Caleb Westphal hasn’t missed a Friday fish fry since 2013. Follow his never-ending adventures—sponsored by Miller High LifeHERE. This week, fish fry #563: Ruby J’s in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. With Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley!

Specializing in soul food, Ruby J’s (4734 W. Lisbon Ave.; 414-635-0131) will celebrate its second anniversary open come January. Owned by Debbie and Eric Brown and named for Debbie’s late mother, Ruby Jamison, Ruby J’s is located in Milwaukee’s Uptown neighborhood and is one of a half dozen restaurants involved in Milwaukee County’s Dine Out Program for seniors, a pay-what-you-can program through Milwaukee County’s Health & Human Services. When the program started during the pandemic, food was the only form of nourishment it could provide.


When I met Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley at Ruby J’s this past Friday, he highlighted that the program now not only provides food, but an opportunity for seniors to connect and socialize—something as nurturing and critical as food in some regards. So that is what we did, too: we ate at Ruby J’s and made a human connection. Sure, we had a fish fry, but we also discussed topics such as how the County Executive got into public service, his accomplishments in office and hopes for the future, the kinds of fish he likes, his other favorite foods, and his favorite restaurants to visit and traditions to take part in in Milwaukee County.

From the get go, David Crowley comes across like how you’d want a politician to come across, or how you’d want any person you are meeting to come across, for that matter. He’s down-to-earth and personable. He seems to be genuinely interested in and to care about the people in front of him, and so it seems in turn, as a politician, interested in those who he works for: you, the public, his constituents.


Our server, Day, who said the owners are her godparents, asked us what we’d like to drink and also went over the menu. While I prime up for most of my Friday fish frys with an Old Fashioned, Pepsi products and Kool-Aid are what are available at Ruby J’s. There’s a question in politics about who you’d rather have a beer with, but the pundits are asking the wrong question. The right question is who you’d rather have a Kool-Aid with, and on this particular Friday, I had one with County Executive Crowley.


Ruby J’s is unique from most restaurants I’ve been to on Fridays in that we weren’t given physical menus. Day told us the two types of fish available were catfish and ocean perch, and also went through the long list of sides off the top of her head. I’m able to recount them to you now only because I found them written on a white board towards the front of the restaurant and took a picture. The available sides were: mac and cheese, spaghetti, collard greens, dressing, sweet potato casserole, corn, white rice, mashed potatoes, green beans, and okra. I asked if I could have both catfish and ocean perch, and my wish was granted, and chose greens and mac and cheese as my sides, just as the County Executive had. While my order was considered to be the catfish fillet dinner ($17.99), and the fish options were rather limited, Ruby J’s switches up their Friday fish fry specials, and coleslaw is often on the menu, too.


County Executive Crowley told me his favorite kind of fish is fried catfish, and that he also likes fried perch and cod. While he enjoys these fish, and has dabbled with others, his real passion is barbecue. He’ll barbecue anything, spends a lot of time perfecting his craft, and said that when he and his wife Ericka bought their house, he made sure to buy a smoker/grill at the same time.

Although he spends as much time as he can barbecuing, politics and public service take up the bulk of his time. And just like the perfection of his barbecue dishes might not have come in a day, his road into politics and public service was also a journey. His start came while attending Bay View High School, where he joined Urban Underground, a youth organization founded by Sharlen and Reggie Moore. One of his roles was as the community justice organizer for “Books, Not Bars.” His involvement with Senator Feingold’s campaign in 2010 was also instrumental in his pathway into politics and public service, and in Feingold he saw someone who wasn’t afraid to be an independent voice when it was warranted, but also someone who pursued bipartisanship to get results for the people.

County Executive Crowley has that spirit of bipartisanship. When he joined the state legislature in 2017, he endeavored to learn what town or city all his colleagues were from, and if they had children and what their names were, in an effort to build a human connection—not unlike the connections seniors may make while eating at Ruby J’s or we were making right then—and to build the type of relationships that make working together to get things done for the people easier. He mentioned that as County Executive he often goes to places where not everyone agrees with him, but again, he stresses the importance of meeting people where they are at, getting to know them, and going from there.

