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Arthur Treacher's Fish & Chips is an American
fast food Fast food is a type of Mass production, mass-produced food designed for commercial resale, with a strong priority placed on speed of service. ''Fast food'' is a commercial term, limited to food sold in a restaurant or store with frozen, preheat ...
seafood restaurant and restaurant chain. At the peak of its popularity in the late 1970s, it had 826 stores. As of 2025, there are only four stand-alone Arthur Treacher's locations remaining. The menu offers fried seafood or chicken, accompanied by
French fries French fries, or simply fries, also known as chips, and finger chips (Indian English), are '' batonnet'' or '' julienne''-cut deep-fried potatoes of disputed origin. They are prepared by cutting potatoes into even strips, drying them, and f ...
. The
fish and chips Fish and chips is a hot dish consisting of batter (cooking), battered and fried fish, served with French fries, chips. Often considered the national dish of the United Kingdom, fish and chips originated in England in the 19th century. Today, ...
recipe is authentic having been purchased from Malin's in Bow, the first recorded fish and chips store in England (est. 1860s).


Founding

The franchise was started in
Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...
in 1969 as National Fast Food Corp. Its founders included S. Robert Davis, his friend Dave Thomas (future
Wendy's Wendy's International, LLC, is an American international fast food restaurant chain founded by Dave Thomas (businessman), Dave Thomas on November 15, 1969, in Columbus, Ohio. Its headquarters moved to Dublin, Ohio, on January 29, 2006. As of D ...
founder), and L. S. Hartzog. They were looking to sell an authentic traditional British fish and chips. As background, in the 1860s Joseph Malin opened the first recorded combined fish-and-chip shop, located in Bow, East London, called "Malin's in Bow". For over one hundred years, the Malin family ran that store until closing in the early 1970s. In 1969, Malin's sold the exclusive rights to their recipe to Arthur Treacher's. The chain thus maintained the same recipe and cooking methods that had originated in 19th century London. At one time in 2021, there was only one Arthur Treacher's restaurant left, in
Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio Cuyahoga Falls ( or ) is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States. The population was 51,114 at the 2020 census. The second-largest city in Summit County, it is located directly north of Akron and is a suburb in the Akron metropolitan ar ...
, making it the only place in the world that still served this historic recipe. The chain was also looking for a namesake and they purchased the rights to
Arthur Treacher Arthur Veary Treacher, Jr. ( ; 23 July 1894 – 14 December 1975) was an English film and stage actor active from the 1920s to the 1960s, and known for playing English types, especially butler and manservant roles, such as the P. G. Wodehouse ...
(1894–1975), an English
character actor A character actor is an actor known for playing unusual, eccentric, or interesting character (arts), characters in supporting roles, rather than leading ones.28 April 2013, The New York Acting SchoolTen Best Character Actors of All Time Retrie ...
typecast as "the perfect
butler A butler is a person who works in a house serving and is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments, with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantries, pantr ...
" for his performances as
Jeeves Jeeves (born Reginald Jeeves, nicknamed Reggie) is a fictional character in a series of comedic short stories and novels by English author P. G. Wodehouse. Jeeves is the highly competent valet of a wealthy and idle young Londoner named Bertie W ...
, a butler in several
Shirley Temple Shirley Temple Black (born Shirley Jane Temple; April 23, 1928 – February 10, 2014) was an American actress, singer, dancer, and diplomat, who was Hollywood's number-one box-office draw as a child actress from 1934 to 1938. Later, she was na ...
films in addition to the role of Constable Jones in ''
Mary Poppins Mary Poppins may refer to: * Mary Poppins (character), a nanny with magical powers * Mary Poppins (franchise), based on the fictional nanny ** Mary Poppins (book series), ''Mary Poppins'' (book series), the original 1934–1988 children's fanta ...
'' from
Walt Disney Productions The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16 ...
. At the time the chain was founded, Treacher was best known as the announcer and sidekick to
Merv Griffin Mervyn Edward Griffin Jr. (July 6, 1925 – August 12, 2007) was an American television show host and media mogul. He began his career as a radio and big band singer, later appearing in film and on Broadway theatre, Broadway. From 1962 to 1986, G ...
on ''
The Merv Griffin Show ''The Merv Griffin Show'' is an American television talk show starring Merv Griffin. The series had runs on two different networks on NBC (1962–1963) and CBS (1969–1972) but is most known for its run on first-run syndication from 1965 to 1 ...
''. Although Treacher never confirmed whether he had a financial involvement in the restaurants, he was "a spokesman for the restaurant chain in its early years, underscoring the
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
character of its food." Treacher sometimes visited the restaurants, arriving in a red
double-decker bus A double-decker bus is a bus that has two storeys or decks. Double-deckers are used primarily for commuter transport, but open-top models are used as sightseeing buses for tourists, and there are coaches too for long-distance travel. They app ...
.


