I grew up in New Jersey, which is lousy with Catholics, and yet Friday fish fries were somehow not a thing. We had a neighborhood fish restaurant we'd hit up more often during Lent, and we stopped in for Filet-o-Fishes regularly. But as far as I remember, our church basements were not given over to Friday fish feasts.
So imagine my surprise on relocating to this Lutheran stronghold and discovering the amazing culture of Lenten fish fries. It's a great tradition—turning a supposed sacrifice into a celebration of the ordinary in the best popular Catholic manner—and I look forward to it every year.
And then I mostly forget to take advantage of it and maybe hit St. Albert's the week before Good Friday.
So this week, I wanna hear about your go-to fish fries. The further off the beaten path the better. My big complaint about a lot of local roundups is they focus on restaurants. I can eat fish at a restaurant all year—point me to the churches and veterans' clubs. I'll start by mentioning that I had a great all-you-can-eat meal at the Richfield VFW a few years back. (And MSP Mag's Stephanie March assembled a nice local roundup here.)
Or you can ignore this prompt and talk about whatever you want. This is your open thread, after all.
