For me, Friday in Wisconsin is just not complete without a fish fry. So, after returning to the Staybridge Suites hotel (located in Middleton, a bit west of Madison) after our tour of Capital Brewery, we changed our clothes and headed out again to find a fish fry. Our selected venue was located a stone’s throw from Lake Mendota: Captain Bill’s Waterfront Restaurant. Note: Captain Bill’s was permanently closed in 2020.
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Dinner Choices
We had decided on an early dinner, and it was a good thing. We waited only about fifteen minutes for a great table with a view of the lake. But about twenty minutes later, the place was completely jammed with diners! For good reason, too. The food was great, and the prices were very reasonable.
Our choices included a calamari appetizer, morel-stuffed salmon, and a fish fry. The fish were made with Capital Brewery’s Wisconsin Amber beer. These were all very tasty, and the portions were huge! Morels were just coming into season, and they were an amazing flavor addition to the large piece of salmon.
My fish fry consisted of fresh lake perch. They were crispy, tender and sweet, and served with French fries and Cole slaw. Neither of us could finish our entire dinner, so we took the rest back to the hotel with us. After our brewery tour, Captain Bill’s was a great finish to a long day, and I can highly recommend it if you are looking for a restaurant in the Middleton area.
Spring Green & Taliesin
The next morning, Saturday, dawned chilly, windy and a bit cloudy after a storm had blown through. But the outlook for sunshine and lower wind speeds was promising an excellent day for another part of our trek. This part would include a tour of Taliesin, the Wisconsin home and studio of Frank Lloyd Wright.
After the tour we enjoyed a light lunch in the Riverview Terrace Café. I was overwhelmed, I believe, by what I had seen and felt as I walked through the places that Frank Lloyd Wright himself had walked, the places that he had designed and built, the places that have endured and are being preserved for all to see and appreciate. The Lloyd-Jones family had an interesting motto, and one that I shall remember: “Truth Against the World”.
A Brief Stop
We left Taliesin and headed south, stopping briefly in Monroe for some cheese from Alp and Dell dairy (discovered on a previous excursion to Green County). Back home by 5:00 pm, with plenty of time to prepare dinner, I was amazed at the number of events we packed in to a 36-hour period and roughly one tank of gas.
It was a trek well worth taking, and one that I would definitely recommend you consider. Plans are already in the works for the next excursion!
I hope you can join us!
R. Karl
Additional Resources, Links & Products
- FrankLloydWrightSites.com – a comprehensive website guide to visiting Wright-designed buildings around the U.S.
- Wisconsin Supper Clubs: An Old-Fashioned Experience by Ron Faiola (Amazon)
- Fry Me to the Moon: An Illustrated Journey to Wisconsin’s Famous Friday Night Fish Fry – And Beyond! by Jeff Hagen (Amazon)
