Plenty of fish in the suburbs

EASTERN SUBURBS – Friday to Friday, there have been numerous community fish fries to choose from in the Syracuse area, including several right here in the eastern suburbs.
One has taken place for the duration of Lent at St. Mary’s Parish Center, located at 600 N. Main St. in Minoa. Those dinners are a tri-parish collaboration between St. Mary of the Assumption of Minoa, St. Matthew’s Church in East Syracuse, and St. Francis of Assisi of Bridgeport Church.
Gary Krajacic has been the man in charge of that fish fry since 2010 minus the three years when the East Syracuse Minoa Central School District was using the local worship facilities for space amid elementary school remodeling work.
“We had to scrap the fish fry for those three years, but we’re back at it now full steam,” said Krajacic, the faith formation director and head of the activities committee for the parishes.
He said that the fish fries have had a “phenomenal” turnout this season and that the participating parishioners have developed a sense of “camaraderie.”
“We have a well-oiled machine,” he said. “Everybody’s on board with it and it’s just fun working together and putting it out.”
The tri-parish operation has its last fish fry of the year this Friday, April 7 from 4 to 7 p.m.
The menu options are fried or baked haddock dinners, each with the choice of double mac and cheese, double french fries, or half mac and cheese and half fries. Customers can also peer over a children’s menu.
“It’s nice putting out a good dinner and having people come back to say they enjoy it,” Krajacic said. “That’s what keeps us going.”
Another Lenten fish fry is held out of Christ Church Manlius at 407 E. Seneca St. It was started about seven years ago by church member Dwayne Wisbey and Michael Bull, who sits on the vestry.
“The two of us work together every year plotting out what we need to order every week and getting things prepped up,” Wisbey said. “A lot of people help us out, but Michael and I are the two principal people that get everything kind of set.”
Wisbey said he enjoys catching up with returning customers week to week, including not only parishioners but also people from the outside community.
When the Christ Church fish fry was first organized, it was sit-down only, but during COVID the plates were passed through a back window of the church. Since then, it has not gone back to a dine-in service, sticking to takeout orders made from 4 to 6:45 p.m. and spread out in 15-minute intervals.
Wisbey said the church will try to return to in-house dinners next year but that more volunteers would be needed.
The menu options at the church this year are beer-battered Icelandic haddock wrapped in biodegradable butcher paper with fries, tartar sauce, coleslaw and a dinner roll. The church will oblige gluten-intolerant people who ask for just a raw piece of fish as well, Wisbey said.
Christ Church’s last fish fry this year will also take place on Good Friday.
American Legion Post 141 at 109 Fayette St. in Manlius has been doing its weekly fish fry since October, and it runs from 5 to 8 p.m. every Friday into May.
Also working by 15-minute quadrants, the American Legion takes calls for pickup before 5 but mostly after 4 in the afternoon. The standardized serving for all patrons includes either a fish sandwich or a fish fillet with the same size of fish provided, and the meals come with a container of tartar sauce, bread and butter, fries and coleslaw.
“It’s a good meal,” said Randy Walser, the post commander. “You’re not gonna go away hungry.”
Walser makes the original orders of the food and does preparatory work while Legionnaires and volunteers from the auxiliary and the Sons of the American Legion cook the dinners.
Walser said the fish fry is one of the post’s biggest fundraising endeavors for support of its mission.
The local Legion supports area military veterans by opening up its canteen as a place for friendship and conversation and also by donating to organizations like Clear Path For Veterans. Post 141 also schedules karaoke nights and live performances from bands.
The post does not have a full-fledged dine-in option, but people are allowed to sit at its tables or at the bar and eat from the to-go boxes.
Walser said he likes that his post’s fish fry continues through a larger chunk of the year than other similar community dinners.
“It takes some time, but bottom line it’s all for what we do as the Legion,” he said. “It’s a labor of love.”
The Jamesville Fire Department at 6661 E. Seneca Turnpike in Jamesville also does a Friday night Haddock dinner, with its last of the year being held on April 7. That meal includes fried haddock, a choice of mac and cheese or french fries, coleslaw, a dinner roll, and soda or water. Chicken tender meals are also available.
The fire department’s dinners are eat-in or takeout, and they will be available starting at 5 p.m. until they sell out.
To place an order from the tri-parish fish fry call 315-437-8318. For the Christ Church dinner, call 315-682-5795. American Legion Post 141 can be contacted at 315-692-4426. The Jamesville Fire Department can be reached at 315-492-2872.