Recently, Molly Snyder wrote about the new Chic Cafe – which seems like an odd name to me for a sort of cafeteria-style place that serves Southern comfort food, but I digress – and I resolved to check it out.
Then, a couple days ago, Judge Derek Mosley posted a photograph of the restaurant’s catfish po’ boy on Facebook and my decision was made.
Yesterday, I popped over to check it out. I was initially a little confused by Chic’s location since it’s tucked in right next to Shah Jee’s, but there it is, just to the northeast off the bottom of the steps, looking all clean and bright and well-staffed.
The catfish po’ boy is $7.95 with fries and a shrimp version is a buck more. Not a bad price at all for the portion size.
I got the catfish, thanks to Derek’s picture. A couple pieces of breaded catfish were topped with iceberg lettuce, sliced red onion and tomatoes with a dollop of lightly spicy sauce on a toasted bun. A hefty dose of thick-cut fries shared the tray.
Everything was fresh and hot and tasty, the fish breading perfectly crunchy and with nary a bit of greasiness.
If Chic was a bit more established I’d quibble with how long I had to wait for my sandwich – I saw well over a dozen folks go through the line at Shah Jee while I waited – but because it’s new, I’ll give it a pass as employees will surely fall into a speedier routine with some practice.
I’ll definitely be back to try the shrimp po’ boy, and also some of the other things on tap – gumbo, fried chicken, rib tips, mac and cheese, grits, etc.
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.
