By Allen Payton
After being in the catering business for 20 years, including handling crab feeds for political campaigns like Councilman Brian Kalinowski’s run for County Sheriff, last year and for the Deer Valley Youth Football, Michelle Robison and Oliver Hodges started thinking about opening a restaurant.
They began looking for a location, last year, and in July of this year, they found it. It’s on the corner of 9th and A Streets in Antioch, the site of the former, locally famous Panther Drive-In from years gone by.
First-time customer Carl Fill of Martinez, who stopped by after returning from his boat that he berths in East County, said “I love the location. In this county fish houses are hard to find.”
They call it Oliver Fish House – since Oliver is a family name on both sides. Oliver’s parents and grandparents are from Louisiana and Mississippi – which influenced his tastes. Michelle’s father Jimmy Robison is a part owner.
They serve fish, including catfish, oysters, prawns, gumbo, crab cakes and chicken wings, as well as salads and delicious desserts, including 7-Up cake, caramel cake, sweet potato pie, pecan pie and peach cobbler – all home made.
“This is the best I’ve had since I was home in Louisiana,” one patron told this writer.
“I like their gumbo,” said Antioch resident Cory Davis. “I’m here Friday or Saturday of every week.” But it was Tuesday, so he ordered fish and prawns, with hot sauce, instead.
Michelle’s background as a nurse for 27 years, gives her the personal touch when dealing with customers. Oliver likes to make people feel very welcome and at home.
“We want our customers to be satisfied,” he said. “We treat everybody just like they’re family.”
Oliver’s is a place to eat, watch TV and socialize. So stop in and have some good old Southern
cookin’ at Oliver Fish House, today.
