Azzalino's Speakeasy - Madison, WI

The Deal: Azzalino's Speakeasy replaced the beloved Bennett's Smut & Eggs on Park Street, just south of the UW-Madison campus. Billed as a Prohibition era Speakeasy, Azzalino's is filled with cute touches like tables with built in Lazy Susans and a table reserved for Bonnie & Clyde. Although the menu claims that you can get walleye on Friday nights, the real fish fry options are on the board behind the bar. Basically, you've got your cod, your perch your catfish and fries. That's it. Yet another fish fry without a salad included. I hate that trend.

The Food: You know it's a bad sign when you're the only people in the bar eating. After waiting for what seemed like hours (and ominously hearing the deep fryer stop), we got our food. Predictably, by this time, the fish was lukewarm and not a bit crispy. Both the fish and the batter were completely tasteless. Because it was served in smaller pieces, the perch was slightly better than the cod, but not by much. The highlight of the meal (the only highlight) was the sweet potato fries, which were smooth, creamy and really tasty. Where did they come from?

The Flavor: I hate giving this place such a bad review because the staff was so nice. The atmosphere is chill and the jukebox plays David Allen Coe. And did I mention the built in Lazy Susans? I would definitely go back to Azzalino's for drinks, but I can't recommend the fish. Sorry.

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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.

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The Liffey - St. Paul, MN

The Deal: While not actually a fish fry, The Liffey does offer Fish & Chips for $11.99. For this Wisconsin girl, that's close enough. Unlike a real fish fry, there's no soup, salad or bread, but there's also malt vinegar, if you swing that way.

The Food: The Liffey serves up three pieces of unidentified fried fish and french fries. I think it was perch, but I couldn't be sure. Overall, the fish had decent flavor after I squirted some lemon juice on it, but wasn't as crispy as I would have liked. The fries were good, but nothing special. Compared to other fish & chips I've reviewed, I'd have to say The Liffey was below average.

The Flavor: What The Liffey lacks in food, it makes up in atmosphere. Like most Americanized Irish pubs, it's full of full little nooks & crannies. It's a little cheesy, but again, I'm a Wisconsin girl, so I like cheese ;-). The beer list was good, filled with the usual suspects like Guinness and Harps as well as some delightful surprises like Ireland's own Magners cider.

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Branding Iron - Wisconsin Rapids, WI

The Deal: The Branding Iron Supper Club just south of Wisconsin Rapids offers haddock, walleye and lake perch for between $9.50 and $11.50 for its fish fry. Meals include baked beans, coleslaw and choice of potato (fries, baked potato or garlic mashed potatoes). You can add a salad bar for $3.50. A word of caution - the food is served family style, even if you don't all order the same thing. That's right - you get a plate of a mixed fish and another plate of mixed potatoes. It's weird.

The Food: Well, to put in bluntly, the Branding Iron was branded "shitty" by our party. The "fried" fish looked like frozen fish from the grocery store simply baked in the oven. The baked haddock, on the other hand, looked like something whipped up by the lunch ladies of St. Vincent de Paul grade school on a day they decided that they just didn't like children anymore. It was gross - big, fleshy squares of fish. I had the walleye and it tasted okay, but was certainly nothing special and was certainly not actually made in the Branding Iron's kitchen.

The salad bar was okay. You'd enjoy it more if you're a big fan of prepared salads, which I'm not. We suspected that the french fries came from a bag in the freezer, but the garlic mashed potatoes were pretty tasty and not at all too garlicky.

The Flavor: In theory, the Branding Iron's shitty food would probably taste better if you had a few drinks in you. In reality, this will be a big problem since the waitstaff is incredibly slow and inattentive. Perhaps they know how bad the food is and they're dreading having to deal with irate and disappointed customers.

If you do manage to score a drink, there is a nice-sized beer list, a number of cheap, boozy cocktails and traditional ice cream drinks like Brandy Alexanders and grasshoppers. You may want to double fist and order two at a time. Just sayin'...

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Alchemy - Madison, WI

Thanks to my friend Jamie for this review. It's hard to review Wisconsin fish fries when I don't live in Wisconsin anymore!

