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 #612, at Lulabell’s Dockside in East Troy, Wisconsin.
I began keeping track of the Friday fish frys I’ve eaten at the start of 2014, making last Friday the 612th Friday in a row I’ve had a fish fry. But I was eating Friday fish frys pretty consistently for a year or two before that. I missed three or so Fridays in 2013, and I think that the last Friday that I missed a fish fry might have been on July 12, 2013.
It was my intention to get one that day, but traffic crawled as my cousin and I approached Bridgeview, just outside of Chicago, on our way to Toyota Park (now SeatGeek Stadium), to see Wilco and Bob Dylan. We missed Richard Thompson, walked in during My Morning Jacket, and caught Wilco, followed by Dylan. I’m almost certain I ate a hot dog in the stands. While I should blame myself for this misstep, it’s easier to blame Illinois.
That was my third time seeing Dylan. I first saw him in La Crosse the day after Barack Obama was elected in 2008, and next saw him at the Marcus Amphitheater (now the American Family Insurance Amphitheater) during Summerfest on July 1, 2009, with Willie Nelson opening. Now it had been over 12 years since I saw Dylan at Toyota Park—since before I started keeping track of fish frys—but this past Friday I once again had plans to see him on a Friday, again with Willie Nelson, as they rolled into Alpine Valley in East Troy for the final date on the Outlaw Music Festival Tour. There was no chance I was going to miss getting a fish fry before the show this time.
The solution seemed simple. Lulabell’s Dockside (N. 9228, N9228 E. Shore Rd., 262-642-5264), a place that I got a fish fry in 2023 and included in “The best Milwaukee-area fish frys of 2023,” is located in East Troy on the route from Milwaukee to Alpine Valley. Indeed, it proved to be simple.
It was shortly before 3:45 p.m. when a friend and I arrived. True to its name, Lulabell’s Dockside is across the street from a dock on Lake Beulah. Four large windows span almost the whole front of the building, providing the opportunity for an impressive sunset on a cloudless day. While the whole inside is gray—the walls, ceiling, fans, tables, and even chairs—it’s the kind of light gray that brightens a room instead of dimming it, so that even on a cloudy day—as it was when we were there—the place has a luminous charm. There are 10 tables and a bar, and for those who want to get closer to the water and the sun, there is outside seating on the deck in the front of the building. We settled inside at a table at one of the front windows and peered over menus.
The “Wednesday & Friday Fish” section of the menu lists the following dinners, which come with coleslaw and rye bread and choice of hand-cut fries or a baked potato: fried Icelandic cod (two-piece for $18.95 or four-piece for $22.95), baked Icelandic cod (10 oz. for $22.95), a shrimp fry (six jumbo shrimp for $31.95), baked cod & shrimp (10 oz. baked cod and three fried shrimp for $28.95), and fried cod & shrimp (two pieces of cod and three fried shrimp for $27.95). Fish tacos ($22.95) are also available, but unlike the other dinners, do not come with a choice of potato. Clam chowder ($5 cup/$8 bowl) is also on the fish fry section of the menu. I went with the four-piece fried cod with hand-cut fries and a cup of chowder.
The chowder, a rye basket, and a dish of slaw came out almost immediately. The chowder was rich, not because of any hearty thickness, but on account of the stew of seasonings, bulky potatoes, and carrots, celery, and clams in it, not to mention the fresh herbs sprinkled on top, the contrasting flavors and components constructing a new and elevated form.
There were four halves of lightly swirled rye in the basket, along with two pats of butter in small plastic dishes. The bread was warm—a thoughtful touch accentuating the bountifulness of the basket. The coleslaw had more flavor than most do, with seeds mixed in and the same herbs that were on the chowder on it too. The slaw had a noticeable crunch and was well-coated yet not runny. It really was a top-notch slaw, and it turned out that both the slaw and bread were bottomless and I could have had more. But the considerable fish fry plate came out right about the same time decisions about refills could have been made.
A boatload of fries—too many for me to take down, but welcomed nonetheless—heaped up on one side of the plate. Lightly salted, with potato skins still intact, they aligned well with the fish next to them. The four pieces of cod were considerable in size and of moderate freshness and flakiness. They were covered with a down home and dirty batter that was lip smackable as is, but was augmented with a squeeze of lemon and of tartar from the bottle that was sitting at the window taking in the lake view. The thick tartar was loaded with relish and herbs, to the point that it gave off a slight green glow on the plate.
Open since 2019, Lullabell’s Dockside is owned by John Tamuzian, who named it after his daughters Lula and Bella; Tamuzian had been a bartender in the building in the 1990s, when it was known as the Dockside. Overall, the vibes and views of the restaurant work well, and the fish fry works well too. The bottomless bread and slaw is a nice touch, all the more because the bread is warm and the slaw is worth going back to. An obvious drawback is there aren’t any freshwater fish options, and while this was not the best fried cod I’ve had, it fit right in with the better ones, and is thus worth it for anyone who loves cod to give a whirl. If you are on your way to a concert at Alpine Valley, even better.
So it came to be that I saw Bob Dylan and had a Friday fish fry on the same day. Well, I sort of saw Dylan. He had so ensconced himself behind a piano that it took about 10 minutes of intense scrutiny of the jumbotron for me to spot him, and I didn’t see him at all with the naked eye until he stood up and moved away from the piano. It didn’t help that he was wearing what appeared to be a black sweatshirt with a hood. He didn’t address the crowd once, and he did his usual vast reworking of his songs. Aw, Dylan, how many lifetimes has he lived? He contains Whitman’s multitudes and then some. I’ll keep his songs close, and keep fish frys close, as long as I can.
Takeaways: Lake and sunset views; warm rye bread; memorable slaw; bread and slaw are both all you can eat; an abundance of french fries; moderately fresh and flaky cod with a down home and dirty batter that pairs well with lemon slices and their thick tartar; great spot to go before attending a concert at Alpine Valley.
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