On the waterfront

Jerry Minnich (left) embarks on a voyage of Homeric proportions, to survey lakeshore dining establishments. At McFarland's Green Lantern, on Lake Waubesa, he finds "a true Wisconsin country restaurant with good, honest drinks and good, honest food." Across Lake Waubesa, "Christy's Landing is your original good-time neighborhood country bar," Minnich writes, with "great hamburgers, a popular Friday night fish fry, Old Style beer on tap, and one of the best country jukeboxes in all of Dane County." On Lake Monona, Minnich emphasizes, "there is not one public restaurant or tavern" on the entire shoreline. On Lake Mendota, at the Edgewater Pier, he and his crew sip gin and tonics while perusing a menu that includes brats, hamburgers and fish sandwiches for $2.50. Then on to dinner at the Hatch Cover, "specializing in steaks and fresh seafood, most of it flown in for the occasion." The Mariner's Inn on Lake Mendota's north shore "is the most delightful of any lakeside restaurant, with nautical artifacts and artwork displayed" in a building that dates back more than a century. At the nearby Nau-Ti-Gal, Minnich recommends the Sunday brunch. All the stops along Minnich's voyage endure, with the exception of the Hatch Cover, which is now Captain Bill's Seafood Co. Lake Monona, meanwhile, has since given rise to its first lakeshore dining venue, Sardine, at Machinery Row.