Arthur Treacher's Is Open in Lakewood on Madison Ave

Arthur Treacher's Is Open in Lakewood on Madison Ave

We rolled past 11750 Madison Ave. on Tuesday, glanced over at the place, and said out loud that there was no chance it was opening anytime soon.

Wednesday at 10:30 a.m., the doors opened.

So much for our contracting expertise. Arthur Treacher's is officially back on the Westside.

What's happening

Arthur Treacher's announced back in June that it was coming to Lakewood. That opening is now real, at the corner of Madison and West 117th, in the space most recently occupied by Joe's Deli.

This is the first Arthur Treacher's on the Westside and the fourth in Northeast Ohio. It joins Cuyahoga Falls, Garfield Heights, and Cleveland Heights.

Here's the part that got us: many years before Joe's Deli, that same building was an Arthur Treacher's. The fish came home.

Where to find Arthur Treacher's in Lakewood

Address: 11750 Madison Ave., Lakewood, OH 44107

Opened: Wednesday at 10:30 a.m.

The location is built primarily around carry-out, with limited seating inside, so plan on grabbing your order and going.

What's on the menu

The menu is the one people remember, not a reinvention of it:

• Fish and chips (the crispy, pie-shaped fillets)
• Fried chicken
• Clam chowder
• Hush puppies
• Breaded shrimp and fried clams
• Thick, ridged chips, with malt vinegar on the side

Franchisee George Simon, who bought the building earlier this year, has said his group works from the original recipes and seasonings rather than a modernized version. That's the whole pitch. Nobody is coming here for a deconstructed cod.

How a chain nobody thought survived ended up back on Madison

The short version is a genuinely strange business story.

Arthur Treacher's opened in Columbus in 1969 and grew past 800 locations worldwide. Then a bankruptcy in the early '80s cut it down to a handful of locally owned restaurants, which is about as close to gone as a brand gets without actually disappearing.

For decades that was the whole company. A few Ohio stores. A logo people half-remembered.

The last few years have been a quiet comeback, one Northeast Ohio store at a time. Lakewood makes four.

Fun fact worth knowing: one of the three co-founders in Columbus in 1969 was Dave Thomas, who went on to start Wendy's. Two Ohio fast-food institutions, same guy, same decade.

The case for and against getting excited

Why Westsiders are into it:

• It's the first Westside location, so no more driving to Garfield Heights for a craving
• The nostalgia is real, and the recipes reportedly haven't changed
• A long-empty corner storefront on Madison is open and busy again
• Carry-out fried fish is a legitimately useful thing to have nearby

The fair pushback:

• Lakewood has excellent independent restaurants, and this is a chain
• Limited seating means it isn't a sit-down dinner spot
• Nostalgia can write checks the fryer has to cash

What Buzz Nation said

We polled Westside Buzz readers, and 50% of respondents said they're thrilled it's back on the Westside, calling it the perfect mix of nostalgia and good food.

The comments told us more than the number did. Nobody talked about the food. They talked about remembering the food.

• "It's been a minute since I've had it. Hopefully, it's as good as I remembered."
• "So happy Arthur Treacher's opened closer to home! My favorite place for fish!!"
• "I want to see if my childhood memories were accurate."

That last one is the whole story of this opening. A lot of Westsiders aren't driving to Madison for dinner. They're driving there to check on something.

Your turn

Have you been yet? Tell us whether it holds up.

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