Across the fast-food industry, Chick-fil-A is widely known as the chain most inseparable from religion -- not one of its 2,600 restaurants across the U.S. operates on Sundays and the owners have repeatedly landed in hot water over scandals related to their donations to fundamentalist Christian organizations against marriage equality.
While Chick-fil-A's public competitors will generally work hard to avoid being associated with a particular view or religion, this hasn't always been the case. In 1962, McDonald's (MCD) franchise owner Lou Groen invented the Filet-O-Fish as a way to sell something without meat in his predominantly Catholic Cincinnati neighborhood on Fridays. (Along with several other branches of Christianity, Catholics have traditionally abstained from eating meat on Fridays.)
The fish sandwich withstood the test of time and remains a popular menu item even as American society steadily became less religious over the next five decades.
Popeyes Brings Back Some Menu Items For Lent
Despite the dropping number of observant Christians in the U.S., chains have in recent years started bringing back menus for religious holidays as part of the industry's wider trend of customizing their menus for different types of diners.
The numbers of those buying them are also not insignificant -- one estimate found that out of the 300 million Filet-O-Fish sandwiches the Golden Arches sold one year, 75 million were purchased during the Lenten Period.
Lent, or the 40-day fasting period leading up to Easter, is one example -- this year, Restaurant Brands International (QSR) chain Popeyes is bringing back its Flounder Fish Sandwich and $6 Shrimp Tackle Box to tie in with the Lent period beginning on Feb. 22 and ending on April 6 this year.
The fish sandwich is made with flounder filet marinated in Louisiana herbs & spices while the shrimp box contains six battered shrimp, a choice of side, a biscuit and some tartar sauce.
"Our Flounder Fish Sandwich and Shrimp Tackle Box offerings are popular menu items we like to reintroduce this time of the year as we adapt our menu for the Lenten season," Popeyes President Sami Siddiqui said in a statement. "We take great pride in the quality of our food and are excited to bring back our mouthwatering seafood offerings with the same high-quality ingredients our guests love and expect from Popeyes."
Both menu items have been launched as LTOs in the last two years and have once again returned for a limited time (depending on how popular they are, they may not last for the entire Lent Period.)
Popeyes/TheStreet
The Lent Menu Is Making A Major Comeback
While at least one fish sandwich is a core menu item at many fast-food chains, we've recently started seeing it getting advertised and marketed as a Lent option more often.
Burger giant Wendy's (WEN) is also bringing back the Crispy Panko Fish Sandwich it launched in 2021 on Feb. 20. In 2022, it also advertised it as part of the chain's menu "just in time for Lenten season."
"Other restaurants that have used Alaskan Pollock in their fish offerings during Lent are: Dairy Queen with the Wild Alaskan Fish Sandwich, Jack in the Box last year offered its Fish Sandwich and Deluxe Fish Sandwich, but no date for a return this year is listed on its website yet," writes Sarah Jean Callahan for TheStreet.
