Captain Mc’s | ★ |
Gulf seafood
|
5055 Griggs |
713-505-1188
Before I could scan the menu of bronzed fillets of fried catfish, grilled black drum and popcorn shrimp, a blown up newspaper page from the Galveston County Daily News greeted me at the entrance of Captain Mc’s.
A headline highlighted in yellow on the black-and-white page from August 1998: “Lightning strikes man fishing on North Jetty.”
That man is Captain Mc’s owner Frederick McBride. The Houston native had gone fishing with a friend on the Galveston North Jetty as a brooding storm approached. An electric bolt pierced his left side and kept him in the hospital for two days. A 20-year-old in the Air Force Reserve at the time, a doctor told McBride his heavy-duty combat boots likely saved his life.
“It wasn’t raining or thundering. I’ve been in stormier weather before,” McBride, 48, recently told me over the phone. “It’s just one of those things that happens.”
Frederick “Captain Fred” McBride, owner of Captain Mc’s and a fisherman who has sourced seafood for other Houston restaurants. (Raquel Natalicchio/Houston Chronicle)
In 2026, it can feel like you’re more likely to be struck by lightning than to succeed at running a profitable restaurant. But with a second lease on life, the man many know as Captain Fred continued fishing. Local chefs even started buying from him. Earlier this spring, he opened this Gulf seafood restaurant in South Park bordering Third Ward.
Over my four visits, however, business appeared far too slow to be sustainable. I’m hoping McBride succeeds, and not only because Captain Mc’s stands out as a rare restaurant where the owner sells the seafood he catches. The quality of the fish, shrimp and crab – fresh and simply prepared – far outpaces the budget-friendly prices found anywhere in Houston.
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The interior of Captain Mc’s, a Gulf seafood restaurant in Houston. (Raquel Natalicchio/Houston Chronicle)
McBride gutted and renovated the space, which used to be a Louisiana Fish House, before opening Captain Mc’s. But he wonders if traffic is light because locals see it as little more than a seafood restaurant operating under a new name.
The format is fast casual, with customers ordering at the counter or drive-thru, but the room has a distinct point of view. Besides the newspaper article, photos of McBride fishing and nautical-themed tchotchkes dot the gray walls. It gives more curated seafood shack vibes than Long John Silver’s.
The Captain Mac Special, featuring a quarter-pound of shrimp and catfish fillets. (Raquel Natalicchio/Houston Chronicle)
But I kept revisiting Captain Mc’s for something I never imagined I’d crave: catfish.
I grew up in the Midwest, and my parents loved fishing the lakes and rivers in Iowa and Minnesota. Catfish regularly ended up on the dinner table in sweet-and-sour soups or caramelized in sugar to a dark shade of mahogany. I’d complain about the muddy flavor and slimy skin, but we were a clean-your-plate-before-leaving-the-table family. I never learned to like it.
If only my parents had cooked McBride’s gafftop catfish from the Gulf. He removes the bloodline and soaks the fillets from the silver-skinned fish in buttermilk for up to two hours to tame any gamey flavor.
The cornmeal coating on the fried catfish arrives craggy and golden. A puff of steam rushes out after my first bite of the flakey fish. It’s remarkably clean tasting for something often dubbed “trash fish.” I dipped a corner into Louisiana Brand Hot Sauce and swore I would never pass on catfish again. If you’re not convinced, go on Tuesdays when catfish fillets sell for $2 apiece.
McBride also prides himself on black drum. Its flesh is firmer than catfish, with a milder sweetness. A crisp, fried version ranks among the best fried fish I’ve eaten in Houston, but I preferred it blackened. The meat, coated in a charred crust of spices, complements the smoked paprika and cayenne in the seasoning.
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Frederick “Captain Fred” McBride, owner of Captain Mc’s and a fisherman who has sourced seafood for other Houston restaurants, is photographed at the restaurant in Houston’s Third Ward on Monday, Sept. 15, 2026. (Raquel Natalicchio/Houston Chronicle)
It’s a smart move on McBride’s part to keep the menu concise.
The current menu features five combination meals: fish; fish with fried or blackened shrimp; and shrimp étouffée served with sides – fries, vegetables, dirty rice and hush puppies. The last are expertly fried, their centers almost cotton-soft.
Tacos and salads also appear, but I’d recommend sticking to the combination meals or a shrimp po’boy, where the plump shellfish sits on a bed of shredded lettuce tucked into downy bread.
A delightful crab sandwich – a glossy potato bun fitted with a puck-sized patty of delicate meat – is not currently available on the menu, but I think McBride made the right decision to keep paring the choices down. Service can lag; I once waited 20 minutes for a soda.
It’s understandable. McBride isn’t an experienced chef or restaurant owner. He spent nearly two decades in education, teaching music, and kept fishing as a hobby.
While dining at Lucille’s one day, he persuaded chef Chris Williams to buy sheepshead from him. He sold enough of the fish, sometimes described as poor man’s lobster because of its buttery flesh, that he could moonlight as a commercial fisherman.
He decided to retire during the pandemic and pursue his love for fishing full-time with the launch of Captain Fred’s Seafood. His customers included chefs Joe Cervantez, Chris Shepherd and Aaron Bludorn over the years. He still sells crabs to Lucas McKinney of Josephine’s in Midtown.
The exterior of Captain Mc’s, a Gulf seafood restaurant in Houston’s Third Ward, is photographed on Monday, Sept. 15, 2026. (Raquel Natalicchio/Houston Chronicle)
Many of these chefs helped him develop recipes and shared cooking tips, from the tangy remoulade to frying fish.
The simple preparation for popcorn shrimp lends itself to consistency. Each order arrived with a golden corn flour crust and juicy, quarter-size shrimp inside, not easy to achieve in such a small bite. It’s the only seafood item McBride doesn’t catch for himself – he buys from a shrimper in Seabrook – but he says he hopes to start shrimping next summer.
I asked McBride if he’s been more cautious on the water since the lightning incident. He explained that he suffered second-degree burns near his kidneys and the only side effect has been his short-term memory, which at times is “bad like an old person.”
Captain Fred said he’ll never forget his love for fishing.
More Information
Captain Mc’s, 5055 Griggs, 713-505-1188, captainmcs.com
One star
Hours: 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, 12-4 p.m. Sunday, closed Mondays
Prices: $14-$19 meals; $7-$17 po’boys, sandwiches and tacos; $2-$4 sides; $1-$4 desserts
Reservations: None
What to order:
Captain Mc’s Meal Special; Galveston Bay popcorn shrimp meal; blackened fish and shrimp etouffee; fried catfish; hush puppies
Noise level: Quiet to moderate
Parking: Free parking in dedicated lot
STAR RATINGS
Four stars: Superlative; can hold its own on a national stage.
Three stars: Excellent; one of the best restaurants in the city.
Two stars: Very good; one of the best restaurants of its kind.
One star: A good restaurant that we recommend.
No star: Restaurant cannot be recommended at this time.
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This article originally published at Review: A teacher-turned-fisherman serves up some of the most exceptional Gulf seafood in Houston.