Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Lent is here, and so too is fish fry season across Western New York.
While the fryers kicked-in on Ash Wednesday this week, Fridays are the busiest day as the lines will form outside restaurants, churches and fire halls with the smell of fried fish and all the sides wafting in the air.
Many Western New York churches, fire halls and restaurants have been preparing by buying extra fresh haddock, preparing the coleslaw and getting the batter just right for the weekly Friday fish frenzy.
A Niagara County favorite is the annual Wilson Fire Company fish fry, which has been operating since 1972.
"It's a big effort," said Joyce Banagis, Vice President of the Wilson Fire Company and co-chair of the fish fry. "We serve somewhere between 1,000 and 1,400 dinners every week."
Joyce says the fire hall purchases about 1,000 pounds of fish a week from the local Montondo's Seafood in Lockport.
From helping out in the kitchen, setting up the tables in the hall, and serving the food, the fire hall effort really couldn't be done without the help of the Wilson community, organizers say.
"We have to bring in some people from the community. There's just not enough active members to be able to run it just by ourselves. We have high school kids that help in the dining room. We couldn't do it without the community, we really appreciate them," said Banagis.
Joyce recommends you stop in after 5:30 if you don't want to wait in line that spans the length of the fire hall, but still, she can't make any promises.
In addition to local fire halls putting on their fish dinners, some Western New York churches do the same for their parishioners and community during Lent, like St. Leo's in Amherst.
"It's a labor of love," said Dave Ehrke, St. Leo's business manager. "We're just very fortunate that we have a wonderful volunteer staff that do a wonderful job from planning the event to procuring the fish and the supplies."
Ehrke says that every Friday they serve 300-350 dishes with fish served all-ways with a shrimp scampi as another available option.
They also note on their flyers that they did not raise the price this year. In recent years, the market for fish has gone up as much as $2 a pound during the pandemic years as supply and labor became scarce.
"We made a conscious decision to keep the prices the same, while at the same time, not sacrificing the quality or skipping the quality of food that we that we serve," Ehrke said.
Take-out is an option too for the weekly fish fry, available at locations like St. Leo's. They run every Friday from 4-7 p.m. or until they sell out, click here for more details and preorders.
When it comes to good fish fry in Western NY, some think Wiechec's Lounge on Clinton Street is among the places to be.
Matthew, Wiechec's Lounge's bar manager, says that they quadruple their fish orders when the Lenten season comes around. How many pounds? "A lot," Matthew laughs.
Is there a secret to the best fish fry? Matt says the batter is important, but the sides are just as important. "[It's the] little stuff that you add to it. Homemade salads helps, we make our macaroni and our coleslaw in house."
If you want your fish fast at Wiechec's, Matt recommends you come on Thursdays. They sell fish every day. They also have a lot of other great seafood options as well, like their shrimp that you can get broiled or Cajun style. They also serve scallops.
As the lines at Wiechec's could take as long as two hours on Friday, Matt asks customer to be patient during this Lent. "Everyone's trying to do their best. We know it's the busiest of the busiest and sometimes people don't understand that."