I Tried Fish And Chips From 5 Chain Restaurants And Ranked Them Worst To Best

Fish and chips are one of my all-time favorite comfort foods. It's a hearty, filling meal that's consistently tasty — after all, it's hard to go wrong with fried fish and potatoes — and you can get it just about anywhere in the world. The dish as we know it may have originated in England, but it's since gone global, and thank heavens for that.

Though I've rarely had truly bad fried fish — except for that one time when I tried every slider at White Castle — there are a few details that set great fish and chips apart from a simply mediocre dinner. The fish should be firm enough to hold together but tender and flaky enough to melt in your mouth, the breading shouldn't fall off when you bite into it, and the fries absolutely must not be gummy or mushy. Everything else, including sides and sauces, is just extra, but the extras certainly can take the meal up a notch or two.

With all that in mind, I tried fish and chips from five chain restaurants to determine which was truly the best and which was the worst. Truthfully, none of them were bad, though two of them were outstanding, even compared to my (former) favorite fish fry place.

I've only ever ordered breakfast at Bob Evans, so I had no idea what to expect from the fish fry platter. It's advertised to come with three cod filets, two onion rings, tartar sauce, and two classic sides for $14.19. I got coleslaw and fries, but other classic sides to choose from are mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans with ham, carrots, mac and cheese, and corn. I noticed that the menu doesn't specify that the fish is hand-battered, unlike most of the restaurants on this list, so I suspect that it's cooked from frozen.

The amount of food you get for the price is good, but the fish pieces were small and chewy, and the batter definitely gave off a previously frozen vibe. The fries were golden brown and crispy, not too thick and not too thin, which I was pleasantly surprised by. The fish-to-chips ratio was way off, though — I'd estimate about twice the volume of french fries compared to the fish. The onion rings were a nice touch, though they could be a little better seasoned, as the breading, though fabulously crunchy, was pretty bland in flavor.

Worst of all, the meal came with no condiments whatsoever — no tartar sauce, malt vinegar, or even butter for the rolls. Whether this is standard practice at Bob Evans or an oversight by the staff doing carryout, I can't say for sure, but it was definitely disappointing and led to the whole meal being quite flat overall.

I'd recently had a disappointing experience comparing Red Lobster to other chain restaurant mozzarella sticks, so I was a little nervous going into this taste test. It was certainly a better experience than my last visit to the restaurant, but overall, I was quite disappointed in the meal.

The fish and chips meal comes with two beer-battered cod filets, Chesapeake fries, coleslaw, and hush puppies for $19.49, making it the most expensive dinner on this list, even with just two pieces of fish. The fries were thick, and they looked well-seasoned, but the flavor was inconsistent, with some fries being almost overseasoned while others were practically flavorless. The breading on the fish was crisp, and the meat was flaky, but a little bit dry. On its own, it was very medium in quality, but the tartar sauce had a nice tangy flavor that complemented the fish well. The two hush puppies that came with the meal were half the size of the ones from Long John Silver's, and oddly sweet, and the coleslaw was bland and a little bit bitter.

The best thing I can say about the meal is that it came with two ooey, gooey, garlicky Cheddar Bay Biscuits, and I could eat those seven times a day for the rest of my life. Do they save the entire meal, or even justify the nearly $20 price tag? Sadly, no, especially when you can buy a dozen of them for less than $10. There was just not enough to like about the meal as a whole.

One thing Long John Silver's has going for it in the fish-and-chips department is the variety of meals available. I got the two-piece fish basket for $9.99, which comes with one side and hush puppies, but there is also a two-piece meal with two sides for $10.99, and three-piece meals and baskets to match. Aside from the coleslaw and fries, other classic sides available are mac and cheese, with or without Crumblies, green beans, rice, corn, and six additional hush puppies.