Later mergers


Fisher Foods

In 1970, Fisher Foods swapped capital with and licensed franchises from National, with a total of 550 franchises sold (106 to Fisher alone), but only 99 stores were actually in operation. Long John Silver's,
Captain D's Captain Ds, LLC. is an American fast casual restaurant chain that specializes in seafood and is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. The chain was founded as Mr. D's Seafood and Hamburgers by Raymond L. Danner Sr. on August 15, 1969, in Don ...
, Skipper's and Alfie's Fish & Chips likewise employed the fish franchise concept about the same time. Aided by Arthur Treacher's advertisements, these companies introduced British fish and chips to northeastern America.


Orange Co.

By the early 1970s, National Fast Food had become Orange Co. Under this name, Davis conducted an aggressive expansion campaign from 1972 through 1976. Lacking equity, he relied on generous
sale-leaseback Leaseback, short for "sale-and-leaseback", is a financial transaction in which one sells an asset and leases it back for the long term; therefore, one continues to be able to use the asset but no longer owns it. The transaction is generally done fo ...
agreements. Under the terms of the agreements, Orange Co. would sell to investors sites for new restaurants and then sign long leases unconditionally guaranteeing to continue lease payments if the restaurants failed.


Mrs. Paul's Seafood

On November 21, 1979, Orange Co. sold Arthur Treacher's to Mrs. Paul's. However, under the terms of its original sale-leaseback agreements, Orange Co. remained liable for millions of dollars of payments to investors. The "
Cod Wars The Cod Wars (; also known as , ; ) were a series of 20th-century confrontations between the United Kingdom (with aid from West Germany) and Iceland about Exclusive economic zone, fishing rights in the North Atlantic. Each of the disputes ended ...
" between the UK and
Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...
during the 1970s caused cod prices to double. Mrs. Paul's responded by replacing Icelandic cod in Arthur Treacher's recipe with less expensive
pollock Pollock or pollack (pronounced ) is the common name used for either of the two species of North Atlantic ocean, marine fish in the genus ''Pollachius''. ''Pollachius pollachius'' is referred to as "pollock" in North America, Ireland and the Unit ...
. The move exacerbated tensions with franchisees—some of whom had already withheld a total of $5 million in royalties for what they perceived to be a steadily declining level of service. Litigation arising from the conflict eventually reached the
United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (in case citations, 3d Cir.) is a United States federal court, federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the United States district court, district courts for the following United Sta ...
.


Lumara Foods

After losing the case to the franchisees and having no way to compensate them, Mrs. Paul's sold Arthur Treacher's to Lumara Foods of America Inc. in March 1982. Lumara Foods filed for reorganization under
Chapter 11 Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code ( Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, w ...
of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code four months later.


Investment group

The company was then bought by a group of investors, and the corporate offices were moved to
Youngstown, Ohio Youngstown is a city in Mahoning County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Ohio, 11th-most populous city in Ohio with a population of 60,068 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Mahoning ...
. It went into bankruptcy in 1983. Two years later, it was merged into a
shell company A shell corporation is a company or corporation with no significant assets or operations often formed to obtain financing before beginning business. Shell companies were primarily vehicles for lawfully hiding the identity of their beneficial ...
by Jim Cataland. From 1985 to 1993, Cataland slowly expanded the company again. In 1993, money from a new group of investors was used to introduce a more modern seafood concept, to buy additional stores, and to move the company from its base operations in Youngstown to
Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...
. In the mid-1980s, franchises in
Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...
were converted by their owner to a new chain called Seafood Bay. Arthur Treacher's purchased back six Seafood Bay locations in 1997 but was unsuccessful in reverting them. The company experimented with
co-branding Co-branding is a marketing strategy that involves strategic alliance of multiple brand names jointly used on a single product or service. Co-branding is an arrangement that associates a single product or service with more than one brand name, ...
, forming an alliance with
Arby's Arby's is an American fast-food restaurant, fast food sandwich restaurant chain with more than 3,300 restaurants. The flagship property of Inspire Brands, it ranked third in systemwide sales in the United States in the quick-service and fast-ca ...
(which originated in the Youngstown suburb of Boardman) for co-branded locations. One such location existed in Breezewood, Pennsylvania. However, by the late 1990s, Arby's parent Triarc Cos. Inc. removed the Arthur Treacher's portions of its co-branded Arby's.


