RandyTravis' Blog

Over the last few years, television stations and newspapers across the country have caught restaurants serving fish inferior to what's actually listed on the menu. In every report I've seen, the restaurant has insisted they were fooled too... fooled by the wholesaler who they claimed delivered the wrong fish. The restaurant argued they unwittingly passed along the false fish to the customer.

But executive chef Michael Hoffman says at one restaurant chain where he briefly worked, the owner knew exactly the deception being perpetrated on the customer.

Mr. Hoffman brought his concerns to us about Chicago's, a group that had three restaurants in metro Atlanta when he worked there earlier this year. The career chef says the restaurant owner, David Howard, told him to continue the company's tradition of serving customers asian catfish when they thought they were getting grouper. Mr. Hoffman says he even tried to order grouper on his own. A few months later, he was fired.

A month after he left, the I-Team checked out the grouper at the two Chicago's locations in Cobb County. One of the restaurants even had grouper as their "catch of the day." We ordered that, too, then sent the samples off to Therion Laboratories for DNA analysis. www.theriondna.com

All of our samples came back negative for grouper, positive for asian catfish.

Keep in mind, asian catfish sells for as low as $3 pound, compared to $12 pound for red grouper. Chicago's sold their "almond crusted grouper" for $18.95.

Owner David Howard claimed the asian catfish was a mystery to him. But when we told him we had already interviewed his former executive chef, the owner pulled off his mike and ultimately walked away from our interview.

For the restaurants that are caught serving false fish, how often do you think they're actually involved in the deception rather than fooled by their supplier?

And how do you make sure you're really getting the fish you pay for?