Rainbow Grille - Nekoosa, WI

The Deal: The Rainbow Grille at the Ho-Chunk Casino in Nekoosa offers a cod, shrimp or perch fish fry for between $7.95 - $10.95. Your fish comes with tartar sauce, a mustard sauce, dinner rolls and a choice of potato. While I was disappointed that it didn't come with salad, I was pleasantly surprised with the potato choices: fries, sweet potato fries, baked potato, rice pilaf and a delicious-sounding mixture of hash browns and cheese.

The Food: I opted for the perch and sweet potato fries. I got three nice sized pieces served with a lemon wedge (bonus points!). The breading was nice, thin & crispy and the fish was perfectly cooked. Unfortunately, the fish didn't really have a lot of flavor minus the lemon. I enjoyed the texture, but just a little bit of seasoning might have added a lot to the meal. The fries, on the other hand, were delightful. I adore the creaminess of good sweet potato fries and these delivered. The dinner rolls were okay. My dining companion got some cranberry butter with her meal. I borrowed some for my dinner roll and it made the roll a nice sweet, but light, contrast to the rest of the meal. I don't think it's typically served with the dinner rolls, so be sure to ask for it.

The beer list was pretty weak - Miller and some Leinies on tap with Blue Moon and Spotted Cow (although they ran out of it) in bottles. I think with better than decent food, the Rainbow Grille could certainly stand to upgrade the beers. C'mon, it's Wisconsin. I don't even think they had Point Beer?!?

The Flavor: The Rainbow Grille is an oasis of calm within the madness of the casino. I guess it's a good place to take a break from losing money or to celebrate big wins. I actually think it's one of the better places to eat in central Wisconsin. It's certainly one of the most interesting, what with the cross-section of Wisconsin just outside the entrance.

Second Opinions:

Uptake

The Longhouse at North Star Mohican Casino - Bowler, WI

More thanks to Jamie for yet another review. Someone has to pick up my slack!

Wow, this is the best fish fry I’ve had in some time. To my delight the server told us that The Longhouse’s fish fry included four pieces of fish: one walleye, two cod and one tilapia. I love that you don’t have to choose one variety – you get them all! While my family and I hungrily awaited the arrival of our entrées we received baskets of frybread (yum!) and a lovely cornbread that was made with pieces wild rice as well. It was hard to save room for fish!

My Aunt ordered the dandelion green salad with acorn squash, pomegranate and acorn seeds. Yep, dandelion. It was delish but then again when I’m not eating fish fries, I’m a pretty healthy eater so I realize this won’t be to everyone’s taste. I love the cultural touches in the menu, definitely a huge step up from North Star’s previous fast-food style offerings. The restaurant itself is gorgeous. Excellent graphic design too, as seen on the signage and menus which were made of some sort of natural fiber exterior.

Now, back to the main course: the walleye was by far my favorite, with a flavor of its own while the cod and tilapia were more of a neutral base to the flavor of the batter. All the fish had great texture, not at all chewy. The batter was perfectly crisp with flecks of cornmeal throughout it, another traditional touch! The fries were crisp and delicious as well. And again with the rye bread, two pieces this time! I have heard that rye was traditionally included I can’t recall ever receiving it in my recent history. Not that I needed it, what with the fry bread and all, but I still ate it! All this for $9.99!

Mo's Irish Pub - Milwaukee, WI

My friend Jamie was in Milwaukee last week and checked out the fish at Mo's Irish Pub:

Mo's Irish Pub is just down the street from The Riverside which makes it an ideal location for a bite to eat before a show, as was the case when I dined there this past week.

I ordered the Harp Beer-Battered Cod. The three pieces of fish were just okay: a bit chewy with less-than-crisp batter as if our plates sat around before being delivered to our table. The fries were billed as "seasoned" but I couldn't identify any seasoning aside from the standard salt. I enjoyed the slice of marble rye that arrived with the meal as most fish fries I've received lately do not include that.

For $11.99 I must admit I was disappointed. Also service was on the slow side. A dining companion received the wrong salad dressing and has finished his meal by the time the correct dressing arrived. The salad ended up being his dessert. And as you all know, you don't win friends with salad.

Second Opinions

Citysearch
Insider Pages
Trip Advisor
Yelp

R.P. Adlers - Madison, WI

The Deal: One of the frustrating things about the Friday Night Fish Fry is the wait time. After facing 1-2 hour waits at our first choices, we headed out to Madison's west side to check out R.P. Adlers. R.P. Adlers offers a fish special on Friday nights with two or three pieces of fish, fries and coleslaw for about $10. Because were we dying of hunger by the time we got there, no one could verify what kind of fish it was. My guess is perch, but again, I can't be sure.

