American Serb Hall Fish Fry - Milwaukee

Buddy of mine and I met last night at the American Serb Hall fish fry, a legend of a fish fry place in Milwaukee or so I’ve been told by some clients of mine.

I had wanted to try the cod but my buddy’s all you can eat mentality screwed up my judgment and I too went along with his choice of the all you can eat Alaskan Pollack. Bad choice, just a so-so fish fry. I don’t know what I was thinking as I don’t enjoy all you can eat anyways.

I will give the fish fry at American Serb Hall another try but steer clear of the all you can eat, go for the quality. Everyone knows the best fish fry is cooking up fish that you have just caught.

http://www.serbhall.com/fishfry.asp

Sweet Willie wrote:Everyone knows the best fish fry is cooking up fish that you have just caught.

Agreed, which is why I am somewhat perplexed by the urge to order up either cod or pollack at Serb Hall.

I recently ate at the Yardarm in Racine and would highly recommend it to anyone seeking good great lakes fried fish closer to home than Milwaukee. I had a mix of perch and walleye and both were perfectly fresh and fried. My order came with fried potato rounds and surprisingly fantastic sweet and sour cole slaw with caraway seeds. From our table in the bar, we could watch the cooks flouring the fish as orders came in. Great beer selection and the atmosphere was (to me) the perfect mix of hokey and comfortable, with wood and brass and nautical maps of the great lakes on the walls. Service was very friendly and efficient in a Wisconsin sort of way.

And while they do offer calamari and Mahi Mahi, there's no reason to actually order it.

Kristen

Yardarm Bar & Grill
920 Erie Street
Racine, WI 53402
Phone: (262) 633-8270

Kristen,
Are those lake perch? The menu doesn't say, which always makes me suspicious. If they are, I'm ready for a trip.

Ann, yes, lake perch indeed. I highly recommend the trip. I sort of fell in love with Racine. We went to the art museun (RAM) and ate kringle sitting on the beach in front of the light house. Next time we will stay longer and explore more. I would love to hear about your trip (and meal) if you do head up there.

Kristen

Sweet Willie, come to Arlington Heights to Eddie's Restaurant "across from the train station" for a great perch fish fry wed + Fri. Northwoods decor, the place has been there a thousand years. Family owned and they're not Greek! Great perch, home made tartar sauce, great slaw and fries too! I always get a side of cottage cheese with my fish. Check it out if you already haven't- i know you're in the area.

Friday sounds like the day to go since they make a fish chowder fresh.

This place sounds road trip worthy. Maybe Ann we could decided on a date and time, then see if others want to join us.

Regards,

I became a lifelong Friday night fish fry fan growing up in Milwaukee in the sixties. Though I can't remember the name of the tavern on Fond du Lac Avenue near our house, I do recall they served a generous helping of lake perch, fries and cole slaw for only 49 cents!

Whole Foods had it the other day for $13.95 a pound.

Currently, my favorite Wisconsin fish fry is at Donny's Glidden Lodge, a beautiful stone restaurant ten feet from the shore of Lake Michigan in Sturgeon Bay. You can choose lake perch, walleye or a combo of both. If you're in Door County on a Friday night, it's well worth the drive.

Donny's Glidden Lodge
4670 Glidden Dr.
Sturgeon Bay, WI 54235

http://www.explorewisconsin.com/donnysgliddenlodge/

kl5 wrote:Ann, yes, lake perch indeed. I highly recommend the trip. I sort of fell in love with Racine. We went to the art museun (RAM) and ate kringle sitting on the beach in front of the light house. Next time we will stay longer and explore more. I would love to hear about your trip (and meal) if you do head up there.

Kristen

I havent seen nearly as much of Racine as you have - but its really a very cool
town. Was recd to a breakfast spot that I tried, the Ham-n-Egger, which was
pretty good. Was then recd to another breakfast spot, Yuni's I think it was
called, but it was closing when I got there - it looks a small and very nice
spot as well.

I *have* tried a soul-food style carryout spot, which looks similar to many spots
on the southside of Chicago - they have some pretty good soul food, and a
couple of excellent fried chop sandwiches. Its called Irene's Carry-Outs,
and is at 2051 Mead Street.

And then, of course, there is Bendtsen's - the reason one always makes the
Racine trip in the first place A wonderful bakery all around, with several
different things that are very good... but their pecan kringle is one of the
best things in the world.

Still havent made it to Kewpie's - will do it the next time Iam there. And
thanks for your Yardarm rec, will have to find time for that on the next
trip as well.

c8w

c8w wrote:And then, of course, there is Bendtsen's - the reason one always makes the
Racine trip in the first place A wonderful bakery all around, with several
different things that are very good... but their pecan kringle is one of the
best things in the world.

