.” alive with a huge buffet and a full short-order menu.
Fried fish shows up both on the buffet and in sandwiches and platters, usually paired with mashed potatoes, veggies, and rolls that taste like Sunday supper. Carryout is easy here since the restaurant has long offered the full menu to go.
Truckers and road-trippers routinely grab fried fish platters and sides in clamshells before rolling back onto I-80.
3. Sugapeach Chicken & Fish Fry – North Liberty
Sugapeach looks like a modern strip-mall spot from the outside, but inside it feels like a soul-food kitchen that just happens to live in Iowa.
Fried catfish and other fish baskets come out with a deep, crunchy crust, usually sharing plate space with mac and cheese, collard greens, or candied yams.
The owners emphasize “food made with love,” and you can taste it in the seasoning and the long simmer of the sides. I once drove thirty minutes just to pick up their catfish basket, and it stayed crispy the whole ride home.
Online ordering through their own site makes carryout seamless for folks willing to make the trip.
4. Catfish Charlie’s – Dubuque
Down on the Mississippi, Catfish Charlie’s feels like a river town tradition.
The deck looks out over the water, and the menu reads like a love letter to Midwestern fried seafood: catfish dinners, fish sandwiches, shrimp, and full fish-and-shrimp boils when they really want to show off.
Friday fish-fry nights are a regular thing here, with platters that come piled with fried fillets, potatoes, and slaw. The restaurant is still going strong in 2025, with current hours and events posted on its site and social media.
Takeout orders are common as locals grab fish baskets to go and eat them on the riverfront or back at home.
5. Waterfront Seafood Market – West Des Moines
Waterfront Seafood Market is a family-owned seafood market and restaurant serving central Iowa since the mid-1980s.
The West Des Moines location doubles as a market and casual restaurant, with a menu that includes batter-fried cold-water cod, catfish, and other rotating fish options.
At lunch and dinner, you’ll see baskets of fried fish heading to tables as often as you see raw fillets heading out the door in butcher paper. Everything on the restaurant side is available for takeout, turning the place into a de facto fish-fry window.
Folks who want restaurant-quality seafood at home know exactly where to go.
6. Waterfront Seafood Market – Ankeny
The Ankeny outpost of Waterfront uses the same model: fresh market in front, casual restaurant in back.
It’s every bit as popular as West Des Moines, with a menu heavy on fried options like cod, shrimp, and other seafood that gets the classic Midwestern bread-and-fry treatment.
Because the kitchen already packages fish for retail, they’re set up for fast carryout. Many regulars simply step up to the counter, order fried fish dinners to go, and head home with hot boxes that still smell like the fryer when they hit the driveway.
Quick service and quality make this a local favorite.
7. Mo Fish – Council Bluffs
Mo Fish sits in a low-key strip in Council Bluffs, but the sign promises exactly what you’re here for: deep-fried catfish, Alaskan walleye, and a few more adventurous options like carp ribs and frog legs.
Everything is hand-breaded, fried to order, and served with classic sides, so a simple fish dinner feels like a full event.
The restaurant explicitly offers dine-in or take-out, and the website even has an “Order Online” button. This makes it essentially a fish-fry window for anyone in the Omaha/Council Bluffs area craving crispy fillets in a hurry.
Hand-breaded quality sets this spot apart from the rest.
8. Sneaky’s Chicken – Sioux City
Sneaky’s is famous statewide for broasted chicken, but the menu also includes a full fish dinner and fried seafood that locals talk about in the same breath as their chicken.
Founded in 1979 by two brothers and still operating at 3711 Gordon Drive, the place feels like a cross between a neighborhood cafeteria and a sports-bar-meets-supper-club.
Plates of fried fish, shrimp, and hush puppies land on tables and in to-go bags all night. There’s even a lunch buffet for people who want a taste of everything.
One bite of their fish dinner and you understand why Sioux City folks treat it as comfort food.
9. Captains Fish & Chicken – Cedar Rapids
Captains Fish & Chicken on 1st Avenue NE in Cedar Rapids leans hard into the carryout model. It’s a counter-service spot where the menu is all about fried fish fillets, shrimp, and chicken pieces served in styrofoam boxes with fries and sauce.
Local posts and delivery apps list it as a go-to for takeout fish dinners, especially on Fridays. The fish is straightforward but satisfying: hot, crunchy fillets tucked into baskets or sandwiches, ideal for grabbing on the way home.
I’ve picked up dinner here more times than I can count, and it never disappoints when you need fast, crispy fish.
10. Odie’s Bar & Grill – Ely
Drive into the small town of Ely on a Friday night, and Odie’s Bar & Grill is likely to have a packed parking lot.
The place is known locally not just for burgers but for a solid Friday fish fry, which lands it near the top of “best fish fry near North Liberty” lists.
Inside, it’s all wood paneling, TVs tuned to the game, and plates of fried fish heading to both tables and takeout bags. Regulars will call in orders for fish baskets with fries and slaw, then swing by the bar to pick them up.
Small-town Iowa’s version of a drive-up fish-fry window at its finest.
11. Creston Family Restaurant – Creston
Creston Family Restaurant feels like the living room of this southwest Iowa town, open early, serving big breakfasts, and offering hearty dinners that include regular fish specials and all-you-can-eat fish nights.
The vibe is pure diner: coffee refills never stop, and the fried fish plates come with piles of potatoes and coleslaw.
At the same time, they’re very carryout-friendly. Locals call in orders for fish dinners to take back to the farm or home, knowing the portions will easily feed a couple of people.
Comfort food done right, with generous helpings and friendly service every single time.
12. VFW Post 788 Fish Fry – Cedar Rapids
Every Lent, VFW Post 788 on Southgate Place SW turns its hall into one of Cedar Rapids’ most talked-about fish fry operations.
Local radio stations and community groups hype up the Friday-night events, where they serve baked and fried fish with potatoes, coleslaw, rolls, and dessert.
The fish fry is open to the public, not just members, and they offer both dine-in and carryout, making it feel very much like a temporary fish-fry window at the edge of town.
It’s seasonal rather than year-round, but when it’s on, regulars swear it’s some of the best fried fish in the area.
13. VFW Post 2295 Lenten Fish Fry – Emmetsburg
Up in Emmetsburg, VFW Post 2295 has become known for its Lenten fish fries as well.
City event listings describe eight straight weeks of Friday fish fries, with dinners available both for dine-in and carry out, complete with a phone number just for to-go orders.
These events feel more like community suppers than restaurant meals: long tables, families and farmers catching up after the workweek, and plates loaded with fried fish, potatoes, and bread.
For a few weeks every year, the post essentially turns into a pop-up takeout fish shack beloved by the whole town.
Community spirit and crispy fish make this a must-visit tradition.