From Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday, religiously devout Tri-State residents will refrain from eating meat on Fridays while observing Lent. Although Lenten traditions vary between Christian denominations, no-meat Fridays are common, and so are fish fries. The weeks leading up to Easter are filled with these community gatherings. Here are a few in the Evansville area through Good Friday on April 3.
Saint Benedict Cathedral has a fish fry scheduled for 4:30-7 p.m. every Lenten Friday starting Feb. 20 at its school cafeteria, with dinners served to adults for $15, children 6-12 years old for $5, and children under 6 for free. Carry-out is available. Saint Wendel Catholic Church is holding a Lenten soup supper after 6 p.m. mass on Feb. 25.
Dine-in or drive-thru Fish Fry-Days hosted by the Knights of St. John from 5-7 p.m. on Feb. 20 and March 13, featuring potato salad, coleslaw, baked beans, cornbread, and more. Saint Boniface Parish is hosting dine-in or drive-thru fish fries at its Saint Agnes campus on Feb. 27 and March 13 with potato salad, coleslaw, mac and cheese, and cornbread for $14. Switch things up with a shrimp boil, 5-7 p.m. Feb. 27 at Corpus Christi Catholic Church. Throw in potatoes, corn, and sides like green beans and cornbread. Plates start at $15 and are cash and drive-thru only. Don’t forget the Cajun dipping sauce!
On the West Side, Resurrection Catholic Church offers fish sandwiches, chips, and dessert for $8, drive-thru only from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Feb. 20. Two days later, patrons — dine-in, carryout, and drive-thru — can fill up on fried fish, mac and cheese, sweet and sour coleslaw, baked beans, cornbread, and dessert for $13 each. Fill up on fish filets, German potato salad, baked beans, coleslaw, and cornbread at Saint Joseph Catholic Church & School in Vanderburgh County. Plates are $14 per person, 5-7 p.m. Feb. 27 and March 13. Meals are carryout only. On Feb. 20 and March 6 from 5-7 p.m., Holy Redeemer Catholic Church serves up fried fish, macaroni and cheese, baked beans, slaw, cheddar biscuits, dessert, and a drink for $16 (kids 8 and under eat for $10). Dine-in and drive-thru are available.
Saint James Catholic Church in Haubstadt, Indiana, offers baked or fried Alaskan pollock, grilled cheese, German potato salad, baked beans, cornbread, macaroni and cheese, coleslaw, dessert, and a drink. Adults can eat for $14; children’s plates cost $7. Dine-in and carryout are available 4:30-7:30 p.m. Feb. 27 and March 13. Saint Clement Catholic Parish in Boonville, Indiana, holds a fish fry 4:30-7 p.m. every Friday during Lent — except Good Friday — with fried or baked fish fillets, cornbread, slaw, sides including choices of potato salad, green beans, baked beans or macaroni and cheese, and a homemade dessert. Plates cost $15 for adults and $6 for children 12 years and younger. Dine-in and carry-out are available.
The Men’s Club of Saint Philip Catholic Church in Mount Vernon, Indiana, hosts a fish fry starting at 4:30 p.m. March 27 that includes baked beans, macaroni and cheese, coleslaw, and cornbread for $14. Saint Matthew Catholic Church, also in Mount Vernon, holds its March 13 and 20 fish fries from 5 to 7 p.m. The menu includes fried fish, coleslaw, hush puppies, fries, potato salad, macaroni and cheese, and cheese pizza. Plates are $14 for adults and $8 for kids.
Head to Germania Maennerchor on Feb. 20 for the first of its four Lenten fish frys. Plates start at $12 with a fish sandwich and one side, including German or American potato salad, coleslaw, baked beans, and rye bread. Plates also can include one or two breaded and deep-fried filets, and desserts also can be purchased. This fish fry runs 4:45-7 p.m.
Observing Lent while dining at a restaurant? Start at Knob Hill Tavern, whose catfish fiddlers start at $12.95 and are a favorite dish all year. Major Munch does a brisk lunch business and serves a deep-fried catfish sandwich each weekday, in addition to a shrimp sandwich and catfish shrimp po’boy.
Cast a line into the fillet-filled menu at Journey Fish & Chicken. Choose from meals starring cod, whiting, ocean perch, tilapia, and catfish available individual or for family-size orders. Comfort by the Cross-Eyed Cricket offers fried catfish fillets, Atlantic salmon, and Icelandic cod starting at $16 for lunch and dinner. Diners at Biaggi’s Ristorante Italiano can select from sea scallop risotto, Dijon salmon, Chilean sea bass, grilled Mahi-Mahi, and seafood-based entrees.
Fish dinners are a menu staple at St. Philip’s Inn. Catfish sandwiches can be had for $8.49. Catfish steaks start at $10.99; add a second filet for $1.50. All fish dinners are served with two sides and rye bread or a dinner roll. At The Tin Fish, patrons can tuck into platters of mixed fish including salmon, swordfish, tilapia, trout, or walleye. Bonefish Grill’s seafood-stuffed menu includes winter specials like grouper with crab cake and bang hollandaise for $32.90, lobster ravioli for $31.50, and cedar plank “old-fashioned” salmon for $24.90. Take a load off at The Hilltop Inn and dig into Icelandic cod fillets for $19, catfish fiddlers for $18, or a fried fish sandwich for $9.50. At The Deli at Old National Bank, fish are a regular Friday staple: Choose from a two-piece fish basket with fries for $9.50 or a fish sandwich for $7.25.
Irish hospitality is served at Patsy Hartigan’s Irish Pub, including fish. Cod is beer-battered and deep-fried to a golden crisp before being served with Irish chips, tartar sauce, and slaw. Take your cod on a Martin’s Potato Bun, or for dinner, order a pan-seared swordfish with butternut squash and kale risotto, brussel sprouts, and an oregano mustard cream sauce. On the go? Grab an order of fish and chips from Bodine’s Newsstand food truck or its “chipper” shop at Main Street Food & Beverage.
