Wigwam Tavern - Eau Claire, WI

The Deal: The Wigwam Tavern in downtown Eau Claire offers a fried cod dinner on Friday nights for $7.25. Dinner includes three pieces of cod, french fries, coleslaw and tartar sauce. There's also a shrimp basket with the same sides for $6.95.

The Food: The Wigwam has won some awards for best fish fry in the Eau Claire area, so my expectations were high. Unfortunately, those expectations were dashed almost as soon as our friendly waitress told us that she'd have to thaw our fish out first since it was "late" (8 pm) and she hadn't been sure they'd have more fish fry customers. I appreciated the info, but felt obliged to try the fish anyway.

After about 10 minutes, our fish was sufficiently "unthawed" (heh) and we got heaping baskets of mostly brown food. The fish was actually tastier than I expected. The batter was perfect and had a nice beery flavor. The fish itself wasn't quite as good and had a meaty, rather than flaky, texture. It definitely needed some lemon, which was sadly lacking from our baskets.

The fries were exactly like middle school cafeteria fries, which isn't to say that they weren't good and that I couldn't stop eating them. They were good, they just weren't anything special.

The flavor: When we walked into the Wigwam, people were either engrossed in the Brewers game or playing beer pong. There were plenty of NASCAR posters on the wall and the beer list started with Miller & Bud. Luckily, said list ended with Fat Tire & Spotted Cow.

The Wigwam is definitely a western Wisconsin bar, from the torn green vinyl booth seats to the video poker machines to the cheap beer. Although the food was simply okay, it was a nice change of pace from fish and chips and upscale supper clubs. Welcome home.

Second opinions:
Drinking Through Town
Volume One

Culver's - Black River Falls, WI

The Deal: Black River Falls is nicely located halfway between Minneapolis and Madison. As such, the Black River Falls Culver's makes for a nice Interstate-side fish fry. Culver's offers a few options for weary travelers, including cod, walleye and crispy shrimp. These "dinner" options include two sides, tartar sauce and a drink for between $7 and $9. You can always upgrade you drink to a shake for a slightly higher price.

The Food: Culver's is usually a notch above regular fast food. So, not surprisingly, the fish was actually nice and crispy on the outside, and flaky on the inside - just like I like it. I got fries, which were just plain fries and absolutely nothing special. Tragically, however, I chose green beans as my other side. Ugh. They were a mushy, mealy, inedible mess. Culver's should have been embarrassed to serve them to their customers. I added a pineapple shake to my meal and it was easily the best thing at the table. That's not meant as a knock on the fish either, the shakes are that good!

The Flavor: Culver's is Culver's. It's filled with a variety of retirees, screaming children, surly teenagers and harried parents. And, in Black River Falls, you also get folks just off of the Interstate. So really, what you get is some great people watching. It's not a cool supper club, but it does have its charms.

Second Opinions

None...yet

River Jacks - LaCrosse, WI

The deal: At River Jacks, you order your fish and starch from a waitress and head to the buffet for the rest of your salad and sides.

The food: Although walleye was on the menu (always a bonus in my book), the fish was merely average and not especially crispy. The potato pancakes were the worst I've had in a long time - too thin and ultimately tasteless. The buffet was big, but by far the most distinguishing thing on it was applesauce. You gotta have applesauce for the potato pancakes!

The drink menu had a few fun cocktails and a good beer selection, as should be expected in LaCrosse.

The flavor: Rivers Jacks' location on the Black River is beautiful. Inside, I got the impression that the restaurant is something of a tourist trap and it makes me eager to find out where locals go for truly good fish.