If you want to know which of Pittsburgh's hundreds of fish fries to try, just ask Mayor Corey O'Connor.

The intrigue: Axios Pittsburgh is searching for this year's best fish fry, and the city's mayor may have the deepest knowledge on the topic.

• He visits two or three every week.

Driving the news: O'Connor had lunch with us Friday at Brother Andre's Cafe, below Epiphany Roman Catholic Church in Uptown.

Dig in: O'Connor eats his fish sandwich with tartar sauce and hot sauce. He was pleased that Brother Andre's had Frank's RedHot on offer.

• "I like spicy," he said.
• And no cheese: "I like cheese, but not on a fish sandwich."

His favorite side is mac and cheese, but he'll eat fries, coleslaw and other fish fry staples.

• If pierogies are available, he's getting some. Potato-and-cheese are his favorite.

What about cocktail sauce?

• "It's rare. I'll use it sometimes," he said, noting how he enjoys Community Kitchen's homemade version.

What they're saying: He can't pick a favorite because there are "too many territorial fights with fish fries."

• But he started last week at Community Kitchen and Sacred Heart, and he is going out to McKeesport on Friday night to have fish fry with his brother, a priest.

The bottom line: He encourages everyone to try as many as they can because each provides community spirit and camaraderie.

• "Whether it's a church or an organization, they all have their own feel for it and they all have their different twist," he said. "I think that's cool because everybody has their own kind of vibe and they're all different."

Dive deeper

St. Patrick's Day celebrations fill the calendar this month, but that's just the start.

Here's what's happening in Pittsburgh this March.

🕴 Tall People Mixer | March 7 | Shorty's | 6pm | Ticketed event

🍄 Stardew Valley: Symphony of Seasons | March 8 | Benedum | 7pm | Ticketed event

🎻 Candlelight: Best of Bridgerton on Strings | March 13 | Heinz History Center | Tickets on sale March 5

🎭 Pittsburgh Fringe Festival | March 19-28 | Multiple venues | Events and times vary | Ticketed event

🎤 R&B Fest | March 21 | Enclave | 4pm | Ticketed event

7 more events

💬 Republican U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick and Democratic Sen. John Fetterman backed the U.S.-Israel military operation that killed Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Saturday.

Zoom in: Fetterman said on X that President Trump is "willing to do what's right and necessary to produce real peace in the region," and McCormick pushed for an end to the DHS shutdown on national security grounds.

• Democratic U.S. Reps. Summer Lee and Chris Deluzio denounced the operation. Lee called it "an insanely unpopular, dangerous, and illegal act of war," while Deluzio demanded Congress intervene.

The big picture: Three U.S. service members were killed and five others seriously wounded in the action as of last night. Hundreds of people have died in Iran during the conflict — which followed the recent collapse of U.S.–Iran nuclear talks in Geneva.

🏈 The Steelers ranked last in the NFL Players Association's annual report cards for the first time in the survey's four-year history, per results obtained by ESPN. The team earned an F for facilities. (ESPN)

As Purim begins at sundown tonight, Jewish people (and fellow lovers of a good treat) are biting into a tradition centuries in the making: hamantaschen.

Catch up quick: Hamantaschen are three-sided baked goods that symbolize the triangle hat (or, in some interpretations, the purse) of Haman, the villain in the story of Purim.

• Ahead of Passover, when observant Jews eat matzo instead of bread, hamantaschen were made on Purim to "use up the flour," says Joan Nathan, food historian and Jewish cookbook author.

Zoom in: A few places to find hamantaschen in Pittsburgh: Allegro Bakery and Bunny Bakes in Squirrel Hill, Prantl's Bakery locations and select Giant Eagle and Market District stores.

• Market District bakeries are also able to accommodate special orders for house-made hamantaschen in certain flavors or larger quantities with 24 hours' notice, per a spokesperson.

The intrigue: TikTok and wider grocery selections are inspiring more playful, off-book takes on the cookies. In some shops, options now include everything from matcha to Funfetti.

Zoom out

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Teams from a dozen local high schools turned Westinghouse's Cranberry headquarters into a playground of pulleys and mousetraps on Friday, competing in the Chain Reaction Contraption Contest with their best Rube Goldberg-style machines.

The big picture: Students got inventive with this year's task: "Plant a seed."

Case in point: A team from Hempfield Area High School planted a giant seed representing conspiracy theories into a mannequin's head — framed by aliens building the Egyptian pyramids and lurking cryptids — for their project called "The Chain of Misconception."

• They took first place honors, followed by teams from Brentwood and North Allegheny.

How it works: Students across Southwestern Pennsylvania dream it up, sketch it out and build a contraption that completes an assigned task in more than 20 steps and 30 seconds.

• Then, they bring it to Westinghouse's judges for a live demo. Teams compete for scholarships, sponsor-funded prizes and more.

The bottom line: The competition, launched more than 25 years ago, gives students a chance to explore STEM careers.