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Laural Tavern - Madison - Friday Night Fish Fry
This entry was posted on 8/12/2011 1:30 AM and is filed under Friday Night Fish Fry.
It's all about timing. Our schedules matched up the other day, so our revisiting of Madison food and drink joints got to continue. Off and on, we have been haunting some of the eateries and taverns in our old neighborhood from our Madison days. I was only in one such place - the subject of today's fish fry chat - a couple times, but there are so many. And this one always stuck in my memory. And, for some reason, the Laurel Tavern did indeed intrigued me back 20 years ago. Monroe Street had yet to have the customary 1990s booming Clinton economy years make-over that so many neighborhoods in America eventually have endured. Nor, the early 2000s were no where on the horizon with that Bush II economy and all its condos and neighborhood face-lifts to fit the contrived neo-con construct and the latest national urban timbre of its time.
I remember the Laurel Tavern as an old brick joint on an old eclectic street, in an old beloved neighborhood. On our recent visit, I asked the waitress for a history lesson and she indicated the joint had been fixed up about 11 years ago. That seems about right. They did good. They did not lose their neighborhood demeanor.
The outside is still brick. There is a smaller narrow eating room with an assortment of comfortable tables. The bar is sectioned off from the eating area. You might entertain getting there early - we did - because limited seating and popularity equals...., a bit of a wait. We got right in at five o'clock, although we filled up the very last table, and the bar was well on the way to getting packed.
I tried the deep fried Cod and Heide went for the baked Cod. The fish was great. No take-home this night. I got a side of something they call hash browns O'Brien. Basically, it is loaded up with onions, tomato, peppers, all the usual suspects, et cetera. Heide got the regular hash browns which are way beyond the usual diner/cafe type recipe.
Heide went for the fresh looking salad and got her consummate Ranch and French dressings. I tried the cole slaw which came in ample supply in a big cup. It was likewise fresh, crunchy, and just tart enough.
This night Heide tried a Vodka and Seven. I ended up getting two Miller-Lites on tap.
One side bar. I took a gander at a couple of our neighboring tables and the fried Walleye Pike seemed to be popular. Here's the indicator why I should try the Walleye next time. Just looking at the "heap" of fish and fries set off the old Pavlov reaction. That good "heap" style of chow comes right out of Milwaukee fish fry rules. It's hard to describe, but you know it when you see it. I could almost taste it as the waitress whisked by with all the plates of abundant feast.
Laurel Tavern is cool with Cool Dadio. Find them at 2505 Monroe street in a cluster of other business, in Madison, Wisconsin. Call (608) 233-1043 for more information. Or, visit their humble Web site at http://www.laureltavern.com .
Note: You can find a chronological list at the Cool Dadio Media Fish Fry Page of these fish frys as we have visited them. The list presents the most recently visited fish fry at the top, in lieu alphabetical order.
Wisconsin Military Service Person Special Mention of the Week
(each week Cooldadiomedia mentions a Wisconsin service person killed in Iraq or Afghanistan)
Army Private First Class Jacob Alexander Gassen, 21, Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, was killed on Monday, November 29, 2010, at Combat Outpost Lonestar in the Pachir Wa Agam district of Nangarhar province, Afghanistan. An insurgent wearing an Afghan border policeman uniform attacked his unit with small arms fire. Gassen was one of six soldiers killed. Private First Class Gassen was assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Troop,1st Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), out of Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel notes Private First Class Gassen was an Army medic. Jacob graduated from Beaver Dam in 2008. He studied for a year at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh before joining the Army. He had aspirations to someday be a nurse. Gassen had just turned 21 on November 19 before his death. The Journal Sentinel went on to mention he had been a swimmer for the YMCA's Sea Dragons swim team; he was later hired on to be a swim instructor and lifeguard. He had played viola in his high school orchestra. Jacob Gassen is the third Beaver Dam student to be killed in the Afghan and Iraq wars: Kirk Straseskie was the first Wisconsin military service person to die in Iraq, in May of 2003; Ryan Cantafio was killed in Iraq on Thanksgiving Day in 2004.
The Web site wiscnews.com in a series of articles from the Beaver Dam Daily Citizen notes Gassen was on his first overseas tour of duty. He he enjoyed playing golf and liked fishing. He had participated in the Academic Decathlon. In addition to the YMCA he had also been a lifeguard at the Columbus Aquatic Center. Jacob was born on November 19, 1989, in LaCrosse, Wisconsin. He joined the Army in September of 2009.
At the time of his death Army Private First Class Jacob Gassen was survived by his birth mother Lisa Genardo; her children Samantha, Sara, Emily, Steven, and Jennifer; by parents Gregory and Barbara Gassen; two brothers Christopher and Jesse Gassen; maternal grandmother Phyllis Luck; grandfather Joe Genardo; an aunt and two uncles M. John (Leiko) Gassen, Valerie (Bill) Dahlke, and Dan (Lorrie) Luck.
Army Private First Class Jacob A. Gassen was the 27th Wisconsin military service person to be killed in Afghanistan since October of 2001.
As of this blog entry's posting date:
102,070 Iraqi civilians have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
10,125 Iraqi Security Forces have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
4,477 Americans have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
1680 Americans have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
318 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
931 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
1 American/Coalition casualty in Libyan "Operation Odyssey Dawn" since March, 2011
32,159 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
13,011 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
107 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
34 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
3 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in the U.S. related to "The War on Terror" since October, 2001.
149 journalists (several nationalities) have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
21 journalists (various nationalities) have been killed in Afghanistan since September, 2001.
5 journalists (regional and independents) have been killed in Libya since March, 2011.
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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