Fish Fry -- Classic Wisconsin

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Mining for Fish
Dino's, Dodgeville

What better opportunity to drive the southern leg of Highway 151, into the unforgiving hill country of the old lead mining region, whose hardscrabble communities date back to 1820s, than during goddamned blizzard. This night was made for a fish fry and classicwisconsin was going to find it with the top down…yee haa!

Southwest Wisconsin has not aged well, therefore, we love it. You know you've arrived when you reach Dodgeville, pop. 3,882. The Greek Revival courthouse, the oldest continuously-operated county courthouse in Wisconsin, is sitting there on the hill, the drafty old brick buildings are crammed shoulder to shoulder on a few square city blocks, the narrow and tilted streets are just one paving away from the original mule trails. The same characteristics distinguish Mineral Point and Platteville, also along Hwy. 151. These are communities settled by men who lived in holes in the ground, when city planning consisted of having a sturdy crapper nearby.

Adding to local legend is the story of Mineral Point residents, who, after learning that the county seat was being moved seven miles north in the 1850s, fired a cannon on Dodgeville in the middle of the night. Nice.

classicwisconsin heard about a place called Pat & Mike's, a roadhouse kind of joint for travelers along the well-traveled stretch of highway between Madison and Dubuque.

But Pat and Mike have left the building. Dino owns it now. For the sake of adventure in the brutal elements, the always intrepid classicwisconsin set out on foot for a look-see around town, and it took just two blocks of walking to find a place crowded with locals, the Red Room, which had a weathered Old Style sign advertising Steaks, Chicken, and Fish. So far so good.

The Red Room's interior looks like a wharehouse with a dozen or so tables in the bar area and a small, utilitarian dining room off to one side. To its credit, the Red Room had a number of families dining there, but classicwisconsin wondered about the man sitting motionless at the video poker machine, his head buried in his hands. The truly frightening part came when classicwisconsin asked the bartender the question asked of a thousand bartenders in thousand fish joints across Wisconsin, not to mention the proverbial soft ball intended to gauge the establishment's pride in slinging fish, the classicwisconsin moment of truth:

"How's the fish fry?"

"Good," he said as he walked away.

Gee, thanks for all that.

Maybe he was distressed about the man sitting motionless at the video poker machine, head in hands, but "Pretty damned good, you idiot," or "Best fish fry in Iowa County," or "You've never been slung fish like the fish we sling here, mister," or any variation thereof, would have been adequate.

When classicwisconsin noticed that the beer taps carried no special brands and the menu offered deep fried cod only and nobody asked classicwisconsin if classicwisconsin wanted dinner and the guy sitting motionless at the video poker machine still hadn't removed his head from his hands, classicwisconsin decided to see how much elbow grease Dino had put into the place formerly known as Pat & Mike's.

Should have known all along. Dino's, to begin, is located on the corner of Iowa and Diagonal streets. Where else but southwestern Wisconsin would you find the corner of Iowa and Diagonal streets? Diagonal St. is a no-good-reason-except-it's-always-been-there, one block long, er, diagonal street, the kind of path that gives these mining towns character, so Dinos has that going for it before you ever shake the snow off your Packers hat.

Dino's

Wood floor. Check.
Antique beer cooler with door handles like grandma had on her fridge. Check.
Tables with checkerboard-patterned table clothes. Check (and nice touch).
Panoramic Hamm's Beer sign. Check.
Spotted Cow and Uff Da on tap. Check Check.
Cod. Check.
Catfish. Good.
Blue Gill. You got us for life.

And then a fish slingin' honey in a Badger t-shirt starts working her charms.

Eat at the bar? Sure, sweetheart, no problem. Spotted Cow. You got it. Oh, the blue gill is great. Your choice of potato includes wedges, fries, baked, or Dino's famous cowboys.

Well, this is becoming an embarrassment of riches and I don't even know what the hell "cowboy" tators are, but you're gonna get classicwisconsin's endorsement just for offering a signature tator dish.

Cowboys are cheesy potatoes…

Woohoo!!! And you keep 'em coming!!! Onions in there, right?"

(Cowboys are not only cheesy tators, but they have the corn flakes baked on top like the cheesy tator dish that you eat only once a year, probably on Thanksgiving or Christmas.)

To make a short story short, classicwisconsin was so thoroughly fat and happy at Dinos that classicwisconsin almost laughed out loud when classicwisconsin overheard one bar patron ask her friend, "Is your husband still in jail?"

More fish...

One fish:
What did you expect from a couple of deep fryers and a bag of frozen cod? At least they tried.

Two fish:
For a Friday night it's better than eating fish sticks on your couch.

Three fish:
Typical Wisconsin fish fry at a supper club or tavern. Involves a crowded bar and a Packers schedule on the wall (extra credit if the game scores are filled-in).

Four fish:
Member, classicwisconsin Shanty of Fame. An irresistible combination of atmosphere and fish.

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