Building bridges makes it easier to work together, and that makes it possible to get things done—and County Executive Crowley’s goal is to get things done. Among his accomplishments since taking office in 2020 are getting Milwaukee County on a path toward financial sustainability and getting people the resources they need through his support of Wisconsin Act 12, and boosting racial and health equity through projects such as the building of the Marcia P. Coggs Health and Human Services Center, which will open next year.

It wasn’t long into our discussion that our fish frys arrived. Two fillets of perch and one of catfish were covered with a cornmeal-based breading and served over a thick piece of bread. The flavor between the two wasn’t markedly different; one was obviously perch and the other catfish, but the catfish was more clean than muddy, while the perch was milder than the lake perch I usually eat. Regardless, they were both great. It wasn’t tartar sauce that I used on them, but a few dashes of hot sauce. The greens added sustenance, the macaroni and cheese added sweetness, and then there was a roll of cornbread to top it off. It wasn’t lost on me that this Friday fish fry was different from the German-Catholic, potato pancake-optioning, and tartar-dipping cod fish frys I have on most weeks, a topic I’ve touched on before.


Our discussion moved to our favorite Milwaukee County traditions, activities, and events to take part in. County Executive Crowley enjoys stopping at the Traveling Beer Garden throughout many Milwaukee County Parks. He’s also a devotee to China Lights, the State Fair, Summerfest, and Milwaukee’s Juneteenth celebration. Finally, he likes marching in Fourth of July parades each year, something his daughters also particularly like to do with him. It’s an all-day affair and he was in five this past summer. The way he tells it, his daughters would be pleased if he could squeeze a few more in.

The County Executive’s favorite restaurants in the county? For a date night and for steaks he likes to go to Carnevor. He’s a fan of both the Calderone Club for Italian food, and its nearby sister restaurant, San Giorgio, for pizza. He also highlighted Sam’s Place Jazz Cafe, which is owned by his middle school band teacher, Sam Belton, saying they have Sunday brunch, live jazz, and, you guessed it, a Friday fish fry. By this point we were close to finishing our meals and he joked that he might have to add Ruby J’s to this list.

David Crowley is the youngest-elected Milwaukee County Executive, the first Black leader elected to the position, and come December, he will be the first elected Milwaukee County Executive in over two decades with a college degree (Scott Walker and Chris Abele both did not have degrees). After three semesters back full-time, he will be earning a Bachelor of Education degree with majors in Community Engagement and Education from the UW-Milwaukee School of Education. He’s not only doing this for himself, but has kept his daughters close to mind as he’s worked to complete his studies.


As we finished up our meal and contemplated dessert (there were about as many dessert options as there were options for sides), I asked the County Executive about his hopes for the future. He’s focused on his work in the here and now, but he hopes that this work will have a lasting positive impact. He wants Milwaukee County to be a leader in the state. He wants to continue fighting for a county with racial equity, for a county where everyone has access to housing, healthcare, and employment, and for a county where people believe in the effectiveness of their local government.

While Friday fish frys signal to me that my work is done for the day, the work needed to be done in Milwaukee County never ceases, and County Executive Crowley had another public engagement he had to attend following our fish fry. I left satisfied with my meal, as well as with my time spent with the County Executive. I don’t know much about retail politics, but it seems to me that if it involves a Friday fish fry, it might be at its finest.

Takeaways: Ruby J’s takes part in Milwaukee County’s Dine Out Program; ocean perch and catfish served over bread; the fish fry choices sometimes rotate; ten side options and I had collard greens and macaroni and cheese; comes with cornbread; find out more about the Milwaukee County Executive here.


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Originally hailing from Fond du Lac, Wisconsin—home of Walleye Weekend, the self-professed "World's Largest Walleye Fish Fry"—Caleb Westphal has not missed a Friday night fish fry since sometime in 2013. He plays saxophone with the surf-punk-garage outfit Devils Teeth. He also spins classic 45s and would love to do so at your roller skating party, car show, or 50th high school reunion.