1970s fish and chips chain makes Ohio comeback

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- Arthur Treacher's, the fish and chips chain that once operated more than 800 eateries before dwindling to a few, has reopened a decades-old Ohio location.

The fast food restaurant known for hush puppies and fried fish is now welcoming customers to a reopened third location in Cleveland Heights at 13216 Cedar Road, which was home to an Arthur Treacher's from the 1970s to the 1990s. The brand had announced the eatery's relaunch last August, and held a grand opening celebration on April 1.

"That store was always such a nostalgic location for the brand and the business, and it just came up in conversation with ownership and the opportunity was available for us," Christian Burden, Arthur Treacher's marketing director, told NBC4's Cleveland-area sister station last fall.

Arthur Treacher's launched in 1969 out of Columbus and offered fish and chips, fried chicken, clam chowder, hush puppies and more. The chain was named after the British actor of the same name, who starred in a series of movies in the 1930s and in 1964's "Mary Poppins."

The fish and chips chain reached its peak in the late 1970s with more than 820 locations across the nation but bounced between several owners. Lumara Foods of America purchased the chain in March 1982, then filed for bankruptcy four months later.

Chapter 11 proceedings and additional ownership changes throughout the following decades dwindled the brand to two locations, which remain open today also in northeast Ohio at 12585 Rockside Road in Garfield Heights and at 1833 State Road in Cuyahoga Falls.

"The Cleveland area, whether it's the west side or east side, they have specific restaurants they love, they have their specialties they love," Burden said. "It's loved, and that's why they were so successful back in the day."

All three Arthur Treacher's locations are open 10:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. daily.