The fish fry, an institution of rooted America

PITTSBURGH — Evelyn Wade was standing in a line with her friends, Sandra Owen and Janet Mundy. The queue not only filled the long hallway of the Allegheny Elks Club lobby but went out the door and down the steps. It then stretched around the city block of Cedar Avenue. Wade is a regular at the neighborhood fraternal club’s weekly Lenten Friday fish fry. Owen and Mundy are not.

“Evelyn said the fish sandwiches are amazing, but she also said the atmosphere was great, too,” Owen said. “Even though I am not even at a table yet, I can see what she means. You get a real sense of belonging and community just standing here meeting people.”