Restaurants
Chippy's Fish & Chips
With a weighty familial and cultural legacy on my shoulders, I walked into the Annex institution Chippy's looking for some crispy goodness, with a side of absolution.
My Devonshire dad and I disagree about a lot of things, especially when it comes to our shared British heritage. I like Shakespeare, and Nick Hornby, my dad likes Steven Gerrard and David Beckham. I think that imperialism, wrong for a variety of reasons, was still the best thing to happen to British cuisine, while my dad genuinely enjoys mince pies and mushy peas. I was raised in Canada, so I say soccer: he's a diehard fan and despises any term besides football.
Despite these quarrels, there is one thing we absolutely agree on when it comes to Old Mother England: that fish and chips are one of her greatest gifts. Flaky, hearty fish, savoury potatoes and tangy vinegar: fish and chips are as good for the soul as they are bad for the heart. I can't think of anything else so wonderful that comes wrapped in newspaper.
Many of my childhood weekends were spent sourcing good fish and chip shops, my father cursing Canadians and their culinary complacency. "This one wouldn't make it a day in England!" or "Bollocks, bollocks, bollocks!" were his most common assessments. While my father raged, my mother would cower in shame and my sister and I would cope the only way we could, hitting the tartar sauce hard. Once in awhile we'd find a good spot, and our family's peace and dignity were preserved. Captain John's in Owen Sound, Townline Fish and Chips in Orangeville, and Penrose Fish and Chips on Mt. Pleasant stand out as favourites. More frequently, though, my sister and I would leave the restaurants feeling vaguely shamed, our very Canadian-ness an impermeable link to the failures of inferior fish.
At $5.49, for cod and chips, the lunch special appealed to both my palate and my budget. Less attractive was a $.75 charge for tartar sauce, but old habits die hard, so I ordered the sauce, and pitched in another $.75 for coleslaw.
It was not long before the disappointment and shadows of my youth settled in to greet me. My sorrow at soggy cod in bland batter, and coleslaw swimming in excess of oil was relieved only by the reassuringly tasty chips, and the familiar tang of tartar sauce. If fries were the measure of a fish and chip shop, then Chippy's would be doing alright. But we all know that a fish and chip shop is only as good as its fish, which means Chippy's is not very good at all.
Despite my totally lackluster lunch, it seems that Chippy's has a fairly large following in this city, and it's possible that I might be invited to dine there again. Before old demons rear their ugly heads, I'm preparing myself for how I'll react if that time comes. Will I adopt a stiff upper lip, close my eyes and do it for England? Not blooming likely! In the event that a friend invites me to eat Chippy's again, I will politely tell them, "No thank you," and go see a therapist instead.
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(Please go to HARBORD if you must... they ain't perfect but they ain't this)
Shit attitude form all staff anytime I went there (including the owner). REALLY? attitude at a fish n chip shop? FUCK YOU CHIPPY!
Fish sucks. Fries are not bad.
Way over priced for so little.
The windows were covered up with paper the other day. Hope you go out of business due to shit product.
FUCK YOU CHIPPIES!
Chippy's is a joke and a waste of expensive downtown property.
The best place I have tried is in Oakville called Tartan F & C. I'd love to have your opinion on this one as well.
um.....
ya, not impressed with the service or attitude. went back on another day and was actually grossed out with how soggy the batter was, and how the fries tasted like they had been fried in months old oil.
never again.
Regards,
John Lee
President
Chippy's Fish & Chips Inc.
My manager will be contacting you in regards to this incident and will do his best to resolve in the best way possible. Thanks for posting.
John Lee
President
Chippy's Fish & Chips Inc.
To my surprise, it was delicious! I was there for lunch and had the Haddock lunch special and was pleasantly surprised at the price and quality of the food. The service was prompt, the restaurant was clean and simple, and I really liked how they had the 3 disposal units for garbage, organic and recycling.
All and all, a really great experience. I look forward to visiting Chippy's again on my travels to the big city, and will try not to ask my daughter to sneak some fries and garlic mayo home to me in her suitcase for the holidays.
his is Bryan the manager of Chippy's on Bloor St.
