INDIANAPOLIS — Andrew Caplinger’s heard it before.
“I'll read comments on Facebook about how you can't have fresh fish in the Midwest,” Caplinger said. “Well, that's not true. They've got these things called airplanes. We get deliveries every single day. We get fish from all over the world."
While sourcing seafood from around the globe is possible, it isn’t always cheap.
“It's going to cost more in the Midwest, but you can still get amazing quality sashimi-grade fresh product,” Caplinger said.
Caplinger would know. He admits to having expensive taste.
“I can't ever get away from scallops,” Caplinger said. “I love our sea scallops, crab of any kind. King crab, blue crabs, all of those things. It’s unfortunately the expensive stuff that I really, really like.”
The customers like it too, especially during Lent.
“Lent is definitely a pick up to our business,” Caplinger said. “Fridays especially. You can come in and you better expect to wait. That is fairly standard on a Friday night during Lent.”
Caplinger’s is serving up a new but familiar dish this Lenten season.
“We're doing a fish and chips special,” Caplinger said. “We've never done a battered fish, but we found out that our breading makes the best batter ever.”
The Lenten special features five pieces of haddock, chips, slaw, two hush puppies, tartar sauce and a drink for $16.99.
“It's probably going to stay on our menu after Lent,” Caplinger said.
Just as there are plenty of fish in the sea, there are plenty of options to choose from inside Caplinger’s Fresh Catch. But that’s not all they have to offer.
"It's one thing to have variety and quality, but we've got the quality people that are going to backup our products," Caplinger said. "We'll educate you and will give you recipes to help you make sure that you don't mess anything up."
It's all part of the quality-driven mission that sets Caplinger's Fresh Catch apart.
"Our customers keep me going," Caplinger said. "Working with all the great people that we do is really what it's all about. Being able to have a product that people are willing to come in and pay for that they love, that's huge."
