Fish fry review - St. Andrew, Lemay

Well, due to a death in the family, I was pretty busy all day today. I managed to get down to St. Andrew's at 6PM. Their fish fry runs from 4-7PM at least from what I remember on the signs!

The parking lot had a lot of cars in it, but plenty of spaces. The fish fry is held in the cafeteria near the back of the church. The door's obscured a little, so follow the smell of the food wafting out the door, down a couple of steps and you're there.

St. Andrew's charges $6 for an adult dinner which includes a large piece of fried fish of your choice (cod, catfish, or jack salmon) with two sides and includes dessert and coffee. I took home two dinners --one catfish and one cod. The cod is the atypical squares, but both meals were hot when they should be, and cold when they should be. The sides were mac & cheese, spaghetti, green beans, cole slaw and applesauce.

The only minus was that I got there late so the dessert selection was slim. I chose a lemon Bundt cake and coconut toast (apparently homemade, so my kid scarfed it up!).

An old St. Boniface regular, Bernadette Vassalli and her family, along with her parents and sister were there, too, working. It was nice to see them again. Almost reminded me of a St. Boniface fish fry way back when!

Grade B+. Stop by early for better dessert selection.

March 30 - St. John Climacus

For more information on today's seventh century Palestine saint, see Saint-a-day.

Don't forget to visit your favorite fish fry today!

March 29 - Sts. Jonas and Barachisus

See Saint-a-day for more information on today's Persian saints.

Happy Birthday Dave Shekleton!

March 28 - St. Tutilo

See Saint-a-day for more information on today's artistic 10th century saint.

Out and about

On my clinicals today, I was roaming the halls of SSM St. Mary's after I dropped a sample off at the lab, and I saw Fr. Tom Begley.

Father reports that he is living in downtown and is doing well since his recent stroke.

March 27 - St. John of Egypt

For more information on today's saint, see Saint-a-day.

Other fish fry information in the blogosphere.

Debbie Monterrey posts her thoughts on fish fries in her blog at www.kmox.com.

March 26 - St. Ludger

See Saint-a-day for more information on today's saint.

Fish Fry review - Cathedral parish St. Louis, MO

Here's a review from CathedralDad on the fish fry March 23 at St. Louis Cathedral Parish.

Yummy, yummy, yummy! Cathedral's fish fry was my first. There were
several fish options available. Jack salmon, catfish fillet's, catfish
nuggets, and a couple of others including spaghetti. I hate to admit
it, but the side orders were a little average. Mac & cheese, green
beans and cole slaw. Maybe the selection changes each Friday, but I
don't know. I sampled three of the fish options and thought all three
were outstanding. The atmosphere was nice. There were several children
enjoying themselves which added to the atmosphere (by my standards!).
Overall, I rate it as quite enjoyable! The cost was about $8 for the
entree, .50 cents a soda, and $1.00 per donated dessert item. Also, I
believe it runs from around 3pm-7pm. Happy eating!

Reviews, K-HITS fish fry tour information

Sorry I missed any new fish fries this week. I was at St. John's Mercy visiting a relative. I did eat their cod nuggets, which were pretty good. I did not see any signs around West County as I was going there pointing out any nearby fries or I might have stopped (must be those sign regulations!)

If you're wondering where the K-HITS radio folks will appear next, check out their K-HITS Fish Fry tour Schedule. Next week's stop: St. James the Greater in Dogtown.

March 23 - St. Turibius of Mongrovejo

For more information on today's 16th century bishop of Peru, see Saint-a-day.

Another fish fry review is on the way...stay tuned!

Fish fry update - Catch this!

In case you missed it last week, check out the Cod Squad article at the St. Louis Review site. This group of university students is forming their own Fish Fry world tour in St. Louis.

The Cod Squad will appear tonight at the fish fry at St. Pius V parish on South Grand at Utah in South St. Louis.

March 22 - St. Deogratias

See Saint-a-day for more information on today's fifth century bishop of Carthage.

March 21 - St. Serapion

See Saint-a-day for more information on this fourth century bishop.

March 20- St. Cuthbert

For more information on today's seventh century saint, see Saint-a-day.

March 19- St. Joseph

See Saint-a-day for more information on today's feast day.

In many parishes of Italian or Sicilian extraction, today is also the day of the St. Joseph's altar, which honors the saint. Many of these are elaborately decorated and include food.

This link talks about the origins of the St. Joseph altar in Sicily and includes photos.

