Caleb Westphal hasn’t missed a Friday fish fry since 2013. Follow his never-ending adventures—sponsored by Miller High Life—HERE. This week: fish fry #608, at Lucky’s Ice House Bar & Grill in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
On Saturday, January 12, 1924, Mary Malinowski and her husband John took over a corner tavern in Milwaukee. Early on it was simply called Mary’s, or John and Mary’s, but eventually it became known as Ice House Mary’s, after a Wisconsin Ice & Coal Company plant was built across from it in the late 1930s. (The plant later became Hometown Ice. It shuttered in 2005 and is now the location of an AutoZone.) The name Ice House Mary’s also became a way to distinguish the tavern from others in the area where the proprietor’s name was also Mary—by one count there were three others for a time. In the century since the Malinowski’s opened it, the tavern—which is located towards the northwest corner of the Burnham Park neighborhood on the northeast corner West Orchard Street and Miller Park Way—has been owned by only two other families, and it is still known as the Ice House today.
John passed away in 1946, but Mary continued to own the Ice House until her death in 1975. By the time of her 50th anniversary in 1974, she had had a stroke, a heart attack, and both legs amputated because of diabetes (alcohol was not a contributing factor—she had quit drinking in 1945), and was working from a wheelchair, with her sons Chester and Edward (Yosch) helping by tending bar and managing. A party celebrating 50 years of Ice House Mary’s was held on Friday, January 11, 1974. Mary closed down the bar at 3 a.m. and opened it on Saturday at 8 a.m., on the actual 50th anniversary.
After Mary’s death, the tavern stayed in the family until Bruce Schwabe purchased it in 1981. Schwabe ran Schwabe’s Ice House—also known as Ice House Bar & Grill or simply the Ice House—for about four decades. Tom Schweiger, who owns Lucky Lanes on West Howard Avenue, purchased the tavern with his daughter Amber, and they reopened it in August 2022 as Lucky’s Ice House Bar & Grill (4238 W. Orchard St.; 414-249-3751). One change they made was to add a fish fry to the menu. I stopped in and tried it December 2022, at a time when I wasn’t writing this column. This past Friday I returned to have it again.
Traffic came to a standstill about two blocks south of the Ice House as I headed north towards it. It was 4:45 p.m., about two hours and 25 minutes before the first pitch of the first game in a three-game series between the Brewers and Giants at American Family Field, which would culminate with Bob Uecker’s Celebration of Life on Sunday. I could see the ballpark about a mile ahead, and it was clear that traffic was backed up because of the upcoming game. (Only six Brewers home games before Friday’s game had higher attendance than it this season.)
Surprisingly, the tavern wasn’t that packed when I walked inside. There were still seats open at the bar, and while I didn’t go to the back dining area, I gathered it was largely empty. But it was clear that most of the people who were there were there because of the Brewers. It made sense: Not only is Lucky’s Ice House close to American Family Field, they also run shuttles to Brewers games and even have their walls painted blue and yellow. I grabbed a menu from the bar and a seat at a table that was close to the entrance and that overlooked the bar.
A whole side of the menu was devoted to fish frys. Lucky’s Ice House offers hand breaded and fried cod loins ($17.50), poor man’s lobster made with poached cod loins ($17), bluegill ($19), perch ($18.50), coconut shrimp ($17.50), golden fried shrimp ($17.50), and a combo platter with fried cod, poor man’s lobster, and coconut shrimp or golden buttered shrimp ($21). Each comes with a choice of potato pancakes, french fries, or tots, as well as rye, slaw, and dipping sauce. A cod sandwich with a choice of potato ($14) is also on the menu, as is clam chowder ($3 cup/ $5 bowl). Extra cups of tartar, cocktail sauce, and slaw are 50 cents each. Since the combo platter didn’t have any freshwater fish, I decided to swing for the perch, picked the pancakes, and added a cup of chowder.
A solid stream of cars came towards me through the window to my right, and as time progressed, so did a steady stream of folks on foot, wearing Brewers garb. More often than not they walked inside the tavern, as if they had been hoofing it to the game and needed a brief respite before continuing, although it’s probably more likely most were planning to watch the game at the tavern. What was once a half-empty bar swelled to a bar where all the seats were taken. Many of the patrons, who in large part seemed to be recent retirees, knew each other by name, and were greeting each other as if they had perhaps last seen each other a week or two prior.
When my chowder didn’t come out before my fish, and then was forgotten altogether, I brought it up to the worker who brought out the fish. The person I had ordered from then came out with the chowder, apologized for forgetting to put it on the ticket, and told me it was on the house. It was a really nice gesture, and not needed, although I do like my chowder before my fish! So I ate that complimentary $3 chowder lickety-split as the fish fry plate waited in the wings. It was potato heavy, with many smaller potato cubes, and with pieces of celery and clams interspersed between them. Mainly consisting of vegetables and clams, not broth, it was very dense. And while sometimes chowder bites you back, this one had a light flavor.
The fish fry came with a half slice of standard, slightly marbled rye. Sunflower seeds gave the coleslaw the lion’s share of its character, a nice touch for an otherwise typical slaw. The potato pancakes were judiciously cooked and seasoned, being crisp around the edges, soft in the center, and slightly stringy. They came with applesauce, the choice I made after also being offered syrup or butter.
There were five sizable fillets of perch. They were all meaty and full, as well as tender, with a flavor that didn’t scream, but that came in mellower tones. The fillets were covered with a light breading. Not crispy, nor crunchy, it was generally soft, but had some graininess. It was almost translucent at times, and was replete with seasonings and herbs that were embedded within. While they appeared fossilized in the breading, they actually helped give it life. The tartar was terrific! There was a heavy pickle presence, but the pickle didn’t take over, so there was space for flavors to come from the dressing base and herbs.
The tavern was busy enough by the time I finished that I decided it was best to go up to the bar to close out. Owners Tom and Amber were behind the bar, and were fielding drink orders left and right, so even then it took a bit to close my tab. Meanwhile, the guys working the kitchen were whizzing past with food orders with scarcely a moment to catch their breaths.
While Lucky’s Ice House might be a stop along the way for many, not a destination, its patrons didn’t seem to be in any rush to get to the Brewers game. (The one time I heard someone come in and say that there was a shuttle, at 5:09, no one followed them back outside.) But why would anyone want to leave? Isn’t it great to know there still are corner taverns in Milwaukee where one can not only grab a beer and watch baseball, but also order a Friday fish fry? That’s what’s happening at Lucky’s Ice House Bar & Grill, a Milwaukee corner tavern that’s been standing for over a century.
Takeaways: Within walking distance to American Family Field, although they run a shuttle; owned by a father and daughter, only the third family to own it in a century; dense, potato-heavy chowder; sunflower seeds in the slaw; potato pancakes with a soft edge and crisp interior; meaty, full, and mellow perch; pickle-forward tartar.
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