UPDATE as of 8/11/2025: Marino’s Seafood announced on social media that they will be re-opening and Arthur Treacher’s will not be taking over the location. More details to come.
If your childhood memories include newspaper-wrapped fish and chips, squishy booths, and that unmistakable smell of fried batter that lingered in your coat like a badge of honor — this one’s for you.
After decades adrift in the deep fryer of history, Arthur Treacher’s Fish & Chips is officially returning to Columbus. And not just anywhere — the iconic British-American chain is coming back to the very building it once called home on West Fifth Avenue.
According to Columbus Business First, Marino’s Seafood Fish & Chips — a beloved neighborhood staple since 1992 — is closing its doors as longtime owners Harry and Rosemarie Kougendakis head into a well-earned retirement. But fish fans, don’t panic: their exit isn’t the end of fried seafood at 1216 W. Fifth Ave. It’s the beginning of a salty, golden-battered renaissance.
According to NBC4, the Kougendakis family has been in talks with Arthur Treacher’s since earlier this year, and many Marino’s staff members will stay on to serve under the new banner. The nostalgia is real, folks.
From Fast Food Royalty to Fried Fish Folklore
Now, for the uninitiated (or those who’ve only heard tales from their parents while driving past the last sad Long John Silver’s): Arthur Treacher’s is a fast-food legend born right here in Columbus in 1969.
Named after a charmingly stuffy British actor best known for his role in Mary Poppins (he played the butler — because of course he did), Arthur Treacher’s offered a menu full of UK-inspired delights. Think crispy beer-battered fish, chunky fries, fried chicken, hush puppies, and clam chowder. And for a time, it absolutely slapped.
At its peak in the late 1970s, the chain had more than 800 locations across the country. It was the fish-and-chips GOAT. But like so many fast-food empires of the era (see also: Burger Chef, Rax), it went through a messy breakup with bankruptcy, bounced between owners, and eventually shriveled to just a couple lonely outposts in Northeast Ohio.
Today, there are three Arthur Treacher’s open Ohio, but the seafood tide is turning.
A Columbus Comeback
Earlier this spring, Arthur Treacher’s made a splash by reopening a Cleveland Heights location that had been closed since the ’90s. It was part grand opening, part homecoming, part fried fish fever dream.
Now it’s Columbus’s turn.
The Fifth Avenue location marks a true full-circle moment, since Arthur Treacher’s actually operated in that same space before Marino’s took over in the ’90s. The bones of the building still remember the fryer oil. Probably literally.
So what can you expect when it reopens? According to the company’s recent menus, it’s all the classics: fish and chips, hush puppies, clam strips, shrimp baskets — the whole dockside lineup. You’ll get the nostalgia. You’ll get the crunch. You’ll get that faint feeling of having just stepped out of a time machine, and also maybe the need for a nap after your combo meal.
Stay Salty, Columbus
It’s too early for an official opening date, but with Marino’s winding down operations this month, it won’t be long before that iconic Arthur Treacher’s logo is back up in lights.
So whether you remember Arthur Treacher’s from the glory days, or you’re just a fried seafood fanatic in search of something new (and old), get ready. Columbus is about to reclaim a crispy little piece of its culinary history.
Bring your appetite — and maybe your mom, who still calls every fish place “Arthur Treacher’s” anyway.
