Babes - Madison, WI

The deal: Babes has a variety of fish fry options, including beer battered cod, lake perch and walleye. Prices are around $12 and include bread, the choice of soup or salad and a "potato" choice (baked potato, regular fries, curly fries, fruit, cottage cheese or veggies). It was so nice to be at a restaurant that realizes that a good fish fry needs to include soup or salad.

The food: Babes' delicious lemon chicken soup wasn't on the menu, so everyone in my group opted for cod & salad. Despite the season, the salad was big and fresh and served with a deliciously, crusty piece of hot bread. Mmmm. Hot bread.



The fish was less successful. The batter wasn't crispy enough and the fish itself was solid rather than flaky. The french fries were way too salty. Nothing had any real flavor, unless you count "deep fryer" as a flavor.



Babes redeemed itself, however, with dessert. A chocolate brownie sundae looked exactly as decadent as it sounds and the chocolate & peanut butter cake was light & creamy and the perfect way to end the meal on a high note.

The Flavor: We went to Babes on a frigid New Year's Day night, so it was pretty empty. That meant that we had fantastic service. I'm sure our waitress is always friendly, but she just had extra time to spend on our party and we appreciated it. Our timing also meant that we didn't really explore Babes' beer list at all as most of us were still hungover and recovering. Someone did sample a Bloody Mary though. Bloody Marys aren't my thing, but even I have to admit that this looked and smelled delicious. Apparently it was, so be sure to add Babes to your "best Bloody" list.



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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.

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Fox and Hounds Restaurant - Hubertus, WI

The Deal: Fox and Hounds Restaurant in Milwaukee's western suburbs offers a variety of Friday fish fry options, including $9.99 all-you-can-eat cod or all-you-can-eat shrimp and cod, $14.99 for perch and $17.99 for pan fried walleye. Dinners include fries (you can opt for a baked potato for a dollar more), a slice of marble rye and coleslaw and tartar sauce. The fish is served with lemon and, in a nice touch, instead of asking if you want more of your all-you-can-eat option, the waitstaff just brings a small plateful about midway through the meal. You could also add a cup of soup to your meal, but if you wanted anything green, you'd have to spend $3.99 for the cheapest garden salad. The beer list was good, but not great. There were several different Sprechers on tap, but nothing else that was too exciting.


The food: Most of my table went for the perch and we got 5-6 pieces of flaky fish. The fish was good, but not great, mostly due to the lack of beer flavor in the batter and the fact that all of us had at least one bone in our fish, but, it was crispy without a hint of mushiness. The cod was actually a little bit more flavorful, while the shrimp was crispy, but tasteless. I'm a big fan of marble rye, but I'd always prefer hot, crusty bread instead. To me, the highlight of the meal were the fries, which were a tad soft, but had an awesome, creamy, sweet-potato like texture on the inside. Delicious.

The flavor: Fox and Hounds is pretty much in the middle of nowhere and we only found it after a few wrong turns. But, that's our fault as the road to the restaurant is clearly marked with several large signs. The restaurant itself is like an enormous hunting cabin and was packed to the gills with everyone from families to bikers. It's a hopping place. Unfortunately, the food didn't quite live up to the promise of the premise and our waitress was something of a crusty old dame, and not in a good way - she provided what I like to call "service with a sneer."

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Wild Horse Saloon - Kellner, WI

The deal: The Wild Horse Saloon, just past the outskirts of Wisconsin Rapids, offers a two or three-piece cod fish fry for around $7 or fancier fish like grilled rainbow trout for about $12. All entrees include rolls, a choice of fries, red potatoes or hash browns and coleslaw. For an extra $2, add a trip to the salad bar or soup.

The food: Everyone in our group was disappointed in the "home fries". Expecting thick cut or cross cut fries, instead they received what just looked like normal, somewhat greasy fries. Ho hum. The hash browns, on the other hand, had a nice and crispy crust and were buttery without being greasy.

The cod was also crispy, but the batter lacked flavor. Some in our party had flaky fish. I didn't. While my fish didn't taste bad, it was almost more chunky than crispy. The rainbow trout had decent flavor, but the filet was too thin and therefore it was overcooked.

The rolls were obviously store bought and were not served warm, which is a big no-no in my book. The salad bar was good - a wide variety of vegetables, a few prepared salads and a nice addition of crustinis with various cheese spreads. What a good idea!

The flavor: Since Wisconsin isn't yet completely smoke free, you have to navigate your way through a smoky bar to the back dining room at the Wild Horse Saloon. It's a no frills kind of place. That's not a bad thing at all, you just can't go in expecting anything fancy. What you're going to get is decent food, decent drinks (as a beer snob, I have to say that I almost cried at the terrible tap beer list - lots of Miller & Bud products) and salty, but helpful, service.

