The first thing that got my attention was the fact that there was actually someplace nearby – Schmidt’s Towne Tap – that served a Friday night fish fry, offering… bluegills! My only thought was: “this is undoubtedly too good to be true.” Illinois? Fish fry? Bluegills? Obviously, the only thing I could do was to drive a few miles to the west and give it a try. Was it worth the trip? Is a 200-pound robin fat?!
Be Prepared to Share Your Table
The place is really more of a bar than a restaurant… but then again, nowhere in the name is there anything that might lead one to believe that any sort of restaurant was even planned. That being said, be advised that if your intention is to pay a visit for dinner on a Friday night and you arrive any time after say, 7:00pm, be prepared to wait for a table.
Upon entering, there is no hostess – as I said, it’s more of a bar – and wherever a seat is available is the place where you should take a seat. There are booths around the outside walls and huge round tables in the middle of the room speared with nicely finished pine-covered posts that support the roof. These tables will easily seat eight diners, but if you are a party of two (like we were), be prepared to share your table.
A Northwoods Setting & lots of Specials
The décor is something akin to a Northwoods setting, with various animal heads mounted on the walls, knotty pine booths and tabletops and assorted other memorabilia that could lead one to believe that he was actually in Wisconsin… That is if, in fact, that is what one wants to believe. But when the Bears take the field this Sunday, my guess is that the numerous television sets around the place will have insufficient volume to overcome the noise level – especially when the Bears score, but I digress.
Seems like there are specials – both for food and beer – on just about every night of the week. Available are sandwich items like Grilled Cajun Fish Sandwiches, Hot Roast Beef and Cheddar on a onion roll, and Tacos and Home Made Chips, and Salsa Broccoli cheddar chicken soup, or chili burgers, fried chicken, steak, etc. The menu is fairly extensive and the prices are really reasonable.
System in Place that Worked Well
Lauren ordered a glass of wine and I a cocktail as we perused the menu… which was really silly of me, since I knew what I was going to order! The place began to fill – almost unnoticeably at first – and the noise level began to rise as the kitchen guys really started to get busy. Our waitress was taking care of several tables and doing a pretty good job at it. I also noticed a system in place that had every employee assigned to a task. Bus people cleared the tables, wait-staff took orders (food and drink) and a server brought out the dinners. It worked really well.
The real test was going to be the fish. The bluegill turned out to be the priciest item on the menu, but I didn’t care. One thing was obvious: the ‘gills were not frozen, portion-controlled pieces. They were fresh, and that was a major plus! The batter was a perfect amount and the fish were cooked fairly well – definitely not over-cooked. The portion size was perfect (about five pieces as I recall) and the flavor was excellent. My only ding is that there was a bit too much residual oil on the fish – perhaps due to the many fish going into the fryers at the same time. It seemed that almost everyone was ordering a fish fry of some sort (there were three on special that evening)! Lauren had chosen the Club sandwich. She commented on its excellent flavor.
Illinois Fish Fry Award
We finished our dinners, paid the bill and headed out, noticing that our seats were almost immediately filled with hungry guests. I never would have expected that I would have stumbled upon a great bluegill fish fry in Elburn, IL. But I did. And I have to say that, at this juncture, Schmidt’s Towne Tap wins the Illinois fish fry award, hands down. It certainly beats any other fry that we have tried thus far in this area. Was the experience perfect? Nope. But hey, it wasn’t a place that I came looking for uniformed wait-staff and five-star plating imagination. I was interested in 1) a really good fish fry, 2) good service and 3) value. I definitely got all three and I say Schmidt’s was definitely very good, and worthy of a very solid Three-and-a-Half Zins. Will I return? Absolutely.
Your table is waiting…
Ralph Pancetta
Schmidt’s Towne Tap is located at 107 N Main St in Elburn, IL.
