Tuesday, July 6, 2010

The Looking Glass - Janesville - Burgers, fries, pitcher; Friday fish fry

6 July 2010

The Looking Glass - Janesville - Burgers, fries, pitcher; Friday fish fry

This entry was posted on 7/6/2010 1:30 AM and is filed under Tavern Burgers and Fries, Wisconsin Breakfasts, and, Friday Night Fish Fry.

The Looking Glass tavern down in the bar district of downtown Janesville has been a haunt of mine for a while now.  They have managed to get on my "Breakfast" Category list, my "Wisconsin-esque Tavern" Category list, and now, my "Burgers" Category, as well as my "Friday Fish Fry" Category list.  I think they are one of only a handful of taverns that have made all those benchmarks.  

As I have written previously, this is a tavern that transcends the new era of the sports/entertainment what-can-you-do-for-me-as-a-patron style of taverns, and the old wood interior Wisconsin tavern presentation.  While Karaoke is belted out on Wednesday night, the old moose on the back wall dangles his perennial cigarette from his big snout.  There are a few flat screen televisions behind the old bar usually tuned to sports.  

As mentioned in my "Breakfast" Category, the Looking Glass puts on an all-you-can-eat breakfast during the Saturday Janesville Farmer's Market. For most of the duration (May to October) of the Janesville Farmer's Market, The Looking Glass has a breakfast buffet from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. every Saturday morning.  For Seven Bucks you can get scrambled eggs, cheesy potatoes, bacon, sausage, biscuits and gravy, and French Toast. But what gets my attention is they also offer Corn Beef Hash. 

 You can return for refills as often as you like.  They also have a pastry and fruit cart.  Normally, The Looking Glass is a late night haunt in the tavern district of downtown Janesville.  But, the Saturday breakfast is a departure from the bar scene.   
  
 The cooks are around a good portion of the open hours.  You will find a variety of drink special offerings posted on the wall.  At times on Sundays, you can find certain beers for one Buck.  

The crowd is eclectic and breaches several generations. You will not find a juke box - the music is ala cart via computer.  The big window lets you keep an eye on Main Street.  

The bar, floor, and furnishings are mostly old wood and distressed - as they should be for it is a Wisconsin tavern. There is a patio out side.  There is a large picture window to admire Main Street through.  The staff is easy going and sociable.  

I can't believe I never mentioned their afternoon meal presentations.  They usually have a salad and soup offering during the noon-ish hours Monday through Friday.  

A couple days ago I happened in The Looking Glass in the late afternoon and got a burger, beer-battered fries, and a pitcher of Miller Lite beer. The burger was cooked just right for my taste, not too red, not too well-done.  I opted for a slab of Parmesan cheese on the affair.  I ordered the beer-battered fries to finish off the basket.  A few pickle slices accompanied the basket. To top the whole debauchery off, I ordered a happy-hour pitcher of Miller Lite. 

The burger, fries, pitcher, and tip, and my general debauchery, set me back about 14 Bucks.  

A week later, accommodating my sporadic work schedule, I ducked in The Looking Glass about one o'clock in the afternoon on Friday for a fish dinner.  I ordered the two-piece Cod basket with onion rings.  The rings tasted like they were beer-battered as well. Two large chunks of fish come with the affair.  The Cod was lightly breaded and very tender on the inside. The tarter sauce was tasty and the cole slaw was good and fresh.  A lemon was tucked on the side.  The whole presentation came in a good-sized wicker-esque basket. 

Similar to the burger basket, my fish basket, pitcher of beer, and tip set me back about 14 bucks.  

The Looking Glass is cool with Cool Dadio.  It is worth having a beer and some eats there.  Try it once before you die.  Find them at 18 North Main Street, in downtown Janesville.
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 of alphabetical order.

                  Wisconsin Military Service Person Special Mention of the Week
    (each week Cooldadiomedia mentions a Wisconsin service person killed in Iraq or Afghanistan)

Petty Officer 2nd Class Jaime Suzanne Jaenke, 29, of Bay City, Wisconsin, died Monday, June 5, 2006. She was killed as a result of enemy action when her Humvee was struck by a roadside bomb in Al Anbar province, Iraq. Jaenke was a Navy Seabee Reservist and assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 25, U.S. Navy Reserve, based out of Fort McCoy, Wisconsin. She was one of two sailors killed in the incident. Jaenke was a corpsman and field medic assigned to the Naval unit which gave combat service support for the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force. Her unit was activated in January and sent overseas in March. Jaenke was activated in January with the unit and had been overseas for a few months before the attack. As Seabee reservists, her unit provided infrastructure support for combat officers, such as building airstrips and housing. Bay City, Wisconsin is a small town on the Mississippi River on the Minnesota-Wisconsin border just south of Minneapolis and St. Paul. However, Jaime was claimed as a native by a couple of states. The Des Moine Register noted her as from Iowa Falls and said she was the first female Iowan to die in the war in Iraq. They also noted she was the forty-second Iowan to die in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001. Jaenke had ties to Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota, according to Minneapolis television station KARE. Before joining the Naval Reserves, Jaenke worked as an emergency medical technician in Ellsworth, Wisconsin. The Des Moine Register said Jaenke lived in Iowa Falls during her early childhood attending kindergarten through second grade there. The family then moved to Bay City, Wisconsin, where she graduated from the Ellsworth High School. The Des Moine Register went on to mention she had only recently returned to Iowa after living for years in Minnesota and had planned to start an equestrian business in Iowa Falls when she returned from Iraq. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel noted her as the 57th member of the military from Wisconsin to die in Iraq and the third Navy female casualty. Jaime acquired a love for horses at an early age. She began riding at age 7 and continued for the rest of her life. She planned to attend the Ellsworth Area Community College in their nursing program. She also planned then to return to her love of horses at her parents’ stables in Iowa Falls. After a brief marriage and the birth of her daughter, she began working for the Best Maid Cookie factory, and also worked for Ellsworth Area Ambulance as an Emergency Medical Technician in Ellsworth, Wisconsin. She later worked for Xcel Energy as an armed guard at their Prairie Island facility. Jaenke attended Prairie View Elementary School in Hager City, Wisconsin and went to middle school and high school in Ellsworth. The Iowa Falls Times Citizen Obituary Archives stated that her funeral was held in Iowa Falls with military honors. She was laid to rest at the Alden Cemetery in Alden, Iowa. Jaime was born on November 12, 1976 in Iowa Falls. At the time of her death she was survived by daughter Kayla; bothers Garrett, Ryan, and Justin; and parents, Larry and Susan Jaenke. Jaime Jaenke was the 42nd Iowan to die in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001; and, the 57th Wisconsin military service person to die in Iraq since the spring of 2003. 

                             As of this blog entry's posting date:

96,844 Iraqi civilians have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.

9,550 Iraqi Security Forces have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.

4,411 Americans have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003. 

1152 Americans have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.

318 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.

746 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001. 

31,860 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Iraq since Spring, 2003. 

6,355 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Afghanistan since October, 2001. 

102 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.

19 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.

142 journalists (several nationalities) have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.

21 journalists (various nationalities) have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.

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; and, icasualties.org.