On a recent bike ride down Yesler in the Central District the other week, I noticed a congregation of people outside one of the businesses across from Pratt Park. The air smelled deliciously like fried fish. When I pulled up to what used to be Soulful Dishes, I saw a neon sign blazing in the window: “SOUTHERN FARM RAISED CATFISH.” Could it be?
And it was! Jackson’s Catfish Corner is back, but this time on the corner of East Yesler Way and 18th Avenue South. The beloved Central District culinary institution has returned in pop-up form in the storefront, where it’ll be until the end of the month. After closing abruptly in January 2025, owner Terrell Jackson has come back to serve up his signature Southern-style catfish to the community.
When we sat down for an interview, the fridge was full of cold soda and banana pudding with R&B blasting from the speakers, and chefs frying up fish in the back to prepare for a day of service. As Jackson and I spoke outside, people passing by on the street or heading into the restaurant stopped by to dap him up or say hello. He knew everyone by name. Cleary, the Central District has missed him.
He says returning was a way to make amends for shutting down the location on 23rd Avenue South and South Jackson Street so suddenly a year and a half ago. His old spot was a place of pride in the neighborhood, a welcome return of the catfish spot originally started by his grandparents – Woody and Rosemary Jackson — over on East Cherry Street and Martin Luther King, Jr. Way in 1985. When the business shut down in 2014, Jackson took up the mantle in 2015, hosting pop-ups in Skyway and Rainier Beach before landing a permanent spot back in the Central District in 2021.
Business boomed, and the spot served as a hub for the neighborhood’s Black community, but Jackson announced the restaurant’s closure in January 2025 citing mental health and exhaustion. After taking some time to spend with family in Texas in the ensuing months, Jackson told me he didn’t feel good about the way he closed Catfish Corner all those months ago.
“I thought I was being selfish,” he reflected. “I felt the pop-up would be an opportunity to give back to the community, to say, ‘I apologize, and you guys can get it while you want to.’”
According to Jackson, people have been getting it good. The numbers are like “we never left,” he said, and customers are really liking the new space, even more than his old spot a few blocks over.
“I spent so much money on 23rd and Jackson, and I guess people thought it was too commercial,” Jackson said. “This feels more like home and down South … but I love it. As long as I got two deep fryers to cook catfish, I'm happy.”
The menu regulars have come to expect at Catfish Corner hasn’t changed. They’ve got all the hits: prawns, snapper, hush puppies, collard greens, candied yams, the famed Captain’s Platter, and – of course – catfish. “I try to keep everything the same,” said Jackson. “I tell people when I move locations, the only thing I've changed is the address.”
This pop-up served as a sort of experiment to test the waters for a return. And due to its popularity and strong community response, he’s currently in talks with the building’s landlord to permanently take over the Yesler space so he can be back for good.
Currently, the pop-up is a little bare bones with a few tables and seats for decoration; on the soda fridge, he propped up a painting of the OG Catfish Corner on MLK so that it looks over all the customers like a benevolent portal to the past. If Jackson is able to get a lease on the spot, he will revamp everything and add his signature flair to the space with jerseys and TVs on the walls like his old location. And even if this particular spot doesn’t work out long term, Jackson says he’s here to stay one way or another.
“I plan on sticking around for a long time. I got my kids, and they're here training now, so it's four generations now for Catfish Corner to keep the legacy going. My mother's in there prepping the food right now,” Jackson said. “It's a family business, and we want to be here for the community. I plan on being around for another 100 years, hopefully.”
For more info on Jackson’s Catfish Corner, follow Terrell Jackson on Instagram and Facebook.
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