“You’re going to think I’m kidding here,” said Shannon Wynne, who co-founded the nine Flying Fish restaurants in Dallas, Fort Worth and five suburbs.
The deal is “surf or turf,” a spoof on the classically pricey surf-and-turf dish that often features lobster tail and a filet mignon at a fine-dining restaurant. Flying Fish is no such place. Each restaurant has a wall of goofy plastic bass, and the menu includes food for as low as $6.95 for kids. Their best dishes are fried, served on cheap checkered tablecloths.
Flying Fish’s new summertime deal matches the restaurant’s effortless inelegance. Tinned sardines — the surf — cost $15, while canned Vienna sausages — the turf — go for $12. Both come with saltine crackers and what Wynne dryly refers to as a “mélange” of mayo, mustard, Worcestershire and lemon. The tinned sardines come from Portugal, in case you care.
“I think this is the only authentic fisherman’s lunch being served in Dallas, Texas, right now,” Wynne deadpanned, “and it consists of your choice of what your great-grandaddy, your grandaddy or your daddy had when he was out fishing.”
It’s possibly the first (and likely, the last) time tourists planning their next meal will be baited with fishing references in landlocked Dallas.
Flying Fish’s North Texas restaurants are in Addison, Arlington, Coppell, Fort Worth, Dallas, Garland and Plano. Open seven days a week for lunch and dinner.