This Restaurant Chain Still Has An All-You-Can-Eat Fish Fry Every Friday

Some days of the week are inextricably linked to a certain kind of food — often, that's due to the power of alliteration. Consider Taco Tuesdays (which would have just felt wrong if it were Taco Thursdays) or Meatless Mondays — a good opportunity to incorporate more vegetables into your diet. And then there are Fish Fry Fridays, which are celebrated by (among other restaurants) Black Bear Diner, a chain popular in the western United States.

Black Bear Diner specializes in classic diner fare and stick-to-your-ribs comfort food, like a cross between Denny's and a less aggressively southern version of Cracker Barrel. The first Black Bear Diner opened in Mount Shasta, California, a town named after a nearby mountain where some New Age practitioners believe a hidden city of "ancient Lemurians" live — which is to say it's classic California.

You'll certainly be able to fill yourself up on its hearty breakfasts and chicken fried steaks. But if you happen to visit on a Friday after 4 p.m., you'll be able to enjoy an all-you-can-eat fish fry. The meal includes fried pollock fillets (the kind of fish many restaurants use), fries, hushpuppies, and slaw. And don't worry — you'll get some tartar sauce to go with it, too. Prices vary depending on location, but expect to pay around $18 to $20 per person.

We joked about alliteration up there, but there's a real, more historically rooted reason why fish fries have been customarily held on Fridays. You see, Catholics were traditionally forbidden from eating meat on Fridays during Lent. (Many Catholics still follow that rule, which is why you'll see almost every fast food chain serving up fried fish for Lent.) With that said, because fish are cold-blooded rather than warm-blooded (and therefore more dissimilar to Christ spilling blood during the crucifixion) and plain rather than decadent like red meat, fish are allowed to be eaten during Lent and on Fridays. And so a tradition began.

Although the idea behind abstaining from meat on these days relates to self-abnegation, some Catholics still tried to have a good time with their meals. In areas of the Midwest like Wisconsin, which was not only populated by many German Catholic immigrants but is conveniently located near a bunch of lakes, a fish fry tradition began. The custom became popular even among those who don't have to refrain from meat on Friday. We don't know if Black Bear Diner was drawing upon this tradition with their meal special, but it's as good an explanation as any, we say. Just remember that the secret to a perfect fish fry is in the dredge.