a.k.a. V.J.

It was one of those summer nights. Too hot to cook, and nobody in the house had enough energy to prepare a meal regardless of the temperature. Fast food or pizza weren’t going to cut it. After a little deliberation, we did what folks around here do in the summer — we got in the car and headed to Rudy’s.

Rudy’s is a local institution. To be a bit reductive, it’s a fish-fry joint on the lakeshore in Oswego. The food is pretty good if you enjoy fare such as fried haddock, clams, burgers, dogs, fries, etc., but people go less for the menu and more to hang out with friends and family next to the lake. I’ve always theorized that if you kept everything about the restaurant exactly the same but moved it a quarter mile inland, that version of Rudy’s stripped of the waterfront setting would never make it through the summer.

Aside from the lakeside views and vibes, I think people mostly go to Rudy’s because they always have. It’s part of the fabric of summertime in these parts. Rudy’s has been around since 1946. People who are grandparents or even great grandparents now probably went there with their grandparents when they were young. The sense of continuity is helped by the fact that the place hasn’t really changed too much over the years. The menu has expanded, there’s more and better outdoor seating available, the ordering system has gotten less chaotic, and they started taking credit cards a few years ago; but the dining experience now is pretty close to what I remember it being back in the 1970s and ’80s.

For the benefit of the food curious: I had a lobster roll (pictured below). Jen had a Cheeseburger Hot with a side of salt potatoes, and the two of us split a Texas Hot. It should go without saying to the locals reading this that, for dessert, we walked over to Bev’s and had ice cream cones. But Bev’s is a post for another time…