Of all the places around Western New York that you can grab a fish fry during the Lenten season, you probably make your pick based on the fish, maybe the side offerings and perhaps a location that is near you.
88-year-old Joan and her childhood friend Clara can attest to this.
"I always come over to Kenilworth because I've lived in the neighborhood for over 70 years and I know some of the people that come here," Joan Boone said.
But Joan and Clara and anyone else in the Kenilworth Fire Hall will tell you there is one more reason they choose this fish fry.
"They're there when you need them," Sharon Baumgartner, another fish fry patron, said.
Kenilworth Volunteer Fire Department is there for the community and so the community is returning the favor in one of the best ways they know how.
As soon as the phone lines open at 4 p.m. and the doors open at 4:30 p.m., the volunteers from the fire department and ladies auxiliary are swimming in orders.
"We started off about 12 years ago doing about 50 fish frys in a three hour period on turkey fryers," Pat Talmon, Commissioner of the Kenilworth Fire Department, said. "And now we do anywhere from 700 to 900 in a three hour period."
Each dinner costs $10 and the fire department said the fish fry generates about $20,000 each year. That is money that goes a long way for a 10-percent volunteer organization.
"God forbid we'd ever have to go to their house in a sort of emergency but at least if they do come to our fish fry, we do see each other," Talmon said. "It's kind of more of a personal level."
You can dine-in from the Kenilworth Fire Department every Friday night of Lent from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. Kenilworth is located at 84 Hawthorne in Tonawanda. You can also call-in for a Fish Fry to go. Call 838-1219.
You can check out other fish fry spots on our Fish Fry map.