Not McDonald's: The Fast Food Chain Fish Sandwich Fans Say Puts Seafood Restaurants 'To Shame'

When you're in the mood for a good fried fish sandwich, nothing else will do, but they aren't all built equally. There's one fast food fried fish sandwich that fans completely swear by, and it's not made of the Alaska pollock so often used for sandwiches and fish sticks but rather high-quality North Atlantic cod. It has legions of fans behind it, and people on the internet (including us) sing its praises constantly.

If you guessed it's the fried fish sandwich from Culver's, you get the gold star for today. In a recent thread on Reddit, Culver's fans had nothing but good things to say about the fish sandwich. One commenter said, "This puts a lot of so called 'seafood restaurants' to shame. The cod at Culver's is terrific! Even their tartar sauce has a great flavor, if you like to have that on your fish."

A Redditor who claims to be an employee added a detail as to why the fish sandwiches taste so fresh. They said, "The filets become unusably soggy about 3 minutes after coming out of the fryer if they're not served so it's probably the freshest item you can get at Culver's. At least at our store, it's the only cooked item we will never pre-make and hold during rushes." 

Culver's fried fish sandwiches have a lot of unique things going for it. As mentioned, it's made with a North Atlantic cod filet, which is large, meaty, and substantial. Cod is often used in fish and chips thanks to its mild, clean taste along with its heft. And unlike other fast food restaurants, which fry up pre-made frozen filets, Culver's cod is hand-battered on the spot right before it takes its hot oil bath. 

The bun Culver's serves the sandwich on is a butter-toasted, hoagie-shaped roll (no burger bun here, folks), and the sandwich is dressed with Culver's family recipe tartar sauce along with shredded Wisconsin cheddar and shredded lettuce. It's also an enormous sandwich (I've had it plenty of times). What's even more interesting is that Culver's stands by its cod so firmly that it serves it up as the main star of a cod dinner featuring two (or three) standalone filets along with your sides of choice. You'll never find the fish served alone at a place like McDonald's. 

One Reddit testimonial from the thread mentioned earlier expresses the fan enthusiasm for Culver's fried fish sandwich best. "If you haven't had it, and you like fish sandwiches" they said, "this will change your life for the better!"