Jenna G.
Yelp
Please know first off: this review is not of the church, it is about the church's Lenten fish fry. If you are going to the fish fry merely to support the church then obviously it's a great cause and by all means, please go. However, if you are going to the fish fry to enjoy a great fish dinner, this is not the place for you.
Let me say that I recently moved to Chicago from Michigan, and where I'm from, Lenten fish fries are plentiful. For about $8 at a number of churches, you get a self-serve, all you can eat, fish fry. I'm talking fresh, hand-dipped fried fish, baked fish, salad, potatoes, french fries, rolls, macaroni and cheese, cole slaw, applesauce, juice, and dessert. Unlimited. Naturally, we wanted to continue the fish fry tradition and searched the Chicago area, and were actually disappointed to find a small number of churches who took on this tradition. Maybe we just didn't look in the right place - who knows. But we chose St. Alphonsus.
The fish fry is $12, which is the most I've ever paid for a fish fry, but it's also BYOB, which is a perk. The volunteers were all friendly, and once we were settled, we were eager to dig in! To our first surprise, it wasn't self-serve, but rather the plates were brought to us. We received two pieces of fried fish, a scoop of mac n cheese, some cole slaw, and a cookie. We asked for ketchup, they didn't have any. They did have little packets of tarter sauce, but not all 6 of us like that, so that was disappointing. The fish tasted good, but clearly wasn't fresh fish - it truly seemed like a box of frozen fish just fried up in oil. And that was it. No really - for $12... that..was...IT! My friend asked if there were seconds, and the volunteer said we could have seconds for $12. If the fish fry was $6, I wouldn't be writing this review. But it was $12. I realize this is a church fundraiser, but I would have rather donated $10 to the church and spent my money elsewhere on a better dinner.
For six of us, we spent $72. For $20, we could have bought a box of Gordon's frozen fried fish fillets, two boxes of Velveeta mac n' cheese, a bag of cole slaw, and a bottle of wine. Or for $56, we could have gone to Edgewater Lounge, where they have UNLIMITED fish n' chips for $8.95.
Again - I'm not giving a bad review of the church. But the fish fry was so disappointing - and half of our party left hungry. We ended up leaving and buying a couple of frozen pizzas to finish the night. I walked in with high expectations of what a fish fry should be because I only grew up with the all you can eat fish fries. I am not suggesting a fish fry to be a place to pig out on food - but for $12, I would at least expect some ketchup. I will cherish my fond memories of Michigan fish fries, and for now, leave the fish fries to the Chicago restaurants, not the churches. Jesus may have been able to multiply the fishes and the loaves, but St. Alphonsus can not.