Western Pennsylvania Fish Fries - 2011

Stumbled across this today - - 7 pages of listings....  Enjoy....
 
http://calendar.triblive.com/search?new=n&sort=1&srad=50&st=event&swhat=fishfry11&swhen=&swhere=&srss=20

Best Church Fish Fry in my opinion is Holy Angels Catholic Church in Pittsburgh. They serve a mammoth fish sandwich that they prepare in condensed milk and panko bread crumbs. I will be there tomorrow. Let the Lenten Fish Fries begin!

I have been away from the 'Burgh for years, but still carry fond memories of Lenten Friday Fish Fries...  I think I might find some similar festivities here in Wisconsin....  There are great restaurant FF's here now, but I will be looking for some 'church' ones...

Being from Western PA, I do miss the Fish Fries. Years ago, on the bottom of the front page of my home town newspaper, there would be small ads for every Fish Fry in town. Every Catholic Church, the Moose, Elks & Eagles Clubs and the American Legion Hall plus others. I miss Small Town Anericana! By the way, St. Marys, Pa is about 98% Catholic!

I am as happy as a fat boy in a cake shop! I went to Holy Angels today (Ash Wednesday) for the first of their Lenten fish fries. Their incredible fish sandwiches are delicious and are a bargain at $7 apiece. If you want a meal with french fries and cole slaw, it costs an additional $1 for a total of $8.
 
They open the doors at 11am, and I was there at 115pm. By that time, they had already served 900 meals (including takeout).  They hoped to serve 1900 to 2100 meals for the entire day. Afterwords, I left the church hall and went upstairs to the church for ashes.  I shall return on Friday for another great fish sandwich.

On Friday, I followed up jm199's recommendation to try Holy Angels.
 
Like most fish fries, it takes place in a large church social hall. This was unusual in that they had table service; I think they have more volunteers than usual.
Untitled by Ralph Melton, on Flickr
 
The sandwich itself is a mighty beast with four filets, probably totaling a pound of fish. Lori and I were prepared for this; we ordered an extra bun, and both got full. Massive fish sandwiches like this are pretty common in Pittsburgh; I know several places that sell a one-pound fish sandwich. There's probably some place that serves an even larger batter-fried leviathan, but I don't know where to find one.
The taste was mild, with an agreeable crunch for the cooking. This was definitely a notch above most fish sandwiches.
The fries, though, were bland and uninteresting; for sides, I prefer the haluski and pasta fagiole at Madonna del Castello.
Fish Sandwich at Holy Angels by Ralph Melton, on Flickr
 
Also, a video from WTAE about Holy Angels' fish fry: http://www.wtae.com/r-video/27139720/detail.html

That's a good-looking sandwich!
 

mamaduck43


I have been away from the 'Burgh for years, but still carry fond memories of Lenten Friday Fish Fries...  I think I might find some similar festivities here in Wisconsin....  There are great restaurant FF's here now, but I will be looking for some 'church' ones...

Check out your local VFW post, too.
 
Brad

Thanks, Brad - - I shall do that...