If the third time is a charm, what’s next for The Old Barn Restaurant in Goshen, Alabama?

On Friday, The Old Barn was named the winner of the Alabama Catfish Producers’ inaugural Bama’s Best Catfish Restaurant competition.

This award came on the heels of another statewide restaurant award.

The Old Barn Restaurant was honored in 2015 as Alabama’s Best Steak Restaurant by the Alabama Cattlemen’s Association.

“I woke up this morning to the news that The Old Barn had been named the Best Catfish Restaurant, and that was the best wake-up call I could ever get,” said Amy Chandler, who with her husband, Scottie, opened the restaurant 11 years ago.

“We were just hoping that enough people would find their way to rural Goshen to keep us in business,” said Chandler who has to pinch herself to believe all that has happened.

“We are so proud and excited to receive this recognition. It’s humbling, too, and there’s a lot of pressure that comes along with it. When you’re named the best at anything, you have to keep proving it. But that’s what we do every time we open the door of the Old Barn. We want our customers to keep coming back because of the quality of our food and the service. We put our heart and soul into everything we do. Everything we do is the best we can make it.”

More than 150 customer nominations were submitted in the Catfish Challenge. The Old Barn was one of four finalists, along with David’s Catfish Cabin in Andalusia, The Green Leaf Grill in Mentone and Pat’s Country Cuisine in Centre.

The Old Barn serves fried catfish, whole or filets, grilled and blackened, and it’s all U.S. Farm-Raised Catfish.

“We looked a long time before we found the catfish product we wanted to serve and we’ve stayed with it,” Chandler said. “We were honored to be among the finalists and just so honored to be named the Best Catfish Restaurant. Wow!”

The regulars at The Old Barn won’t be surprised by the award. And, they will probably have suggestions as to the “bests” the restaurant serves.

For Best Burgers, the “charm” would be the Old Barn Burger.

“That’s a favorite,” Chandler said. “We patty our meat and put on lettuce, fried green tomatoes, spicy slaw, an apple slice, fried dill pickles and fried jalapenos, mustard and ketchup and put a fried onion ring on top.”

And the quail?

“Not many restaurants serve quail but we have it – fried, grilled and blackened,” Chandler said. “We like to serve a variety of things. We want to offer our customers something different.”

Most afternoons, Amy Chandler would be in the garden picking vegetables for her customers; many of the vegetables served at The Old Barn are homegrown. But, Friday afternoon, she was at The Old Barn earlier than usual.

She came with a hammer and a box of nails. She arranged the restaurant’s Best Steak award plaque and the Best Catfish finalist award plaque on a special place on the wall. She drove in the nails and hung the plaques.

“I’ve left a spot for the Best Catfish Restaurant plaque and I’ve got the nail ready,” Chandler said. “I’m going to sit back in a chair and just enjoy this. And, I can’t thank the Alabama Catfish Producers enough for choosing us. We’ll continue to do our best. We want to make them proud of what we do at The Old Barn Restaurant in Goshen.”

And, if three is the charm, Amy Chandler might need yet another nail.