We arrived at the Alchemy at about 6:30pm last Friday and all the tables were filled. We didn't have to wait too long for a table though. Judging from the way the place was packed on a Friday I was tempted to order the fish fry. I decided to stick with my tried-and-true portabella sandwich instead. My dinner date went with the fish. She received 4 pieces with coleslaw, tarter sauce and half a plate full of some of Madison's best fries. I sampled one piece of the fish. The batter was golden, light and crispy - that's right it was just perfect. Unfortunately the fish inside was a bit chewy for our taste. I'm guessing from the quality of the rest of their menu it may just have been an off night. I must give them props for serving a coleslaw without mayo. I won't touch a coleslaw unless it's dressed in vinaigrette, which makes a better counterweight to a fried dinner. Fish can be difficult so I would definitely give their Fish Fry another try sometime.

Bridges on the Green - Madison, WI

The deal: The Bridges restaurant (attached to the golf course of the same name) offers a variety of fish fry choices including beer-battered cod and lake perch, jumbo shrimp, pan fried walleye and more. Prices ranged between $9 and $12 for most entrees, which come with choice of side (baked potato, chips, fries, hash browns or veggies), coleslaw and hot, crusty bread. You can add a trip to the salad bar or a soup for an additional $2.25.

The food: I ordered the lake perch with hash browns and added a salad to my meal. The base of the salad bar was a bunch what looked like store bought greens. While that wasn't very exciting, it tasted fresh. Toppings were plentiful and included peppers, cucumbers, cheeses, eggs, broccoli, tomatoes and the like. A simple pasta salad was quite delicious and the random addition of canned peaches made it feel like I was back in a typical central Wisconsin supper club.

The Bridges' bread was actually one of the highlights of the meal, and I don't mean that as an insult. Our quarter loaf was perfect, with or without the dollop of sweet butter it was served with. Mmmm...

Both me and my dining companion ordered the lake perch, which meant that we were quickly confronted with five huge pieces of fish. The batter was a little greasy and flavorless, but the fish itself was tasty without being too, uh, fishy.

Due to my tragic addiction to carbs, I was a little disappointed in the ratio of fish to sides. I would have preferred one less piece of fish and a little more hash browns. My dining companion ordered a baked potato, which was also kind of small and not quite soft enough. The folks at the table next to us ordered chips, which looked like huge, homemade pieces of bliss. You gotta love homemade chips.

The flavor: Like many fish fry places, if you're in your 30s and want to feel young, go to the Bridges. You'll have at least 20 years on most of the patrons. That said, it's not a musty, old supper club. Situated right on the golf course, it's actually quite light and lively. The waitstaff was young and efficient. I tried to eat there earlier this summer and it was a bit too crowded and disorganized, but going later in the evening made for a much mellower and enjoyable experience.

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Orpheum Lobby Restaurant - Madison, WI

The deal: $14 at the Orpheum gets you all-you-can-eat breaded & fried bluegill, fries and coleslaw. I know it's all-you-can-eat, but for $14 I'd also expect my choice of soup or salad.

The food: Both me and my dining companion opted (with the helpful suggestion of our waitress) to substitute a green salad for our fries. So, we both received heaping plates of fish and salad. The salad was a delicious combination of greens, carrots, onions and warm chevre with a perfectly light lemon balsamic vinaigrette.

The dressing was an ideal complement to the lemon juice I squeezed over the fish. The fish itself was, for the most part, excellent. The breading was exceptionally crispy and the fish was tasty without being overly fishy. My only complaint was that the breading was bland. The Orpheum would do well to a little beer and possibly even some lemon juice to the batter.



The flavor: The Orpheum's fish fry is worlds away from the typical Wisconsin supper club experience. While you may miss the traditions, it does have advantages, like a great wine and drink menu. My grapefruit-infused mojito, for example, hit the spot on a hot summer night.

The restaurant itself is a little bizarre. It's referred to as the "Lobby Restaurant" for a reason. It's literally in the lobby of the theatre. This means that it's noisy and busy, but does provide ample opportunities for people watching. For even more people watching, you could get a table outside and see all of the State Street crazies up close and personal.

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