Sideroads - Wisconsin Rapids, WI

The Deal: Sideroads' fish fry has staggered pricing between $6.95 and $8.95 depending on whether you want one, two or three pieces of haddock. You can get your haddock deep fried or grilled. For sides, you can choose from a baked potato, fries, onion rings or garlicky rice. Meals are served with a small container of coleslaw (which, of course, I didn't touch) and a thick-cut, heavily buttered slice of bread.

There's no salad option, although the menu does have cheap cheese curds that your table can share. By the way, you can tell I'm from Wisconsin because I've somehow just managed to equate cheese curds with salad. Heh.

The Food: My deep fried haddock was perfectly cooked, tender and flaky. However, the breading was tasteless and added nothing more to the flavor. I opted for the garlicky rice, which was served on my plate in an unappetizing scooped shape. Blech. All I can say about it was that, yep, it was garlicky. My friends were nice enough to share their fries, which were dark, crispy & delicious.

I also sampled the grilled haddock and I thought it had a nice, spicy flavor. It's served with butter for dipping, but I'd skip the butter and savor that flavor.

True to our Wisconsin form, our table shared some cheese curds which were, of course, a delicious Badger treat. Yum!

The flavor: Sideroads is described as a "rustic bar and grill serving seafood, sandwiches, subs, pizza, and a full alcoholic bar." That about covers it. Although, for a rustic place, it has a lot of flair, like Paul Bunyonesque saws on the wall and more beer tchotchkes than you can imagine. The whole place kind of reminded me of a dive bar version of Madison's Ella's Deli. The kids sure loved it.

Second opinions:

None...yet