PAT Franchise Systems

In 2002, the company holding the Arthur Treacher's trademark was acquired by PAT Franchise Systems, a wholly owned subsidiary of TruFoods Systems. In 2006,
Nathan's Famous Nathan's Famous, Inc. is an American company that operates a chain of fast-food restaurants specializing in hot dogs. The original Nathan's restaurant stands at the corner of Surf and Stillwell Avenues in the Coney Island neighborhood of Brook ...
bought the exclusive rights to market the Arthur Treacher's trademark and sell their products, co-branded with Nathan's Own concepts, Kenny Rogers Roasters, and Miami Subs (now Miami Grill). However, PAT Franchise Systems retained a license agreement entitling it to sell Arthur Treacher's Fish and Chips franchises in eight states.


Nathan's Famous

In 2021, Nathan's Famous announced plans to offer Arthur Treacher's branded food nationwide as a ghost kitchen concept only available via food delivery services. James Walker, the senior vice president of restaurants, said, "We think it’s a nice combination of historic, storied brand, with new focus on the food.”


Locations


Stand-alone

There are four remaining stand-alone restaurants in the United States. All are located in northeastern Ohio. The two oldest are in Garfield Heights (est. 1978) and Cuyahoga Falls (est. 1972) - the later has remained in continuous operation albeit in different buildings, and by 2021 it was the last restaurant in the country. Ben Vittoria, the Cuyahoga Falls owner, kept the last store alive and indeed the entire franchise would have ceased to operate without him. In recognition of the restaurant's last stand and survival at Cuyahoga Falls, the town mayor Don Walters designated June 30, 2021 as Arthur Treacher's Day. Customers traveled long distances to relive memories of youth and made the town a food destination. Building on resurgent popular interest, investors opened on April 1, 2025 a new location in
Cleveland Heights, Ohio Cleveland Heights is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. The population was 45,312 at the 2020 census. One of Cleveland's historic streetcar suburbs, it was founded as a village in 1903 and a city in 1921. History The area that is ...
. This was followed on June 11, 2025 with a new location in
Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...
, at the former Marino's Seafood Fish & Chips, which was originally an Arthur Treacher's.


Embedded

In addition to the Ohio stand-alone locations, four Salvatore's Pizzerias in
Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...
, have embedded Arthur Treacher's franchises. The Twin Oaks Convenience Store in
Pomeroy, Ohio Pomeroy ( ) is a village in Meigs County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It lies along the Ohio River about south of Athens. The population was 1,573 at the 2020 census. History Pomeroy was founded in 1804 and named for landowner S ...
, has an Arthur Treacher's sharing kitchen space with a
Hunt Brothers Pizza Hunt Brothers Pizza is an American pizza restaurant chain. It was founded in 1991 in Nashville, Tennessee. The store's locations are primarily within convenience stores. History Hunt Brothers Pizza was established in 1991 and is based in N ...
and a Sub Express.


See also

*
List of fish and chip restaurants This is a list of notable fish and chip restaurants which are renowned for, or whose main dish is, fish and chips. Fish and chips is a hot dish of English origin, consisting of battered fish, commonly Atlantic cod or haddock and deep-fried chip ...
*
List of seafood restaurants The following is a list of notable seafood restaurants. A seafood restaurant typically specializes in seafood cuisine and seafood dishes, such as Fish (food), fish and shellfish. Seafood restaurants Australia * Doyles on the Beach Braz ...
*
Pie and mash Pie and mash is a traditional working-class food, originating in the Docks of London. The dish has been popularised as "a Cockney classic". It typically consists of a minced beef pie, mashed potato, and a parsley sauce known as liquor. Pie, ...


References


External links

* * {{Jacksonville Corporations Fast-food seafood restaurants Fish and chip restaurants Seafood restaurants in the United States Regional restaurant chains in the United States Fast-food chains of the United States Restaurants established in 1969 Companies based in Jacksonville, Florida Companies based in New York City Companies that have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1983 1969 establishments in Ohio 1979 mergers and acquisitions