Pgh Lesbian Correspondents

Random review of #fishburgh adventures during Lent. Find a fish fry on this Google maps collection. You can also follow them on Facebook and find tons of reviews and suggestions.

Date: Friday March 14, 2013

Time We Ate: 5 PM (check the website for hours)

Location: Risen Lord Roman Catholic Church 3250 California Avenue (Marshall Shadeland neighborhood)

We selected this location because it is close to our home and had a variety of options on the menu. That turned out to be a good thing because when we arrived at 5 PM, the fish was gone. We opted for fried shrimp baskets which came with two sides. I chose french fries and applesauce. Ledcat had mac and cheese as well as applesauce. We also asked for one order (3) of potato piergoie. That came to about $20 total. We were handed a number and asked to take a seat to wait for our food.

The space was a former school building so it was reasonably unshabby and orderly. We found that quite a few seemingly available tables were “taken” so we ended up in the back (no one told us there was an another room.) Our drinks were included in the meal and the options were iced tea, lemonade, coffee and water in 10 ounce dixie cups. The lemonade was very bland, but we were okay with water.

It took less than 10 minutes to get our food. The shrimp was plentiful and tasty. I thought the fries were fine, but Ledcat did not like the mac and cheese. The pierogies were just okay. So we certainly got our fill. There was a huge dessert table (bake sale style) but nothing appealed to us because we ate so much friend food. Granted, there were many cupcakes (my favorite) but they’ll be there next week.

Everyone was very friendly when we engaged, but no one was socializing with newcomers. I always think it is a missed opportunity when churches or fraternal organizations don’t recruit even if they just hand us a flyer. We went to a dinner in Carnegie last year and they sold raffle tickets, so the lady had a reason to speak with every single person. Worked like a charm.

The crowd was probably thinned by the time we arrived, but it skewed a bit older with a handful of teens working as volunteers. It was predominantly white and the assorted hats & tee shirts indicated an array of working class/blue-collar affinities.

Street parking. There was no signage to direct us to the social hall, but some passersby figured out why we there and sent us in the right direction.

Pros: menu variety, pierogies, cordial volunteers, location is easy to find, plenty of street parking, good value

Cons: beverage choices, no signage, ran out of fish and lackluster mac and cheese