BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — Earlier this week, many began the Lenten tradition. The tradition among many religions asks its patrons to abstain from eating meat on Fridays, opening the doors for restaurants to capitalize on increased demand for fish and other alternatives.
Michael Meier, owner of Zingo's Cafe, says this time of year, fish is a hot commodity, particularly because of the Lenten tradition.
"It's more or less the repentance of sin. And so our family, being traditional German Catholics, we follow the Lent rules of the Catholic Church, and it'll go six weeks," Meier said. "We do generally see a definite increase in fish sales on Fridays. This last Wednesday, with Ash Wednesday, we almost sold out of fish. We were almost underprepared."
In the Bakersfield local restaurant Facebook group, many restaurants like Zingo's are promoting their Lent options as many work to observe the 40 days. But Meier says while fish catches most of the attention this time of year, there are plenty of options for people who feel flaky over fish.
"My wife, Stephanie, makes homemade clam chowder from scratch. She made tuna salad for today, for Friday. You know there — it's not just fish. There's always an option for a cheese omelet, French toast. " Meier said.
And while the cost of most things continues to rise, Meier says he hasn't seen a huge change to his bottom line.
"It's like, the start of summer, price of gas goes up. So you'll sometimes see a price increase on fish going up, and there's other fishes out there that would be cheaper, but we feel that this Alaskan cod is a winner," Meier said.
The tradition of Lent spans from Ash Wednesday to Holy Thursday, which lands on April 2 this year.
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