I was born and raised in New England and spent my summers on the beach eating at shacks just like Mac's... sorta. Minnesota is a land-locked state (sorry, Minnesota, but none of your ten thousand lakes count) far from a real beach or local fishing village, so of course it's not going to compete with what I had as a kid... but nothing ever does.
Think of Mac's as sort of the Matt's bar of fish and chips. For comparison's sake, I'd call the Anchor the 112 Eatery of fish and chips, and Stella's... well... I honestly can't think of any reason to go to Stella's. But I was talking about Mac's: You go up to a counter, order from a menu that includes fish, clams, chicken, and shrimp, get a beer, then sit down and shove it all in your face then leave happy. Before it was a fish and chips joint, the space used to be a yoga studio. For some reason I find that hilarious, and if every yoga studio in Minneapolis turned into a fish and chips joint, the world would be a happier place.
As I said, they opened a couple months ago on the same block where I work, so I've been there enough times that I've already worked my way through their menu. Here are my thoughts:
Halibut: The most expensive item on the menu, and also the best. It's a huge, flavorful, flaky white fish. Remember the opening of the Flintstones where Fred orders those brontosaurus ribs that are so huge they tip over his car? That's how I felt when the guy brought over my halibut. The fish literally stuck over the tray and looked so big I thought the table would tip over. But I'll be honest: at first glance I wasn't that impressed with the sight. I thought it looked like long john silvers and assumed it was going to be all hard batter with little to no fish inside, but then I took a bite and it was perfect. The batter was perfectly tender, the fish was perfectly cooked, and... this is important... it tasted like fish without being fishy.
Walleye: A Minnesota staple. I certainly never heard of walleye until I moved out here. I suppose this is the freshest fish in the place, and as the mid-priced option, the value basket has become my regular choice when I stop in. It's not as huge a chunk of fish as the halibut, nor is the flavor quite as exceptional, but it's still perfectly cooked and a great piece of fish. This is what I always get, and it's what I'd recommend first.
Cod: Good, but not all together exceptional, and seems to vary in quality from visit to visit. The first time I tried the cod was as a sandwich, and it wasn't very good. It was small, had too much batter, and tasted like a fish filet from McDonald's. I later gave it another shot as part of a value basket, and it was way better. It was actually good, but still not as good or flavorful as the walleye or halibut. It's cheap, though, and it's probably what people get for their kids. It's ok, but I recommend spending the couple dollars more and getting something better.
Shrimp: Fried jumbo shrimp. These were great, and surprisingly huge. They were lightly battered, so you could really appreciate the shrimp flavor. Not much you can say about fried shrimp other than that they were plump and delicious. I only got these once, however, because they are a bit pricy for the amount you get. That's not necessarily a complaint since shrimp is just one of those things I'd need to eat a dozen of before I'm full.
Clams: Good, but not great, and maybe disappointing if only because I was so excited to see clams on the menu. As I said, I grew up in New England, and fried clams were a staple of my childhood cuisine, and these didn't quite live up to my memory. They were fine and had the same light breading as the shrimp, but they didn't have enough clam flavor, and were a little too thin and not thick as they should be. I might try these again as a sandwich to create a clam roll, but then again I'll probably just get the walleye. I don't want to sound like a snob, but if you didn't grow up on the Atlantic ocean eating clams, you might love these more than I did.
Chicken: The only thing on the menu I'd maybe call bad, but because I love the place so much I'll be charitable and just say they weren't too my liking. The chicken itself was clearly of a high quality, but the batter just didn't work for me. They tasted like chicken made with the same batter as the fish and cooked in the same oil, so they were some kind of amalgam of chicken with fish flavor, if that makes any sense. I think they should use a lighter batter, or just the breading they use for the shrimp and clams. I just didn't really care for them. Having said that, however, I did eat the entire order, so they weren't awful.
Fries: Freshly cut french fries. Not much to say here, other than that they are pretty good and perfectly compliment the fish.
Cole Slaw: Yeah, every order comes with cole slaw... but wait! It's actually pretty good cole slaw. It just tastes like lettuce and cabbage mixed with butter milk. Sometimes the butter milk is light, and sometimes it's just swimming in liquid, but it's pretty tasty. I almost never finish the entire portion (because it's still cole slaw, after all. Who actually eats cole slaw?), but I usually have a few bites and enjoy the flavor.
Salt Water Taffy: Sometimes my meal comes with a piece of taffy, sometimes it doesn't. I'm not sure if I just get lucky sometimes or if I'm just unlucky other times. Anyway, it's pretty good taffy, but they should work on their consistency a little.
Cheese Curbs: A friend of mine got the cheese curds once and I tried a piece. I don't care about cheese curds so I don't feel qualified to comment. They tasted like other cheese curds I've tried, for whatever that's worth.
Everything comes with a pickle slice and the world's smallest piece of lemon. I'm not sure if the lemon is just supposed to be a garnish or if they just think one drop of lemon juice is all anybody needs. Either way, it's weird and kind of pointless. Either have a real lemon wedge or no lemon. Luckily there's plenty of malt vinegar on every table, which is the main reason I get fish and chips anyway. I drown my fish in that stuff. I'd drink malt vinegar straight from the bottle if I could. I don't want to go off on a rant here about Anchor Fish and Chips, but they don't have malt vinegar available, just white vinegar... because that's how they do it in Ireland. So to that I say, thank you Mac's for being unpretentious and accommodating to reasonable, expected requests from customers.
The service is another reason why I keep coming back over and over again. Everybody is just really nice, really friendly, and really eager to please. It's the kind of place where people immediately say hello when you walk in, then yell out thank you when you go to leave. It's just a friendly staff that creates an inviting environment. None of them are named Mac, however.
The decor is sparse, and kind of oddly decorated. One wall has a giant mural of a fish, another wall has pictures of boats in some Alaska-like setting, and another wall has a giant poster of a Where's Waldo drawing. Weird. And they always play old school country music, like Merle Haggard, George Jones, etc. I think the mural is really cool and I love old school county, but the the atmosphere does feel like a bit of a mish-mash of clashing styles. But I don't really care as long as the food is good, and luckily the food at Mac's is great. I say check it out.
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