A Forty Year Institution And An Oakland Park Landmark
By Charles Baran
In 1983, Dewey James Culbreth Sr., purchased Jeffrey’s Country Music Lounge located at 4003 N. Andrews Avenue, with the intention to revive the struggling establishment, sell it, and move on. Less than a year later, the 1984 savings and loan crisis came along and rocked the financial markets. No one was interested in buying. Suddenly, Dewey Sr. along with his son, Dewey “Jimmy” Culbreth Jr., found themselves in the restaurant business. What to do? What any hard-working entrepreneur would do. The pair turned it into a thriving, successful institution that has been a mainstay of the Fort Lauderdale area food scene for over forty years.
With popular crowd-pleasing menu items such as Catfish—grilled or fried—Monday and Tuesday all-you-can-eat Shrimp, Baby Back Ribs, and fresh Snow Crab Legs—also all-you-can-eat on Thursday nights, it’s no wonder that everyone in the neighborhood keeps coming back night after night. Tourists find their way to Catfish Deweys as well. It’s down-home comfort food at reasonable prices. And the atmosphere is relaxed and homey too.
On a recent afternoon, smack in the middle of stone crab season, I had the opportunity to chat with Dewey Jr.—still in charge after all these years—and find out more about the history of this Fort Lauderdale area mainstay. “My dad, who passed away in 2018, his background was in sales; he was a pharmaceutical rep and later sold insurance. He didn’t have a college degree so his options were limited back then,” recounts Dewey Jr. His mother, Mildred, who died in 1982, was a savvy New Yorker who worked for Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. in the UN secretarial pool. She had a great business acumen and guided Dewey’s father into a career of purchasing failing restaurants and bars, improving them, and selling them at a profit. Dewey states unequivocally that his mom was “the smartest person I ever knew.” The way he puts it, “she took the raw clay of my dad and molded him into a successful businessman.”
Two years after his mom’s passing, his dad remarried a popular South Florida country music singer, Shirley Ray, who helped the father and son team take Catfish Deweys, as it was now renamed, to the next level. “My stepmom Shirley had a big local following and when she and dad married and she started to do shows, everybody came. We had country music hoe-downs the first Sunday of every month from 1984 to 2009. The place was so packed, we couldn’t fit everybody in.”
Shirley Ray was also the first hostess at Catfish Deweys. It’s been a real family affair from day one. Dewey himself has held just about every job at the restaurant, from dishwasher to chef to parking attendant. “Everything except wait tables. I’m not very good at that,” he humbly exclaims. I asked how many long-term employees he currently has, and he quickly replied, “just about everyone.” He was proud to rattle off a list of names. Joe started as a busboy, became cook, then manager, now he holds the title Executive Officer. Jack, the day manager, has been there for 25 years, Glen’s been there 23, and Jean Deliard, the chef, has been there 10. Dewey’s son Chris is also a manager. “As a single dad, I took Chris everywhere with me, even when I made the bank deposit. He grew up in the restaurant and now he’s an important part of the operation.”
For an industry known for high employee turnover, it’s comforting to the regular customers to see the same faces welcome them when they walk in the door. I asked Dewey how he remains so positive as the restaurant business is notorious for being rife with tense situations and financial worries. “I have my bad days for sure, but when I do, I don’t let anybody see them. There are two things I’ve learned over the past forty-plus years. First, my mood affects everybody in the restaurant, and a bad mood is bad for business. And the second, never skimp on quality.
It was obvious to me in our sit-down chat that these tenets have served him well. The staff is happy, the customers are happy, and the food is great.
Catfish Deweys is located at 4003 N. Andrews Avenue, Oakland Park, FL 33309. Open daily for lunch and dinner starting at 11:30am. It gets busy, especially on the weekends, so reservations are suggested and can be made on the website at www.catfishdeweys.com.