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 #615, at Major Goolsby’s in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
As I remember it, there were plans to get a fish fry as a small group in the afternoon, before the notably fish fry-free rehearsal dinner later in the evening. It was August 5, 2016, and my cousin was getting married the following day. More and more kept coming up that had to be done to prepare the wedding venue, to the point that a group fish fry seemed unlikely. My anxiety started rising as the clock ticked; an internal push and pull of self-centeredness against a desire to put the wishes of others in front of my own for such a monumental occasion took hold.
As dinnertime approached, I was with the group inside the Copps Food Center in Monona. (It’s a Metro Market now. RIP Copps.) While everyone was focusing on flowers, I took my shot. I went to the deli and ordered a fish fry. I can’t recall exactly what I got, or how good it was, but I know I ate it in the back of a car on the way back to the venue.
This past Friday I once again had to be at a rehearsal dinner where a fish fry was not on the menu. Although the restaurant hosting the dinner did have a fish fry, and I could have arrived early to have it, I decided it was an opportune Friday to try the fish fry at Major Goolsby’s (340 W. Kilbourn Ave.; 414-271-3414), an iconic Milwaukee institution in the area that I’ve never had one at.
I’ve walked past Major Goolsby’s many times over the years, probably most often when going to or coming from a concert at Miller High Life Theatre, but had never been inside. I’m sure many other Milwaukeens can say the same, although being that it’s been open for 53 years, it’s obvious many of them have stopped in. Located at the northeast corner of West Kilbourn Avenue and North Vel R. Phillips Avenue, Major Goolsby’s is just two blocks from the Fiserv Forum. When Jerry Cohen opened it in 1972, the year after the Bucks won their first championship, it was right across from the Milwaukee Arena—which became the MECCA Arena a few years later and is now the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena—where the Bucks played until they moved to the Bradley Center for the 1988 season.
Famous folks have been known to frequent Major Goolsby’s. Charles Barkley, Gilbert Brown, John Daly, Hunter S. Thompson, and even MacGyver himself, Richard Dean Anderson, have spent time there. Reggie Jackson got in a scuffle there and Pat Summerall choked a dude there. But what Major Goolsby’s is most known for is for being a go-to sports bar for folks looking to get a quick meal before a game or concert. I, too, was looking for a quick meal when I walked in at 4:45 p.m. on Friday.
Despite the vastness inside, to the point you’d think someone could camp out at a table for a few hours without getting noticed, I was attended to as soon as I took a seat. I ordered an NA beer and looked over the menu. Major Goolsby’s offers just one fish fry: three-piece battered cod ($16.95) with a choice of fries or house potato chips. Clam chowder is also available…sometimes. While last week’s chowder was listed as seasonal, there was no such wording on the menu this week. But when I asked about the chowder, my server was unsure if there was any, and checked and confirmed there wasn’t. So cod with fries it was!
In front of me, above the bar, there were a few thousand televisions all turned to different channels, showing me everything and nothing all at once as I waited for my fish fry. Pictures, signatures, and other sports memorabilia covering the last half century of sports in Milwaukee lined the walls throughout the building. Albert Einstein, reclining on a park bench, worked the door.
Einstein gave me a nod, and the fish fry arrived. Marbled rye, light in flavor and not overly fresh or exciting, sat on top. Most of the flavor in the cup of slaw came from the cabbage, which hit hard at moments, with minimal flavor or seasoning beyond it.
The first thing I noticed when trying the french fries was that they were seasoned. I paused to reflect on that, and then it occurred to me that they tasted exactly like some seasoned fries I’ve had before. It took a moment to click. There, in the recesses of my mind, I found the taste of the A&W curly fries I ate as a child at the A&W near Lakeside Park in Fond du Lac. I may not have had them in a few decades—I’m not even sure they are still on the menu there or at any other A&W locations, for that matter. Even though these fries weren’t curly, each bite brought me back. My brain has never found this memory for any other fish fry with fries I’ve had before. Now, it may have just been the recalling of pleasant memories that made me like Major Goolsby’s fries, but those curly fries ruled as a kid. Although these ones didn’t have the twists and turns of the childhood fries, they had the taste.
Instead of three pieces of cod, as the menu stated, I was given four. Average in size, they were slightly overcooked, so the batter was sometimes difficult to cut through with the plastic fork. It had a somewhat pleasing flavor that was overshadowed by the toughness. Underneath, the cod was more rubbery than flaky. There was some merit to the batter and cod, but I had to stretch to find it. The tartar had a lot going on in it, and a lot going on for it. There were herbs, including dill, and relish packed in, that built a substantive tartar with a glowing zing. It redeemed the fish to some extent, but even with all that it couldn’t fully redeem it.
Major Goolsby’s is known for churning out quick meals for folks on their way to a sporting event or concert, and in my case, I ate and received my bill in about a half hour’s time. The best parts of the meal were the seasoned fries because of where they took me, and the tartar because of where it tried to take the fish. I didn’t go in expecting a killer fish fry, and that’s how it turned out, but I still wouldn’t discredit Major Goolsby’s as a place to stop before going to a sporting event, concert, or even a rehearsal dinner.
Takeaways: Quick service; thousands of televisions; memorable seasoned fries; mediocre batter and cod; has an Albert Einstein statue and an elevator that comes out on the sidewalk; find them at Summerfest; likely will be around for at least another half century because the owners bought the building in 2022 and saved it from demolition.
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