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Born in the church basements of Catholic parishes across the Midwest, the Lenten fish fry has blossomed into a phenomenon, with American Legions, bars and VFW's all looking to get a slice of the fish pie.

In Minnesota, no one does it quite like The Church of St Albert the Great in South Minneapolis. For the first six Fridays in lent, 125 volunteers come together to serve up baked and fried tilapia, cheesy mashed potatoes and coleslaw to an overflow crowd. 

Over the past two decades, their fish fry has grown from serving a couple of hundred people to over 1,300 people some weeks.

"When we started in 1999, we were frying our fish in turkey fryers upstairs in a garage. It probably wasn't the safest situation," says Brian Arvold, one of the parishioners who oversees the kitchen.

"About 15 years ago, we purchased three heavy duty gas fryers and it has been awesome."

On one Friday this year, the parish served up over 470 pounds of tilapia, and 180 pounds of cabbage in their coleslaw for a dinner service goes from 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. 

Throughout the dinner, Father Joe Gillespie works the crowd, reading off raffle tickets and telling jokes as people eat their dinners. Even following hernia surgery, the day before, Gillespie wouldn't miss out on the fun.

"I wasn't sure what I would be like, but everything seems fine. I've got a lot of energy. But I've said we need a little chair that I can sit on if I need to, so we've got the Pope available, my stand in," said Gillespie, referring to a standee of Pope Francis near the entrance to the basement. "We'll do a lip-sync."

Along with the food, St Albert offers bingo for those waiting to be seated and music in the main hall, "so we don't have 300 people standing around in line," said Gillespie. "You used to be standing around in the rain and the drizzle. I wouldn't do that."

Gillespie said that one of the best parts of the growth in popularity is the way it brings people together. "The one side product of the whole thing is, it really brings such diversity together. You'll find Catholics, and Lutherans, Presbyterians, Jewish friends and neighbors. All kinds of religious traditions. Minnesota at its best I think."

"I always say that if we have any Lutherans here, we have the little card table with the lutefisk down at one end."

Tom Crann

Author

Kyle Shiely

The Lenten fish fry has blossomed, and no one does it quite like The Church of St Albert the Great in South Minneapolis. For the first six Fridays in lent, 125 volunteers come together to serve up baked and fried tilapia, cheesy mashed potatoes and coleslaw to an overflow crowd.

In Minnesota, no one does it quite like The Church of St Albert the Great in South Minneapolis. For the first six Fridays in lent, 125 volunteers come together to serve up baked and fried tilapia, cheesy mashed potatoes and coleslaw to an overflow crowd.

Appetites Fish Fry

A new wave of diners wait in line for food while others enjoy their meal.

Kyle Shiely | MPR News

Volunteers serve up over 400 lbs. of fish at St Albert the Great in Mpls.

Baked and fried tilapia, fresh coleslaw, potatoes and soup for dinner.

Appetites: The growth of Lenten fish fry in Minnesota

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