The meal came in one relatively small box, but it was full to bursting with two massive pieces of fish and a mountain of fries and hush puppies. For being the least expensive meal on this list, the amount of food it contained was really substantial. The fries were crispy and flavorful — one of my favorite waffle fries I've tried anywhere — and the hush puppies were melt-in-your-mouth tender. The breading on the fish was so crunchy, you could flake it off and sell it as a bag of chips (and I'd buy it), and the fish itself — wild-caught Alaskan pollock — was flaky and moist. My only real complaint was that it was a little bit saltier than it needed to be, and so greasy, I had to wipe my fingers after every bite. The tartar sauce was good but nothing out of the ordinary, while the malt vinegar gave the fish the perfect tang.

Long John Silver's has always been my go-to fish fry place, and it probably still will be, especially when price is a consideration (which is pretty much always). But in terms of absolute quality, while Long John Silver's may have the best fried fish according to reviews, it couldn't quite measure up to the top two contenders in this taste test.

Before this tasting, I had no idea Culver's even served fish and chips. The North Atlantic cod dinner comes with two pieces of fried, hand-battered cod, family-recipe tartar sauce, two classic sides, and a roll for just over $14. I got the crinkle-cut fries and coleslaw as my sides. I'm not generally a fan of crinkle-cut fries — in my experience, they're usually no better than anything I could buy frozen from my grocery store. But while Culver's mashed potatoes may be a massive mistake, the crinkle fries are some of the best I've ever had, at least fresh out of the frier. They're extra crispy and wonderfully salty, but they go south fast as they cool — as in, within five minutes, unfortunately. But it was a good five minutes.

The fish was fantastic — flaky and fresh with a light, crunchy breading. It looked so good, I couldn't even wait to get it to my car to eat it, and took a big old bite of it on the patio, burning the heck out of my mouth in the process. Worth it. Thank goodness I was at least outside, because even with my mouth on fire, I audibly moaned at that first bite, which would have been super awkward inside the restaurant.

I want to make it very clear that it was almost impossible for me to choose a favorite between Culver's cod dinner and the number one contender. If they were running a race, it would be a photo finish. But the deciding factor was the fish, and Cracker Barrel beat out Culver's by just a fraction of a point.

Cracker Barrel's fish fry was one of the most expensive meals I tried at $15.99, and it's only available on Fridays. Because of those two details, it had the deck stacked against it, and it still won out over every other dinner I tried for this article. The meal came with four hand-battered cod filets, two sides, and your choice of biscuits, corn muffins, or hush puppies. For my sides, I got steak fries and coleslaw, and hush puppies for my bread. The meal didn't look like much when I opened it up, but it blew me away once I tasted it.

The fish pieces looked shockingly small at first glance — four pieces equate roughly to two pieces elsewhere — but they were delicious. The breading screams "hand-battered," and the fish tasted super fresh. Those small but mighty fish pieces reminded me of a homestyle southern fish fry, and I'm utterly in love with them.

The fries were more like deep-fried slices of baked potato than typical French fries, but they were crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, and seasoned simply but thoroughly. The hush puppies were savory with just the right amount of sweetness and plenty of herbs throughout, moist on the inside, and beautifully browned on the outside. Best hush puppies, hands down. My only complaint is that the coleslaw could be a little tangier, but the cabbage was so fresh and delicious that I can't even be mad at that. It's obvious why Cracker Barrel's coleslaw topped our list of the best chain restaurant coleslaws. I'm actively forcing myself to find something wrong with this meal. I was fully prepared to hate it, but it's worth the wait, in every possible way.

I ordered every fish and chips meal with fries, of course, and coleslaw, if a second side was available. I sampled the fish on its own, and with tartar sauce and malt vinegar (when offered), comparing the fish itself and the condiments offered by the restaurant.

I rated the fish based on flavor, texture of the fish itself, and texture of the breading, and the fries based on flavor and texture. The meals as a whole were rated mainly on the fish and fries, with additional included sides (if any), other sides available, and value for the price tipping the scales in one direction or the other.

Prices vary by location, and are provided for head-to-head comparison only.