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If any kind of seafood can be part of a worthy Lenten dinner, why not ceviche? Still, our eyes bugged when we beheld the menu at Our Lady of Guadalupe’s fish fry last Friday. Ceviche? Fish lasagna?? Potato tacos? (at left) Is Rick Bayless hiding behind the altar?
The Florissant church, which, according to parish priest Rev. John-Paul Hopping, has a largely Mexican-American congregation, does a fish fry that’s half fried American standards, half Latin-inspired treats, and it’s surprising on several fronts.
The first thing you notice when you enter is the chill, relaxing Cuban/Latin music being picked out by a conga/keyboards duo.
The next would be the ethnic division between two cafeteria lines: one for the expected fried cod, catfish fillets, fried shrimp, French fries, and so on; the other for ceviche, fish tacos, guacamole, and more.
Go for line #2.
Start with any of the scoopables: (above, from left) guacamole, super-fresh salsa, ceviche, and cactus salad. The guacamole is chunky with boulders of avocado. The ceviche is made with baked, shredded tilapia, not raw fish marinated in citrus juices in the classic preparation. But hey, this is a church fish fry in Florissant, let’s not get too food-snobby. It’s made with a blend of chopped veggies and herbs, and it’s tasty.
The tacos, as you might expect from a kitchen full of Mexican-American madres, are the best of any fish fry in town. The simple fish taco with freshly fried cod, crisp lettuce, and white cheese (below) was excellent, but the potato taco steals the show. These smaller tacos are stuffed with veggies, fried, and then stuffed again with cheese and a mild salsa. They’d be worth seeking out at a restaurant, much less a church cafeteria. Go ahead and get three for $5, it’s a steal.
The fish lasagna (below, shown with chile relleno, Spansh rice, and guac) was a tasty concoction of wide, chewy noodles, and cheeses, but no one was able to tell us what kind of fish it contained. That’s because, explained Rev. Hopping, it was leftover from a church funeral luncheon earlier that day, and its provenance was undetermined.
That might give the average diner pause, but it gave us a tremendous gout of laughter, which was probably inappropriate, what with the funeral and all. Funeral or no funeral, this lasagna was tasty, and what’s more, emblematic of the can-do spirit at this parish. Our Lady of Guadalupe, explained Hopping, may not have a lot of dough in its coffers, but they have a stellar family of people with a long history of pulling together to get the job done.
Each week features a surprise special, which has in the past been crowd-pleasers like quesadillas and clam chowder (which were not leftover from funerals).
Like the “other” Mexican-American fish fry, the mighty St. Cecelia’s, OLG has dancers. In Florissant, the charismatic Eileen Wolfington (below) brings a highly colorful array of costumes and accessories so the kids at the fry can gear-up and dance with her. They dance in a circle, they dance in a line, they play percussion instruments as they dance – these kids are never bored, and the adults get a kick out of the show, too.
Our Lady of Guadalupe has some of the best fish-fry chow we’ve had, and the cafeteria is sometimes criminally under-populated – this is apparently a well-kept secret.
Is it the fact that they don’t serve booze, maybe?
Father Hopping says the parishioners took a vote and rejected the demon beer.
“But we’ve got fancy food and dancing,” claimed Hopping (in hair net, below), “we don’t need alcohol!”
Our Lady of Guadalupe Fish Fry
3:30 – 7 p.m. Fridays during Lent
1115 S. Florissant
314-522-9264
