Driving down Greenfield Avenue last week I spied the sign outside Paulie's Pub and Eatery, 8031 W. Greenfield Ave., in West Allis, and was reminded that trying the wings there was on my Milwaukee to-do list.
Despite that salad in the fridge back at the office, I called an audible and pulled into the parking lot. Only when I sat down did I realize that it was Friday, which, of course, means fish fry.
What to do?
Well, improvise!
I ordered wings and house-made potato pancakes, because great potato pancakes are really the highlight of a fish fry, if you ask me.
For $2, I got two pancakes made with shredded potatoes and not much else but a dash of salt and pepper. I chose apple sauce over syrup. And the results again proved the old adage that less is more.
Nicely browned and with the tiniest hint of crunch, Paulie's makes some of the latkes in town (though I might've liked a bit more crispness around the edges, but now I'm picking nits).
For $9.49, Paulie's plates 10 wings with the sauce (or no sauce) of your choice and a range of options (grilled, etc.). There are nearly a dozen sauces ranging in heat quotient and I aimed to try a couple, only to learn you can only choose one sauce per order, unless you want to pay extra for a side of sauce.
Though that was a disappointment – variety being the spice of life, and all – the Legend Larry bacon BBQ slathered wings were anything but.
While a couple were on the lean side, most of the drummies and paddles were super meaty and tender and the sauce – which approaches medium on the Paulie's scale – had just the right amount of heat for me – a hint, but not too much.
Blue cheese and celery were on the side.
Maybe the one-sauce-per-order plan at Paulie's is clever, because now I have to keep going back to try more.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
