Milwaukee vist - part 1: Friday night fish fry

I recently took my fiancee (Kelly) back to Milwaukee, Wisconsin for a vist to meet my family. Well, family on my dad's side anyway. I tried to show Kelly some of the very Milwaukee-centric sights and experiences. I thought it would fun to break each activity up into a series of individual posts so I can share the full experience of each Milwaukee moment. Consider this the first entry.

Friday night fish fry - Milwaukee has many traditions unique to the area... many of which revolve around food. One such tradition is the Friday night Fish Fry. There's really not much to explain here. On Friday evening most restaurants will offer a Fish Fry. Typically the meal will come with fries, coleslaw, rye bread, and of course Fish (usually cod). The Fish is lightly breaded and deep fried. Any respectable Fish Fry is all you can eat, and many times banquet style where there are many tables set up (similar to a wedding). We arrived in Milwaukee on a Friday, so of course we went to a Fish Fry for dinner. We ended up going to Cliffords which is ranked as one of the better Fish Fry's in the area. I guess I've spent too much time recently in the Phoenix area where most restaurants are set up for the dinner wait where. Typically in Phoenix area eateries they don't take reservations. You just show up, put your name on the list and they quote you a wait time, then they give you a pager. But then you just go to the bar and have a drink or two while you wait. It's not a perfect system but it's just a matter of waiting patiently, maybe enjoy a cocktail or two while you wait. You just have to plan for it. You will most likely have to wait but it's structured for that.

But when we showed up at Cliffords it was complete chaos! I guess we were all confused because there wasn't an area to put your name on any list. Come to learn there is no 'list'. You just sit down when someone leaves like a twisted game of musical chairs for the hungry. But to properly describe the situation, it was Good Friday at one of the more popular places on the South side of Milwaukee at the prime time of the dinner rush. So it was quite busy. The entertaining piece of this puzzle was what I like to refer to as Ninja style seating. There were so many people waiting to eat, and with no formal waiting list or reservation system it became quite a free for all to snag a place to sit. Of course, I immediately planted myself at the bar for some Spotted Cow (which has become a Wisconsin delicacy). I figured this would be the best way to scope out a table when somebody leaves. My favorite part of this story is when I noticed the bartender, in the middle of the busy dinner rush mind you, pour himself a beer and light up a smoke behind the bar. That my friends is Wisconsin in a nutshell. Never too busy for a beer and a smoke (ha ha). And you just won't find a beer drinking/cigarette smoking bartender here in Arizona. Too funny.

Anyway, back to Ninja seating. So both my dad and I were keeping an eye out for available tables. I spotted a table where it appeared that five people were about to leave. At that moment I had I got an idea. I walked up to the table and offered the people a drink if they would give us their table when they left. The one guy actually said that he would be down for that and even said that was a good idea, but they were actually waiting for more fish. So bad timing I guess. My dad ended up meeting someone who worked there and took pity on us and sent us upstairs to the 'spillover' tables. That actually worked out better anyway. It was less crowded yet there was full service and a bar. And come to think of it, I don't know how comfortable it would have been sitting in the main banquet area anyway. It was so crowded and given the nature of the Ninja seating, people were trolling up and down the narrow aisles to negotiate a table. It looked like sharks circling the waters waiting to attack. So I don't know fun it would have been trying to relax and eat some fish and catch up with relatives with hungry patrons stalking our table from all sides (lol). But the fish came and it was delicious. I ate more than my fill and I left a happy camper. Truth be told I don't even like fish. But something about a fish fry in Milwaukee makes it quite tasty. If you are ever in the area I would recommend giving it a try.

-Jim