Bag o' baked

St. John Vianney School

4101 Clyde Park, S.W.
Wyoming, MI 49509
click here for a map
(Located on the west side of Clyde Park (across from Resurrection Cemetery), between 36th and 44th streets.)

Date and time of visit: March 11, 2011, around 6 p.m.

Parking: large lot adjacent to school

Accessibility: apparently there is an elevator. Otherwise it could be challenging; a "Disneyland-esque" line that went behind the upper level gymnasium bleachers and down some stairs to get to the “village hall,” the basement-level (lunch?) room.

Cost: $8, adults; $7, seniors 60+, $6; kids 4-12, $5; under 4, free
Price includes dessert (ice cream cups, although they ran out of chocolate while we were there)

Wait: A reasonable 10-15 minutes

Tables: banquet tables with chairs; area set aside for wheelchairs

Gambling opportunities: 50/50 raffle—tickets. The prize that night was $300.

Highlights:
- well-organized
- stylish aprons
- beverages, seconds, and dessert brought to the tables
- we stayed long enough to be offered bags of left-over baked potatoes to take home

It's been a couple years since we visited SJV, but it was as well organized and efficiently run as we remembered. Even though there was quite a crowd, we were able to find six seats together.

The dinner was organized cafeteria-style. Offerings included fried or baked cod, baked potato or French fries, cole slaw, and a roll. Tartar sauce was offered at the end of the serving line, and individual servings of margarine, sour cream, and industrial sized ketchup bottles were available at the tables. Malt vinegar and lemons were also provided.

This time, the consensus was that the baked cod was better to the fried. "Very nicely seasoned," commented one of your reviewers. No one tried the fries this time, but the baked potatoes were perfectly done. We gave the rolls a passing grade and can't remember if there was macaroni and cheese; we're holding out for St. Isadore's M&C this coming Friday.

Cheerful colored fish decorated the walls, and the tables all had nice vases of fresh flowers. Again, roving chefs carried trays of fish fresh out of the fryer and SJV students were quick to remove trays and trash, helping to keep the busy dining area uncluttered and relatively clean. And it was busy; over 1200 dinners were served that evening.

As far as beverages, we enjoyed Detroit Beer Co.'s Sanders Chocolate Lager that was in your correspondent's refrigerator, leftover from another event. It went surprising well with the cod.

Next week's destination: St. Isadore's.