CLEVELAND — Well, we have officially entered fish fry season, Cleveland!
As you know, this constitutes the first of the four major annual food seasons in town, the others being rib cookoff season, clambake season, and, of course, Christmas Ale season (which will be here sooner than we think).
It's by no means exclusive to the area, but the fish fry might be the ultimate representation of a Cleveland tradition. While rooted in Catholicism, it was long ago adopted by the wider public, and is now a gastronomical celebration embraced by secular and non-secular alike.
In other words, the fish fry is a big tent, and everyone's invited to the party.
The traditional Cleveland fish fry is not fancy; it is fundamentally casual. There are exceptions, of course.
For example, I don't know what the fish fry scene is like at Uniontown's Raintree Golf Event Center that’s listed on our Ultimate Cleveland Fish Fry Guide (available on WKYC.com), but I'd imagine that particular one might look different from the one held at St. Peter Catholic Church in Millersburg (which is apparently a town, and good for them!).
And more power to that golf center fish fry. There's plenty of room for diversity in the area fish fry game, but the vast majority of them do tend to take place in modest, community gathering spots like church basements and VFW Halls, and the dress code usually leans toward "sweat-pant casual."
The fish is great, of course, though, in fairness, I'll say that if you were to deep fry a box of envelopes then soak it in ketchup and salt, I could probably enjoy that, too. But for most people, it's not just about the fish, anyways. Rather, it's a good opportunity to get out and mingle, see some neighbors, catch up on the latest scuttlebutt, and do that whole "community" thing that can feel so good and that took a worldwide pandemic to remind many of us was an important aspect of our psychological health.
However, I digress.
Whether you're going for the perch or just the hang, you have no shortage of options as far as where to "get your fry on" this season, and that's actually the issue I'm having, folks. This "embarrassment of fish fry riches" is wonderful, to be sure, but how is one to choose where to go? We have boundless options but a scarcity of Fridays, and I don't want to waste valuable stomach space on anything but the most primo of fishing holes.
That's why I’m asking for your help, dear viewers. I plan to go to a different fish fry in Greater Cleveland through the entirety of the season, and I'd be much obliged if you'd point me towards the best of the best.
Submit your fish fry to our WKYC Fish Fry Guide and tell us why we should come and check it out. Who knows — I just might come and bother you live on a Friday very soon.