By Jed Buelow

Tomahawk Leader Co-Editor, Sports, Nature Editor

Wisconsin is hooked on fish fry Fridays. Travel Wisconsin recently cast a statewide net asking residents to nominate their favorite establishments on social media for the best fish fry in the state. With more than 1,400 comments and a reach of over 225,000 people, Boomba Bar and Grill and Silverado were ranked among the top 20 in the Wisconsin Fish Fry Faceoff.

Fish fry fanatics are encouraged to vote for Wisconsin’s Favorite Fish Fry as often as once per day now through Friday, May 15 at TravelWisconsin.com/FishFryFaceoff.

The Wisconsin fish fry tradition is more than a way Wisconsinites dine and support area restaurants. The fish fry is a bucket list for out of state visitors. The Wisconsin Friday Fish Fry comes with many variations and are available year-round. Many places serve locally sourced fish, like walleye, perch and northern, but most places offer the traditional cod, with sides like coleslaw, French fries and rye bread. Deep fried or baked, beer battered, or seasoned, most Wisconsin taverns and restaurants serve this popular Wisconsin favorite on Friday nights.

“As we all remain safer at home, the virtual Fish Fry Faceoff is just one of the many online marketing programs we have leaned into, encouraging Wisconsinites to dream and plan now for future travel,” said Wisconsin Department of Tourism Secretary-designee Sara Meaney. “This contest is fun, engaging and useful information, not to mention a great way for patrons to immediately support their favorite fish fry establishments, and discover new favorites. I encourage everyone to pick up a fish fry, break out the tartar sauce and cast your vote.”

Tomahawk Regional Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Jesica Witte said the fact that two of our restaurants made the cut was phenomenal and was the good – and tasty – news we all need right now.

“When we promote Tomahawk our regional food options are one of our top sellers. You will not find another small Northwoods community or frankly many Wisconsin communities that have the amount and quality of local restaurant options you can find here. We are a foodies dream. We are the best of Wisconsin.”

Tourism is a solid investment. Wisconsin saw its biggest year in at least a decade in 2019, more than doubling US Travel Association’s projected national visitor growth rate. 2019 proved that promoting tourism pays off for taxpayers when the return on investment grew to $8 to $1 in contrast to Wisconsin’s previous nine-year ROI average of $6.4 to $1. Tourism promotion is a wise investment for economic recovery, and it starts locally.

“We know that Tomahawk has a large percentage of the best food in Wisconsin especially for our small size and this is just more proof of that! We are so thrilled for these two chamber member restaurants. Now the folks in Tomahawk need to go and vote every day so that the rest of the world knows what we already do.”