So sorry for the misunderstanding. We do offer Halibut for our walk-in and phone order customers. We would be more then happy to personally deliver a meal from Chippy's to your door at your request. Please feel free to get in touch with me at the store so we can set up a time for delivery or please email me at bryansteiss@yahoo.ca
Again, my sincerest apologies, and we look forward to serving you in the near future.
Best,
Bryan
John Lee
President
Chippy's Fish & Chips Inc.
Teambuy recently did a half off special for this place; I wouldn't eat from here again if it were free.
No wonder the owner/management have to come on this board to try to clean up their reputation. I would too if I served overpriced greasy, soggy "food" using rude, obnoxious servers who really ARE rude (not that you'd see that if you are the owner, try a secret shopper dude to see what's really going on in the Queen St. location).
Sorry to be so negative but it is what it is and anything but the truth isn't worth typing.
Thanks for the feedback but I'm not sure where all this vitriol is coming from. If you had a bad experience with either the food or the service, we sincerely apologize. We have never claimed to be perfect or that our "reputation" is such that it needs cleaning up by me or any of our staff. Our philosophy is to make improvements at all times and to take responsibility for our actions (especially when they are negative) and the food that we serve. I would politely suggest that you contact me directly through our website (chippys.ca) so that we can ensure that your next visit is a good one or at the very least, offer you a refund for your past purchase. Look forward to hearing from both of you.
Regards,
John Lee
President
Chippy's Fish & Chips Inc.
Look at all the negative comments!! The place sucks, shit fish shit fries, shit attitude from the owned John Lee.
Please someone tell me why this is best of Toronto Fish & Chips?
Not to mention your product sucks.
How is the place rated #1?????????????????
Look at all the negative comments!! The place sucks, shit fish shit fries, shit attitude from the owned John Lee.
Please someone tell me why this is best of Toronto Fish & Chips?
John Lee
President
Chippy's Fish & Chips Inc.
Just goes to show....
And no, I am not a past employee. Just no longer a customer.
Read ALL the postings... you get the message and not just from me but from almost everyone. Anything positive is prob posted by you or from friends.
In all seriouseness, contact me and let's try to build a bridge of mutual admiration and polite dialogue. After all, it's just fish and chips and not the end of the world.
Your Friend,
John Lee
The batter is prefect, fish always moist. Been in business over 30 yrs in the same location.
*They use beef drippings mixed in their oil*
Tastes out of this world.
Why would you worry about grease when you're going out for fried fish.
The owner of Chippy's was rude to me also, plus a couple of his staff.
What kind of idiot "owner of Chippy's" offers free food for being rude to a customer??? You dug that hole, now you are just trying to fill it back in.
Too late for that.
Perhaps John Lee (Owner of Chippy's)
should pull his head out of his ass...
REACH FAR BACK, That's it! WAY, WAY BACK!
AS IT IS REALLY UP IN THERE!
Then, and only then. take a good long hard look at yourself at the kind of person that you are.
Which is a rude, inconsiderate, f@cking A$$hole!
Get a life.
Respond back all you want...
But the bottom line is this, your product sucks (please look at negative comments above).
You are a complete idiot.
So mean.
I was stopping by this page out of curiosity, to see if the user-submitted comments for Chippy’s were improving or getting worse in the last while.
After reading some of your responses, I have to say, you have no clue about how to even pretend to apologize to a customer.
Someone posts a complaint saying you were a dick to them, and your response is “hey, If I was an asshole to you, I would remember because you’d have deserved it, but since I don’t remember you, have some free fish and chips!” ?
Seriously, what does that even mean? Do you ever think about anything you say? Does that at any point even say “sorry I was rude to you, it won’t happen again?” I’m sorry, but that’s just laughable.
I know you probably don’t even regard other people as conscious beings whose feelings and thoughts are distinct from yours, but you could at least learn how to fake it. Good luck dude, you are seriously going to need it if your posts here are in any way a demonstration of your approach to customer interaction.
With that said, to everyone complaining about the workers’ attitudes:
I don’t know what you’re talking about, I worked at Chippy’s on Bloor, and all my former co workers were some of the nicest people I’ve ever met, I was probably the least “nice” guy there, and even I was never rude to anyone, I just wasn’t very outgoing or whatever..
**The best place: Golden Crisp Fish n Chips!!!
This place is sucha robbery!
