Fish fry review 2008 - Immaculate Conception

I stopped by this fry on my way home from work. Immaculate Conception parish is in Maplewood at Marshall and Anna Avenues. Fish fries are held every Friday in Lent from 4-7PM.

IC is still a reasonable deal, but like everythng, the prices have gone up, and the selections have widened. There's the standard cod, catfish and jack salmon, along with shrimp dinners. IC also has half orders this year to make the selection even more affordable. Cod, catfish and jack salmon run $6 for a two pieces, two sides dinner, and shrimp dinners are $8 for eight decent sized shrimp. The sides are your usual suspects: green beans, slaw, macaroni, spaghetti and even side salads.

There are no kids meals, so I bought a half shrimp dinner for my five year old, which was $5. The cat and cod half dinners run about $5. Desserts and drinks (including beer) are a la carte. The dessert selection was very good this time, as evidenced by the multiple kinds of cakes and cookies available.

Crowds were pretty good and the line moves fast, so I got my meals to go pretty quickly. Everything was still very hot by the time I made it home. IC still has some of the hottest food around.

Atmosphere: B
Prices: B+
Food: A-

Reviewed February 9, 2008

In the news, etc.

It's been news for about a month, but it was in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch today:
CCBF's Sr. Marie Charles Buford to retire

Sister is a great asset to Carondelet and will continue to work behind the scenes doing grant writing. Best wishes on your retirement!

Most of the St. Boniface folks who meet on Fridays after the 8AM Mass at Immaculate Conception in Maplewood are doing well. They requested prayers today for Doris and Leo Krull (who are neighbors of a couple of folks) as they are both sick.

Also, Immaculate Conception will be hosting their annual fund raiser, the Country Fair, on Sunday, October 7. Check out IC's weekly bulletin for more details (this PDF is updated weekly).

Fish fry reviews - Good Friday

Since this was the last big day for the seasonal fish fries and I was able to do it, I made sure I visited more than one, since some of my reviewers were busy this week.

Immaculate Conception, Maplewood
I made my first visit of the year to Immaculate Conception in Maplewood's fish fry. I arrived early and to my surprise, there was already a line forming of about 20 people who were waiting for the servers to start.

IC has one of the best priced fish fries in town. For $5.50, you get your choice of two pieces of cod, catfish, or jack salmon and two sides. Baked cod is also available at an additional charge. The sides are the usuals suspects--macaroni, spaghetti, slaw, etc., but also include side salads, too.

Desserts and drinks are a la carte, but there was a wide selection of both, including beer for the grownups. Kids meals are also available, as well as just fish sandwiches, if you don't want an entire meal. The portions are good and the food is really hot!

For a quick , cheap Lenten meal, you can't go wrong at IC in Maplewood!

Grades for Immaculate Conception:
Price : A
Food, atmosphere: B+

After my trip to IC, I stopped on Morganford near the St. Louis City/St. Louis County southwestern border almost to Affton at St. Mark's Parish.. This parish, founded in 2003, is an agglomeration of the Union Road parishes of St. Timothy, Mary, Queen of the Universe and Most Precious Blood parishes, which were closed in 2001.

From the outside, St. Mark's has a very big parking lot and the parish center is pretty big. They actually have a separate serving area for carryout and dine-in. Be prepared to wait in line a bit if you get there early. The line was long before I got there, but moved very quickly. They have a very extensive menu, including cheese pizzas for $2 for the kids. St. Mark's also has a wide variety of fish, including the standbys of cod, catfish and shrimp, and also crab cakes for $7 for a two piece dinner with two sides on any of these items. They have kids fish dinners called "for kids or the young at heart" with one piece of fish for $4, if you don't want the big portions.

The sides at St. Mark's are your standard fish fry sides, but the cole slaw they make (on premise from the produce cartons in the hallway) is wonderful! I highly recommend this sweet and sour combo of cabbage, carrots, onions, and red sweet pepper.

My four year old loved his crab cake and the slaw. He would not eat the green beans though, so I saved them for me.

Grades for St. Mark's, South County
Price: B
Food, atmosphere: A

Don't miss the cole slaw! Yum!

Look for more fish fry reviews later! Thanks for all your support, especially to our guest reviewers, Charlie Brennan of KMOX and CathedralDad.

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