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Champs Sports Bar and Grill - Lake Geneva - Friday Night Fish Fry
This entry was posted on 1/7/2011 1:30 AM and is filed under Friday Night Fish Fry.
Hopefully, I can follow through with my crusade to veer over to the Lake Geneva area in the next few months and hit up some fish frys. So far so good. Back in 2008 I did a posting on Champs Sports Bar and Grill in Lake Geneva. Back then I was critiquing their burgers. But, I had a feeling they might have a fish fry worth taking in some time down the road. On Christmas Eve we snuck over to Lake Geneva - the perennial lake town and quasi-resort area - "the city Chicago built." You know you are near the state line of Wisconsin and Illinois when you sit at your bar table and there are pictures of the Wisconsin Badgers football team as well as pictures of the Chicago Bears. You might be in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, both Heide's and my old stomping grounds.
Champs Sports Bar and Grill is on the main drag in downtown Lake Geneva. It is the consummate quasi-modern Wisconsin sports tavern. There are big picture windows to plant yourself behind of and watch the many pilgrims on the street that have made the weekend trip to this lake town north from Chicago - they are taking their break from "the city" and have come to play and dine in the small town with the big lake. In the back you will find a thoughtful beer garden with all the trimmings. Inside there is the reliable, regulation, permanent, and free basketball free-throw hoop. There will most likely always be a game on television involving a Wisconsin team and another game or two on other sets presenting a Chicago and/or Illinois team.
Sports bars have become ubiquitous. They have, I fear, pretty much replaced the Wisconsin supper club culture. Times change. But as sports bars go, Champs takes the sports bar nuances to a higher plateau. They have a thoughtful dipper shaped bar. The building is old and right in the downtown row. It has a very high ceiling as old store fronts will. There are comfortable and heavy-lacquered pine wood tables - some low, some high. There is a balcony up above the bar. In the summer, the beer garden is always fun to sit out in. There is another real basketball hoop out there. The place clings to the old tavern demeanor, yet they squeeze in the many flat screens, burger menu, and sports decor.
I am not a sports bar fanatic, but Champs will get my nod. The fish fry is the real reason we were on scene that night. Surprisingly, we had the place pretty much to ourselves. Some locals sat around the bar. I suppose most the usual Chicago crowd was spending Christmas Eve in...Chicago.
We started out our meal with a mini hotdog basket with a cup of melted cheese. Heide ordered the fried Perch with potato pancakes. I went for the fried Walleye with potato pancakes. The hunk of Walleye was huge. The potato pancakes were homemade with vegetables mixed in - something a bit unique as potato pancakes go. They were indeed good.
The meal presentations came in handy rectangular baskets. There was a tasty cup of cole slaw, a cup of apple sauce, pickle, cup of tarter sauce, and a couple of pieces of toasted and buttered marble swirl rye bread. I really liked that special touch of the buttered toast.
Champs Sports Bar and Grill is cool with Cool Dadio. If you get in a jam with where to go on a date due to changes in schedules, time constraints, or what ever, and need a reliable spot, keep Champs in mind. But then again, it is always worth a drive over to Lake Geneva at least once a year to watch the weekenders mingle with the locals. You should not run out of things to do. Find Champs at 747 West Main Street in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Call (262) 248 - 6008 for more details. Wisconsin Military Service Person Special Mention of the Week
(each week Cooldadiomedia mentions a Wisconsin service person killed in Iraq or Afghanistan)
Captain Derek Anthony Dobogai, 26, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin died on Wednesday, August 22, 2007. He was one of 14 soldiers killed when their UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter crashed while returning from a combat mission in Multaka, Iraq. Captain Dobogai was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel mentioned Derek "was a gifted runner and a top student in his high school class." He attended Winnebago Lutheran Academy, and graduated from there in 1999. Derek was remembered as a good student, particularly in chemistry, and he had two brothers who also attended the school. He was one of the top 10 students in his senior year. Dobogai was also remembered as a track and cross country athlete, and he was recognized as an academic letter winner with good grades in each of his four years. Derek was the middle of three brothers.
According to a news release by Western Illinois University, Derek Dobogai had been a member of the Western Illinois University Reserve Officer's Training Corps (ROTC), and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army on Dec. 12, 2003. He earned a Bachelor's of Science degree in law enforcement and justice administration. Dobogai was a member of the ROTC Bulldog Battalion. He was among the top cross county runners and ran the steeplechase in track. Derek was a U.S. Army Ranger School graduate and also a U.S. Army Airborne School graduate. Dobogai served combat tours in Afghanistan as well as in Iraq, and he had recently been selected to the U.S. Army Special Forces
The Web site iraqnam.blogspot.com via information from the Fond du Lac Reporter noted Dobogai was an iron-man competitor and an academic standout. He was the fourth Fond du Lac County soldier to die in the Iraq war. At the time of his death Derek Dobogai was survived by his parents Lisa and David Dobogai and brothers David Jr. and Daniel. Derek Dobogai was the 79th Wisconsin military service person to die in Iraq since the spring of 2003.
As of this blog entry's posting date:
99,285 Iraqi civilians have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
9,815 Iraqi Security Forces have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
4,433 Americans have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
1445 Americans have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
318 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
834 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
32,106 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
9,828 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
103 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
27 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
145 journalists (several nationalities) have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
21 journalists (various nationalities) have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
Wisconsin military service person special mention of the week, military casualty, and journalist casualty information sources: Committee to Protect Journalists; cnn.com; Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; washingtonpost.com; thehighground.org; Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs; iraqbodycount.org; www.defense.gov/news/casualty.pdf; and, icasualties.org.
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