America’s Best Fish and Chips

On the surface, fish and chips sound like they should be pretty easy to make. You just batter up a piece of fish and toss it into the deep fryer with some frozen French fries, right? What could be easier? In reality, however, it's a very tricky dish to perfect, and when it's done poorly, it's a soggy mess. At these 20 restaurants, the fish and chips are anything but soggy; they're the best in the country.

Located right on Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, this BYOB patio café and fish market serves some of the area's freshest fish and has become a beloved institution. More than 25 different varieties of fish are on offer, ranging from onaga to loup de mer, and while you can have your pick simply grilled, make sure you sample it fried as well (they serve it alongside “fries” instead of chips, but we'll let that slide). The traditional batter is light, super crispy, and unobtrusive, and an afternoon spent here with a six-pack and an unobstructed view of the Pacific is worth the day trip from Los Angeles.

This spacious downtown Woonsocket institution has been going strong since 1922, when Yorkshire natives Harry and Ethel Sowden opened this waterfront eatery, and today it's still in the family, with the fifth generation in training. The unique English-style batter recipe, which results in a slightly heavier crust around the fresh-caught pollock or cod, hasn't changed since the day they opened, and the fries are hand-cut and pair perfectly with a shake of malt vinegar.

This low-key and homey neighborhood spot serves a wide variety of expertly prepared comfort foods, including seafood pot pie, a lamb burger with feta and red onion jam, and beef stew. Their fish and chips (or as they put it, crispy cod and chips), however, are among the best you'll find in the Boston area. They're wrapped in newspaper, and smartly come with pickled onions to cut through the starchy goodness.

This Midtown pub appears as if it's been transported lock, stock, and barrel from the English countryside. It comes complete with one of New York's only “snugs,” a small compartment located right at the end of the bar where a group of four to six people can relax completely enclosed from the rest of the room - it even has a sliding window to order your drinks through. While ensconced at the dark wood bar, or in the cozy side dining room, you can enjoy a huge piece of beer-battered cod, light and flaky under its shatteringly crisp crust, along with triple-cooked thick-cut chips. Wash it down with a bottle of Manchester Star Porter, and you may just think you've been transported to Stratford-upon-Avon.

This open-air seafood shack directly overlooks the Boston Harbor, and on a nice day there are few places in the city more perfect for enjoying some fried seafood. The fish and chips here start with a big slab of fresh haddock, which is battered and fried to order and served alongside crispy fries and housemade tartar sauce. The fisherman's platter, which also comes with clam strips, scallops, and shrimp, is a fried seafood lover's delight.

This no-frills waterfront eatery has been serving both townies and tourists alike since 1961, and owner Jay Sahagian and his crew still take their own lobster boats out into the harbor to catch seafood for the menu. While the lobster rolls are a major draw (not to mention the view of Marblehead Harbor), the fish and chips, made with fresh-caught haddock, shouldn't be missed: light, crisp, and not greasy in the least, they're served alongside shoestring fries.

This bustling chipper brings a true fish and chips experience to Minneapolis, and their roving food truck is also spreading the gospel across the Twin Cities. Pasties, shepherd's pie, Heinz beans, curry chips, and even battered sausage and chips are helping to get locals through brutal winters, but if you only get one thing, make it the fish and chips. A huge fillet of sustainable wild Alaskan cod is lightly battered and fried to crispy perfection, served on a heaping pile of fresh hand-cut chips.

This BYOB, cash-only hotspot may have risen to fame after an appearance on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives, but don't hold that against it: Just about everything on its expansive and creative menu, including po'boys, seafood tacos, burgers, fries (topped with foie gras, naturally), and soft-shell crabs when in season, is insanely good. Their fish and chips comes with one of the biggest pieces of fried cod we've ever seen, lightly battered and fried to a deep golden brown and served atop a pile of fries that doesn't have a soggy one in the bunch (seriously, the fries here are awesome).

Since 1938, Ivar's has been selling world-class fish and chips (as well as equally legendary clam chowder) from its perch on Seattle's Pier 54, and since then more than 20 additional locations have opened up across Washington state. It's a chain, but that fact speaks more to its success than any decline in quality. The traditional fish and chips are made with smallish pieces of Pacific cod and can be tossed in spicy Cajun seasoning, if you wish. Halibut, salmon, clams, scallops, shrimp, and oysters are also available. Founder-folk singer Ivar Haglund is nothing short of a Seattle legend, and his namesake eateries serve his memory well.