You know that old saying about finding good things right in your own backyard? Well, maybe there's not a saying like that, but there should be.

My wife and I have spent a lifetime driving all over hell and gone
looking for great fish fries. Neither one of us regularly eats much
fish, but the fish fry is something special. North and south, east and
west, we have traveled, finding some good, a little great and a lot of
"eh."

Then, in our own backyard, almost, we stumbled into the Oakcrest Tavern on Oakland and Capitol Drive. And it was a great and pleasant surprise.

Rick Schmidt of the famous Schmidt Brothers restaurant empire took over this space about five years ago, and it easily reflects why he's a consultant in demand for other people opening restaurants and bars.

I didn't have the fish fry, opting instead for the French onion soup
and an avocado and shrimp salad. The soup was outstanding and the cheese and croutons were actually broiled under a broiler, instead of just nuked like so many other places do.

The fish fry was truly something, since they obviously believe the
word fish is more important than the word fry. The batter was light
and didn't overwhelm the flavor of the fish, a rarity in the fish fry
world. Way too many places are proud of their batter while Oakcrest is proud of the fish.

The place is very comfortable and although it's crowded on a Friday night, the wait wasn't bad at all and the bar was a comfortable setting to enjoy that wait.

I just live a few blocks from Oakcrest and that's what I mean about
finding good things right in your own backyard.