Classics Countdown: Walleye Cakes

Today is the final day of our Classics Countdown, because tomorrow we will be at the MN State Fair sampling new classics!!!

The last Classic is:

Walleye Cakes

Location: Giggles Campfire Grill Southeast corner of Lee Ave. & Cooper St. at The North Woods


Sarah: Walleye Cakes is one of the only foods we have tried to bring home to our parents (who are not annual fair-goers) so they could taste the rainbow, so to speak.

Walleye Cakes are like crab cakes, except with walleye insetad of crab (doy.) You get two, served with a side of tartar, and the cakes are flakey, and delicate and flavorful and I could stuff my face with 8 of them right now if I had some in front of me.

I CANNOT WAIT to eat these. Luckily, I don’t have to wait much longer.


Anne: Oh Giggles--once again you win with your palate-satisfying comestibles. Walleye cakes are a newer item--it debuted just a few years ago but it was hands down the best new item we had that year, and as a result we get it every year (true story- sometimes we bring them home too).

Perfectly fried cake and a tangy dipping sauce. I don’t know how to describe these other than that they are, in fact, the best seafood cake I have ever had in my entire life. And I’m very glad I can get them every year. Unlike other items, you may not want to share these--they’re that good.


Patrick: Giggles has been serving this for a while I think, but we only more recently gave it a try (because Giggles only serves up delicious haymakers to your tongue).

Like a crab cake, but with delicious walleye meat, and served with some sort of spicy Cajun ranch or something, this thing is the bomb.

It’s crispy, crumbly, flaky, and fishy…the good kind of fishy, not suspicious or anything. If you like crab cakes, you’ll love walleye cakes, and you’ll love Giggles.

Classics Countdown: Chicken Fried Bacon

Classics Countdown day 8 brings us some meaty goodness:

Chicken Friend Bacon

Location: Giggles Campfire Grill Southeast corner of Lee Ave. & Cooper St. at The North Woods


Sarah: I could literally write an entire post, an epic ode to Giggles and the delicious foods they serve, but for now, we’re just talking about Chicken Fried Bacon.

CFB is a newer classic, introduced in 2010. Strips of bacon are battered and seasoned with fried chicken batter, then deep fried, and severed with a maple glaze dipping sauce.

When it’s done right, it is sublime!

But some years it’s not quite up to par. The biggest problem that tends to crop up is being undercooked. When that happens, the batter falls off and the bacon is more chewy than crispy.

But when it’s done right, it’s so good that it’s worth trying every year, even if you get one that’s undercooked.


Anne: You might think having one bacon product on the list is sufficient, but if you think that then you HAVEN’T BEEN PAYING ATTENTION, READER.

Giggles is a smorgasbord of delicious items, and chicken fried bacon was the flagship item for us- it’s what brought us there and kept us going. Just imagine- take regular old, delicious bacon, and then dip it in a fried chicken batter, and then deep fry it. Serve it with some sort of cinnamon dipping sauce- delicious.

Like other bacon products, Chicken Fried Bacon is also hit and miss from year to year- usually due to under cooking (it needs to be crispy, not droopy), but when it’s fried to perfection it’s amazing. Also- you get like 6 pieces per order, so make sure to share because this is one of those items that can fill you up when you go it alone.


Patrick: This has been only around for a few years now, but it has quickly leapt to the top of the must-have classics list.

If you you’re going to mess with bacon, you might as well chicken fry it and dip it in sweet maple sauce.

Find it at Giggles, a vendor who I am pretty sure could fry up cow pies and batter it and it would become a State Fair staple. Seriously, Giggles serves out gold and you better go get a slice.