Fried fish guide: The best Lexington restaurants to find a fish sandwich during Lent

Seafood is always popular in Kentucky, thanks to fresh catches being flown in constantly. But during Lent, when many Christians abstain from meat on Fridays, some seafood restaurants will be pulling out all the stops with seafood specials to meet the demand.

This year Lent runs from March 5 to April 17, just before Easter on April 19. In preparation, we rounded up a collection of seafood restaurants and pubs serving seafood, or fish specials, during the holiday.

You don’t have to be religious to enjoy a great piece of fish, so pull up a chair.

Thea’s Bass & Biddy Kitchen

101 W. Loudon Ave. Suite 162; bassandbiddy.com; 859-309-0166.

Thea’s Bass & Biddy Kitchen in Greyline Station always has Thea’s Fresh Fried Fish & Fries on the menu, with a la carte extra fish available too. For Lent, Thea’s is offering a $15 meal salmon, cod, trout as well as several other types of fish available, all fried.

Daughters’ Southern Food Truck

Facebook.com/DaughtersSouthern; 859-576-2804. Chef Chris Cain will bring his rolling fish fry to The Void Sake Co. at 819 National Ave. Suite 120 during Lent. Look for him every Friday 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5 to 8:30 p.m., March 7 through April 11. He’ll have Aunt Nona’s Fish and Grits (crispy catfish on Weisenberger cheese grits, topped with grilled peppers), a Veggie Po-boy (grilled squash, peppers, onions and portobello mushrooms with Cajun mayo), Catfish Po-boy, Angus beef burgers, his Buffalo Cauliflower and The Lord’s Work, cornmeal-dusted whiting filets on white bread with choice of two sides.

Sassy Bleu Fine Southern Dining

496 E. High St.; sassybleufinedining.com; 859-309-0043

The menu of comfort food includes Southern catfish, Cajun fried shrimp, salmon and catfish options.

Lexington Seafood Co.

867 East High St.; lexseafood.com; 859-266-8888.

This restaurant is known for its excellent selection of fresh fish, seafood, shrimp and oysters.They also sell fish seasonings and have recipes listed online so you can up your seafood game in your home kitchen, too. If you’d like fish for lunch you can do that too: a lunch menu is available from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday to Saturday.

Smithtown Seafood

501 West Sixth St.; smithtownseafood.com;859-303-4100

This restaurant is tucked right into the West Sixth Brewery, so you can pair your food with a West Sixth beer. You can order from a QR code on your table or walk up to the counter. There’s a ton of seafood specials, including oysters on the half, shrimp cocktails, a chef’s selection seafood tower, cod fritters, catfish bites tossed in buffalo sauce and a variety of fish sandwiches or wraps. You can even get a fish & chips with your cod dipped in West Sixth beer batter.

Palmers Fresh Grill

161 Lexington Green Circle; palmersfreshgrill.com; 859-273-0103

Start your meal with their corn and clam chowder before sampling wood-grilled salmon, shrimp and grits, seared diver scallops, beer-battered cod filets and more. There’s also a nice lakeside patio if it’s warm enough to sit outside.

Charlie’s Fresh Seafood & Carry-Out

926 Winchester Rd.; 859-255-6005

Charlie’s is where locals go, and it’s well-known for its huge fish sandwich on rye. The “Charlie’s Whitefish Sandwich Special,” comes with your choice of two sides from French fries, coleslaw or hush puppies. Other dishes include fried shrimp and fried clams. Charlie’s also sells fresh and frozen seafood.

Horse and Jockey Pub

131 Cheapside; thejockeybar.com ; 859-554-5585

This bar and restaurant has a classic fish & chips on its menu for dinner, with four pieces of cod served with mushy peas for $16.

Dudley’s on Short

259 West Short St.; dudleysonshort.com; 859-252-1010

This restaurant offers chef’s nightly specials, and will offer Friday fish specials for dinner throughout Lent.

