Walkin’ Around Checkin’ Stuff Out. #22
I’m dedicating this weeks post to a visit to church. No…I’ve not found God or converted to some religion. It’s…
Friday Fish Fry!
St. Albert the Great Catholic Church. Minneapolis, MN
I’ve read great things about the fish dinner at St. Albert’s so that’s where we went.
It takes a lot to get me into a church, but I can’t pass up a good fish fry. $15 for fish, potatoes, coleslaw, bread, spaghetti (?!?) and dessert…lots of dessert. It’s the best damn deal in town. Opps…I mean, the best dang deal in town.
Take a letter and wait.
The joint was packed. And I mean PACKED. We are rookies so we had no idea what we were doing. Luckily a nice dude in a cowboy hat pointed us to Marge who was handing out letters which would determine when we would be called to stand in line for dinner…it was quite a production.
Bryan was kind enough to give us the lay of the land. Thanks, Partner.
Wait your turn.
They said it would be at least a half hour wait to get in line for dinner. Clearly they were used to such long waits because they found ways to keep people busy…like live music and BINGO! I mean, who doesn’t want to do a little gambling in church?
Best job in the house.
This woman had the honor of flipping the chart to let people know when it was their turn to hop in line for the fish fry. Small cheers would erupt when she walked out to advance a letter.
Buy your ticket.
Once our letter was called it was time to visit Erin to buy our dinner tickets. She was very nice. And happy. I asked her what she recommended…the fried or the baked fish. “They call it a fish fry for a reason.” and gave me a wink.
Bonus points for decor.
Standing in line for the fish dinner was a great chance to take in the vibe of the room. The place was packed with all different types of people of all ages having a great time. And how about that decor…fishing bobber hanging lanterns? Genius.
Jan the ticket-taker.
The people watching was so good I was almost bummed the wait was over, but Jan was very pleasant and happy to take our tickets…the excitement was almost like boarding a ride at the fair. (Jan also recommended the fried fish over the baked.)
The wait is over.
Mashed potatoes, potato cakes, fried fish, baked fish, spaghetti with meatless sauce, bread, cole slaw, milk, lemonade, coffee…they had it all. At $15 it’s the best deal in town. I did get one vote for the baked fish from the woman serving…but she told me I could have one of each. Problem, solved. (The fried was better.)
But wait…there’s dessert!
All of that food for $15 included dessert…and the choices were mind blowing. Everything from pumpkin pie, to Rice Krispie bars to chocolate cake. Signs instructed people to only take two desserts…as if there was room for even one after all that food.
Coffee Man.
This guy seemed to be in charge of keeping the pots of coffee flowing. I can’t imagine how many gallons of the stuff he made. I expected church basement coffee to be weak…the kind where you can see the bottom of the cup even when it’s full, but I gotta say the stuff was pretty good. Between that and the chocolate cake I was big time buzzed.
Volunteers.
It took a lot of people to put this thing on and I’m guessing most were volunteers. It’s cool to see that many people come together for the cause.
People hanging out.
Churches usually give me the creeps, but I gotta say I was diggin’ this place. Maybe it’s because it’s in the middle of the city and I’m guessing pretty open and liberal as far as churches go. Whatever it was I loved seeing so many people come together hanging out having a great time. Not to sound cheesy, but there was a great community vibe to the night and I’m all for anything that does that.
You brought back memories of the church suppers I once attended- virtually the same layout and protocol.