Laughable damage control attempt there!
Penrose is my favourite, but then I grew up a few blocks away and grew up with their food. It's just as good as always, even if it's a little too expensive, but I guess they have earned the right to charge good prices after decades of good service.
I was hoping for some nice crispy fish and chips , and instead I got a piece of soggy fish and fries. IT WAS COLD TOO ! I have to say penrose is the best place for F&C overall.
Nice crispy fish and tasty fries served HOT !
and they call themselves the best fish and chips in toronto.
" you might want to leave the paper bag open so the fish won't go soggy because of the steam";
and i thought jeez that makes alot of sense. . so to all you soggy losers out there it was your own fault, like it was my own.
And John Lee - reading your replies makes me understand why this place sucks - You are a horrible owner/operator.
Pro: Staff is in good spirits given the working conditions. I went to the Bathurst/Bloor location and there was only ONE person working - he had to handle the fryer, cash and make the batter. Keep in mind this was a Saturday on a long weekend.
Con: I went there TWICE. The first time I dropped by was later in the evening (8 pm) and they were out of Halibut and everything else on the menu except for Cod. Understandable as it was later in the evening. The second time I went in was for lunch (around 1:30pm) on a weekend and they were out of Halibut again.
I guess I'll never try the Halibut as I don't intend on going back again or maybe they should just take Halibut off the menu since they never seem to serve it.
My boyfriend lives on Bloor Street, right around the corner from Chippy's. I walk by almost every day, and I've always been curious to go in, seeing as I love myself a good meal of fish and chips. Having read this stream of comments, however, my curiosity has swiftly been curbed.
Penrose Fish & Chips on Mt Pleasant, south of Eglinton, has possibly the best fish and chips that this city has to offer. They've been open for almost 60 years, and any quick taste of anything on their menu will prove why.
I vote Chippy's to be removed from this list of esteemed F&C restaurants, as clearly it is an embarrassment, not only to the restaurant, but to blogTO's judgement.
Just sayin'...
I've honestly seen people spend their time writing entire paragraphs about their negative opinions on one city, and then posting it on a single restaurants blogto thread. For shame, Toronto.
Chippy's fish is NOT delivered FRESH daily. The Salmon is the only fish that is delivered fresh, but not daily, maybe once a week and depending how many sides of salmon they receive the rest is frozen until they need to use it. the rest is frozen when they receive it then thawed on a daily basis as per demand.
Maybe you should do a little more research about Chippys or better yet, work for the business before you put total faith in what the owner tells you outside of the restaurant.
I guarantee you will not be singing the same song if you go and work there for a month.
Also, how many restaurants have you been to with farms/oceans out back where they kill their food daily to bring it in fresh ? You think you've found a point of insult, but you could say the same thing about any restaurant in Toronto.
Since you brought it up though, the Salmon isn't even on the menu any more, because it's being over fished, and the Halibut arrives as a whole fish, sometimes 100 lbs or more, and it's then butchered in the front of the shop where the customers can see. I think as far as freshness goes, that's not too bad.
When I worked at the Queen st. location, the fish was delivered once a week. The paper meal containers are stored in a basement that's never cleaned.
If you like the food...fine. I wouldn't support a business owner like John, even if he was serving me fucking gold.
After waiting for at least five minutes, I was finally served, at one point I could hear the server swearing loudly from the backroom.
When I settled down for my meal, I couldn't believe this was the same franchise. The fish was alright but the chips, arguably the best thing on their menu, were horribly over cooked.
I'm going to give this location one last chance, everyone has an off night, but if I receive a similar experience, the Chippy has lost my business.
Chippys is the closest F&C shop to our new home. Wanted to have our traditional feed of Good Friday fish and chips and willing to pay the rather hefty delivery fees for it, so I placed my order two weeks ago on orderit.ca to make sure dinner would be all set...nope!! As it turns out, all deliveries for tomorrow have been cancelled. Wow, you think you might have specified that on the website or let OrderIt know that you weren't delivering tomorrow?
Not even going to attempt spending 40 minutes trying to rush dinner home on the wretched Dufferin bus tomorrow - no thanks! After seeing the comments here, I'm not convinced we would have been very happy with the meal anyway. :(
is fastidious, thats why i have read it entirely