The Food: Maybe it was the hunger talking, but the fish was surprisingly delicious. It had a nicely crisp batter with a Lawry's Seasoned Salt flavor and firm, flaky fish inside. Note: I'm crazy about Lawry's Seasoned Salt. The fries were similarly seasoned. They were tasty, but nothing special. The one coleslaw eater at the table enjoyed her little cup of the nasty stuff.

The Flavor: R.P. Adlers is just your basic "normal" restaurant. Since it's on the West Side, the local cougars start to roll into the bar around 9:30. Perhaps the best thing about it (other than the fish) was the fact that you could order pitchers of good beer. If there's something that goes better with a summer fish fry than Spotted Cow, I haven't found it.

Second Opinions:
Geeky Steve
Madison Fish Fry
Yelp

Gruenke's - Bayfield, WI

The Deal: Gruenke's in beautiful Bayfield, WI is best known for its summer fish boil, which gets you whitefish, potatoes & onions, breads and dessert for $15.50. The restaurant also offers a traditional fish fry of whitefish & fries for $15.50. Yep, that's right, they charge the exact same price for the fish fry but don't include any of the sides. Nice. Actually, what would be nice is if they printed the fish fry price anywhere (the sign outside of the restaurant lists the fish fry lunch price which was $7.95 and included the exact same items). So basically, the fish fry is a rip off compared to the fish boil, but since the fish boil is only served at 6 pm, you may be stuck with the fish fry.

The Food: I wouldn't quibble so much about the price if anything Gruenke's served was at all inspiring. But it's not. You get bland, tasteless and somewhat soggy fish that falls off of the skin accompanied by some Sysco fries. Basically, it's cruddy bar food at supper club prices.

The Flavor: While Gruenke's fish boil is held outside in a charming, christmas-light filled garden, the inside of the restaurant is filled with kitschy movie & music memorabilia. It's a bit cramped and beware that you'll hear all of the other diners' conversations. So hey, be interesting!

Second Opinions:

I Go U Go
Yelp

The Beach Club - La Pointe, WI

The Deal: The Beach Club in La Pointe on Lake Superior's beautiful Madeline Island offers a variety of fishy delights including a whitefish fish fry, fish tacos & sandwiches, whitefish livers and, apparently, even a sushi bar during summer weekends. Prices are in the $8-$12 range and sandwiches are served with fries.

The Food: As our group was there for lunch, we opted for fish tacos and a fish sandwich.



The tacos were quite light and delightful, but the real star was the fish sandwich.



It was the perfect combination of crispy batter & flaky fish. The lemons it was served with were almost completely unnecessary as the fish had so much flavor on its own. The accompanying fries were just of the humble shoestring variety, but were nonetheless tasty.

The Flavor: The Beach Club is located right on the water and you can choose to eat in the large indoor dining room & bar, on the front porch facing the main drag in quaint La Pointe or on the smaller outdoor patio right on the lake. You place your order with a friendly counter person and then find a seat. Or, if you're like us, find the bar.

Speaking of the bar, it looked to have the usual tap beers (Leinie's, etc.) and some specials, like the "Island Breeze" we enjoyed, which was basically vanilla rum with a small dash of fruit juices.

Second Opinions:

Urbanspoon

Harvest Restaurant & Bakery - Wittenberg, WI

Thanks to my friend Jamie for this review of the Harvest Restaurant & Bakery.

Harvest is located just off Hwy 29 and shares a building with a gas station. The décor is all Northwoods and large windows allow lots of natural light into the dining room. I dined here with my parents and grandmother on a Saturday afternoon.

Grandma and I opted for the fish fry. Our choices were Cod, Blue Gill or Walleye. I chose the Walleye, served with a potato and choice of two sides. I like how the potato is a category of its own before you even pick the sides. I chose fries, of course. I usually eat pretty healthy but when I’m out for a fish fry I put the emphasis on fry! I did, however, choose a salad as one of my sides. The iceberg lettuce was wilted but I still ate it all. The breading on my walleye was light and crisp and the fish was the perfect texture. For my other side I chose rice which turned out to be a serviceable wild rice pilaf. I couldn't finish that so my Dad helped me out by eating the rest.

My grandmother enjoyed her order of Cod. She received five pieces with a golden, crispy batter. It was more than she could eat so she took a doggy bag. Her sides were Chicken Dumpling Soup and Coleslaw. Her soup featured a dumpling that took up most of the cup it was served in and she claimed it was why she couldn’t finish her fish. The coleslaw was of the traditional mayo-drenched variety.

We had no room for dessert but we had some time so we bought some lottery tickets at the gas station next door. We didn't win a thing - not even a dollar. Should have spent my money on a candy necklace instead, or as I like to call it "dessert at my leisure." Ring pops also suffice!