Allison's Catfish Restaurant

05/09/2025

Catfish Lovers,

We are heartbroken to let you know that on Wednesday, May 7, 2025, Paul Allison passed away peacefully surrounded by his family. Paul was the founder and owner of Allison’s Catfish Restaurant. He and his wife Lucille, of 76 years, founded Allison’s Catfish Restaurant back in 1981. They also founded Allison Craft Boats back in 1955. Paul and Lucille were both well-known and loved by many in the Blount County Community.

Paul lived a very blessed 100 years and 9 months. He loved fishing, painting, digging and building on the farm on his Bobcat and farm machinery, and he sure loved his sweetheart, Lucille. Lucille passed away in February 2021. We know Paul is so happy to be with “his Lucille” again in Heaven. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers during this very sad time for all our family and friends.

Paul O’Neil Allison, 100, of Friendsville, passed away peacefully on Wednesday, May 7, 2025. He and his wife, Lucille, founded and operated Allison Craft Boat Company and Allison’s Catfish Resta

08/28/2024

It was a special day celebrating Paul Allison’s 100th birthday! It felt like all of Blount County showed up to wish Paul a Happy Birthday. Thank you to Mayor Mitchell for your presence and proclamation. We had a great day!

08/03/2024

We would like to invite all of our catfish family to a very special milestone.

Paul Allison, the one who started it all at Allison’s Catfish Restaurant, is celebrating his 100th birthday.

The celebration will be on August 10th from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at Alcoa/Maryville Church of God.

Allison’s Catfish served our community for over 45 years and Mr. Allison is a staple of the Blount County community.

Please stop by to hug his neck, reminisce, hear him laugh, talk catfish, talk boats, or just to wish him a “Happy Birthday”.

We know Paul would love to see you there. Happy Birthday, Paul Allison!

05/30/2022

Catfish family,

We know many of you have reached out about a future opening date and whether we would open for the 2022 season.

At this time, the decision to open this year remains undecided.

Like most businesses, we are struggling to find workers. Also, a key member of our family is facing some medical concerns and that has been at the forefront of our thoughts and minds.

We want you to know we miss our catfish family. You have been loyal for many years and we are thankful for your continued support!

We appreciate your prayers as we feel it is the best interest of our family to take care of our loved one at this time.

Please continue to check Facebook for a potential 2022 opening date or an announcement for a closure for the year.

Our catfish family is the best! We love you! ❤️

09/25/2021

We apologize for the inconvenience, but due to a food shortage that is out of our control, we will be closing for the season! We will not be open on Saturday, September 25th.

Thank you to everyone who has helped us have an amazing 2021 season. We hope to see you back in the spring of 2022.

Have a great holiday season!

09/20/2021

This weekend is OUR LAST WEEKEND of the 2021 season! Come and see us on Friday or Saturday from 5:00-9:00 to get your last catfish before the season ends. See you next year! 🐠🐟🐬

08/28/2021

Today will be the last day to get catfish for a few weeks as we will be closed Labor Day weekend. Open tonight from 5:00-9:00 pm.

Closed - September 3rd and 4th

Enjoy your holiday weekend!

07/17/2021

Yes! We are open! Friday and Saturday from 5:00-9:00 pm. Carry-out available! See you soon catfish lovers! 🐠🐟

06/13/2021

**Schedule Change**

Due to STAFF SHORTAGE for the weekend of June 18th and June 19th, Allison’s Catfish will be CLOSED. We apologize for the inconvenience.

We will reopen for the weekend of June 25th and June 26th from 5:00 - 8:30 pm.

Thank you for your understanding and we will see you in a couple of weeks! 🐠🐟🦑

05/18/2021

It’s time for catfish!!! We are so excited to announce that we are REOPENING THIS WEEKEND! Come see us on Friday, May 21st, or Saturday, May 22nd, from 5:00-9:00 pm. We are celebrating our 41st season and can’t wait to see our catfish family. See you soon!

03/02/2021

Catfish family,

We wanted to let you know that our sweet Lucille “Meme” Allison passed away on Sunday. Paul and Lucille began Allison’s Catfish in 1981 and loved each person that walked through the doors. Lucille loved her family and especially her Paul. The catfish lady always encouraged everyone to “Hurry Back!” Please be in prayer for Paul and the family during this difficult time.

09/24/2020

Catfish family,

We wanted to let you know that we are officially CLOSED for the 2020 season. We want to thank everyone for being so supportive during the pandemic. We have so many faithful customers that we consider family. Our 40th season was a success and we say a HUGE thank you.

Have a great holiday season! We will see you in March 2021!!