In photos: Fitzgerald's Genoa Junction: Fish boils, Door County-style
Fitzgerald's Genoa Junction, 727 Main St., Genoa City, is located in a historic, pre-Civil War "Octagon House."
Now in its second generation of Fitzgerald family stewardship, the 44-year-old destination restaurant remains as popular as ever for its signature Door County-styled fish boil dinners.
Dining at Fitzgerald's Genoa Junction
In Wisconsin, fish is the menu drawing card on Friday nights. At Fitzgerald’s Genoa Junction in Genoa City, a recent Friday dinner crowd fills the main floor dining room for the restaurant’s signature Door County-styled fish boil, a popular Fitzgerald’s menu staple five nights a week. The restaurant, housed in a historic octagon-shaped home, also offers barbecued chicken and pork ribs and a full service bar.
Eric JohnsonWelcome to the Octagon House
The historic octagon-shaped Welcome J. Miller House at 727 Main St., Genoa City, today houses the popular destination restaurant Fitzgerald’s Genoa Junction, famed for its Door County-styled fish boils. The clapboard pre-Civil War home, built in 1852, was continuously owned by the successive generations of the Miller family until its sale to Fitzgerald’s in 1990.
Eric JohnsonFish boil cooking action
BELOW: Specializing in destination dining fish boils since 1978, Fitzgerald’s Genoa Junction Restaurant is popular for its authentic outdoor Door County-styled fish boils, using cast iron cooking kettles heated over blazing hardwood fires. The popular “eater-tainment” dining experience, watched by diners from the Octagon House dining room or the adjacent outdoor patio, is best known for its spectacular fiery “boil over” theatrics. When the fish are done cooking, a splash of kerosene is thrown onto the fire to create the added fireball boost of heat required to boil over and thus remove the floating fats and oils from the fish.
Eric JohnsonThe Octagon House, a.k.a. Welcome J. Miller House
Fitzgerald’s Genoa Junction Restaurant in Genoa City is housed in the historic Welcome J. Miller House (left). The structure, popularly known as The Octagon House, was long home to the Miller family, which operated the adjacent W.J. Miller & Sons Carriage and Wagon Factory, hydro-powered by a mill race off neighboring Nippersink Creek. The Miller family occupied The Octagon House over the span of multiple generations, from 1851-1990. The clapboard home was sold to Fitzgerald’s in 1990.
Eric JohnsonTerry Klein at the grill
Neither rain nor snow, sleet nor hail, nor dark of night keeps Fitzgerald’s Genoa Junction cook Terry Klein from manning his year-round 40-year post at the restaurant’s outdoor grill, where he cooks honey barbecue chicken and bourbon barbecue pork ribs over lump charcoal. The homemade house barbecue sauces are a well kept family secret that has been passed down through the generations.
Eric JohnsonAnna Popenhagen serves up fish boil dinner
Offering service with a smile, Fitzgerald’s Genoa Junction front-of-the-house manager, Anna Popenhagen, serves up the restaurant’s signature Door County fish boil dinner on a recent Friday. The fish boil dinner includes all-you-can-eat North Atlantic cod, small red potatoes, a small sweet onion, house recipe coleslaw, salted rye bread and an apple square dessert. Served with drawn butter, the taste and texture of the boiled cod is very close to that of lobster.
Eric JohnsonAndrew Soloj with a fresh batch of fish boil cod
Fitzgerald’s Genoa Junction cook Andrew Soloj prepares to rush a batch of North Atlantic cod, fresh up out of the wood-fired outdoor cooking kettles, to hungry all-you-can-eat diners on a recent busy Friday night. The restaurant’s popular heritage of serving up traditional Door County fish boils dates back to the restaurant’s 1978 founding.
Eric JohnsonGift Shoppe
Amenities at Fitzgerald’s Genoa Junction Restaurant include a well-stocked Gift Shoppe run by Tina Fitzgerald. The Gift Shoppe offers browsing diners a variety of one-of-a-kind crafts and gift items from local dealers and area artists.
Eric JohnsonKevin Fitzgerald, owner, Fitzgerald's Genoa Junction
Restaurateur Kevin Fitzgerald is the second generation owner of Fitzgerald’s Genoa Junction, 727 Main St., Genoa City. Founded by his parents, Jack and Sue Fitzgerald, in Twin Lakes in 1978, the restaurant moved in 1990 to its current home in the historic octagon-shaped Welcome J. Miller House, built in 1852. Along with its signature Door County-style fish boils and lump charcoal-grilled barbecue chicken and ribs, Fitzgerald’s Genoa Junction also offers an array of full service bar selections including sodas, bottled beers, spiked seltzers, malternatives, martinis, wines by the glass or carafe, and a wide variety of specialty drinks.
Eric JohnsonOutdoor sign at Fitzgerald's
LEFT: Since its 1978 founding, Door County-styled fish boils have been the advertised signature specialty at Fitzgerald’s Genoa Junction Restaurant, 727 Main St., Genoa City.
Eric JohnsonDoor County-styled fish boil
The Door County-styled fish boil dinner is the big menu item at Fitzgerald’s Genoa Junction in Genoa City, accounting for more than 70% of all dinner orders.
Eric Johnson
Eric Johnson
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