The Friday Fish Fry is almost a religion in Wisconsin. not just during lent, but year round. I've always wondered if other areas do this, too, or if there is something similar.
Some of the area churches and other organizations have them occasionally as fund raisers, but they don't seem to be that common anymore. The Shriners have an annual oyster fry that has been a really popular event for years.
I think that the Friday fish dinners was a big thing everywhere for a long time, because Catholics were not supposed to eat meat on Fridays. I can remember when I was growing up, one of my best friends was Catholic, and she said they either had tuna casserole or Mac and cheese on Friday, every week. Most restaurants back then also had some kind of fish special on Friday, so that is probably why the fish fry’s were so common. I think that more of the Catholics do not observe this custom now, but it is still probably carried over, just as a tradition. Even the buffet restaurants usually had fish on Fridays.
I've noticed that some restaurants that have daily specials still offer fish on Fridays. I had a fish sandwich for lunch yesterday and that will take care of any fish cravings for about a month probably.
As @Yvonne Smith said, the Friday fish dinner was established by the Catholic tradition, and that is not observed much any longer, although conservative Catholics still do. Growing up, my family, who was very anti-Catholic, still went to a local diner for a fish fry almost every Friday.
Fish Fry? Know what it is, but have never been to one. Basically, the only fish we eat is the Fillet-of-Fish (McDonalds) and my wife loves a good lobster tail at Outback Steakhouse or Longhorn Steakhouse. However, would probably prefer a Chili Cookoff to a Fish Fry.
I love batter dipped fish ! Back when I lived out west, we had a fish place called “Skippers Fish and Chips “. I liked it better than the Captain D’s that we have out here, which used to be much better than it is now. Maybe the best one ever was Ivars, which is on the Seattle Waterfront. You could eat inside or sit out on the pier and eat and feed French fries to the seagulls. In the south, the most popular fried fish seems to be catfish, which is battered in cornmeal flour. It is okay, but I like the English battered fried fish much better. My very favorite is fried oysters, but we do not find that anywhere very often, and it is expensive when you do find it. Kroger used to have fresh oysters, so I could make them at home, but Walmart does not have anything except canned oysters like you would use for oyster stew.
When I lived in south Georgia, our work group would occasionally make a run to the Gulf and get fish--usually mullet, I think--and we would have a fish fry in the hospital picnic ground that was set up for employees and staff use. We couldn't have beer there, but tea and lemonade sufficed. I got introduced to catfish in Illinois, and I thought it tasted a bit like walnuts at the restaurant where we ate. I don't know if that was the coating or the fish. Here we have several kinds of fish to enjoy. There is salmon, of course--five species of Pacific salmon--halibut, and rockfish, as well as trout, pike and oysters. Several types of clams as well if you are ambitious enough to go get them. Shrimp are available in Prince William Sound residents only (the biggest shrimp I have ever seen).
I attended a public school but for some reason we had salmon patties and cream corn EVERY.FREAKING.FRIDAY. The food in the cafeteria was pretty grim and the salmon patties and cream corn were no exception. To this day, I would not touch a salmon patty or cream corn if my life depended on it. Some things just can't be forgotten...... Now, during the summer, my grandparents and I attended every Friday night fish fry at whatever Catholic church was having one that week. Mmmmmm. That was always good fish and sides. Best fried fish I ever had was mullet at the Mullet Festival in the Florida panhandle. Mullet must be fried immediately after its demise or otherwise, it has to be smoked. There's nothing in between. But fresh-out-of-the-net mullet is the sweetest fish you'll ever sink your teef into.
As @Beth Gallagher said, churches around here do them off & on during the year as fund raisers. The one Catholic church does it for lent. I once read that the tradition was started by the Catholic church in the New England states to support the local fishermen.