You may not be able to smell it yet, Pittsburgh, but you can feel it coming.
Fish fry season — otherwise known as Lent, which begins on Feb. 26 — is coming soon and we’re here to help you find all the fried fish you can handle.
The last thing we want to do is start some inter-parish brawls over who’s best. With so many good fish fries in town, the best is probably the one that’s nearest to wherever you are at any given moment. Some are in church basements, some are in fire halls, while others are restaurants.
Luckily, there is one ultimate resource for fish fry hunting — the ever-growing, open-source, 2020 Pittsburgh Lenten Fish Fry Map.
Created by some lesser local saints (especially creator Hollen Barmer, with an assist from Code for Pittsburgh), the map offers hundreds of locations, from the Hanover Volunteer Fire Department out west to St. Sava Serbian Orthodox Church in McKeesport in the east, to St. Alphonsus in Wexford up north, to St. Francis of Assisi in Finleyville to the south. Not all have a web presence — or a presence at all outside of church bulletins — so that interactive map is extra useful.
The group also has a Facebook page if you need unlimited fish pics to get ready.
For another good list, check out the Pittsburgh Catholic (of course).
Even though fried fish sandwiches are the main attraction, lots of places have much more to offer.
For example, Saint Mary of the Mount in Mt. Washington has fried and baked fish, shrimp, weekly soup specials, coleslaw, french fries, fresh vegetables, macaroni and cheese, stewed tomatoes, haluski and applesauce.