St. Ambrose on the Hill celebrated their St. Joseph's altar yesterday according to this St. Louis Review note.
:
St. Ambrose Parish on the Hill will have its 35th annual St. Joseph altar on Sunday, March 18, in the parish cafeteria, 5130 Wilson Ave. Blessed bread and Italian specialties will be available. After 7 a.m. Mass pastor Father Vincent Bommarito will bless the side altar in the cafeteria and St. Joseph bread. The cafeteria’s main altar will be blessed after 11 a.m. Mass. Italian specialties will be available from noon to 3 p.m. A Mass in Italian will be celebrated at 3 p.m. in the cafeteria. Then all items on the St. Joseph Altar will be sold. The custom dates back several centuries, when Sicilian farmers prayed to St. Joseph during a severe famine. Their prayers were answered, and in gratitude the families held an open house with food on a St. Joseph Table.

Fish fry review - St. Mary Magdalen, Brentwood

This review is courtesy of Charlie Brennan. Check out Charlie's regularly scheduled radio show on Monday through Friday on KMOX radio at www.kmox.com.

Remember, you don't have to be a talk show host to put in your review of your local fish fry. Simply e-mail us and get the ball rolling. If your fish fry has good food, we want to know!

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The Saint Mary Magdalen (Brentwood and Manchester) fish fry may be the only one I've attended that does NOT offer mac and cheese, french fries or tater tots. No worries, though, because green beans almondine, macaroni shells with red sauce, and sweet and sour cole slaw are the three side orders made available to Saint MM's customers. Both the green beans and shells were tasty and served hot.

St. MM serves baked and fried cod. Both are very good, and again, served hot---not to be taken for granted at these local fish fries. The hot food is carried to tables in styrofoam carry-out containers with lids, not on plates. While perhaps not eco-friendly, this method does result in a hot meal.

Pizza, juice and Mass cards are given to the kids. The dessert table included just about every type of cookie and cake ever created. My kids opted for donuts!

Beer and wine are $2.

Parking is plentiful in the church lot. At 7 p.m., guests are invited to leave so the restaurant can morph into a gym for a basketball game.

Fish fry review - St. Francis of Assisi South County

My husband and I arrived at just about 5PM and the parking lot was already at 75% capacity. Expect a crowd if you get here anytime after 5PM.

We waited a bit in line to get our tickets for a catfish dinner with two sides. Cost $7 for adults, with coffee included in the price of the meal. Kids meals are available for $4. They also had jack salmon, shrimp and cod filets. No baked fish was available.

Portions are generous and the sides include spaghetti in red sauce, applesauce, cole slaw and green beans.

Desserts are a la carte and prices vary from 25-60 cents, depending on the dessert of your choice. Portions and variety (cookies, cakes, pies, etc.) are also good on desserts. Cons: you have to know what desserts you want, because you have to pay at the cashier before you go inside the serving and seating area where the desserts are.

My grade - A-

Fish fry update

Expect another review later tonight.

Check out KMOX radio personality Charlie Brennan at the fish fry at St. Mary Magdalen in Brentwood today.

March 16 - Blessed Torello

See Saint-a-day for more information on this 13th century Italian hermit and holy man.

Enjoy your St. Patrick's Day weekend! There are lots of parades here in St. Louis. Check out www.irishparade.org for more information.

March 15 - St. Zachary

See Saint-a-day for more information on today's Greek saint.

March 14- St. Mathilda

For more information on today's 9th century German saint, see Saint-a-day.

I'm still here....

Although, I am a bit busy.

Never fear...more posts will be added this week. It's been a crazy week for me with school and those pesky exams. This week is spring break, so I'll be posting a few more things and getting ready to finish out the rest of the semester.

I was going to have a fish fry review from the Chicago area, but we were unable to make it to Our Lady of Peace parish in Darien, IL, on Friday, which was in our neighborhood this past weekend.

I was very impressed with the number of Catholic parishes in Lemont, IL (just down the road from Darien, IL). We went to Sunday Mass at St. Patrick's (one of the town's original two Irish parishes) after we arrived too early at Sts. Cyril and Methodius (the Polish parish of Lemont) for the English Mass.

March 2 - Blessed Charles the Good, fish fry link

For more information on this Danish saint, see Saint-a-day.

No fish fry reviews this week...I got caught up in some work and missed my stop! This article from cnn.com talks about more parishes going to lighter fare for fish fries. They even mentioned a St. Louis parish, St. Ferdinand's of Florissant, in this article.

March 1 - St. Felix II

For more information on today's saint, see Saint-a-day.

March is coming in like a lion here in St. Louis. Be careful out there!