Monroeville church has new layout, indoor dining for fish fry

Fish fry season, or what others call Lent, has begun.

Many local churches, fire departments and organizations take this 46-day opportunity to raise funds selling fish, fries, haluski, desserts and other foods on Fridays.

St. Nicholas Serbian Orthodox Church in Monroeville is no exception. The fish fry is coordinated by the church’s men’s club, led by Steve Popovich.

The club’s president said the fundraising tradition has been going on for about 22 years. Volunteers are excited to see familiar faces and greet new ones.

“I’d say it’s one of the best fundraisers for the church,” Popovich said.”We’re all excited to get back to the eat-in. We have a lot of people from the community and the parish that like to spend time here and talk.”

St. Nicolas Serbian Orthodox Church parishioners hard at work. pic.twitter.com/wp133SHtgf

— Mike D. (@MikeJdiVittorio) March 4, 2022

Volunteers serve between 200 to 250 pounds of fish per week. No financial goals have been set this season.

“We try to sell out every week. This is our big contribution to our parish every year. This staff here, pretty much everybody’s worked it the entire time. It’s almost like a job. We come in. We know where we’re at. We know what to do and everybody kind of falls into place.”

Cod is served fried or baked. There is also a shrimp and scallop entree. Sides include homemade coleslaw, mac and cheese, pierogies, desserts and freshly cut fries. Items are all a la carte.

Some organizations have canceled their fish fries because of supply chain issues and rising costs.

Popovich said they were fortunate not to have any issues getting food.

Fish sandwiches, though, went up $1, and the price of other items went up slightly compared with last year as a result of higher costs.

The church’s dining hall layout has been changed this year to accommodate the return of indoor seating. Its fish fry was takeout only last year because of covid protocols.

“We’ve got to distance apart as much as we can,” Popovich said. “We follow all the (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) safety procedures and guidelines. We have our (Allegheny) County Health (Department) permit. They inspect us every year.”

The dessert line was moved to the opposite end of the hall to help with social distancing and reduce the crowd by the main food line. Sweets were closer to the main entrance than in previous years.

Also, the dessert line has its own checkout counter. Costs per piece are between $1 and $2 depending on the item.

Parishioner Pat Phillips has volunteered on the dessert line for years. This time, she made carrot cake.

“I really enjoy working than I do baking,” Phillips said. “Everyone here is so good, so it doesn’t matter whether you bake or not. They have no trouble getting the women to work. During the year, at various times, they’ll have apricot rolls and nut rolls and different things (for sale). We had a cookie sale (before).”

The longtime volunteer said she noticed a change in people’s attitude and participation at the church in recent months.

“The crowds are coming back in church, and more and more people each time,” Phillips said. “Fewer masks, and we have a fantastic choir. There’s a different atmosphere in the church now. It’s very nice coming to church. For a while, everyone was a little cautious.”

Peggy Shafer of Penn Hills said she and friend MaryKay Meyers of Monroeville have supported St. Nicholas for years, even though they are not members of the parish.

“It’s nice to support the churches and different places that have fish fries,” Meyers said.

The pair each got sandwiches and pieces of cake, and both said they were happy for the return of the indoor dining experience.

“I’ve been here before and I knew it was very good,” Shafer said. “We both like fish and the desserts. It’s such as short span of time that it’s nice to come and support them when they’re trying to raise money for the church. The people are so nice and friendly. It sure beats cooking.”

The church choir is having its own pierogi sale in conjunction with the fish fry, at $12 for a dozen.

People an also order frozen pierogies by contacting Daniella Vranesevic at 724-600-5869 or emailing daniellavranesevic@gmail.com.