Louisville fish fry tradition since 1919 kicks off a new season
Through dark streaks of Saturday morning rain, a neon beacon appeared on the side of red bricks.
The red lit-up letters showed a simple, but highly-anticipated message: “Now Frying.”
Shortly after 10 a.m. on March 7, a line had already formed inside Suburban Masonic Lodge, #740 at 3901 S. 3rd St. for a treasured Louisville tradition that dates back to 1919.
The first Saturday of March means Suburban Social Club kicks off its fish fry season, which runs every Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., through the end of November.
The occasion calls for a crowd of around 1,200 patrons and the selling of up to 2,000 pounds of fried fish in a seven hour duration.
Suburban Social Club kicked off its first fish fry of the year on March 7. The club offers a fish fry every Saturday from March to November.
It also means that plenty of people will want to say hello to Stanley Robinson, 79, a longtime mason and fish fry volunteer. Robinson now sits as the second vice president of the lodge’s social club.
Wearing a camouflage hat and green T-shirt designed for “Opening Day 2026,” Robinson greets anyone who comes his way with a friendly grin and handshake, asking, “How are you doing, baby girl?” or saying, “You’re looking good, bud.”
When someone asks the same of Robinson, the retired police officer offers his signature answer: “I’ve never had less and felt better.”
He feels especially good now that Suburban Social Club’s fish fry is back.
“If I had to use one word, I'd say anticipation,” Robinson said.
Before noon on Saturday, fish fry-goers remarked to Robinson that they’ve been waiting all year for this day, even though, really, they only had to wait a few months.
"Everybody looks forward to it,” Bo Jordan, a fellow member of the Suburban Masonic Lodge, said. “It’s just a tradition."
After launching in 1919, the Suburban Social Club previously held the fish fry on Fridays. But, in an effort to not take away business from area churches during the Lenten season, the club long ago switched to Saturdays.
Profits from the fish fry go toward the “good works of Suburban Lodge,” according to its site, as well as scholarships and local organizations such as Kosair Charities.
“It's something bigger than me,” Robinson said. “As a matter of fact, it's not about me. It's about serving a purpose here. It’s about the community.”
This community gathers over Green River-style North Atlantic cod, served as a sandwich for $11.29 or a two-piece fish dinner for $14.99. You can also buy fish by the pound for $20.49.
Suburban Social Club kicked off its first fish fry of the year on March 7. The club offers a fish fry every Saturday from March to November.
The menu is as simple as it gets here, shown on a concession stand marquee. Along with crispy, lightly-crusted fish that's getting fried behind the counter, your choices include white, wheat or rye bread, pub-style French fries, coleslaw, and this place's other claim to fame: Marinated onions.
Robinson, often called the "onion whisperer," said volunteers peel, slice and dice 150-200 pounds of onions to get ready for Saturdays. And the onions have become a huge draw.
"They are made with love," Robinson said. "You won't find them anywhere else in the city of Louisville."
Throughout the season for "Suburban Fish Fry," as its called for short, customers are known to drive from Bowling Green, Nashville, or Indianapolis, with dry ice on hand, to buy pounds of this fish. And if it's football season, others come over to grab enough helpings for University of Louisville tailgating at the nearby L&N Stadium.
Hank Buckwalter, or "Scale Earnhardt" as his alter ego goes, dressed up March 7 for the opening day of Suburban Social Club's weekly fish fry. The club offers a fish fry every Saturday from March to November.
For Robinson, he hopes something else stands out along with quality and price of the fish when people walk through the lodge's doors.
“I truly would like to think it's about the way they're treated,” he said. "The way you're treated when you come in is... it's like family.”
We featured Suburban Social Club's fish fry in the latest installment of our series, "Best Thing I Ate This Week." You can follow along by visiting Instagram.com/courierjournal.
