The Friday after Lent is National Tartar Sauce Day!!! This day was founded in 2017 by the restaurant chain Frisch's Big Boy, which first opened its doors as Frisch's cafe in 1905. The Registrar at National Day Calendar declared National Tartar Sauce Day to be celebrated the Friday after Lent begins annually. (Apparently lots of regional restaurants licensed the Big Boy name, each having similar logos and icons.) The original Big Boy double-decker burger was made with Frisch's homemade tartar sauce. The sauce became so popular, it has been sold in pint jars for the take-home market since 1960, being in highest demand during Lent (along with their fried fish platter.) Celebrate the day as you best see fit.
We had halibut on Wednesday, and wife is taking halibut chowder to her Friday Lenten soup and bread dinner tonight. She makes tartar sauce when we fry fish, but not usually other wise. We were also invited to an Ahi Tuna dinner but conflicts prevented us from attending. Lent is something of a subdued party time here as we are beginning to move out of the cold months and is the favorite time for snow sports as we have daylight and moderate temperatures.
I kind of shuddered when I read that the restaurant used tartar sauce on their burgers. I like it on the cheap breaded fried fish (like cod & haddock), but would not ruin a good tuna or Mahi steak with it.
I really like tartar sauce, and especially on breaded fish fillets or fish sticks. I know that all that mayo is not good for me, so I usually use Malt vinegar on my fish instead, and save the tartar for special occasions, like if we go out for lunch at Captain D’s or something like that. I also like the red cocktail sauce on fish, so I splurge and have some of both when we are having fish at the restaurant.
I use the red cocktail sauce for shrimp (steamed or fried), fried clams, fried oysters, crab cakes etc. I only use tartar sauce for fried breaded fish, whether it's on a sandwich or eaten as-is...and I never use red cocktail sauce on them. Nor would I use tartar sauce on those shellfish or mollusks.
I understand that some use avocado as a substitute for mayo if they want variety or can't tolerate eggs or something in mayo. Green tartar sauce might be interesting.