In the bustling Gallowgate, there is a traditional chippy that would not look out of place at the seaside.
With an oceanic turquoise shop front, gleaming gold and blue lettering and a fluorescent neon ‘Fish and Chips’ sign poised in the window, Guido’s Coronation Restaurant has all the charm of an old-fashioned chip shop that reminds customers of those annual visits to the beach.
They were not complete without dreich weather, going for a paddle in the freezing sea and finishing the day with a poke of battered fish, greasy chips smothered in salt and vinegar and 99s all round.
Except Guido’s is right in the middle of the city, nestled under a bridge in the East End. It has been since 1939, and the same family has run it since. The current owner’s father took over in 1953, the same year as the Coronation, which lends to its ‘royal’ name.
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The interior is every bit as nostalgic as its inviting front. Mustard yellow booths and tables and chairs are fixed to the floor, so you have to ‘slide’ in, logo-less bottles of red and brown (but who’s really having brown sauce with their fish?!) next to the supper staples, salt and vinegar.
Nostalgic posters and black and white photographs adorn the wall emulating times gone by in Glasgow.
In the golden era, you could find a chippy on every corner, hear the sing of an Italian accent with a Glaswegian twang as they asked if you wanted salt and vinegar, and always be mesmerised by the shocking red splattering of raspberry sauce on your cone.
The food at chippies like Guido’s takes you right back: classics like fish, sausage, black pudding and pies are accompanied by hot and cold rolls, scampi, ‘chicken in a bun’ and baked potatoes, with both a sit-in and ‘carry out’ selection.
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Sweeties in tubs, individual chocolate bars, big and wee bottles of juice and of course, giant jars of pickled onions adorn the walls behind the counter, serving as a nice backdrop for the friendly face that serves you.
While Glasgow is not the chippy city it once was, places like Guido’s have been going for 85 years and will hopefully never close.
