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Family fishmongers since 2013
Real seafood, no shortcuts
Behind the counter, not on the water, the story of how a father-and-son fish market became Indiana's most-celebrated seafood name.
Behind the counter, not on the water, the story of how a father-and-son fish market became Indiana's most-celebrated seafood name.
Caplinger's Fresh Catch traces its roots to the 56th Street Fish Market in 1993, a father and son who believed Indianapolis deserved real seafood, sold honestly. That belief still runs the business.
A lot of fish sold in the Midwest is frozen, thawed and called fresh. We would rather just tell you the truth. We put intentionality behind every product we carry and source: wild colossal king crab, live Maine lobster with a day's notice, real alligator, oysters, crawfish and a fresh-fish counter we cut to order, every one of them clearly labeled for exactly what it is. If we wouldn't serve it to our own family, it doesn't go in the case.
Over the years we grew from one counter to four Indianapolis locations. Shadeland and Southside are full retail seafood markets with full kitchens, buy fresh by the pound, or order it cooked. Pendleton Pike and The AMP at 16 Tech are our Seafood Kitchens. All four locations serve our cooked favorites, fried fresh and golden. Buy it to cook at home, or let us cook it. Either way, it's the real thing.
Some of the Caplinger's family isn't Caplinger by name. Eloy Mantecatl spent years learning the trade behind our counters, then went on to purchase our Pendleton Pike and The AMP downtown locations, which he now owns and operates independently.
Eloy runs them with the same standard we built our name on, and he's doing an outstanding job. Watching someone grow from our team into an owner is exactly the kind of story Caplinger's is proud to be part of.
Nick Caplinger starts in seafood at Standard Grocery, then spends the '80s building seafood programs in grocery stores across Indianapolis.
Nick joins Midwest Seafood, deepening the family's wholesale roots.
Nick co-founds the 56th Street Fish Market at 56th & Emerson. A 13-year-old Andrew starts working the counter, and the family works it together until 2005.
Nick launches his own wholesale company, Caplinger's Seafood. Andrew heads east, running seafood departments and managing stores for Harris Teeter.
The family comes home and opens Caplinger's Fresh Catch in Indianapolis. Still family-run today.
#1 restaurant in Indiana (multiple times), LoveFood "best in the nation," Best Fish Sandwich, WISH-TV features, and 4,800+ Google reviews across four locations.
The Caplinger family has been in seafood since the 56th Street Fish Market days. Here's how Fresh Catch came to be.