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 regular fish fries. The weeks leading up to Easter are filled with these community gatherings focused on fish and fellowship. Here are a few in the Evansville area through April 18.
St. Benedict Cathedral has a fish fry scheduled for 4:30-7 p.m. every Lenten Friday starting March 7 at the school cafeteria, 530 S. Harlan Ave., with fish dinners served to adults for $15, children 6-12 years old for $5, and children under 6 for free. Carry-out dinners are available.
Head to Germania Maennerchor, 920 N. Fulton Ave., on March 7 for the first of its four Lenten fish frys. It’s a $13 plate featuring two breaded and deep-fried filets, potato salad from Nisbet Inn, coleslaw, baked beans, and rye bread. This fish fry runs 4:45-7:30 p.m.
St. Boniface Parish will offer drive-thru and dine-in options at its annual fish fries April 4 and 11 at its Saint Agnes campus, 1620 Glendale Ave. From 4:30 to 7 p.m., patrons can feast on fried fish, mac and cheese, potato wedges, coleslaw, a drink, and dessert for $13 per person.
St. Wendel Catholic Church’s fish fry at the Knights of St. John Home, 11714 Winery Road, Wadesville, Indiana, is slated for 5-7 p.m. March 14 and April 11. For $13, diners can dine in, drive-thru, or carry out a full plate of fried fish, potato salad, baked beans, macaroni and cheese, coleslaw, grilled cheese, and cornbread.Children’s plates cost $6.
Switch things up with a shrimp boil 5-7 p.m. Feb. 23 at Corpus Christi Catholic Church, 5528 Hogue Road. Throw in potatoes, corn, and sides like green beans and cornbread. Plates start at $13 and are cash and drive-thru only. Don’t forget the Cajun dipping sauce!
St. Clement Catholic Parish, 422 E. Sycamore St., Boonville, Indiana, will hold 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.
Resurrection Catholic Church, 5301 New Harmony Road, offers fish sandwiches, chips, and dessert for $7 drive-thru only from 4:30 to 7:15 p.m. p.m. March 5. 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.
On March 14 and April 4, Holy Redeemer Catholic Church, 918 W. Mill Road, serves up fried fish, macaroni and cheese, baked beans, slaw, cheddar biscuits, dessert, and a drink for $10 (kids 8 and under eat for $5). Dine-in and drive-thru are available.
Fill up on fish filets, German potato salad, baked beans, coleslaw, and cornbread at St. Joseph in the County, 6202 W. Saint Joseph Road. Plates are $14 per person 5-7 p.m. March 7 and 21. Meals are carryout only.
St. James Catholic Church, at 12300 County Road 50 West 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. March 14 and April 4.
The Men’s Club of St. Philip Catholic Church, 3500 St. Philip Road S., Mount Vernon, Indiana, hosts a fish fry starting at 4:30 p.m. April 11 that includes baked beans, macaroni and cheese, coleslaw, and cornbread.
St. Matthew Catholic Church, 421 Mulberry St., Mount Vernon, Indiana, holds its March 21 and 28 fish fries from 5 to 7 p.m. Put on by the St. Matthew Men’s Club, the menu includes fried fish, coleslaw, hush puppies, fries, potato salad, macaroni and cheese, and cheese pizza. Plates are $12 for adults and $8 for kids.
Observing Lent while dining at a restaurant? Major Munch, 101 N.W. First St., Suite 100, 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’s Fish & Chicken, 825 Green River Road. Choose from meals starring cod, whiting, ocean perch, tilapia, and catfish available individual or for family-size orders.
Comfort by the Cross-Eyed Cricket, 230 Main St., offers fried catfish fillets, Atlantic salmon, and Icelandic cod starting at $16 for lunch and dinner.
Diners at Biaggi’s Ristorante Italiano, 6401 E. Lloyd Expressway, Ste. 3, can select from sea scallop risotto, Dijon salmon, parmesan-crusted tilapia, crab-stuffed cod, and seafood-based entrees.
Fish dinners are a menu staple at St. Phillip’s Inn, 11200 Upper Mount Vernon Road. Catfish sandwiches can be had for $9.49. Catfish steaks start at $11.49; add a second filet for $2.50. All fish dinners are served with two sides and cornbread.
At The Tin Fish, 707 State St., Newburgh, Indiana, patrons can tuck into platters of mixed fish including salmon, swordfish, tilapia, trout, or walleye.
Irish hospitality is served at Patsy Hartigan’s Irish Pub, 203 Main St., 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 chargrilled salmon filet served with barley risotto and lemon dijonaisse. On the go? Grab an order of fish and chips from Bodine’s Newsstand.
