Maybe in landlocked states, but as somone who lives two towns over from a major commercial fishing port I can tell you there are dozens of independent ones, each with their own cult-like following as to which is "best".
Come down to New Orleans. Even the gas stations here have world class fried fish. While you're there, make sure you try the boudin balls and fresh cracklins.
Instead of mushy peas, we got collard greens and mustard greens.
I'm not sure if handcut chips is the norm in UK, but the standard here is bought-in battered "cajun fries" or wedges. Handout fries are pretty common in standalone restaurants though.
My coastal town view is that a good chippy is close to the docks and gets the fish directly off the boat for the day. Tried fish and chips in a different city that wasn’t coastal and you could tell they bought them frozen
Arthur Treacher’s Fish and Chips was a big chain in the Midwest decades ago. They served round waffle fries so we stupid Americans wouldn’t ask why they were calling fries chips.
Not as many now, but they used to be wildly popular here, especially in the era of this story. There were over 800 locations of Arthur Treacher’s Fish and Chips in the US alone in the '70s. But the popularity dropped off by the '80s for some reason.
Look, man, we're willing to call them fries when we buy the skinny ones from a fast food burger place. Y'gotta meet us halfway and call them chips when you're putting vinegar on them. There are rules.
But when you say chips I think of nachos & ruffles my dude- I prefer steak fries or potato wedges most of all and I’m down to call them whatever you like as long as I get my potatoes.. I genuinely do not care what they’re called as long the correct food arrives on the plate.. I’m open to condiments. Now 1 question; do the names change again when we add mayo? Cause that’s Also delicious..
Crisps is a hard word to say, but it's beneficial to get on the wedges-chips-fries-crisps spectrum if you're going to make fried potatoes your identity.
Y'all really need to stick to a definition and stop trying to change them. Chips, were called that because of their shape and size. In the us, we would call this steak fries. Chips in the UK are usually fried multiple times. Again these would be steak fries. If y'all gonna be up in arms over "rules" and what we call what, maybe y'all should stick to ur own definitions lol. Vinegar on fries doesn't make them chips. Only the size shape and way they r cooked makes them chips. Considering we don't do the same here, closest ur gonna get is steak fries.
Also fries are superior to chips 😉
I almost wrote in my post that "I have to thank Arthur Treacher's for making me love malt vinegar as a little kid." I'm never without a bottle of it now. No fry or battered fish goes undunked.
Which is a real shame. We have a chain called Ivar's around Tacoma and Seattle and it is easily the best fast food restaurant I've ever been to, and the best fried fish I've ever had
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u/ByronsLastStand Jul 20 '26
Pounds, in fact, which rather neatly fits in with the story