Everyone who has ever been to a fish fry before would probably agree on one thing – it’s certainly not five star dining. Still, in most cases we get lucky and the friendly service, good company and reasonable prices make up for the fact that we’re really eating low-quality frozen fish prepared for the masses. Unfortunately for the small group of us who attended the St. Pius fish fry last Friday night, this was not the case. To my shock and dismay waiting in a 15 minute line behind a mildly unattractive middle-aged couple who couldn’t seem to keep their hands off each other was actually one of the high points of our night (come on, it gave us something to laugh at).
From being out of key side items, such as potato salad and slaw, to the tarter sauce filled punch bowl complete with unidentified floating objects, to a rumor that the garbage disposal was out, to the live entertainment who were awkward at best, the staff at St. Pius appeared to be experiencing some major technical difficulties last Friday.
So rest assure, all you cynics of the fish fry experience who always have something better to do on Friday night (you know who you are), in this instance you were better off with your Red Lobster and grilled cheese sandwiches.
Wait Time – While the line appeared long, it moved quickly. A nice touch was when half way through they handed out entry forms for attendance prizes. OK, so the prizes consisted of knitted afghans and odd-looking home décor, but let’s face it everyone likes to win something.
Price – Competitive prices, with $6.75 getting you fish, three sides, dessert and a drink.
Menu – Well depends on if you want me to judge on the posted menu or what was actually available to the customers. You can imagine my disappointment after waiting in line for 15 minutes only to realize my side choices now consisted of cold, bottom of the barrel mac’n’cheese and canned green beans.
Taste – One word – yuck! While the catfish looked appetizing, by the time I sat down, ready to dig in, I realized the grease from the fish had completely soaked through the bottom half of my sandwich. On top of that the mac’n’cheese was cold and leaking some sort of clear liquid, my sister Gwen hoped was butter. Who really knows?! Judging from how it tasted, it could’ve been Anthrax!
Atmosphere – When the website boasted live music, I envisioned some upbeat Springsteenesque’ entertainment; I couldn’t have been more wrong. While well-intentioned, the band played what at times sounded like funeral music, which seemed appropriate as we all tried to choke down our meals.
Overall Rating – 3 out of 10 fish patties. Hey, the bartenders were nice, but I walked out of there hungry and without attendance prize.
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I must say that the highlights of this not so great night at St. Pius were as follows: The rather grungy woman in front of us that just found her boyfriend/ husband's butt absolutely irresistable. The annoucement that the garbage disposal was clogged and needed to be cleaned STAT. The large bowl of sauce and the under-the-bed storage container of what was once slaw. The live music- just picture it middle aged women singing songs containing the words "fish fries, go tell your friends!" and older men play recorders (this is not an exageration). And finally seeing Royal's face as he experienced his first and most likely last fish fry.
ReplyDeleteGwen, you need to be a guest writer on my blog. You write so elequently!
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