Pittsburgh Restaurants Boost Seafood Menu Items For Lent

PITTSBURGH, PA — With Lent beginning on Wednesday, a number of Pittsburgh restaurants have upped their seafood offerings. Here is a Patch sampling of what is available at some city eateries:

Square Cafe, East Liberty

Square Care will serve their fish Ttcos every Friday throughout Lent, concluding on Good Friday. This fan-favorite special features battered fish fillets on flour tortillas with red cabbage, green onion, pico de gallo, and cilantro ranch, and is served with half of an avocado.

Mardi Gras, East Liberty

The colorful and inviting East Liberty cafe will celebrate Fat Tuesday with a delicious King Cake Latte, a caramel & vanilla espresso latte brewed with cinnamon sugar. This limited time offer will be available through Feb 18th.

The Commoner, Downtown

The restaurant is adding a few Lent-inspired dishes to his regular menu. Patrons can enjoy fried branzino with vanilla pickled fennel, tartar sauce, and grilled lemon; and fresh cavatelli featuring crab, preserved lemon, parmesan, and arugula.

Kahlil’s, Bloomfield

Sister-owners Dalel and Leila Khalil are celebrating the Lenten season with special lunch and dinner additions to their traditional Syrian menu, available every Friday throughout Lent. For lunch, guests can enjoy an aleppo red pepper fried fish sandwich paired with Za’atar steak fries, coleslaw, shatta hot sauce and tartar sauce. For dinner, the Pittsburgh staple will offer Mediterranean sautéed shrimp finished in a lemon garlic sauce along with buttered rice with orzo topped with toasted pignolia nuts and almonds.

Ritual House, Downtown

Ritual House is serving up elevated comfort with fresh seafood dishes throughout the Lenten season. Tucked inside the iconic downtown Pittsburgh Union Trust building restaurant will begin the season on Ash Wednesday with two seafood features including a shrimp and scallops with mashed potatoes and capers, as well as a swordfish special.

For lunch, guests can expect a fried fish or a crab cake sandwich complete with a house-made remoulade. Ritual House also features an extensive selection of signature seafood dishes on its daily menu, like Carolina she-crab bisque made with cream sherry and topped with local microgreens and black garlic crème fraiche; and the seared tuna sashimi with sesame, togarashi, wasabi aioli, sweet soy, ginger scallion oil, pickled ginger and cucumber.

The PA Market, Strip District

This two-story European-style market offers six counter-style restaurants and four bars between both levels. For those seeking nontraditional Lenten dishes this season, guests can visit Carne Asada for a fan favorite handheld, the adobo shrimp burrito. Bistro 108 is offering a Moroccan spiced salmon.