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Cafe Twenty Eight - Minneapolis, MN

The deal: Cafe Twenty Eight, in Minneapolis' Linden Hills neighborhood, offers beer battered walleye for its Friday night fish fry. For $14 you get 4-6 pieces of fish, french fries, coleslaw, tartar sauce and bread. Again with the no salad thing. Seriously restaurant owners, just because we like fried fish doesn't mean we hate greens!

The fish: In the words of our friendly waiter, the walleye at Cafe Twenty Eight is breaded with "Pabst Blue Ribbon, hopes and dreams". If that's the case, then hopes & dreams taste taste kinda crusty with an almost pretzel-like texture. While I love that kind of texture, I was a bit disappointed with the lack of beer flavor. Cafe Twenty Eight has a great beer list, so maybe they could experiment with a meatier beer sometime. As for the fish itself, it was on the firm, rather than flaky, side. And while most of my pieces were great, I do have to say that my last piece was just a bit too fishy. However, no one else at my table had any complaints.

The fries were good, but not exceptional, while the coleslaw looked interesting, but was too mayo for my taste. What was exceptional was the bread - hot, crusty sourdough. Mmmmm.

The flavor: Cafe Twenty Eight's co-owner is the brewer at Surly Brewing, so the beer list, while short, is absolutely top notch and filled, predictably, with Surly and a smattering of good looking Belgians. I had a couple of Coffee Benders, which is the perfect combination of two of my great loves, coffee & beer. In fact, the wait staff even wears Surly workshirts. It's a nice contrast with the restaurant itself, which is located in an old fire house, but is sleek rather than workman-like.

The staff was fun & friendly and apparently filled with Flight of the Conchords fan. I think the fish could have been a tad bit better, but overall it was a really good meal in a great place.

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Quivey's Grove Paddock - Madison, WI

The deal: In addition to a lovely setting in the great outdoors, Quivey's Grove's Paddock Fish Fry offers diners a choice of fish (beer battered cod, pretzel crusted perch or baked cod), potato (either parmesan potatoes or fries), cole slaw & tartar sauce. Again, I must lament the lack of salad. The cod is $11.95 while perch is $13.50. One nice option at Quivey's is that you can turn your fish into all-you-can-eat for an extra $1.50 and you don't have to decide until after you're into your plate. No more eyes bigger than the stomach!

The food: I opted for the perch and parmesan potatoes. My fish didn't have a ton of flavor, but I did enjoy the crispy crust. The potatoes were creamy and delicious. All in all, I would have labeled it a great meal. But then, I tasted my friend's beer battered cod. Oh, the cod. It was simply perfect: light, beery batter and flavorful, but not fishy. The fries were also just excellent. At that point, I forgot all about the perch and could only lament that I didn't order the cod. Oh regret, the saddest of all emotions.

Quivey's has a magnificent beer list inside, but you only have one or two options outside. Happily, it's decent beer like Spotted Cow.

The flavor: The paddock fish fry is served up in a tent on Quivey's vast lawn. There are plenty of yard games for the kids and, unfortunately, plenty of mosquitos for the entire family. That said, it's still a picturesque and enjoyable evening full of good friends, good beer and great fish.

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Madison Mallards - Madison, WI

The Deal: Like any savvy Wisconsin business, on Friday nights the Madison Mallards baseball team offers a fish fry. For $7 you get some unidentified fish, fries, coleslaw and tartar sauce. You'll find the fish fry in the concession stand right behind home plate. The stand is run by Chef David Boyer of Stoddard's Country Grove Market and Catering in Cottage Grove. As an aside, although I love Bravo's "Top Chef", I'm troubled by the use the "Chef" as an honorary title like "Judge", "Doctor" or "Professor". Have chefs really hit that status?

The Food: So here's the shocker - this is a fantastic fish fry. The fish was perfectly flaky, the batter was crispy and my whole plate had a nice hint of beer. The fries were nothing to write home about, but they weren't bad. All in all, for $7 this felt like a steal. And, to top it all off, it was served with a spork. Frankly, the only thing better than food with a spork is food on a stick. Is that the next evolution in fish fries? Only time will tell, my friends.

The Flavor: In addition to a delicious fish fry, my night at the Duck Pond featured cute ginger children, excellent Great Dane beer, old and new friends, a couple of young (and attractive) Catholic priests out for a night on the town, Johnny Cash's old band, the Tennessee Three, and a Ron Dayne sighting. You can't beat that.

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