Caleb Westphal hasn’t missed a Friday fish fry since 2013. Follow his never-ending adventures HERE. This week: fish fry #642, at On The Edge Bar & Grill in Greenfield, Wisconsin.
Of course there’s an athletic club connected to a place to get fish frys and Old Fashioneds, this is Wisconsin. “JOIN FOR AS LOW AS $19.99 POOL HOT TUB,” the marquee underneath the shared sign for the Southridge Athletic Club and On The Edge Bar & Grill proudly states (6815 W. Edgerton Ave.; 414-421-6244). You know what’s cheaper than joining the athletic club? The fisherman platter at the bar and grill. It’s $17.50. Put that on the marquee!
Located on Edgerton Avenue in Greenfield, right on the edge of Greendale, the athletic club has been connected to a place to get food and drinks for a long while. I’m not sure how far back it goes, but it goes back at least to around the time that Reagan got into office. Back then it was the Southridge Racquet Club and Hans’ Old Place. The athletic club has gone by a few names since, and the bar and restaurant went on to have names like Yesterday’s, Courtside Pub & Eatery, and El Camino Real, and most recently was Jimmy K’s before becoming On The Edge Bar & Grill in the mid-2010s. I missed the opportunity to see it myself, but apparently it’s possible to exercise while peering into the bar. Can athletic club members order drinks and fish frys to their treadmill? One can hope, but I didn’t think to ask.
It wasn’t the smell of fried fish that hit me when I walked inside On The Edge, but that of the pool or hot tub. The smell dissipated when I got farther inside though, and I soon forgot that the athletic club was connected. I had arrived early, before 4:30, and had picked the location in part because it was close to home, because I didn’t want to chance dealing with the impending weather during my fish fry. The dining areas were nearly empty. An older couple was enjoying a pizza (I gather On The Edge’s specialty is their pizza), but other than that it was mainly just people at the bar. I took a seat at one of the low tops near it.
It didn’t take long for me to realize that almost everyone at the bar was a bartender, employee, or friends of theirs, and they were there to celebrate a birthday. A lady walked in. Everyone clapped and screamed for her. There were presents. She won $100. There were more screams because of that. There I was sitting at a table alone, doing the same thing I do every week, while someone’s milestone moment occurred around me.
There are four Friday fish fry entrees available at On The Edge: beer battered cod ($13.50), baked cod ($14), lake perch ($14.50), and the fisherman platter ($17.50), with two shrimp, two pieces of cod, and two pieces of perch. Each comes with a choice of rice and veggies or fries except for the fisherman platter, which just comes with the fries. Each also comes with the usual coleslaw and rye bread. I went for the fisherman platter.
I had the platter in less than 10 minutes. The rye bread was moderately soft and thick. Despite its small stature, the slaw carried a mighty punch. There wasn’t much for seasoning, but the cabbage and dressing provided a noticeable pungency. Sturdy and consistent, mild yet with some salt, there were so many fries that I didn’t know what to do with them all.
I sent the two shrimp away in two bites. The cod and perch had the same batter. Some seasoning was present, and there was a buttery hint, but it was more of a neutral batter. It was slightly greasy, at least at its bottom, but not too much. Despite having the same batter, the thick, square chunks of cod contrasted in appearance with the more slender perch, the perch being Stan Laurel to the cod’s Oliver Hardy. While it generally was a mild perch, at turns it was more playful, more Laurel, with a wild freshwater aura coming through, while the cod was more serious, more Hardy. Beyond differences in appearance and flavor, the perch also passed the cod in overall quality and texture. The tartar was somewhere between thick and thin, slightly lemony, with other indecipherable small bits in the mix.
Overall, this fish fry fell in the middle, a rather typical bar fish fry that wasn’t really lacking, yet didn’t make a lasting impression. The high point was the perch, in particular its texture, and to some extent, its flavor. The rest—the batter, the cod, the tartar—were all fine, yet not memorable. Still, when it comes to places to work up an appetite with a swim, get a fish fry, and then relax in a hot tub, I’d imagine this is one of the best. But if you only have one Andrew Jackson in your pocket and have to choose between a gym membership or a fisherman platter, I think you know what to do. There are plenty of ways to exercise outdoors this time of year.
Takeaways: Slaw with a pungent punch; lots of sturdy, consistent french fries; Laurel perch and Hardy cod; a place where you can exercise and get a fish fry.
Want more Caleb? Hire him for all your 100%-vinyl DJ needs and follow him on Patreon.
RELATED ARTICLES
• Enjoy Every Fish Fry main page
• Enjoy Every Fish Fry: Wisconsin fish fry reviews
• Enjoy Every Fish Fry: The best Milwaukee-area fish frys of 2025