Caleb Westphal hasn’t missed a Friday fish fry since 2013. Follow his never-ending adventures HERE. This week: fish fry #654, at Hubbard Park Lodge in Shorewood, Wisconsin.
Signs on each side of the tunnel that goes underneath the Oak Leaf Trail beckon pedestrians to Hubbard Park Lodge for a Friday fish fry (3565 N. Morris Blvd.; 414-332-4207). The tunnel sets off a mood shift that grows along the path to the lodge and in the lodge itself. The terraced green hill of Hubbard Park, with the Milwaukee River visible below, comes into view after exiting the tunnel. The path curves north, around the Shorewood River Club and along the beer garden, with the lodge in view ahead. There’s a relaxed yet jovial mood, a laid-back gemütlichkeit, at the beer garden and inside Hubbard Park Lodge, where people eat fish frys while polka music plays and bubbles float.
It wasn’t my first fish fry at the lodge: I’d gotten one there in September 2016, when I was seated on the deck to the west of the building, and again in March 2023, when I ate inside. Fish frys are served from 4 to 9 p.m. on Fridays, and can also be ordered in the beer garden, which has been in operation since 2014. When I arrived this past Friday with my wife, daughter, two of my stepsons, and one of my stepson’s friends, we were seated at one of the 15 tables on the lodge’s main floor. It didn’t appear that anyone was being seated on the deck outside or in the balcony above. Don Turner of the Happy Shotski Combo was playing shortened, polkafied versions of recognizable pop and rock songs from the latter 20th century—everything from “Rock Lobster” to “I Want To Hold Your Hand” to the “Hawaii Five-O Theme” to “Material Girl.” Kids danced off and on, presumably being drawn up front by the bubbles.
Hubbard Park Lodge is owned by the Village of Shorewood and since 2010 has been operated by Russ Davis of Vecchio Entertainment Group, who among other endeavors operates Twisted Fisherman, and who was behind the Lakefront Brewery Palm Garden from 1999 to 2013, as well as other businesses like Rio West Cantina (and its successor, Milwaukee Beer Bistro). Fish frys have been served at Hubbard Park Lodge since the mid-1980s. In 1986, the Village of Shorewood invited Margaret Cibulka to establish a restaurant in the lodge, and Friday fish frys became a menu highlight. The park had been established in 1922, following a rich history of the land being home to an amusement park and more, and the lodge was built in 1936 as part of the Federal Works Progress Administration (WPA).
Hubbard Park Lodge offers beer-battered cod ($16), breaded walleye ($22), baked cod ($16), and a captain’s combo special ($22) with beer-battered cod, breaded walleye, and two jumbo coconut shrimp. At the bottom of the menu, underneath the “mains” section, it says “served with two sides” and lists french fries, coleslaw, potato pancakes, and steamed broccoli, along with a side house salad for a $2 upgrade. It was unclear if these were the sides for the fish frys, but I assumed they were. When I went to order the captain’s combo special, I asked for potato pancakes and coleslaw, but was told there was no need to choose, because the fish frys come with coleslaw, french fries, and a potato pancake. The menu also has a Little Fisherman section, and from it I ordered my daughter the battered cod ($8), which comes with baby carrots, fresh fruit, and french fries.
I was somewhere between basking in laid-back gemütlichkeit and being a fully present father when our food arrived. A light half-slice of rye bread was not long remembered, but the coleslaw was slightly more gripping. It was flaked with dill weed, giving it most of its flavor, in large part because it was so lightly coated with dressing that barely any flavor came from the dressing. The french fries were a straight-cut creation, typical fare but not a fumble, while the potato pancake was onion forward with some green onion present, and mostly soft, with a pinch of firmness around the perimeter. It came with cinnamon topped applesauce.
The fish and shrimp each had a different covering, the outer layer of the shrimp helping make it some of the best and original shrimp of recent memory. I looked for cocktail sauce on the plate but instead found honey mustard. My stepsons and their friend had also ordered captain’s combo specials, but none of them were given cocktail sauce or honey mustard. I wasn’t sure what to make of it, but soon realized the mustard went quite well with the shrimp, and didn’t think it necessary to ask for cocktail sauce for only two pieces of shrimp. (This occurrence seemed even more odd when I realized my daughter hadn’t been given tartar sauce with her cod, but ranch dressing and barbecue sauce.)
I was given one piece of cod, a sizable square and thick chunk of juicy high-grade fish that was covered with a simple beer batter. The only drawback was a slightly singed aftertaste that contradicted its golden appearance. It was noticeable but did not derail the cod’s overall effectiveness. The walleye set a higher standard. Instead of one large fillet, there were three small pieces. The way the fish was filleted may have helped ensure there were no bones, unlike the case with most walleye. The breading had character in the form of bold seasoning and irregular texture. The fish itself had a robust walleye flavor. The flavor as a whole benefited from the breading and walleye both having an abundance of it—the two formidable flavors were an asset instead of being overbearing or conflicting. That the tartar was a simple concoction—light on relish and mainly a straightforward salad dressing—particularly benefited the walleye, but went fine with the cod, too.
Hubbard Park Lodge is fulfilling for both its fish fry and its ambiance, which are so intrinsically linked that one can’t be imagined without the other, not that anyone would want to try such an exercise. The lodge works well for families, especially for those with members young and old who are fond of polka music and bubbles. It’s a timeless place. It’s a sit-there-and-relax place and it’s a get-up-and-dance place. It’s a fries and potato pancake place, and it’s a cod and walleye place. It’s European and Bavarian and Bohemian, but more than that it’s Milwaukee and it’s Shorewood, and it’s a Wisconsin place.
Takeaways: In a park along the Milwaukee River; in a lodge built by the WPA; polka; bubbles; beer garden; dill flaked slaw; fries and potato pancake; chunky and juicy cod; walleye that hits right on multiple levels; simple but effectual tartar.
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