Spotlight on Business: New York Fish House: Third generation of Muto family offers unmatched fish fries

Fish fry season is right around the corner.

Every restaurant, bistro and pizza shack will boast the biggest portions, the smallest prices and the tastiest batters.

But not one of them is a fish market.

Jim Thomson invites readers to try a fried or grilled fish dinner at his family's New York Fish House, conveniently located within the City Market in Niagara Falls.

"We've been doing fried dinners and grilled dinners for almost 30 years now," he said.

His family, the Mutos, have proudly served fresh fish for more than four decades. Jim learned the ropes from his uncle, Dom Muto, before taking over the business in 2012.

"Nothing has changed in 45 years," since Vic and Rose Muto were in the kitchen, Jim said. "Not a single recipe. If anything, I've added more recipes."

Today, working alongside his mother, Diane Muto Bevilacqua, and his stepfather, Gary Bevilacqua - both co-owners - Jim is specializing more in cooked meals.

"It's not just fresh fish anymore," he said.

"We're going to be going through a crazy amount of fish fries," Jim added.

Those lucky enough to try the fish fry dinner will receive two ample portions per plate, both hand-cut and prepared in homemade batter.

"There's a huge difference in flavor," Jim said. "It's a huge, different taste. Once you eat frozen fish, and you think that's what fish is supposed to taste like, and then you eat our fresh fish - I don't think you'll ever go anywhere else for fish."

"Seafood is our business," he noted. "What we do here is, every single day we get a fresh fish truck. We get fresh fish on a daily basis. Every single day, what we do is, we cut our haddock. We cut all of our fish, and we bread it that day - that morning - for that day that we're about to do. It's never, never frozen. That's a big difference between us and a lot of businesses.

"A lot of pizzerias, a lot of other businesses that do sell fish fries, are selling frozen fish. We've done fresh fish for 45 years, and we are not getting away from it at all, by any means."

New York Fish House recently added Saturday hours.

Customers used to visiting Wednesday through Friday can take advantage of new offerings.

•Each Wednesday, patrons receive 10 percent off everything cooked.

•On Thursdays, buy two dinners and receive a third menu item of equal or lesser value at one-half-off the regular price.

•Each Friday, diners can eat inside the New York Fish House's full-service dining room, where beer and wine is served, too.

Stop in and taste the difference.