Friday Night Fish

2016 Year In Review

Less Travel, More Cod, Revisiting the Past
If you are a regular follower of Friday Night Fish, you know we do our darnest to travel throughout the region to go to fish fries. We go to Illinois, north county, south county, west county, St. Charles, we go everywhere....except this year. This year we stayed close to home. Just too many activities have burnt us out on wanting to travel far on a Friday night for fried Cod. However, not traveling did give us an opportunity to revisit some fish fries we haven't been to in a while. We revisited Holy Trinity, Holy Redeemer, and Immaculate Conception (first visit back since 2009).

Our 2016 List of Fish Fries:
2/10 - St. Josephs, Clayton (Takeout)
2/12 - St. John Lalande, Blue Springs, MO
2/19 - St. Gabriel, St. Louis
2/26 - Holy Trinity Serbian, St. Louis
3/4 - Holy Redeemer, Webster Groves
3/11 - Little Flower, Richmond Heights
3/18 - Immaculate Conception, Maplewood
3/25 - American Legion BKZ Post 422 in Soulard

Going Green
Several fish fries have made huge strides in going green. Saint Stephen Protomartyr and Holy Redeemer both switch to compostable plates. We didn't visit Saint Stephens this year, but Holy Redeemer not only had compostable plates, but they had two full time volunteers helping attendees recycle. Holy Redeemer shot up into the top five for wayfinding/greening. Are we at Friday Night Fish responsible for this wave of greening? We like to think so...

Best Cod of 2016
So much good Cod this year. St. Gabriel, Little Flower, Holy Redeemer, and the American Legion all had excellent Cod. Hard to choose, but I say St. Gabriel's Cod is still some of the best.

Best Atmosphere of 2016

Live Music Created a Festive Atmosphere at Holy Redeemer

Holy Redeemer not only made great strides in wayfinding and greening, but they also improved in atmosphere. Holy Redeemer had live music in the hallway (a lively trio) for folks waiting in line. Plus, Holy Redeemer had some great decorations - I mistakenly thought they were abstract chinese laterns, but they were fish bobbers!

Best Craft Beer

$3 Drafts of Urban Chestnut
at Little Flower

2nd Place - Holy Trinity Serbian had Jelen Serbian Beer. First place - Little Flower in Richmond Heights had $3 drafts of Urban Chestnut and Square One. Great!

Best Volunteers
Everywhere! True - every fish fry we went confirms our belief that fish fries are more than just fundraisers - they are about building community. Friendly volunteers were at every fish fry welcoming us, taking out plates, or just saying hello. Some above and beyond service included:
The beer guy passing out beers to the long line at St. Gabriel.
The fried mac-n-cheese girls passing out fried mac-n-cheese balls to the long line at Little Flower.

Another great year for Fish Fries! See you in 2017!!

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Fan Poll Winners - Best Fish Fry

Every year Friday Night Fish hosts a fan poll to crown a yearly fan favorite Fish Fry. It's a two step process with Round 1 selecting five finalists, and Round 2 voting from the final five to crown the yearly fan champion. So get ready every year for the annual poll and get your supporters voting for your favorite fish fry! We had some voting "irregularities" in 2014, so we discontinued the poll (for now).

For a recap of past winners see Past Fan Poll Winners.

Past "Fan Poll-Favorite Fish Fry" Winners:

2014: First place tie: Christ, Prince of Peace, Ballwin; Saint Mary Magdalen, Brentwood; St. Ferdinand, Florissant

2013: Saint Mary Magdalen, Brentwood

2012: St. Rose Philippine Duschesne, Florissant
2011: St. Pius, St. Louis
2010: St. Gerard Majella, Kirkwood

Friday Night Fish Questions

Friday Night Fish is the only review site site that combines comments on Urban Design, Sustainability, and Fried Cod! A few questions from our fans.

Q. We invited you to our parish fish fry, when will you attend?

We truly appreciate all the emails and suggestions on good fish fries to visit or personal invitations to your parish fish fry. We will get there eventually! We strongly believe in supporting fish fries across the region. Every year, we try to attend at least one fish fry in the City, north county, west county, south county, and Illinois. That takes at least five out of seven fish fries. Plus with a wife in choir, kids activities, friends and family to visit, it can get hard to get your fish fry on our schedule. But keep sending us suggestions. Like I said, we'll get there eventually!

Q. Why attend so many fish fries?
When you have three kids under the age of 9, it is a good way to spend a Friday evening and feed the whole family for $25. Plus, it is fun to see the sense of community each church has. Every fish fry is a snapshot into the social and demographics of our area. People often say St. Louis is one big small town, there is no better way to celebrate that fact than a local fish fry!

Q. How many fish fries do you plan to review?
I figure 3 to 4 more good years for fish fry attendance before the age of our kids will make sports, music, and other social commitments limit our time (Or our kids will finally refuse to go). So maybe 20-25 more reviews with a total of about 55-60 reviews. With Ash Wednesday its possible to get 7 reviews each Lent, plus some churches will have fish fries in the "off season". But that is alot of fried cod!

Q. Are you available via Facebook and Twitter?
We're on Facebook! Thanks to our great technology group! (my wife). Twitter, probably not. Ask yourself, "Do I really need live updates about Fish Fries?" Of course, does there really need to be a website about fish fries?

Q. Can I list our parish fish fry on your website?
See the links above for Channel 2' fish fry finder and the Google Map listing of fish fries. Those are good sites to list your fish fry.

Q. I love the logo! Do you sell Friday Night Fish merchandise? We were thinking about having t-shirts or mugs with the proceeds going toward a charity. But to be sustainable, we would want to use a local supplier and there would need to confirmation of proceeds, etc. So the short answer is no. But if you have extra money burning in your pocket, give a little extra when you visit your local fish fry! Or visit these great charities:

http://www.ccstl.org/ - Catholic Charities http://www.redcross.org/ - American Red Cross

Q. Our parish needs some help with our fish fry. Do you provide fish fry consulting?
No.

Q. Your writing prose tends to be terse and fragmented. Plus you tend to say "A good solid fish fry" alot. Are you familiar with Strunk and White?
Yes - A good solid reference. I'll utilize.

Q. You gave our church a score of 2.5! Why don't you like us?
Remember, there are no bad fish fries! It is like you own a Gaugin worth $25 million and your neighbor owns a Monet worth $30 million. You're both millionares and you own a masterpiece. Each fish fry is a masterpiece of community spirit and the hard work of volunteers who toil and sweat each week for a labor of love and a good cause.

Q. Can you recommend any good books on St. Louis Fish Fries?
No, but I am currently reading David McCullough's 'The Path Between the Seas. The Creation of the Panama Canal'. Highly recommended.

Q. Did Ferdinand deLesseps ever go to fish fries?
I believe he once motivated his parish volunteers, when they once ran out of fried cod, by saying, "Avec les coeurs et les esprits comme le vôtre, tout est possible (With hearts and minds like yours, everything is possible)."

Contact us with questions or comments (but not necessarily responses) at:
fishfryguy@fridaynightfish.com

Friday Night Fish

2016 Year In Review

Alphabetical Listing of Previous Fish Fry Reviews

Year End Reviews

Fan Poll Winners - Best Fish Fry