Fish Friday: How it Works

Hey there Fish Friday fans, frequenters, and first timers. Here are a few helpful tips and instructions for placing your Fish Friday pickup orders. Follow these steps and no one will think twice as to whether it’s your first time at Fish Friday!

Order for Fish Friday here.

Step 1: Go to www.acmesmokedfish.com (you can shop on both desktop and mobile).

Step 2: Click on the Fish Friday tab on the navigation bar.

Step 3: Scroll through our Fish Friday product catalog to make your selections.

Step 4: Make your selections on the online storefront by clicking “Add to Cart” below the item you are looking to purchase.

Step 5: You can change the quantity of the item that you would like to purchase by changing the numerical value in the field shown below.

Step 5 (cont’d): Or, by changing the quantity within your cart prior to checkout, as shown below.

Step 6: Once you have successfully added all of the items to your cart that you intend to purchase, click either the floating cart icon on the top right-hand side of the screen, or look to the bottom of the page and click on the blue button labeled “View Cart” (shown below).

Step 7: If needed, you can edit item quantities in your cart prior to the checkout page (as demonstrated in Step 5).

Step 8: Now, set your pickup date and time from the View Cart page, as shown below. (Note: The only available date will be for the upcoming Friday. This is the only date you can choose.)

Step 9: If your order looks correct, and you have selected your pickup time, click Checkout.

Step 10: Enter your payment details (such as credit card number, email, phone number, and billing address).

Step 11: Click the button that says “Pay Now”.

Now, check your email inbox for your order confirmation. If that comes through, then you are all set to pick up your order at your selected time. We have found that our curbside pickup operation is easier for our customers, more efficient for us, and most of all the safest way to operate a retail store out of a large-scale manufacturing environment such as ours. Of course, if you forget a thing or two, we are happy to add to your order when you come to pick up. Come visit us at Fish Friday sometime. We are all about any and every opportunity to interact with fellow smoked fish fanatics!

How do I get to Fish Friday?

To pick up curbside orders please go to the Acme factory at: 30 Gem St, Brooklyn, NY 11222

DIRECTIONS: Walking from the Subway

From Brooklyn

Take the G train to Nassau Avenue Station.

Use the Norman Avenue exit (the back of the train coming from the direction of Queens; front of the train coming from South Brooklyn).

When you exit the station, you will be at the intersection of Manhattan Avenue and Norman Avenue. Orient yourself on Norman Avenue to walk toward Lorimer St. (if you pass Leonard St , TURN AROUND, you are walking in the wrong direction). 

Walking in the correct direction, you will pass Lorimer St. , Guernsey St. , Dobbin St. and Banker St. until you reach N 15th St .  Make a right on  N 15th St. , bearing to your right onto Gem Street.

From Manhattan

Take the L train to Bedford Avenue.  Exit on the Bedford Avenue side of the station and walk West to Wythe Ave. Make a RIGHT on Wythe and walk to N. 15th Street. Make a LEFT on N. 15 and walk down Gem St. to the Fish Friday pickup area.

What is Fish Friday?

Fish Friday is the one day per week where Acme Smoked Fish opens up its Brooklyn facility to the public to sell smoked fish products at wholesale prices. People come from all five boroughs of New York City, and some regularly travel as far as 50 miles or more to get the freshest, highest quality smoked fish directly from the Acme smokehouse. There’s truly nothing like it. From 8am-1pm you can find a line snaking around Gem Street of patient (and not so patient) consumers united under one goal: bring home the smoked fish.

It’s not uncommon that we have visitors pick up smoked fish as a waypoint in their travels to and from distant locations. We even get visitors from very distant locations, like other continents, just stopping in to get a little smoked fish to nosh on during their trip to the Big Apple.

The History of Fish Friday

Fish Friday at Acme Smoked Fish is a Brooklyn tradition that goes back several decades. It started as a small thing. A way for Acme employees to buy leftover products at cost. Later, in an effort to close out every week with no finished product in inventory, Rubin Caslow – grandfather to the current managing generation of owner operators – opened this smoked fish wholesale operation up to the public. This was when Fish Friday was truly born.

Fish Friday at Acme Smoked Fish started out as something genuinely local. Just members of the Greenpoint community coming in for pickled herring and other odds and ends. Slowly, the word spread to the surrounding neighborhoods… Williamsburg, Bushwick, Ridgewood, and so on, but still, it was very much a North Brooklyn/South Queens thing. In those days, you wouldn’t find many schlepping from Manhattan to Greenpoint just to get a deal on smoked fish. Eventually though, the word got out when Florence Fabricant wrote an article about Fish Friday in the New York Times. Now Fish Friday is a destination, an epicenter, a place where those in-the-know get their smoked fish for the week, month, year… depending on your needs and the size of your fridge or freezer!

How to do Fish Friday like a local

Like all things, Fish Friday has gone through some changes over the years but worry not. We’re here to give you the most current info on how to get in, get out, but also enjoy the Fish Friday experience like you’ve done it before. If you follow the above tips, you’ll be noshing in no time! If you want to stay up to date on the latest Fish Friday and Acme Smoked Fish news, subscribe to our newsletter. We love staying in contact with our friends!

Fish Friday FAQs

Q: Can I still buy items at Fish Friday without placing an order?

A: Yes. That said, we do our very best to forecast our Fish Friday production for each week based on order volume and historical trends. If you do not place your order for pickup ahead of time, there is a chance that the items you are looking for will not be available when you arrive. We strongly suggest that you place your order ahead of time.

Q: Are you going to bring the old Fish Friday back?

A: Currently, there is no plan to bring back any former iteration of the Fish Friday experience. Fish Friday is only a curbside service at this time.

Q: Can you ship my Fish Friday order to my house?

A: We do not ship or deliver any of our products directly to consumer residences, offices, or P.O. boxes. All Fish Friday customers must come in-person to pick up their orders.

Q: Can I get a custom amount of smoked fish?

A: All product weights available are as shown within the Fish Friday store. We cannot accommodate requests for product weights other than those shown on the online store.

Q: How can I be featured as a Face of Fish Friday?

A: Please reach out to us by direct message via our social channels, such as Instagram.