We got into a conversation with one of the waitstaff at the Yardarm, and she was curious to hear where else we were eating once she found out we were from Chicago and had scoped out the Yardarm in advance. We mentioned that we wanted to try kringle, but I hadn't yet decided where we would go. She crouched down and leaned in towards our table and said that she recommended O&H, who she felt made a better kringle. She was whispering because a Bendsten daughter apparently works at the Yardarm and was working that night. We couldn't pass up that kind of advice, so we went to O&H the next morning. I wanted the pecan, but the husband talked me into cherry. It was fantastic. I will try Bendsten's next time and insist on pecan!

I'm a racine resident and have always been puzzled by the loyalty to Bendsons by those on this board (at least for their kringle...bendsens does make the best 7 sisters pastry). We are O&H fans, a it more dense, less sugary icing, so the filling taste is more prominant.

Alas, it saddens me to report that the ham and egger is now out of business.

Another place to try in Racine is Chubbies. Greasy spoon sandwich and pizza joint. Enormous (really really enourmous) sandwiches with some interesting combinations. And wonderful cheese fries. Far from fine dining, but great chow

Fishie,

Do you mind giving addresses and phone numbers of the places you refer to? I am sometimes in Racine, so any leads on the good food is really welcome!

Thanks for the tips!

Regards,

Sorry, meant to post this:

O&H Danish Bakery
1841 Douglas Ave.
Racine, Wisconsin 53402
Phone: 1-262-637-8895

Addresses/phones and some comments...

Chubbies
619 High St
Racine, WI 53402
(262) 637-1488

There is also a second O&H location. It is open sundays (unlike douglas avenue location).
4006 Durand Ave. (Highway 11)
Racine, Wisconsin 53405
(262) 554-1311

With the Ham and Egger now gone, a decent breakfast place (known for their potato pancakes) is Cliff's boathouse. This is another greasy spoon, hole in the wall, not fine dining, but good chow kind of place.
301 Hamilton St
Racine, WI 53402
(262) 633-1767

fishie wrote:I'm a racine resident and have always been puzzled by the loyalty to Bendsons by those on this board (at least for their kringle...bendsens does make the best 7 sisters pastry). We are O&H fans, a it more dense, less sugary icing, so the filling taste is more prominant.

With all due respects to someone who probably gets to eat a hell of a lot more kringles than me, but I've tried them all, and I find Bendstrens so much better. It is the only one with a real sense of crispness to it. Maybe that's what I like and you find not as dense.

Racine is a fun city. We once had a fine Balkan meal:

http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t= ... a12cf71128

Anyways, welcome to LTH and I look forward to your reporting on Wisconsin, my favorite eatin' state (nearby).

Rob

I work in Racine, and the conventional wisdom seems to be that O&H is better. Incidentally, locals don't pronounce the hard "g" sound in "kringle." (i. e. in Racine, it doesn't rhyme with "jingle.")

Also in Racine, Mi Jacalito (in the 1300 block of Douglas) is worth a stop.

Raul wrote:locals don't pronounce the hard "g" sound in "kringle." (i. e. in Racine, it doesn't rhyme with "jingle.")

So, how is it pronounced? With a hard c sound instead?

Probably a hard C like in Racoon- "Racine". I bought a package of almond Kringle at the Flying J truckstop N of Kenosha early this summer and although it was good, it overwhelmed with almond extract. Only flavor they had.

So are you guys saying that 'kringle' should rhyme with 'wrinkle' 'tinkle' 'twinkle' and in fact sounds just like 'crinkle'?



(But surely the c in Racine can't be the c of raccoon. Can it??)

Racine is pronouced "rus-seen" by most, or sometimes Ray-seen. Never a hard "K" sound for the c.

Come to think of it, kringle is pronounced closer to "crinkle" than a hard "g" sounding "kreen-gul". I had to have my kids say it as they grew up here. And sure enough its more "crinkle" than "kreengul". I tend to still do the "g"...but I am a transplant

It's pronounced more like "cring - uhl." Locals skip directly from the "ng" sound to the "l" sound. There isn't a hard "g" sound or a "k" sound. I can't compare it to another word - maybe "singer" but replace the "r" with an "l."

You can always tell a Racine transplant by how they pronounce it.

Thanks, guys. I will try saying "kring-uhl" when I see my good friend from Wisconsin in a few days. (The only kringle Antonius and I have had was at her house...)

kl5 wrote:Yardarm Bar & Grill
920 Erie Street
Racine, WI 53402
Phone: (262) 633-8270

I wanted to bump this to mention that I ate at the Yardarm again last Sunday for lunch and was just as impressed with the perch as I was the last time. Perfectly tender, not overcooked, lightly floured and fried to order fresh lake perch made me quite happy. As did the New Glarus beers on tap (Spotted Cow and Uff Da). The Yardarm is certainly worth a stop next time you're in Racine, maybe even a special trip.

Kristen