Rossario's - CLOSED

When you look for a Friday Night Fish Fry in Madison it is easy to find great places like the Esquire, Fitzgerald’s or the Avenue that everyone already knows about. It is more difficult is to find the niche places that serve great fish to a discrete group of locals who don’t say peep about it because they don’t want the massive Friday crowds invading their space. Places like The Utica Bar or the Windsor Country Club can fly under the radar for years this way. Another local establishment that seems to have gone (relatively) undetected is Rossario’s in Monona.

I have never heard Rossario’s mentioned as having a great Fish Fry. I have heard they serve up some of the best Italian cuisine in the area but never anything positive about their Friday night special. With this in mind we showed up not knowing what to expect and were more than pleased with what we found. Unfortunately the evening started out slow. We arrived and got the 30-35 minute wait routine. Well, a couple Spotted Cow’s and bout an hour later the place had almost cleared out and a table was open for us. Needless to say the longer than expected wait had us slightly perturbed and very hungry.

Our waitress came and we were ready for her since we had ample time to look over the menu during our wait. There are four fish options on Fridays, two deep fried and two grilled. Walleye and Cod are the delicious deep fried choices and the wussier grilled options consist of Rainbow Trout and Grouper. Needless to say we went for one Cod and one Walleye, both were delicious. Both fish enjoyed the same light, herb-infused batter which was marvelous. It complimented both kinds of fish well but I thought it worked particularity well the Walleye.

The French fries were thin and straight cut and were also spectacular. We also got to try some Yukon Potato Nuggets (or something like that) which were also great. Superb potato options for an Italian joint. The tartar sauce was also right on the money and was served in a huge portion which no one person should dare to consume in one sitting. Simply awesome.

The bread at Rossario’s was also well above average. It was a nice sized chunk of an Italian loaf served on a cutting board with a knife to cut it yourself and our waitress had no problem bringing us a second one after we devoured the first. One element that didn’t really shine was the coleslaw. It just wasn’t tasty, not that coleslaw usually is mind you.

If the Fish Fry at Rossario’s was this good I can only imagine what the pasta and other Italian dishes are like. We will definitely be back to check them out when it isn’t Friday. As for the Friday special, the Fish Fry at Rossario’s was simply great. I would definitely tell anyone and everyone to check it out. Rossario’s is known for great pasta sauce and Italian dishes, let’s add Friday Night Fish Fry to that list.

When you look for a Friday Night Fish Fry in Madison it is easy to find great places like the Esquire, Fitzgerald’s or the Avenue that everyone already knows about. It is more difficult is to find the niche places that serve great fish to a discrete group of locals who don’t say peep about it because they don’t want the massive Friday crowds invading their space. Places like The Utica Bar or the Windsor Country Club can fly under the radar for years this way. Another local establishment that seems to have gone (relatively) undetected is Rossario’s in Monona.

I have never heard Rossario’s mentioned as having a great Fish Fry. I have heard they serve up some of the best Italian cuisine in the area but never anything positive about their Friday night special. With this in mind we showed up not knowing what to expect and were more than pleased with what we found. Unfortunately the evening started out slow. We arrived and got the 30-35 minute wait routine. Well, a couple Spotted Cow’s and bout an hour later the place had almost cleared out and a table was open for us. Needless to say the longer than expected wait had us slightly perturbed and very hungry.

Our waitress came and we were ready for her since we had ample time to look over the menu during our wait. There are four fish options on Fridays, two deep fried and two grilled. Walleye and Cod are the delicious deep fried choices and the wussier grilled options consist of Rainbow Trout and Grouper. Needless to say we went for one Cod and one Walleye, both were delicious. Both fish enjoyed the same light, herb-infused batter which was marvelous. It complimented both kinds of fish well but I thought it worked particularity well the Walleye.

The French fries were thin and straight cut and were also spectacular. We also got to try some Yukon Potato Nuggets (or something like that) which were also great. Superb potato options for an Italian joint. The tartar sauce was also right on the money and was served in a huge portion which no one person should dare to consume in one sitting. Simply awesome.

The bread at Rossario’s was also well above average. It was a nice sized chunk of an Italian loaf served on a cutting board with a knife to cut it yourself and our waitress had no problem bringing us a second one after we devoured the first. One element that didn’t really shine was the coleslaw. It just wasn’t tasty, not that coleslaw usually is mind you.

If the Fish Fry at Rossario’s was this good I can only imagine what the pasta and other Italian dishes are like. We will definitely be back to check them out when it isn’t Friday. As for the Friday special, the Fish Fry at Rossario’s was simply great. I would definitely tell anyone and everyone to check it out. Rossario’s is known for great pasta sauce and Italian dishes, let’s add Friday Night Fish Fry to that list.