Ches in the restaurant © Courtesy of Ches’s Fish and Chips
By Raye Mocioiu
There’s a saying in Newfoundland: come for the scenery, stay for the people—and if you’re lucky, stay for the fish and chips. And if it’s the best fish and chips you’re after, chances are you’ll end up at Ches’s Famous Fish & Chips, a local legend that’s been serving golden battered cod and fresh-cut fries since 1951.
A One-Man Operation
“My dad started it all in 1951,” shared Kathy, the current coowner who now helps lead the multi-location business. “He got a small loan from both sets of parents to open the restaurant, and started catching fish out of St. John’s Harbour every morning.”
Those early days were long and rugged, Kathy explained. After hauling in his daily catch, Ches would clean the fish himself, sell what he didn’t need along the coves off Water Street, and then open the restaurant for lunch. He’d work until midnight some nights, sleep for a few hours, and be back on the water by daybreak.
From the start, what made Ches’s special was its commitment to freshness and quality. “It had to be fresh—always,” Kathy said. “Fresh chips, fresh batter, fresh fish. That’s what Dad believed in.” While today’s operations rely on frozen stock during the winter months, quality remains a top priority. “We have someone who freezes the fish for us so it’s consistent. You start with good ingredients, you end up with a good product.”
A Recipe Refined by Time (And Love)
In Newfoundland, fish is cod. But, during the cod moratorium, the family had to experiment with different species in the restaurant. But it’s the secret ingredient that makes all the difference.
“Anybody who asks for our secret, I tell them: it’s the love our cooks put into it,” Kathy shared. And it shows.
In Newfoundland, restaurants double as gathering places for storytelling and community. “We’ve always been communityoriented,” explained Kathy. “We donate to fundraisers, help out where we can. We do an annual fundraiser for the Candlelighters Association of Newfoundland and Labrador, which supports families with children going through cancer.”
Their annual fundraiser for the Newfoundland branch of Candlelighters Canada raises money for Camp Delight, a program for kids with cancer and their siblings that Ches’s has been supporting for years. Community spirit shows in grand gestures and day-to-day experiences, and Ches’s is known for both.
“We’ve got our regulars, people who’ve been coming for decades. And our staff? Some of them have been with us 20, 30 years. They’re like family. Our customers become family, too.”
Come From Away, Stay for Supper
Built for and beloved by its community, Ches’s is, in many ways, a reflection of the Newfoundland spirit: welcoming, hardworking, and full of heart.
“You could meet someone at a bar and be invited to their house for supper the next day. That’s just how it is here,” Kathy explained. “The other day, we had a local guy and a visitor from Ireland who’d just met, and that same day, the Newfoundlander was showing him around the city. That’s the spirit of this place.”
So is it that spirit, the feeling of home, or the fish and chips that keeps people coming back? Kathy echoes the locals when she says that it’s a little bit of all three.
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