By 2019 Wynne had opened a Flying Fish in Coppell after a long history in the restaurant and bar industry. He wanted to capture the atmosphere and flavors he experienced at East Texas fish joints near Caddo Lake.
The backstory
Wynne had been in the restaurant business for decades and over the course of his career has opened nine Rodeo Goat burger restaurants, 11 Flying Saucer Draught Emporiums and 11 Flying Fish, he said. When developer Lucy Billingsly approached Wynne to build a restaurant in Coppell community Cypress Waters, he thought the Flying Fish would be a perfect fit.
Jutting out over the lake, the restaurant has a seaside atmosphere complete with hanging pictures of fish, an outdoor deck and a rustic industrial feel, Wynne said. There is also a hiking trail where parents can walk around the lake or take their kids fishing.
“It's a beautiful restaurant,” he said.
What’s on the menu
The restaurant sells gobs of fresh catfish, shrimp and oysters, grilled fish, shrimp cocktail, fish cocktail, crab legs, burgers, chicken, and mudbugs or crawfish in season. It also offers a specialty selection of grilled salmon, trout or tilapia.
Some of the bestsellers have been the fried catfish and the catfish with shrimp, each served with a side of fries and hush puppies, Wynne said. The restaurant also sells more eclectic offerings, such as frog legs, which help to keep the flavor of the restaurant alive, he said. Flying Fish also started selling alligator tail to help highlight the southern Cajun cuisine it strives for.
What's special about it?
Apart from just serving up seafood, Flying Fish staff strive to help make a difference when it can. One year, restaurant proceeds helped purchase a lift for a family with a wheelchair-bound child, Wynne said.
But one of the more rewarding moments for Wynne was when Flying Fish, along with all his other restaurants, raised around $250,000 for an organization called World Central Kitchen, which used donations to feed hungry people affected by the war in Ukraine. The money was raised over two months by tacking on an extra dollar to each order. The experience was overwhelmingly positive, Wynne said.
“It was the right thing to do. And [Ukraine] needed that,” he said.
- 9600 Wharf Road, Coppell
- www.flyingfishinthe.net/location?l=Cypress%20Waters
