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 #595, at Maxie’s in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
We went back to the clubhouse to watch the big race. When the crowd stood to face the flag and sing “My Old Kentucky Home,” Steadman faced the crowd and sketched frantically. Somewhere up in the boxes a voice screeched, “Turn around, you hairy freak!” The race itself was only two minutes long, and even from our super-status seats and using 12-power glasses, there was no way to see what really happened to our horses. Holy Land, Ralph’s choice, stumbled and lost his jockey in the final turn. Mine, Silent Screen, had the lead coming into the stretch but faded to fifth at the finish. The winner was a 16-1 shot named Dust Commander.
– Hunter S. Thompson in “The Kentucky Derby Is Decadent And Depraved”
It was the Thursday before the Kentucky Derby and I was thinking about where I’d get a fish fry the next day. Why not Maxie’s (6732 W. Fairview Ave.; 414-292-3969)? They specialize in Southern food and atmosphere, with seafood being one of their cornerstones, presumably making them the perfect restaurant to get a fish fry on Derby weekend. Sure, I don’t really give a damn about the Kentucky Derby—not about its pomp and circumstance, nor about reveling in a tradition that lays bare persistent inequities of race and class in the United States, or even about who wins the race. Still, something draws me to it each year. Perhaps it’s spring being in the air or my fondness for the Hunter S. Thompson piece “The Kentucky Derby Is Decadent and Depraved.” Whatever it is, it was pulling me towards Maxie’s.
I discovered Maxie’s was also hosting a Derby Day party, making my idea all the more befitting. But then I also noticed they were running their Derby Day party menu from Thursday through Saturday. Would this have any implications for their Friday fish fry? I gave them a call and was told they would not be serving their usual Friday fish fry because of the Derby Day party menu. So, there wouldn’t be any people wearing fine clothes—pressed suits and big hats—sucking down mint juleps and spilling them on me while I was cutting into fillets of haddock. I ended up at Danny Haskell’s in Muskego instead. It’s probably worth mentioning that Maxie’s Derby Day party is more about doing good than about getting loaded. They’ve hosted the party since Derby weekend in 2007 (the same year they opened), using it to raise money for the Hunger Task Force. This year they raised over $20,000!
The Kentucky Derby came and went and Maxie’s fish fry was still on my mind. I hadn’t had it since 2015, and figured the longing for it wouldn’t subside, so I decided to go there this past Friday. Spring was still in the air. The best time to do something you’ve been meaning to do while time is slipping by is still now.
After being asked if I had a reservation (I didn’t), I was given the option for bar or table seating, and was immediately seated at a table in the dining room. There’s a Southern streak to just about everything at Maxie’s, from the menu, to the decorations (a sign displaying how many days until Mardi Gras, a framed poster for the Ground Zero Blues Club), to the music coming through the speakers (blues, jazz, rockabilly, Dr. John), which leaves diners immersed in the South from the start. On the menu I located the fish fry ($19.95), which comes with fried haddock, cross-cut Cajun fries, and coleslaw, and ordered it along with a bowl of the crab & corn chowder ($8.95).
There’s no rye bread listed on the menu with the fish fry, because what they don’t tell you is that meals at Maxie’s start with courtesy cornbread. (This is my main memory of having Maxie’s fish fry a decade ago.) Two pieces of it were brought to me. They were soft, yet substantive, and sweet.
The chowder came out a few minutes later. It looked like it had been stewing all day, to the point that its ingredients were generally indistinguishable, as if a new entity had been formed that would last for the rest of eternity—or until it was eaten. Still, I could make out the corn (lots of it), crab (a little bit of it), and some tomatoes. The chowder was somewhat smoky with a touch of spiciness, and although it was more than double the price of a standard cup of New England clam chowder, I didn’t regret trying it.
Less than 10 minutes later, the fish fry was set in front of me and I was in the homestretch. Almost hidden from view under three pieces of haddock, the cross-cut fries had just the right amount of Cajun seasoning and were all you’d want or expect them to be. Mainly consisting of cabbage and a scattering of seeds, the coleslaw was consistent throughout, being well-coated but not overly saucy or drippy. The dish was bigger than what’s given at most fish frys.
Haddock usually doesn’t have the same thickness or chunkiness as cod, and that was the case here. This makes it easier for batter or breading to take over, which it did to some extent, but not in a bad way. It was generally middle-of-the-road haddock, being thin but with some morsels of greater sustenance. The batter was greasy but crisp, with hints of beer and salt, and was actually a rather good fit for the fish.
I could tell there were capers in the tartar at first bite, before I even hit a caper, and capers were all I could really think about each time I went back to the tartar. For someone who doesn’t like capers, this tartar would be off-putting, but for me it was welcomed. The tartar wasn’t thick, but it wasn’t thin, and everything in it was well blended together. I was okay with the tartar, but it was almost as if it was a separate food, not a condiment, as if someone could say, “Here’s your fish, here’s your coleslaw, and here’s your capers tartar.” Because it was so distinct in its own right, it didn’t form an even bond with the haddock, but that didn’t seem to matter much and I kept pairing the two together anyway.
If I have one regret from my time at Maxie’s it’s that I didn’t order any of their $1 fresh-shucked oysters to start my meal. If there’s one suggestion I could make to Maxie’s for their fish fry, it’s for them to take away a handful of the fries and replace them with another piece of haddock. The cornbread, chowder, fries, coleslaw, haddock, and tartar all were satisfying, even if none were stunning. But if you watch the video of 92-year-old Frances Genter being told that Unbridled is crossing the finish line first at the 1990 Kentucky Derby, her reactions are probably similar to those I had when my fish fry was brought to me at Maxie’s. For every fish fry is a winner, and every fish fry deserves a blanket of roses.
Takeaways: Just one fish fry on the menu, which comes with haddock, but they do serve other fish like catfish and trout; New England is out and corn and crab is in; cornbread not rye bread; Cajun cross-cut fries; well-coated slaw; capers tartar; they host a Derby Day party that knocks the fish fry off the menu for the weekend but raises thousands of dollars for the Hunger Task Force; Maxie’s is part of Black Shoe Hospitality along with Story Hill BKC and Blues Egg + Bakery; there’s another Maxie’s in Ithaca, New York.
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