J. Render’s Southern Table & Bar

3191 Beaumont Centre Circle; jrenders.com; 859-533-9777

This charming Southern restaurant will have fried white fish, fries, creamy coleslaw and house-made tartar sauce as well as a fish sandwich available during Lent.

Joella’s Hot Chicken

101 Cochran Rd. and 2305 Sir Barton Way; joellas.com

This Kentucky-owned restaurant is bringing back the Crispy Cod Sammie for the Lent season. You can get the fish double beer-battered and fried, and topped with Sweet Vinegar Slaw and Bama White Dippin’ Sauce. The Crispy Cod Sammie can be prepared with any of Joella’s six famous heat levels including Traditional Southern (no heat), Spiked Honey, Ella’s Fav, Tweener, Hot and Fire-In Da-Hole (inferno-level hot, so hot you need to sign a waiver). Crispy Cod is available as a plate as well.

Shamrock Bar & Grille

154 Patchen Drive and 285 Lancer Dr. in Brannon Crossing in Nicholasville; shamrocksky.com

This Irish bar and grille has dishes on the regular menu as well as Lent specials. Try the catfish fingers, served with House-made Remoulade sauce, or “Admiral Perry’s Fish Sandwich,” with hand-breaded catfish and American cheese on a hoagie. House specialties include fish and chips, blackened catfish and a fried shrimp platter. They may also do specials on Fridays in addition to the normal menu items.

The Cellar Bar & Grille

3256 Lansdowne Dr.; cellargrille.com; 859-317-8301

Cellar Bar & Grille has peel-and-eat shrimp, boom boom shrimp, shrimp and crab dip on the menu as appetizers, as well as catfish fingers, a fried catfish sandwich, fish tacos, shrimp tacos, bourbon-glazed salmon, avocado salmon and more available during Lent.

Bourbon ‘n Toulouse

829 Euclid Ave.; ilovecajun.com; 859-335-0300

Spice up your Lenten meals with this Cajun & Creole joint. Traditionally, they have shrimp etouffee available daily and shrimp creole on Lent Fridays. They only serve the Creole during Mardi Gras and Lent each year, so get it while you can.

Bear & The Butcher

815 Euclid Ave.; bearandthebutcher.com; 859-469-9188

This spot offers creamy sriracha shrimp tacos and a grilled salmon platter on its daily menu, as well as classic beer-battered fried cod with fries and tartar sauce. On the lunch menu, only the fish & chips and the creamy sriracha shrimp tacos are available. During Lent, you can also get a jumbo fried shrimp basket on Fridays.

Goodwood Brewpub

200 Lexington Green Circle Suite 110; goodwoodbrewing.com/lexington; 859-407-1200

Start your Lent out right with the “Oh My Cod” sandwich, with Goodwood beer-battered cod, shredded lettuce, tartar sauce and pickled red onion on a brioche bun. Goodwood also has fish and chips, blackened catfish and bourbon-glazed salmon on the menu.

Thoroughbred Restaurant

1483 Leestown Rd.; facebook.com/thoroughbredrestaurant; 859-252-9153

Lexington’s second-oldest still existing restaurant has lots of fish on the menu every day, including fish & chips, crab-stuffed flounder, fried or grilled grouper, blackened salmon, fried oysters, shrimp creole and more. Check its social media for daily updates.

Native Bagel & Nightjar

436 Chestnut St. in Berea; 436chestnut.com; (859) 756-6185

Two restaurant concepts under one roof, Native Bagel & Nightjar has fried fish on the menu and will be doing a classic beer-battered cod with hand-cut fires and coleslaw as well as a mahi mahi Hawaiian barbecue bowl during Lent.

Lee’s Famous Recipe Chicken

3014 Richmond Rd.; leesfamousrecipe.com

Lee’s is bringing back its Fish & Chips Combo during Lent at participating restaurants.