The Lenten fish fry season began last week at many churches and fire halls around Pittsburgh, and a map is tracking all of them.
Hollen Barmer created the Pittsburgh Lenten Fish Fry Map, a project of Code for Pittsburgh. She discovered Pittsburgh fish fries when she moved to the city in 2001.
“I went to my first one and — pardon the pun — was hooked,” she said. “I wanted to go to more, and because I have a terrible sense of direction, I needed a way to find them.”
In 2012, the Fish Fry Map was born.
The project is volunteer-powered. In 2016, Code for Pittsburgh took it on as an official project. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, upwards of 20 people would gather in-person to map the fish fries using data from news and other sites. Now, they work remotely.
The map tracks location, menus, operating hours, and even if the location offers take out or drive through options.
“We try to get as much information as possible into the map,” Barmer said.
The map includes any organization with a Lenten fish fry, including churches, volunteer fire departments, and even restaurants.
“Some people prefer to go to a restaurant over a church or a fire hall or something like that,” Barmer said. “So, we really wanted it to be open to anyone who wanted to have a listing on it.”
This year’s iteration maps 143 fish fries, down from the usual total of 200. Barmer said the project hit an all-time high of 254 verified fish fries in 2020, but shortages and supply chain issues caused by the pandemic have forced some to shut down.
Barmer said she hopes the locations that closed are able to reopen. She noted that some fish fries that closed in 2021 returned in 2022, which could be a promising sign.
While there’s no correct way to choose a fish fry, Barmer has a few strategies for making a decision.
“Sometimes it’s by whether I have an errand in some part of town. Sometimes it’s that there’s some intriguing item on the menu that I’d like to try that nobody else has. And often it’s where homemade pierogies are on the menu,” she said.
View thePittsburgh Lenten Fish Fry Map to find a fish fry near you.
