Caleb Westphal hasn’t missed a Friday fish fry since 2013. Follow his never-ending adventures HERE. This week: fish fry #635, at Aliota’s Pub & Grill in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
There’s a strip mall in Milwaukee on the edge of Glendale and Whitefish Bay (and also near Shorewood) that has a bar in it. I don’t frequent strip mall bars, although I have had a fish fry in them every once in a while. I tend to overlook them. Maybe it’s the impersonal aesthetics of their facades. Maybe it’s that they are located in buildings where it’s a stretch to imagine a memorable fish fry being made, buildings that on one hand feel like they represent stale mass culture, but on the other feel like they are cratering in an era of quick-click, want-it-now mentality and daily Amazon drop offs. But this strip mall bar, Aliota’s Pub & Grill (261 E. Hampton Rd.; 414-810-1656), doesn’t feel impersonal or stale inside, and their Friday fish fry is rather memorable, too. So here I go: I bid defiance to my previous assumptions and stand in defense of strip mall bars.
Aliota’s—not to be confused with Alioto’s, another place in the area that serves fish frys—has been in operation in some form by the Aliota family since 1980, first as Aliota’s Fireside Inn when Thomas Aliota had it, then as TJ Aliota’s when his son, Thomas Jr., ran it from about 1992 until 2012, and then as Aliota’s Pub & Grill when Thomas Jr.’s brother John and John’s son David took over. Before the Aliota family had the location, it went by The Fireside and similar names throughout the 1950s, ’60s, and ’70s, being run by the Goldman family for most of this period. So while businesses in strip malls often come and go, there has been some consistency in this location for at least three quarters of a century.
I was tired on Friday, tired from lack of sleep due to dad life, work, and a number of projects. Thankfully, I had picked out Aliota’s as my fish fry stop a few days earlier, so I didn’t have to put any effort into deciding where to go. I felt at ease with my decision right away, mainly because of the picture they posted of their perch with potato pancakes.
When I walked in shortly after 5, it was busy but not too busy, lively but not too lively. There was the bar, eight tables in a dining area, and three high-top tables on the dividing line between the two. A bartender told me I could take a seat wherever, and I found a seat at one of the tables in the dining area. A server soon came by, greeted me warmly, asked if I needed a drink, and gave me a moment to look over the menu.
Aliota’s offers buttermilk haddock (two pieces dipped in buttermilk, then breaded and deep fried, $15), cracker meal lake perch (four pieces—or maybe actually three pieces—dipped in cracker meal bread crumbs and deep fried, $17), and baked haddock (three pieces house seasoned and slow baked, $15). Each fish dinner includes coleslaw, rye bread, and a choice of fresh cut fries, homemade potato pancakes, or tater tots. I went for the perch with potato pancakes, and added a cup of the soup of the day, clam chowder ($5).
“It looks like it tasted good!” my server said with a laugh, as she saw me polish off the crock of chowder in what must have been less than two minutes. “Let me get that out of your way.” The chowder had tasted good, and it all started with the dozen or so crunchy rings of green onion on top of it. The chowder was thick but still rather light, and had pepper and other seasonings, as well as a hint of sweetness. Clams, carrots, and potatoes were proportional to each other, and were dispersed evenly throughout.
While eating the chowder so quickly meant there was more time to wait for the perch plate, it arrived in a reasonable amount of time. The potato pancakes and the tartar had alluring idiosyncrasies, and the perch hit the right marks on more than one level, but let’s sneak in something about the bread and coleslaw out of habit. The bread was a half piece of lightly seeded light rye. The coleslaw had bigger chunks of green cabbage with some pieces of carrot, and while there may have been black pepper, a seasoning with slightly more heat, such as chili powder, might have been sprinkled in too.
The potato pancakes were dainty but visually appealing. They had a soft and light exterior, but something beyond this in the interior, where they were close to gooey. For a moment I thought they may have been undercooked, but they were warm, and I put the thought out of mind. They had a mellow flavor, not being rocked with onion or other seasonings. Yet whatever made them tick was alluring and with each bite I went back with curiosity, leaving applesauce and ketchup behind.
The fillets of perch were almost impeccable in composition, in both the way they held together and the way they broke apart. The texture of the breading was also almost impeccable; it coated evenly, was neither too hard nor too soft, and was neither too thick nor too thin. The flavor of both the fillets and the breading was mild and reserved, although this was not a noticeable drawback, and salt and some other seasonings were present. While the menu said the plate came with four pieces of perch, I was only given three. I craned my neck to snoop at a perch plate on another table and it appeared they also were given three pieces. This also aligned with the picture Aliota’s posted a few days prior. I suppose I could have asked, and maybe come out with another piece of fish, but decided to let it be.
I eyed the tartar and thought it was going to be some really dilly tartar, perhaps too dilly for my liking. But when I tried it, it wasn’t dill that hit me first—although the dill was there—it was what I presume was horseradish. A little goes a long way with horseradish, and I think that’s what was going on here. The dill tried to jump up to meet it, and just about got there, but might have been just below it. Every time I tried the tartar my brain went straight to the horseradish, maybe because it did hit harder than the dill, but maybe just because I’ve had dilly tartar hundreds of times, while horseradish in tartar is more of an anomaly. Regardless, the tartar wasn’t jarring or off-putting, no, it was alluringly idiosyncratic. Thinking about it later I realized I was so mesmerized by the interplay between dill and horseradish that I was unable to recall if the tartar had any relish or pickle chunks in it.
The perch fish fry at Aliota’s Pub & Grill is generally satisfying and good all around. Some components stand out. The potato pancakes and dill do for their uniqueness, while the perch and its breading do because it’s difficult to find fault with them. The fish fry does just enough to be attention-grabbing, but also be in the wheelhouse of what’s expected in a fish fry. It might not be a fish fry that I’ll return to incessantly, but it is one I can see myself returning to sometimes, and is one I can say without hesitation is worth trying if you’ve never had it. Now get past that aversion to strip mall bars and order yourself some perch!
Takeaways: Strip mall bar; successful chowder; alluring, soft, and light potato pancakes; almost impeccable breading and perch; dill and horseradish centered tartar sauce.
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