Chip shops (chippies) originated in the UK around the 1860s, combining Jewish-style fried fish with industrial-era fried potatoes, with competing claims for the first shop between Joseph Malin in London (1860) and John Lees in Lancashire (1863). They became a working-class staple, expanding to over 35,000 shops by the 1920s.
Many food historians say that a Jewish cook, a young Ashkenezi immigrant named Joseph Malin, opened the first chippy in 1860 in London. The shop was so successful that it remained in business until the 1970s. And up near Manchester, the fish and chip stand opened by John Lees was doing a brisk business by 1863.
A Jewish immigrant, Joseph Malin, opened the first recorded combined fish-and-chip shop in Bow, East London, circa 1860; a Mr Lees pioneered the concept in the North of England, in Mossley, in 1863.
The first chip shop in the UK has competing claims, with most sources pointing to Joseph Malin opening one in London's East End around 1860 and another to John Lees in Mossley, Lancashire, around 1863, though Malin's is often cited as the first recorded shop combining fried fish with chips. Malin, a Jewish immigrant, served fried fish with fried potatoes from a shop in Cleveland Street, while Lees sold them from a wooden hut in Mossley market.
In the 1860s, fish and chips shops started popping up in the UK. Joseph Malin is credited with opening London's first fish and chips shop, and entrepreneur John Lees sold fish and chips in industrial Lancashire, out of a wooden hut at Mossley market.
Good cod! A bitesize history of fish and chips | BBC Ideas
Why do British people put vinegar on chips?
Malt Vinegar Cuts Through The Fat
Acid is the yang to fat's yin and the secret to malt vinegar's success as Britain's condiment of choice for crispy, battered, and fried cod and salty chips.
There's no single "best" chippy, but top contenders frequently cited by awards and reviewers include Yarm Road Fish and Chips (Darlington) for takeaway (2025 winner), Ship Deck (Caerphilly) for takeaways (2024 winner), and restaurants like Nights Fish & Chips (Glastonbury) and The Magpie Cafe (Whitby) for sit-down experiences, alongside strong regional favourites like The Fish Works (Largs) and Coleman's (South Shields). Awards from Fry Magazine and The Fish and Chip Awards highlight consistent excellence across the UK.
Sephardic Jews fled their homes with some exiling to England. It was these Jewish immigrants from Portugal and Spain who first brought fried fish to Britain.
In the 20th century, potato chips spread beyond chef-cooked restaurant fare and began to be mass-produced for home consumption. The Dayton, Ohio-based Mikesell's Potato Chip Company, founded in 1910, identifies as the "oldest potato chip company in the United States".
At the end of the 1800s, the Italian presence in the UK was consolidating, and many were looking for more stable jobs than working as street musicians or knife grinders. The Italians realised the potential of fish and chips, which were popular with the working classes and did not need large scale investment.
The main slang for a UK chip shop is "chippy" (or sometimes "chipper"), a shortened, affectionate term for the shop itself, while a fish and chips meal is often called a "chippy tea" or just "chips" (meaning fish & chips), with common extras like mushy peas, gravy, or curry sauce, often served with salt and vinegar.
Whether or not anybody at Saratoga Springs actually invented potato chips, the town certainly did a lot to popularize them. For years, they were known as Saratoga chips, and they are still sold under that name today. At first, Saratoga chips were a gourmet delicacy served at fine hotels and restaurants.
Seasoned salt is a blend of table salt, herbs, spices, other flavourings, and sometimes monosodium glutamate (MSG). It is sold in supermarkets and is commonly used in fish and chip shops and other take-away food shops.
The true inventor of the fish and chip shop is still debated. Some credit Joseph Malin, a Jewish immigrant living in East London, who opened a fried fish and chip shop around 1860. Others point to John Lees, who was reportedly selling fish and chips out of a wooden hut in Mossley, Lancashire, as early as 1863.
Potato chips can be non-kosher if the vegetable oil used in the fryer has been pasteurized and deodorized on equipment used for tallow production. In fact, heating equipment used in the production of non-kosher products may not be used for kosher production without kosherization (a hot purging procedure).
It was not until 1656 that Oliver Cromwell allowed Jews back into England. In the interim, Jews were required to obtain a special license to visit the realm, though it seems very likely that some Jews remained or resettled in England while keeping their religion secret.
The French Fries emoji 🍟 depicts a carton of French fries. It is commonly used to represent French fries, fast food, or specifically the fast food chain McDonald's.
Why are Pringles not allowed to be called potato chips?
The product was originally known as Pringle's Newfangled Potato Chips, but other snack manufacturers objected, saying Pringles failed to meet the definition of a potato "chip" since they were made from a potato-based dough rather than being sliced from potatoes.
Thin, brittle, salty slices of fried potato that are sold in sealed packages are called chips in North America, Australia, Singapore, Jamaica, and South Africa. In the UK and Ireland they're called crisps.
